<p>朴 as a surname in China somehow has <em>three</em> different pronunciations: piáo, pǔ, fú, at least according to <a href="http://www.cnbjx.com/xingshi/pu_2055.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this website</a>. However, the 朴 surname in Korea is completely unrelated. The first person the 朴 surname in Korea was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyeokgeose_of_Silla" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the founder of Silla</a>, whose surname was apparently chosen to match the Korean word for gourd (which is also <em>bak</em>). Of course, hangul had not been invented yet, so the original Korean surname, <em>Bak</em>, had to be transcribed into Chinese characters. So, they chose 朴, which, at the time would have sounded quite similar to <em>bak</em>, at least looking at some of the <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%9C%B4#Pronunciation" rel="nofollow noreferrer">reconstructions listed on Wiktionary</a> for the first pronunciation, pò.</p>
<p>Now, this is my theory for the piáo pronunciation. When ancient Chinese people read texts about the Korean surname 朴, they obviously did not know about the actual Korean pronunciation, so they just defaulted to the standard pronunciation for 朴 as a surname, piáo, as piáo was the most common pronunciation out of the three possible 朴 pronunciations. This pronunciation carried over into modern times.</p>
<p>As for the pú pronunciation in Taiwan, pú was used in southern China, while piáo was used in northern China, according to <a href="https://pian0214.pixnet.net/blog/post/60252826" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this blog post</a>. When South Korean President Park Chung-hee came to Taiwan to establish relations in 1966, the Taiwanese president told everyone to pronounce the Park Korean surname as pú because it is closer to the Korean pronunciation.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-03-10T23:39:44.707Z
2023-03-10T23:39:44.707Z
mucube
<p>In Taiwan, according to the <a href="https://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/dictView.jsp?ID=617&amp;q=1&amp;word=%E6%9C%B4" rel="nofollow noreferrer">entry</a> in Republic of China MoE dictionary, when it comes to the surname, both ㄆㄨˊ and ㄆㄧㄠˊ are acceptable.</p>
<p>Based on a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TaiwaninKorea/photos/a.334739410720967/799390757589161/?type=3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">post</a> by Taiwanese representative in Korea, the ㄆㄧㄠˊ pronunciation is used in Northern China, while the ㄆㄨˊ is used in the South.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-03-03T14:43:08.823Z
2023-03-03T14:43:08.823Z
C.J. Jackson
<p>The character 朴 is used in modern Mandarin in the following ways:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><em>pò</em> 朴樹 'Chinese hackberry, <em>Celtis sinensis</em>', 厚朴 '<em>Magnolia officinalis</em>'.</p>
</li>
<li><p><em>pǔ</em> [simplified from 樸] 'simple, plain, rough, unpolished'.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>However, the Korean surname 朴 (Park) is pronounced <em>Piáo</em>.</p>
<p>Furthermore, it seems that Taiwan uses the <em>Pú</em> reading instead.</p>
<p>How did these readings (especially <em>Piáo</em>) emerge? While in Korean the [pa̠k̚] pronunciation refers to a native word, its phonetic spelling as 朴 has a long history (I believe attested at least from the 10th century), so I wouldn't expect the Chinese reading to be anything but the natural development from 'ordinary' 朴, that is, <em>pò</em>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-03-03T17:02:09.257Z
The reason why 朴 pronounces as Piáo in mainland China is that 朴 is also a Chinese surname which reads Piáo. Actually there are 56 peoples in China among which one is Korean. Historically the Korea Kingdom used Chinese letters as noble languages in ancient times. This surname actually originated from ancient China hence follows the Chinese pronunciation.
Lucellia Kassel
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-03-11T07:16:52.150Z
Earlier I asked a question that I think is somewhat similar to yours. My question is about 首相, which are now used for the title of top government officials of some countries, such as Japan, Cambodia, the UK,  but in China's history, there was no such an official title using the exact words(宰相，丞相).
NanningYouth
<pronunciation><history><taiwan><mainland-china>
The Chinese readings of 朴 (Korean surname)
# The Chinese readings of 朴 (Korean surname)

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-03-03)

The character 朴 is used in modern Mandarin in the following ways:

* *pò* 朴樹 'Chinese hackberry, *Celtis sinensis*', 厚朴 '*Magnolia officinalis*'.
* *pǔ* [simplified from 樸] 'simple, plain, rough, unpolished'.

However, the Korean surname 朴 (Park) is pronounced *Piáo*.

Furthermore, it seems that Taiwan uses the *Pú* reading instead.

How did these readings (especially *Piáo*) emerge? While in Korean the [pa̠k̚] pronunciation refers to a native word, its phonetic spelling as 朴 has a long history (I believe attested at least from the 10th century), so I wouldn't expect the Chinese reading to be anything but the natural development from 'ordinary' 朴, that is, *pò*.

**Tags:** pronunciation, history, taiwan, mainland-china

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The reason why 朴 pronounces as Piáo in mainland China is that 朴 is also a Chinese surname which reads Piáo. Actually there are 56 peoples in China among which one is Korean. Historically the Korea Kingdom used Chinese letters as noble languages in ancient times. This surname actually originated from ancient China hence follows the Chinese pronunciation.  
> **username_2**: Earlier I asked a question that I think is somewhat similar to yours. My question is about 首相, which are now used for the title of top government officials of some countries, such as Japan, Cambodia, the UK,  but in China's history, there was no such an official title using the exact words(宰相，丞相).  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2023-03-10. Score: 1

朴 as a surname in China somehow has *three* different pronunciations: piáo, pǔ, fú, at least according to [this website](http://www.cnbjx.com/xingshi/pu_2055.html). However, the 朴 surname in Korea is completely unrelated. The first person the 朴 surname in Korea was [the founder of Silla](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyeokgeose_of_Silla), whose surname was apparently chosen to match the Korean word for gourd (which is also *bak*). Of course, hangul had not been invented yet, so the original Korean surname, *Bak*, had to be transcribed into Chinese characters. So, they chose 朴, which, at the time would have sounded quite similar to *bak*, at least looking at some of the [reconstructions listed on Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%9C%B4#Pronunciation) for the first pronunciation, pò.

Now, this is my theory for the piáo pronunciation. When ancient Chinese people read texts about the Korean surname 朴, they obviously did not know about the actual Korean pronunciation, so they just defaulted to the standard pronunciation for 朴 as a surname, piáo, as piáo was the most common pronunciation out of the three possible 朴 pronunciations. This pronunciation carried over into modern times.

As for the pú pronunciation in Taiwan, pú was used in southern China, while piáo was used in northern China, according to [this blog post](https://pian0214.pixnet.net/blog/post/60252826). When South Korean President Park Chung-hee came to Taiwan to establish relations in 1966, the Taiwanese president told everyone to pronounce the Park Korean surname as pú because it is closer to the Korean pronunciation.


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### Answer by username_4 on 2023-03-03. Score: 0

In Taiwan, according to the [entry](https://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/dictView.jsp?ID=617&q=1&word=%E6%9C%B4) in Republic of China MoE dictionary, when it comes to the surname, both ㄆㄨˊ and ㄆㄧㄠˊ are acceptable.

Based on a [post](https://www.facebook.com/TaiwaninKorea/photos/a.334739410720967/799390757589161/?type=3) by Taiwanese representative in Korea, the ㄆㄧㄠˊ pronunciation is used in Northern China, while the ㄆㄨˊ is used in the South.


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