The family name is a precious cultural treasure of China for thousands of years. It can be said that it is a cultural feature of China. For the surnames that every Chinese has, you should know about the Hundred Surnames. You may already know the origin of the ranking order of the Hundred Surnames. Do you know the origin of the Hundred Surnames? Here is the origin of the hundred family names.
Before talking about the origin of the hundred family names, we must talk about the origin of the surnames. After all, the emergence of the hundred family names can only be achieved with the emergence of the surnames. The origin of surname according to legend, the earliest origin of surname is related to the totem worship of the primitive nation. Clan tribes not only worship totems as gods and prohibit eating, killing and offending, but also take them as the unified family name of their clan. In primitive tribes, totems, clan names and ancestral names were often the same. Over time, the name of totems evolved into a common mark - surname for all members of the same clan. There are many legends about the evolution from totem to surname.
The formation of surname is not only closely related to totem, but also inseparable from women. According to archaeological data, in the bronze inscriptions of the Western Zhou Dynasty, it is clear that there are less than 30 surnames, but most of them come from women, such as Jiang, Yao, Si, Ji, WA, maidservant, pregnancy, imperial concubine, Hao, Ying and so on. Not only is the ancient surname mostly related to the word "female", but even the word "surname" itself comes from the female side, which is probably a characteristic product of the matriarchal clan system. And the most distinguished surname in China is also next to women.
After reading the origin of surnames, we can take a look at the origin of hundreds of surnames.
Which dynasty did the hundred family names originate from: it is still difficult to verify the compilers of the hundred family names in the Song Dynasty, but from the origin of the book, it can be inferred that the book was probably written before the Northern Song Dynasty, and spread after being processed and finalized by scholars living in Wu and Yue areas in the early Song Dynasty. Books of surnames similar to the hundred family names have appeared in all dynasties. As early as the spring and Autumn period, some people studied and recorded surnames. In the late Warring States period, the first book to record the origin of surnames, Shiben, recorded the pedigree of emperors, Gongqing, princes and officials from the Yellow Emperor to the spring and Autumn period.
According to the new records of Yuzhao written by Wang Ming and Qing Dynasties, an old Confucian in Qiantang, Zhejiang Province, compiled the hundred family names in the early Song Dynasty.
The surname of Chinese people has a long history. It is said that it originated from the matriarchal clan society in ancient times. The Fuxi family began to have a positive surname and separate marriage. However, the surname and surname in the pre-Qin era are two different concepts. The surname originated from the matriarchal clan society and is the name of the same clan group. The surname is a branch of the surname, indicating the name of the tribe branch, which is used to distinguish children and grandchildren. Due to population proliferation, relocation, changes in identity and skills, some tribes can be divided. These tribes are surnames. Surname is the representative and title of the aristocratic clan system. Before the Xia, Shang and Wednesday dynasties, men often called surnames, while women often called surnames, such as Confucius, so the surname, Kong is surname and Qiu is name. Because men call surnames but not surnames, they are called Kong Qiu instead of Zi Qiu.
The origin of the hundred family name mainly comes from four aspects: first, it comes from the land and the surname given. The son of heaven is the person who gives the surname Ming. The Yellow Emperor created twelve surnames for his twenty-five sons. Tao Tang was granted to Liu Di on behalf of the latter, and his descendants took Liu as their surname.
Second, take the place of birth as the surname. The Yellow Emperor was born in Shouqiu and grew up in Jishui, so he took Ji as his surname.
Third, take the title of nobility and official position as the surname. The young son of the king of Chuzhuang was a senior official. His descendants took the above official as their surname.
Fourth, the surname is obtained for things or other reasons.
The origin of other hundred family names 1) take the surname as the surname. The surname came into being as a symbol of the clan and tribe during the clan commune period, and some of its descendants directly inherited it as a surname. The matriarchal clan society took the mother as the surname, so many surnames were next to the female character at that time. Such as Ji, Jiang, Si, Yao, etc.
2) Take the country name as surname. For example, we are familiar with the feudal states in the spring and autumn and Warring States periods: Qi, Lu, Jin, song, Zheng, Wu, Yue, Qin, Chu, Wei, Han, Zhao, Wei, Yan, Chen, Cai, Cao, Hu, Xu, etc., all of which have become common surnames today.
3) Take the name of the city. A fief is a fief granted to officials of the same surname or of the opposite sex by emperors and princes. Some of their descendants or people living in these villages took it as their surname. For example, during the reign of King Wu of Zhou Dynasty, sikochasheng was granted a manor in Su (now the west of Linzhang County, Hebei Province), and the descendants of ochasheng were surnamed su. According to statistics, there are nearly 200 surnames taking the Yi as their surname. Due to the long historical evolution, some compound surnames no longer exist.
4) It takes the name of Xiang and Ting as its surname. There are not many such cases. The common surnames today are Pei, Lu, Yan, Hao, Ouyang, etc.
5) Take the place of residence as the surname. Among these surnames, there are many compound surnames, usually with the characters Qiu, men, Xiang, Lu, Li, ye and Guan, indicating the living places in different environments.
6) Take the word or name of our ancestors as surname. There are many surnames from this article. According to statistics, there are 500 or 600, including nearly 200 compound surnames. For example, the word Lin Kai, the common son of King Ping of Zhou, passed down from generation to generation with the nature of Lin. The son of Duke Dai of the Song Dynasty, Prince Chong Shi, was named emperor's father. His grandson took his grandfather's name as his surname. In the Han Dynasty, the emperor's father was changed to Huangfu.
7) Take the order as the surname. A family takes surnames in the order of brothers. For example, the eldest is bo or Meng, the second is Zhong, the third is uncle, and the fourth is Ji. The descendants are surnames, indicating the order in the clan. But there are exceptions. Zhuang Fu, the younger brother of Duke Zhuang of Lu, is the second. He was originally the Zhong family and the Zhong Sun family. Because he committed the crime of regicide, his descendants changed their surname to Meng or Meng sun.
8) Take official position as surname. Such as situ, Sima, Sikong, Sishi, Sikou, etc. Some surnames with official position as their surname can also be distinguished from Dan from the literal meaning, such as Ji, Jian, Ku, Cang, Jun, kitchen, etc.
9) Take skill as surname. Such as witches, diviners, potters, butchers, etc.
10) The surname brought by the integration of ancient ethnic minorities into the Han nationality.
11) Take posthumous title as surname.
12) He changed his surname because he gave it and avoided it.