The origin of hundreds of surnames

The Chinese had surnames before the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors (about five thousand years ago). According to legend, the earliest origin of surnames is related to the totem worship of primitive peoples. Clan tribes not only regard the totem as a god, prohibiting eating, killing, and offending, but also use it as the unified name of the clan. In primitive tribes, totems, clan names and ancestor names are often the same. Over time, the name of the totem has evolved into the unique symbol of all members of the same clan - the surname. There are many legends about the evolution of totems into surnames. According to research, the king of Yelang Kingdom is the Bamboo King, and his subjects take bamboo as their totem and have the surname Zhu. According to historical records, there were Hu Feo and She Ping in the Jin Dynasty, Gou Weiyang, Lang Mo, Lu Qi in the Han Dynasty, and Leopard Pi Gong and others in the Three Kingdoms. Through these weird names and surnames that have the same names as animals and plants, such as luo, tiger, ant, cow, sheep, bird, dragon, bamboo, Wu, tea, chrysanthemum, etc., we can vaguely see the indelible history of totem worship on the origin of surnames. imprint.

In addition to being closely related to totems, the formation of surnames is also inseparable from women. It was a matriarchal society at that time. We only knew that we had mothers, but we didn’t know that we had fathers. Therefore, the "surname" is composed of "female" and "生", which means that the earliest surname was the mother's surname. According to archaeological data, there are less than thirty surnames that can be clearly identified in the Western Zhou bronze inscriptions, but most of them start from the female side, such as: Jiang, Yao, Si, Ji, Wa, maid, pregnant, concubine, Good, win, etc. Not only are ancient surnames mostly related to the word "女", but even the word "surname" itself comes from the word "女". This is probably a characteristic product of the matrilineal clan system. Women occupy a dominant position in production and life, and group marriage is practiced. Brothers and sisters can marry. Under this system, children only know their mother but not their father. Therefore, there is a saying in mythology that "the saint has no father, and he is inspired by heaven." Many stories about "life". Many ancient surnames start with the female side, which shows the traces of our ancestors' experience in matrilineal clan communes.

During the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, people had both surnames and surnames. In the process of the development of ancient clans, the title "clan" was derived. Legend has it that when the Yellow Emperor ruled the world, there was already a "Xu Tu Ming clan". The Zhou Dynasty was the era when the number and frequency of surnames was greatest. In the early years of the Zhou Dynasty, in order to control the vast areas that had been conquered, feudal princes were enfeoffed on a large scale. The descendants of these vassal states took their surnames as their surnames. In addition, each vassal state also enfeoffed the ministers and officials in the country in the same way, and the descendants of the officials took the name of the country they were granted as surnames. Later, the sources of various forms of surnames continued to appear, and the number of surnames far exceeded the number of surnames. However, only nobles have surnames, while the poor and humble have names without surnames, and surnames become the unique symbol of nobility. As for aristocratic women, no matter how they are called, they must carry their surnames, which reflects the authority and rigor of the feudal patriarchal system in ancient China. During the Warring States Period, society underwent drastic changes, the old aristocracy declined, and some even became slaves. This shows that there is no need for the aristocratic clan to exist.

The "surname" comes from the name of the village where you live or the tribe to which you belong. "Shi" comes from the land granted by the monarch, the title given by the monarch, the official position held, or the title added after death based on merit. Therefore, nobles have surnames, given names, and surnames, and common people have surnames, given names, and surnames, but no surnames. Men and women with the same "surname" can intermarry, but men and women with the same "surname" cannot intermarry. Because the Chinese discovered this genetic rule very early: incest marriage is detrimental to future generations. The origin of surnames can be seen from historical records. "Guoyu·Jinyu" in the pre-Qin period records that "the Yellow Emperor was named after Ji Shui, and the Yan Emperor was named after Jiang Shui, so the Yellow Emperor was named Ji and the Yan Emperor was named Jiang." "Zhouyu" records that "I, Ji Min, come from Tianyu". This shows that the surname is a title representing a race with the same blood relationship. It is a rule of the marriage system of the Zhou Dynasty that people with the same surname are not allowed to intermarry. ·Jin Opera"). The ancients understood very early that inbreeding would produce bad offspring. In order to distinguish the similarities and differences between male and female surnames and decide whether to marry or not, it was very necessary to indicate the surname in the title of a woman. It can be seen that the function of surnames in ancient times was mainly to "differentiate types" and "differentiate marriages".

The system of different surnames was still used until the late Warring States Period. During the Qin Dynasty, the old aristocracy collapsed, the feudal patriarchal system of the Western Zhou Dynasty basically ended, and the old clan and surname systems were also wiped out. During the Western Han Dynasty, the difference between surnames and surnames was negligible. When Sima Qian wrote "Historical Records", he simply confused the surnames with one another. "The names of surnames have been mixed into one since Taishi Gong. In "Ben Ji", it was said that the first emperor of Qin had a surname of Zhao, and that of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, it was called a surname of Liu. "That's right." (Gu Yanwu's "Muzhilu") After that, Chinese surnames and surnames were combined into one, or surnames, or surnames. Common people also went from having no surnames to having surnames.

During the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty (627), Gao Shilian, the Minister of Civil Affairs, recorded the "surnames" of the people and wrote it into a book "Chronicles of the Clan", which was promulgated to the world as a work for recommending virtuous people at that time. official, or the basis for arranging a marriage. The "Hundred Family Surnames" popular in China in the old days was written in the Northern Song Dynasty (960). It contains 408 single surnames, 30 compound surnames, and 438 single surnames. After development, it was said that there were 4,000 to 6,000 of them, but only about 1,000 were actually used.

There are "three major surnames" in various countries around the world.

The United Kingdom is: Smythe, Jones, Williams;

The United States is: Smith, Johnson, Carson;

France is: Martin, Bernard, Dupont;

The United States is: Smith, Johnson, Carson;

France is: Martin, Bernard, Dupont;

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Germany is: Schultz, Mueller, Shmidt;

The Soviet Union is: Ivanov, Vasiliev, Deternov;

And China: Zhang, Wang, Li, Zhao, four This is a big surname with a long history and wide distribution, and they are all surnames given by the emperor. According to the latest statistics, there are 100 million people with the surname Zhang alone. This is probably the largest surname in the world.

In 1977, historian Li Dongming published an article on "surnames" in "Oriental Magazine". The article pointed out:

The ten largest Chinese surnames are: Zhang, Wang, Li, Zhao, Chen, Yang, Wu, Liu, Huang, Zhou. These ten surnames account for 40% of the Chinese population, approximately 400 million people.

The ten most common surnames are: Xu, Zhu, Lin, Sun, Ma, Gao, Hu, Zheng, Guo and Xiao. Accounting for more than 10% of the Chinese population.

The third largest ten surnames are: Xie, He, Xu, Song, Shen, Luo, Han, Deng, Liang, and Ye. Accounting for 10% of the Chinese population.

The next 15 common surnames are: Fang, Cui, Cheng, Pan, Cao, Feng, Wang, Cai, Yuan, Lu, Tang, Qian, Du, Peng, and Lu. Together they account for 10% of the total population. In other words, among China's one billion people, 700 million people have these 45 surnames.

The other more than 300 million people have relatively rare surnames, such as Mao, Jiang, Bai, Wen, Guan, Liao, Miao, Chi, etc.

Many ethnic groups live together in rural areas across China, and often a village only has residents of one surname. Each clan name develops one area, reproduces one area, and monopolizes one area. There were several major waves of immigrants from the Central Plains during the Western Jin Dynasty, the early Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and the Song and Yuan Dynasties. The ancestors of various ethnic groups gradually integrated into the Han nation. The annals of various governments, states, and counties describe this historical phenomenon in detail. For example, Qianlong's "Fuzhou Prefecture Chronicles" records: "In the second year of Yongjia (308), Zhongzhou Ban was shaken, and the eight ethnic groups who first entered Fujian were: Lin, Huang, Chen, Zheng, Zhan, Qiu, He, and Hu. In the Central Plains In the early Tang Dynasty, Chen Zheng and Chen Yuanguang, their father and son, also led the troops to guard Fujian and settled in Fujian. Huang Zhongzhao's "Tongzhi of Fujian" quoted from "Jian'an Zhi": "Since the chaos of the Five Dynasties, many scholar-bureaucrats, wealthy businessmen, and wealthy businessmen in the north of the Yangtze River have avoided chaos here, so Jianzhou prepared the customs of the five directions."

Since Since the Republic of China, there has been a wealth of survey materials on surname families, and evidence for tracing the origins of surnames has been found in various places. Taking Gantangbao in Fu'an County as an example, dozens of local residents come from more than 20 counties in the Central Plains. The Zheng family is from Qinghe County and Xingyang County; the Chen family is from Yingchuan County and Taiqiu County; the Zhou family is from Runan County; and the Xu family is from Runan County. The Qiu family is from Henan County; the Ding family is from Boling County; the Wang family is from Taiyuan County; the Fan family is from Gaoping County; the Miao family is from Donglu County; the Huang family is from Jiangxia County; and the Zeng family is from Tianshui County. Other surnames such as Su, Lan, Guo, Yang, Lian, Jiang, Weng, Xie, Xu, Xu, Zhan, and Wei also have their own ancestral prefectures. Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, they have "divided their families and property ownership, and guest surnames are not allowed to live together in their hometowns." (Ming Dynasty Wanli's "Fu'an County Chronicles" Volume 1 "Customs") Each surname is grouped together according to strict geographical limits. Residence.

Hakkas from East and South China immigrated from the north from the Western Jin Dynasty to the late Song Dynasty. Due to differences in language, customs and conflicts of interest, they often clashed with local residents after migration to compete for living space. This "dispute between host and guest" lasted until the Republic of China. Frequent contradictions and conflicts have caused the Hakka people to rely on and value family relationships based on blood and surnames. Therefore, the Hakka people have the strongest clan concept and family organization. There are hundreds of people living in Hakka earth buildings (whether they are round or square), all of whom have the same surname (clan), and all matters of the same clan (same surname) are helped by the same clan (same surname).

Each family attaches great importance to the origin of their surname and the glory of their ancestors. In addition to genealogical records, its externalized form is concentratedly reflected in the horizontal plaques on the family gates and the long couplets in ancestral halls. Some aristocratic families, in order to show that their ancestors were noble, often inscribed on their door plaques the words "Shang Shu Di", "Da Fu Di", "Jin Shi Di", "Five Dynasties Shangshu", "Yakui Tianxia", etc. The door plaques of general families are engraved with "Lu Guo Chuan Fang" (surname Yan), "Ying Shui Shize" (surname Chen), "Jiang Xia Yan Pai" (surname Huang), "Zhi Zhu Chuan Fang" (surname Ding), etc. The words are used to indicate the county's name and enable people to know the origin of their surname at a glance. The couplets inlaid on the door pillars of the family ancestral hall clearly express the family background of each surname. The couplet of the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall in Gantangbao, Fu'an is: "For decades, people have escaped chaos and lived abroad. Feng Yue was born in Guangdong. The admirers of Fan are willing to build Ken Hall. The Lige family has been prosperous and prosperous since the Jin Dynasty. After three hundred years of entrepreneurship and reunification, the Orioles migrated and spread. Happy to celebrate this day, the beautiful Tangjiang temple has been renovated. "The couplets in the Yan family's ancestral hall in "Taoyuan", Houtang Village, Wuxian Township, Tong'an County, describe the time and route of the surname's entry into Fujian: "Since the Tang Dynasty. Through the Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, hairpins and tassels were passed down from generation to generation; after entering Fujian, they were virtuous (hua) and Yong (spring), Jin (men) and Tong (an), Gua Ping Yun Rong."

Across the country, it is extremely common for a single family to settle down and form a single village. It reflects the characteristics of clans that are bound by blood and geographical relationships, and also imprints the surname and clan on many place names and village names.

For example, Lifang, Chenfang, Caifang, Panwu, Xiaocuo, Xucuo, Wangzhuang, Yijiajia, etc. were all originally such villages. Xiaojiafang in Shaowu was originally called Jinquanli. It was renamed after a large number of people with the surname Xiao moved in during the Ming Dynasty. Xiefang was originally called Xiuxi. It was changed to Xiefang in the Southern Song Dynasty because Xie Yuanming, whose ancestral home was here during the Song Dynasty, became famous as an official and became a prominent family. Even in villages with mixed surnames, most of them are dominated by one surname and one clan.

Due to historical or family reasons, there are often some taboos and taboos between a single surname or between surnames. For example, in the old days, the play "Xue Rengui's Conquest of the East" in Gaopi, Changting County, Fujian Province was not performed because the play contained the plot of the traitor Zhang Shigui murdering Zhongliang, which was considered to be insulting to his fellow clan members. People named Li in this county do not display lanterns during the Lantern Festival because it is said that a crown prince named Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty was kicked to death by Xue Gang while watching lanterns during the Lantern Festival. Therefore, the surname Li considers displaying the Lantern Festival to be unlucky. People with the surname Lu in Kan City, Yongding, call the wind stove Duanzao, because "Lu" and "Lu" are homophonic. The locals call the pot lid "Zeng Sheng", and only people with the surname Zeng call it pot lid exclusively because "甑" and "Zeng" have the same pronunciation. Loach is also called yellow loach or lake loach. People named Huang in Aoyao and other places in Hukeng Township, Yongding do not call it yellow loach but call it lake loach. People named Hu in Zhongchuan and other places call it yellow loach. Cockroaches are cockroaches, commonly known as yellow thieves. People with the surname Huang in Fushi avoid calling them yellow thieves and instead call them cockroaches. The two surnames Lin and Weng in Changting were taboo on intermarriage. According to legend, the descendants of the two surnames brought their ancestors' ashes back to their hometowns at the same time. They met at an inn. The ashes of both parties were accidentally mixed together and they could not be separated. They had to take half back to their hometown for burial. From then on, in order to avoid the suspicion of marrying into the same clan, the two surnames did not marry each other. The Gaodong people in Guzhu Township do not intermarry with the people in Yanbei Village because the Gaodong people believe that their ancestor Jiang Dongfeng was killed by the Yanbei people, so there is an old grudge. This kind of taboo is also found in other parts of the country, and most of it has now been broken.

The emergence of surnames

At the end of primitive society, when the Yellow Emperor ruled the world, there was already a "Xuntu Mingshi" and surnames appeared. During the Xia and Shang dynasties, there were also a small number of "shis" produced. The Zhou Dynasty was the era when the number and frequency of surnames was greatest. In the early years of the Zhou Dynasty, in order to control the vast areas conquered, feudal princes were enfeoffed on a large scale. King Wu, Gongdan and Cheng of Zhou successively enfeoffed land to their brothers, relatives and heroes with different surnames, and established 71 feudal states, including 16 brothers of King Wu and 40 nobles with the same surname. The descendants of these vassal states took their surnames as their surnames. According to statistics, there are 48 surnames from the Zhou royal family with the same surname of Fengguo, and about 60 people with different surnames from Fengguo. In addition, each vassal state used the same method to enfeoff the ministers and officials in the country, that is, the descendants of the officials were named after the names of the fiefdoms they received, such as Tian, ??Bai, Bao, Fei, Fan, Qu, Zhongli, Handan wait. After layers of enfeoffment, surnames with the names of feudal states and towns sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. Therefore, the Zhou Dynasty was the most important period for the development of surnames in our country. Then, the sources of various forms of surnames continued to appear, and the number of surnames multiplied and multiplied more and more, and the number of surnames far exceeded the number of surnames. After the merging of surnames, from ancient times to the present, nine out of ten surnames used by Chinese people can be said to have evolved from the surnames derived from the surnames. It is worth mentioning that in ancient times, there were the Chao family, the Suiren family, the Fuxi family, the Shennong family (Emperor Yan), the Xuanyuan family (Huangdi), the Jintian family (Shaohao), the Gaoyang family (Zhuanxu), the Gaoxin family (Emperor Ku), and the Tao family. The Tang clan (Yao, also known as the Yi Qi clan), the Yu clan (Shun), and the Xia clan (Yu) are the honorific names given to ancestors in imagination and legends by later generations, which are different from "Xuntu is the clan".