A Chang clan gathering at the Chang Clan Building in Geylang, Singapore

Nine decades of family in Geylang.

For every 張 across dialects, generations, and continents.

Become a member Read our story
Founded
1937
Seat
Geylang, Singapore
Sub-clans
Twelve
Committee
50th term

88yrs

since the founding banquet on Qing Ming, 1937

50

committees and counting, every two years

12

sub-clans gathered under one roof

100m+

people worldwide carry the 張 surname

I. Heritage

老驿伏枥，志在千里

"An old horse rests in the stable, but its mind is set on a thousand miles."

In 1930, a small group of clan elders began holding annual ancestral rites at "Wuweigang" in Singapore. By the spring of 1937, the gathering had grown enough that the elders, over a Qing Ming banquet, voted to form a clan body.

What began as remembrance has, across nine decades, become a living institution: war years preserved by elders who refused to abandon the empty premises; a Hall raised in 1975 by clansfolk who drove a battered car around Singapore to ask for donations; a youth group today serving frontline meals and cleaning homes for those who need it.

Read the full history
The Chang Clan Hall, one of Singapore's longstanding clan associations in Geylang

Chang Clan Building, Lorong 29 Geylang · est. 1975

張 · the bow drawn ready to fire — one of the oldest surnames in record.

II. The Surname

A bow,
drawn ready
to fire.

The character 張 takes its shape from the bow and the long arrow ready upon it. Most histories trace the surname to Hui, a son (or grandson) of the Yellow Emperor, who served as Gong Zheng, the Director of Bows.

Whether Hui invented the bow itself, or merely oversaw its making, the genealogies and the inscriptions all point the same way: that for over four thousand years, those who carry this name have carried, at least in metaphor, the readiness to draw.

The full essay

“

If you do not know what happened before you were born, you remain a child forever. If human life is not joined to the lives of those who came before, what is its value?

— Cicero, On the Orator

Membership

If your name is 張,
you are already family.

Membership is S$20, for life. We welcome citizens, residents, and your children under eighteen. Whether you grew up speaking Hokkien, Teochew, Hakka, or English, you belong here.

Join the clan

張

Three tiers·S$20 lifetime