Wong/Wong?

[Saheim]

First lemme say I am not governed by style, much less lineage. I train in different arts and focus on (1) the things that apply to me (2) the things that don't but DID apply to someone, long ago, and MIGHT apply to someone in the future. Basically, I cherry pick for my own tool box but im not quick to discard elements of an art just because I don't find them useful personally.

I do, however, enjoy learning about lineage. Does it matter? Not really, not to me. Is it fascinating? Yes, definitely

I can't help but notice Wong Wa-Bo (pre Ip Man, Red Boat) and Wong Shun Leung (Ip Man's student) share the same "last" name. Is there any evidence of a connection there? Or is was that a very common family name, in that era/area? Like a "Smith"?

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Wong (or Wang), as spelled with an o, is typically found in Cantonese transliteration and may correspond to one of the following: 王, meaning "king", one of most popular Chinese surnames (#2 in the world I believe) is a clan surname and originated independently through more than one clan which used the same character.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Wong (or Wang), as spelled with an o, is typically found in Cantonese transliteration and may correspond to one of the following: 王, meaning "king", one of most popular Chinese surnames (#2 in the world I believe) is a clan surname and originated independently through more than one clan which used the same character.

Are Wong and Wang just different transliterations of the same name? I never knew that.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Are Wong and Wang just different transliterations of the same name? I never knew that.

My

- Chinese friends call me John Wong (or Kung Fu Wong). Wong is the Chinese tone.
- American friends call me John Wang. Wang is the American tone.

This was why when someone announced my name to pick my student ID in Gregory Gym, UT Austin (1973), all students in Gregory Gym stood up and looked for John Wayne (1907 - 1979).

 

[Saheim]

Appreciate the info! I was kind of guessing it was just a very common name BUT thought maybe is was a Leung Jan / Leung Bik situation with a bigger generational gap.