The origin of the surname "Fang"

Hello landlord, I am very happy to answer your question.

The following is some information I found, I hope it will be helpful to you.

Version 1:

The origin of the Fang surname was first related to the Yan Emperor Shennong. The Fang family has a long history of nearly 4,700 years and is descended from the Fang Lei family. According to legend, one of the descendants of Emperor Yan named Yugong was enfeoffed in Fangshan (today's northwest of Yuzhou, Henan) because he helped the Yellow Emperor conquer Chiyou. Therefore, he was called Fang Lei by future generations. Fang Lei's descendants took their surname from Fengguo, with the surname Fang.

In the middle of the Zhou Dynasty, there was a man named Uncle Fang in the Zhou Dynasty clan. He served as a high official in the court and was ordered to lead troops to quell the barbarian rebellion in the south. To this end, he organized an army of 3,000 chariots and attacked the barbarians. The result was a resounding victory. Before that, he also conquered Huaiyi and repelled the invasion of northern ethnic minorities. At this point, King Xuan of Zhou rewarded him for his merits, allowed him to divide the country and establish a clan, and gave him the surname "Fang". After that, his descendants also followed the surname Fang. Fang Shu originally had the same surname as the Zhou Dynasty royal family. His surname was Ji and his given name was Hong. Fang Shu was just his given name.

In the Song Dynasty, Weng Gandu, a native of Quanzhou, Fuzhou, gave birth to 6 children, with the surnames Hong, Jiang, Weng, Fang, Gong and Wang respectively. Among them, the fourth son Weng Chulin was given the surname Fang, and his descendants were also surnamed Fang.

Among the above three sources, the second source has the greatest influence, and later developed into the main body of people with the surname Fang. Because its birthplace and subsequent development center were in the Luohe area of ??present-day Henan, it was under the jurisdiction of Henan County in ancient times. When people with the surname Fang talked about its origin, they often used "Henan" as their county name. People with the surname Fang derived from the surname Weng were differentiated from the other five surnames at the same time, so they had the friendship of "Liu Gui Lian Fang", and later took "Liu Gui" as their hall name.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people surnamed Fang who lived in Tongcheng, Anhui Province passed down poems and calligraphy to their families, and successively produced famous scholars such as Shi Ji, Fang Xiaobiao, Fang Xiaojie, and Fang Guancheng. They attach great importance to knowledge and historical evidence, have profound habits and are serious and meticulous. Together with others, they jointly created a school in the academic world, known as the "Tongcheng School" in history, and they are the backbone of this school.

The Fang surname has produced many celebrities in the past dynasties. In addition to those mentioned above, there are also poet Fang Qian of the Tang Dynasty, peasant hero Fang La of the Song Dynasty, writer Fang Hui of the Yuan Dynasty, painter Fang Congyi, female poet Fang Weiyi of the Ming Dynasty, thinker Fang Yizhi of the Qing Dynasty, writer Fang Yurun, and modern revolutionary Fang Zhimin. .

Version 2:

The Fang family has a long history of nearly 4,700 years and is descended from the Fang Lei family. The eleventh grandson of Emperor Yan of Shennong, the eldest son of the eighth emperor Yugong, was named Lei. When the Yellow Emperor attacked Chiyou, Lei was granted the title of Fangshan (today's Yuzhou City, Henan Province) for his meritorious service. After Lei was granted the title of Fangshan, he was called Fanglei's family. , the descendants took the land as their surname, and were divided into Lei and Fang. During the reign of King Xuan of the Western Zhou Dynasty, General Fang Shu, a descendant of Fang Lei, was very wise and brave and was ordered to conquer the south and won a great victory, making immortal contributions to the rejuvenation of the Zhou Dynasty. Therefore, some genealogies of the Fang surname in later generations adopted the theory of "after Zhou Dafu Uncle Fang". In the fifth year of Taikang in the Western Jin Dynasty (AD 284), the Fang family inherited the imperial edict and established the genealogy. In the second year of Xiankang (AD 336), Emperor Cheng of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the "Fang Family Genealogy" was approved by the imperial court as a "celebration of famous families", and the descendants of the Fang family were ordered to "It has been passed down from generation to generation and should never be lost." It is recorded in the Genealogy of the Liushan Zhenying Temple Fair of the Fang Family of Shechun: “The Fangs of She originate from Guzhi in Henan, and they all come out without distinction. The directions of Jiangnan, Fujian and Guangzhou all come from Dongxiang of She, and they all come from the same origin. She's Dongxiang is now Chun'an. Those who were in She, Hui, all came from Chun'an, and the genealogies are very clear. "In She, there is only one temple in Liuting Mountain, which is recorded in the county annals." In the Song Dynasty, there was a family whose surname was changed from Fang to Kuang in Xuancheng, Anhui Province. There were "Lei Fang Kuang" tracing organizations in many places in Guangdong and overseas. The three surnames Fang, Lei and Kuang "come from the same lineage and are derived from three sects".

At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Danyang County Magistrate Fang Hong moved from Henan to Dongxiang, She County, Anhui Province (now Chun'an, Zhejiang) to avoid chaos due to Wang Mang's usurpation of power, and became the leader of the two prefectures of Huiyan and even all Jiangnan clans. **Ancestor. The second generation of Hong was Chu, and his descendants multiplied in Yan, Wu, Yue, Jiujiang, Chuyang, Putian, Hui, Xuan, Chi, Xiu, Hu, and Chang. Chu had three sons. His eldest son, Yi Hou, moved to Hu, Chang, Yin, Chu, Renhe, Nanhai, Putian, Xinghua and Jiujiang, with Putian being the most prosperous. Secondly, after Zi Zhan and Ji Zihong, it also spread widely. The Fang family who lived in Shedong Township and convenient transportation areas in Zhejiang Province during the Han and Tang Dynasties were mainly descendants of Jian Yuhong. The Fang family is a famous family and one of the eight major surnames in Huizhou. The Fang surname is the third most common surname in She County and the first most common surname in Chun'an. During the Han and Tang Dynasties, 31 people of the Fang family were awarded the title of Marquis or above. Until modern times, for thousands of years They are all famous people. They mainly include the famous eunuch Fang Chu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Fang Qing, the leader of the peasant uprising in the Tang Dynasty, Fang Qian, the talented poet of the Tang Dynasty, Fang La, the leader of the peasant uprising in the Song Dynasty, Fang Fengchen, the number one educator, the writer Fang Hui, the poet Fang Yue, and the medical scientist of the Ming Dynasty. Fang Yulu, a famous ink maker and master, Fang Fengchen, a great scholar, Fang Shishu, a Qing Dynasty writer, Fang Chengpei, a dramatist, Fang Jianchen, the contemporary "China's No. 1 Sword" inkstone carving master, and so on.

The first person with the surname Fang who moved to Putian, Fujian, was Fang Shudaguan Quanzhou in the Tang Dynasty. He later lived in Fangshan, Putian, and his descendants were called "Fangshan Fang". Another family who moved to Putian in the late Tang Dynasty had the surname Fang Tingfan Guan Changle, an ancient She person. , was awarded the title "Jin Zi Guang Lu Da Fu". He gave birth to 7 sons, 6 of whom were officials and were called "Liu Gui Lianfang" at that time. He respected Fang Tingfan as the "Father of Liu Gui" and his descendants were called "Jin Zi Liu Gui Fang Family". Some of the relocated tribes of the Zhifang family took "Liu Guitang" as their hall name. During the Song and Ming dynasties, the Putian Fang family's imperial examinations were unprecedentedly grand, with more than 360 people competing for the top grades (Jinshi and Juren). There were 28 couples of the Fang family in the two Song dynasties. Among the 26 pairs of brothers, father and son, there are as many as 132 Jinshi. They are the highest among all surnames in Putian. Three of the six major libraries in Putian's history were built by the Fang family. The famous libraries of the Fang family in the Song Dynasty are: Fang's Wanghu Tower, Baidu Wanjuan Tower, Fang Wanyi Sutra Hall, Fang Jianfu Wen Pavilion, Fang Yubao Sanyu Zhai, Fang Songqing's collection of books also totals tens of thousands of volumes, including Bai Du Fang's "Baidu Wan". The "Juan Building" has a total collection of more than 50,000 volumes, which was the largest library in the country at that time. Due to the grand imperial examination, many tribesmen became officials abroad, and their descendants settled in other places, with the largest number in Guangdong. Among them, the Fang family of Pu origin in Huilai County reached 17 Thousands of people. Putian has therefore become another important transit place and birthplace for the migration of the Fang family after the ancient She County. "The fame of Confucianism is too numerous to mention." The main celebrities include: Song Dynasty calligrapher Fang Jun, Fang Lue, Minister of Justice Fang Heng, textual research master Fang Songqing, famous scholar Fang Xinru, famous eunuch Fang Dacong, Neo-Confucian calligrapher Fang Shiyao, poet Fang Weishen, and Yuan famous doctor Fang Baked, Fang Liangyong, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment of the Ming Dynasty, etc.

The Fang family in Tongcheng (now Tongcheng and Songyang) mainly has three branches, called "Guilin Fang", "Lugu *** Fang" or "Orion Fang". " and "Hui Gong Fang". The Fang family in Tongcheng is famous for its ancient writings, with generations of talented people, and a long-lasting writing style that has lasted for hundreds of years. Some people think that it is the most important historical contribution to academic culture and morality since the middle of the Ming Dynasty in my country. Family. Until contemporary times, the Fang family in Tongcheng can be said to have produced numerous celebrities, forming a large group of scholars. Among them, the more famous ones include: Neo-Confucian scholar Fang Xuejian, Yi scholar Fang Dazhen, Neo-Confucian scholar Fang Kongzhen, The poet Fang Weiyi, the thinker Fang Yizhi, the scholar Fang Zhongde, the mathematician Fang Zhongtong, the scholar Fang Zhonglu, the poet Fang Wen, the litterateur Fang Dengfeng, Fang Shiji, the litterateur Fang Xiaobiao, Fang Gongqian, the calligrapher and painter Fang Hengxian, the litterateur Fang Shiju , Fang Zhenguan, Fang Bao, the founder of Tongcheng School, writer, politician, water conservancy expert Fang Guancheng, writer, governor Fang Weidian, writer Fang Zongcheng, Fang Dongshu, scholar Fang Shouli, Fang Shoudun, literary theorist Fang Xiaoyue, important figures of the Republic of China Member Fang Zhi, "great philosopher of the generation" Fang Dongmei, writer Fang Lingru, poet Fang Weide, scholar Fang Guide (Shu Wu), journalist Fang Zuode (dialect), painter Fang Hongshou, entertainer Fang Zige, politician Fang Zhaoxiang and so on. Tongcheng Fang's family not only created the broad and profound "Tongcheng Fang's School of Yi Studies", but also founded the "Tongcheng School" that dominated the literary world of the Qing Dynasty for more than two hundred years. Regarding the world-famous scholarly family Tongcheng Fang, Liang Shiqiu said: "The Tongcheng Fang family may be second only to the Qufu Kong family in popularity." Contemporary scholar Qian Liqun said, "The Tongcheng Fang family is the successor to the Qufu Kong family. The family that has the greatest influence on Chinese culture after the family is a swan song of a Chinese cultural family." Taiwanese writer Gao Yang praised: "The Fang family is characterized by loyalty, filial piety, justice, and all four characters. It is the first-class family of poetry and etiquette in China." The second largest cultural family in China.

Chinese Fang surnames originated in Henan and expanded to the surrounding areas with ancient Huizhou as the center. They are typical southern surnames. The population center is in the southeastern provinces. The largest population is in Anhui with more than 1 million, followed by about 1 million in Zhejiang. 550,000, the third is Guangdong with about 400,000, and other provinces with larger numbers are Jiangxi, Fujian, Hunan, Hubei, Guangxi, Yunnan, Jiangsu, Taiwan, etc. The population of Fang surname is sparse in the northern provinces, ranking 86th in Henan. It has the largest population. The county is Huilai County, Guangdong, where there are as many as 170,000 people with the Fang surname. Other counties and cities with large populations are Yunxiao County, Putian County, Zhejiang Province, Chun'an County, Tonglu County, Jinhua County, Anhui Province, and Tongcheng County, Anhui Province. , Songyang, Shexian, Xiuning, Hunan Pingjiang, Yueyang, Guangdong Puning, Kaiping, Dongguan, etc. The most populous town is Hongyang Town, Puning, Guangdong, with about 70,000 people surnamed Fang, accounting for about 50, which is the real " "Fang Ban Town". The Fang family of Wenyang in South Korea migrated from the Central Plains to Henan in the Tang Dynasty, with a population of more than 100,000. The ancestor of the migration was Fang Zhi, a Hanlin scholar in the Tang Dynasty and a great historian of Silla culture. The Fang surname in Thailand was mostly from Chaoshan immigrants, with a population of 60,000. Fang Xiaoru in the Ming Dynasty refused to be The usurper Zhu Di drafted an edict to ascend the throne, but the tyrant killed 10 tribesmen. The number of victims reached more than 800. As many as 10,000 tribesmen were exiled. This was the biggest disaster in the history of the Fang family. In order to escape, many people with the surname Fang fled. All over the country, many tribesmen who escaped from the clutches of the devil changed their surnames to other people, such as Liu, He, Cai, Zhang, Shi, Xuan, Yu, Wang, etc. The Fang surname was listed as the 35th most common surname in the Song Dynasty, with a population of about 450,000; Accounting for 0.59% of the country, it was ranked 28th in the Yuan Dynasty; it was 49th in the Ming Dynasty, with a population of about 440,000.

According to the latest statistics, the contemporary population with the surname Fang ranks 63rd in the country, accounting for 0.36 in the country.

Historically, there have been numerous elites and famous figures. The Fang family genealogy prefaced by Wen Tianxiang, the number one scholar in the Song Dynasty, praised: "The Fang family was prominent in the Zhou Dynasty, and it reached our dynasty in the Han Dynasty. It is so famous and famous. Liuze and the latter are so prosperous! Su Dongpo wrote the inscription "Articles on China, Poems and Etiquette Heirlooms", and Su Xun inscribed "The descendants of civil and military generations, through the ages. "Liu Fang". In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Fang family of poetry and etiquette, represented by the Fang family in Tongcheng, brought the Fang family's reputation to its peak. The "Dictionary of Chinese Names" includes 242 celebrities with the surname Fang in the past dynasties, accounting for the total number of celebrities. 0.53% of the total, ranking 38th; famous writers accounted for 0.8% of the total number of Chinese writers in the past dynasties, ranking 25th; famous medical scientists accounted for 0.66%, ranking 31st. According to the population proportion of celebrities with surnames, the rate of people with Fang surnames ranks 11th, reaching 147.22%. (In order: Qian, Gu, Lu, Cui, Wang, Shen, Shi, Xiao, Du, Confucius, Fang, Meng, Zheng, Fan, and Yao).

Famous representatives of the Fang family in the past dynasties: Uncle Fang, the Zhou doctor, Fang Chu, the famous eunuch of the Han Dynasty, Fang Qian, the poet of the Tang Dynasty, Fang La, the leader of the peasant uprising in the Song Dynasty, Fang Yue, the patriotic poet, Fang Guozhen, the leader of the peasant uprising in the Yuan Dynasty, Fang Xiaoru, the great Confucian of the Ming Dynasty, Fang Yizhi, the scholar of the Ming Dynasty, Fang Bao, the originator of Qing Tongcheng School, writer Fang Dongshu, hero Fang Shengdong, revolutionary leader Fang Zhimin, anti-Japanese hero General Fang Zhenwu, General Fang Xianjue. "Great Philosopher of the Generation" Fang Dongmei, Vice Premier of the State Council Fang Yi, and " "Three Saints of the Fang Family": "Mo Saint" Fang Yulu, "Lian Saint" Fang Dishan, "Bone Saint" Fang Xianzhi. etc.

G00d luck!