8 replies to this topic

[Moose]

I read somewhere that back in the old dynastic days, peasants did not have surnames since they were mostly illiterate. So when did they come to adopt surnames for their family and how was the surname chosen? From where they were born?

[Liang Jieming]

Surnames came from many sources.

Village names, Nation/State names, Emperor-endowed names, Title names, Profession names, etc. Most surnames can be traced back to the Spring & Autumn period. Mine comes from about 600 B.C.

[Moose]

Surnames came from many sources.

Village names, Nation/State names, Emperor-endowed names, Title names, Profession names, etc. Most surnames can be traced back to the Spring & Autumn period. Mine comes from about 600 B.C.

When did common folk adopting surnames became commonplace?During the Qing Dynasty?

[Liang Jieming]

When did common folk adopting surnames became commonplace?During the Qing Dynasty?

Much, much earlier than that!

The bulk of current surnames are from the Spring & Autumn period but there is a small set from even earlier and were already in existence since the Zhou (and maybe Shang). These surnames were possibly not used by common people but were aristocractic family names.

There are many versions to the stories of how most surnames came about, but many of the stories from the Spring & Autumn period, tell of the people of the town/state taking on the surname of the state or ruler in it's/his honour. This would mean that by the Spring & Autumn Period, people were already taking on surnames for themselves.

[snowybeagle]

Actually, I believe most surnames for everyone came from census taking for taxation purposes.

In feudal China during pre-Qin, landownership was mainly in the hands of nobles. Most commoners weren't allowed to have lands as land was deemed to be leased from the Son of Heaven.

Apart from nobles, some commoners who had special skills were also conferred offices and titles, and they came to use surnames as they were then in a position to establish ancestral tablets.

Another source of surnames would be when smaller feudal states were conquered - the displaced people took the names of their vanquished states as surnames.

[General_Zhaoyun]

If you can read chinese, here is an article on the origin/history of chinese surnames.

http://www.chinahist...?showtopic=9116

Basically, to learn about the origin of the chinese surname, we need to examine the chinese characters for surname called "Xin Shi 姓氏". Originally, the "Xin 姓" and "Shi 氏" were clearly separated. "Xin 姓" means "surname" while "Shi 氏" means clan. Note that the character "Xin 姓" consisted of two radicals "Nu 女" (women) and "Sheng 生" (born), which means "born to a women". Thus, during the matriachical society (female dominated society during Pre-Xia), "Xin 姓" was a name used by a person to trace who the mother is. In Matriachy society, the person only know who his/her mother is and not the father. Thus, the naming convention of "Xin 姓" was accorded to the name of mother. Mass marriage was common, but inter-marriage within the same "Xin" was discouraged.

By Xia dynasty, China became a patriachical society (male dominated society) and people started to name their surnames according to the name of a particular clan. The purpose was to prevent marriage within the same clan (since inter-marriage within the same family might result in failure of future offspring). Marriage amongst different clans was encouraged for future better offspring.

This development grew until Spring/Autumn period (Zhou dynasty) where the distinction between ""Xin 姓" and "Shi 氏" became very blurred. People started to name their surnames according to the name of the state where he belongs to. From then on, "Xin" and "Shi" began to be used as one to refer to surnames.

[WuXiaHer0]

I read somewhere that back in the old dynastic days, peasants did not have surnames since they were mostly illiterate. So when did they come to adopt surnames for their family and how was the surname chosen? From where they were born?

I got this information from a very reliable source,a book about the origins of Chinese names,actually,and I find what you said is partially true compared to what I have read...

The Chinese were the first to adopt surnames five to six thousand years ago.In Japan,ordinary people were only allowed to have surnames in 1870.

1.Tradition has it that in remote antiquity there were two famous tribes in the Yellow River Valley.One was Ji(姬)and had the Yellow Emperor as its chief.The other,Jiang(姜)was headed by Yandi (better known as Shennong).Being closely related,they formed a tribal alliance.The Yellow Emperor lived by the Ji waterside while Yandi lived by the Jiang waterside,hence they used "Ji" and "Jiang" as their surnames respectively.Soon,the population of these two rulers' descendants flourished and many surnames were originated from them.

2.Totems as surnames--Long ago in China,primitive men worshipped totems.Hence,the totem is a symbol of their clan and they use it to distinguish their clan from the others.As time passed by,some totems were adopted as surnames like dragon,bird,horse etc.

3.Using the name of one's state--Some used the names of a state like Qi(齐),Song(宋),etc.

4.Using the name of one's fief--During the Western Zhou Dynasty,there was a man by the name of Zaofu.He was rewarded with a fiefdom by Duke Mu of Zhou in Zhao city.Hence,Zaofu's descendants adopted the surname Zhao(赵).

5.Using the title of an official post--For example,Sima 司马 (Minister of War),Situ 司徒 (Minister of Land and People)and Sikong 司空 (Minister of Public Works) were titles of official posts in ancient times.

6.Using the name of one's occupation--The ancestors of those whose surname is Tao (陶) were probably potters.Shamans and witchdoctors probably took on the surname Wu (巫).

Using surnames included many others like using the landmark of the place where one resided e.g. Liu(柳)which means willow trees,ancestor's name as surname and seniority as surnames e.g. Bo 伯,Meng 孟 etc.

[Hongwu]

When did common folk adopting surnames became commonplace?During the Qing Dynasty?

I can say it is more earlier than that, chinese people already adopt surname before century.. example for you is the history of Lin surname (林)

During the reign of Shang Zhou ("纣王" in Chinese), 1154 BC to 1122 BC, the last king of the Shang dynasty (1783 BC to 1122 BC) had 3 of his uncles advising him and his administration. The king's uncles were Bi Gan (also spelled Pi Kan), Qi Zi and Wei Zi. Together the 3 men were known as "The Three Kindhearted Men of Shang" in the kingdom.
Bi Gan was the son of Prince Ding, son of Emperor Shang and, thus, was King Zhou's uncle.
Unfortunately, Zhou was a cruel king and the state's citizens suffered tremendously. His 3 uncles could not persuade him to change his ways. Failing in their duty to advise the king, Wei Zi resigned. Qi Zi faked insanity and was relieved of his post. Only Bi Gan stayed on to continue advising the king to change his ways. “Servants who are afraid of being killed and refrain from telling the truth are not righteous,” he said. This put him in danger of incurring the king's wrath. Bi Gan stayed at the palace for three days and nights to try to persuade the bloodthirsty and immoral king to mend his ways.

The stubborn king would not relent and had his uncle, Bi Gan, arrested for treason. Upon hearing this, his pregnant wife (surname Chen) escaped into the forest to protect her unborn child from death. She knew, in time, the king would execute Bi Gan and his entire family. In the forest the baby was born. Alone with no one to help, she grabbed hold of two trees and gave birth to a baby boy whom she named Jian. When she reached the nearest town, she gave her child the surname Lin (Chinese character depicted by two trees).

Before long, Shang Zhou was overthrown and killed by Zhou Wu Wang (Zhou Dynasty, 1134 BC to 256 BC). Zhou Wu Wang knew about the courageous court adviser Bi Gan and sought his wife and child. When he found them, he honoured them in respect of Bi Gan. The mother and child were restored back into the royal family. The new king conferred the surname Lin (meaning woods or forest) on Bi Gan's son, because he was born in some woods.

According to historical records, people who carry the surname Lin are the descendents of Bi Gan (God of prosperity), a loyal subject of King Zhou from the Shang Dynasty.