Sima | |
---|---|
Sima in regular script | |
Pronunciation | Sīmǎ (Pinyin)
Su-má (Pe̍h-ōe-jī) |
Language(s) | Chinese |
Origin | |
Language(s) | Chinese language |
Word/Name | One of the offices of the Zhou Dynasty's Three Excellencies |
Meaning | horse master |
Other names | |
Variant(s) | Sima (Mandarin)
Suma (Hokkien) |
Sima (simplified Chinese: 司马; traditional Chinese: 司馬; pinyin: Sīmǎ; Wade–Giles: Ssu-ma) is a Chinese family name. Unlike most single-character Chinese family names, it is one of the rare two-character family names. It is an occupation name, literally meaning "control" (sī) "horses" (mǎ). The surname originated from one of the offices of the Three Excellencies of the Zhou Dynasty. Coincidentally, this name has almost the same meaning as the common English surname Marshall, which is derived from the Frankish: "mare" (horse) + "skalkoz" (master). The name has also been anglicized as "Sma".
List of persons with the surname[edit][]
- Sima Niu, disciple of Confucius
- Sima Xin, Qin Dynasty's official and general, later King of Sai.
- Sima Qian, historian during the Western Han Dynasty and author of Records of the Grand Historian
- Sima Xiangru, a minor official during the Western Han Dynasty but better known for his poetic skills, Chinese wine (jiu) business and controversial marriage to a widow Zhuo Wenjun after both eloped.
- Sima Lang, Sima Yi's elder brother, Han Dynasty politician.
- Sima Fu, Sima Yi's younger brother, Cao Wei politician.
- Sima Yi, Cao Wei general and politician.
- Sima Shi, Sima Yi's son, Cao Wei general and regent.
- Sima Zhao, Sima Yi's son, Cao Wei general and regent.
- Sima Wang, Sima Fu's son, Cao Wei politician.
- Sima Yan, Sima Zhao's son, ended the state of Cao Wei and founded the Jin Dynasty (265–420).
- Sima Ai, son of Emperor Wu of Jin and Prince of Changsha among the Eight Princes
- Sima Guang, historian and statesman during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), known for his monumental historical work Zizhi Tongjian and rivalry against contemporary Wang Anshi. There is a popular story of him, as a youth, saving someone who fell into a large water pot by smashing it with a rock.
- Shiba Ryotaro, Japanese author of historical novels. 司馬遼太郎 is his pen name, whereas his real name is 福田定一(Fukuda Teiichi).