Character · Name · Specification

Author: Zhang Shuyan / Country:
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-01-01
Features: represents the character being in an upper-and-lower structure, with "ling" on top and "hu" below. 2 represents the character "Sui," with a "walk-to-the-bottom" radical in the middle.
(1) Avoiding the name of a surname that is the same as the name or character of the current ruler often requires changing the surname. For example, Xiang Yu's name was Ji, so his surname was changed to Xi; Emperor Yuan of Western Han's name was Shi, so his surname was changed to Sheng; Emperor Ming of Eastern Han's name was Zhuang, so his surname was changed to Yan; Emperor Jing of Jin's name (Sima Shi) led to his surname being changed to Shuai and Shui; After the death of Crown Prince Li Hong of the Tang Dynasty, he was posthumously titled Emperor Xiaojing, and his surname Hong was changed to Hong; During the Later Jin Dynasty, to avoid the taboo of Emperor Shijingtang, the surname Jing was split into Gou and Wen; During the Song Dynasty, to avoid the taboo of Emperor Zhao Kuangyin, the surname Kuang was changed to Qiang and Zhu (Zhu was later changed to Kang during the Zhenghe era due to being considered disrespectful), and Emperor Zhenzong of Song's name Heng led to his surname being changed to Chang.
(2) Avoiding homophones, which not only avoids the ruler's name but also avoids homophones of the ruler's name, is one of the most stringent aspects of taboo avoidance. For example, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang's name was Chun, so the compound surname Chunyu was changed to the single surname Yu because "Chun" was homophonic with "Chun" in the compound surname Chunyu. During the Five Dynasties, Wang Shenzhi, who ruled Fujian, had people with the surname Shen avoid the homophone "Shen," removing the water radical from "Shen" and changing it to the similar surname You. ① During the Jiaolong era of Emperor Gaozu of the Southern Song Dynasty, a person with the surname Yin was reported to the county government because his surname Yin was similar in sound to "Yin" in Emperor Zhao Kuangyin's name, and the county magistrate changed his surname to the similar character "Dian." The Southern Song Emperor Gaozong's name was Gou, so the homophonic surname Gou was changed to Gou, You, Gou, Ju, and the compound surname Goulong. Jin Lixiang's ancestors originally had the surname Liu, but during the Five Dynasties, because "Liu" was homophonic with the name of the Wu-Yue King Qian Liu, they changed their surname to Jin ②.
3. Changing Surnames Due to Events
Changing surnames due to events refers to being forced to change one's surname due to political reasons, personal grievances, or avoiding certain taboos. There are three specific situations:
(1) Changing Surnames to Avoid Peril, which refers to changing one's surname due to national or family adversity. After the unification of China by Qin, descendants of the six former states changed their surnames to avoid persecution. For example, descendants of Tian Guang, a Yan person, changed their surname to Guang; descendants of Xun, a Jin minister, changed their surname to Gou. During Wang Mang's rule, descendants of the Han royal family suffered persecution and changed their surnames to avoid danger. For example, Meng Da, the great-grandson of Su Guang (a variant of Su), removed the "Zheng" radical from "Su" and changed his surname to Shu; the Bai family of Tai Shan removed the "Yu" radical from "Bao" and changed their surname to Bao. Another example is during the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Chengyang Jueheng was executed. He had four sons: one who stayed to guard his father's tomb and kept the surname Jue; one who moved to Xuzhou and changed his surname to Tan; another who moved to Youzhou and changed his surname to Gui; and another who moved to Huayang and changed his surname to Jue.
(2) Changing Surnames to Avoid Enemies, which refers to changing one's surname to avoid enemies. For example, the descendants of Zimen Xi (also known as Zigong, a compound surname Zimen) changed their surname to Mu to avoid enemies; some in the Wu surname changed their surname to Wu to avoid enemies; descendants of the compound surname Shengtu changed their surname to Sheng to avoid enemies. During the Tang Dynasty, there were many people with the surname Di in Chengcheng County, Tongzhou, who claimed their ancestors had the surname Tongqian and changed their surname to Di or Ti to avoid enemies.
(3) Changing Surnames to Avoid Taboos, which refers to changing one's surname to avoid certain taboos. For example, during the Tang Dynasty, Weilun, the Minister of Censorship, sent Gou Zeng as a judge to accompany him on a mission to Tubo. On the way, they heard that Tubo people avoided dogs, so they quickly reported to the emperor, who ordered Gou Zeng to change his surname Gou to Xun. Another example is during the Ming Dynasty, the Liu surname in Tongzhou (now Dayi County, Shaanxi) changed their surname to Dan to avoid shame due to sharing the same name with the eunuch Liu Jin.
4. Changing Surnames Due to Special Events
Special events can also lead to changing surnames. For example, Tian Qianqiu, the Prime Minister during Emperor Wu of Han, was allowed to travel in a carriage in the palace due to his old age. People called him "Carriage Prime Minister," and his descendants changed their surname to Che. During the Three Kingdoms period, someone in Beihai County had the surname Shi, and Beihai Governor Kong Rong mocked him, saying, "Your surname 'Shi' is like the character 'Min' without the top half. You should change your surname to 'Shi.'" Shi Yi then changed his surname to Shi. Fu Hong, the founder of the former Qin, originally had the surname Pu. In the sixth year of the Yonghe era of Emperor Mu of Eastern Jin, Emperor Mu appointed Pu Hong as the Northern General-in-Chief, and to achieve the goal of becoming a king, Pu Hong claimed that a prophecy said that people with the character "cao fu" on their bodies should become kings, and his grandson Jian had exactly that character on his back, so he changed his surname Pu to Fu ("Fu" meaning "cao fu") ①.
5. Adopting Surnames
Adopting surnames refers to changing one's surname to another's for certain purposes (as summarized by Zhao Ji of the Qing Dynasty as following the family law, attaching to prestigious clans, and climbing to power). This practice began in the early Han Dynasty and became particularly popular during the Wei and Jin periods. There were cases of adopting a mother's surname, such as Lü Ping, the son of Empress Lü's sister, who did not originally have the Lü surname but adopted it during the Lü family's enfeoffment and was thus enfeoffed as a marquis. There were also cases of adopting the surname of a master, such as Zhang Meng, the father of Guan Fu, who was a retainer of Guan Ying (Chancellor during Emperor Wen of Han) and was favored by Guan Ying, recommended as a second-rank official, and adopted the surname Guan. There were also more complex cases, such as during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Emperor Wen of Northern Zhou granted Tang Jin the surname Yuwen, and Yu Jin, the Duke of Yan, expressed his willingness to adopt the same surname and become brothers. Later, Emperor Wen of Northern Zhou granted Tang Jin the surname Wan Niu, and Yu Jin followed suit in changing his surname. During Emperor Xuanzong of Tang's reign, the Prime Minister Linghu Xuan vigorously supported his clansmen, leading many ethnic minority surnames to adopt the surname Linghu. Another example is An Lushan, whose original surname was Kang, who adopted the surname An after marrying his mother to the general An Yanyan.
6. Changing Surnames of Ethnic Minorities
Changing surnames of ethnic minorities, as mentioned here, is active rather than passive. It includes two aspects: ethnic minority surnames changing to Han surnames, and Han surnames changing to ethnic minority surnames.
(1) Ethnic Minority Surnames Changing to Han Surnames This is the mainstream of changing surnames of ethnic minorities in history (including during periods when ethnic minorities ruled). For example, the Northern Wei was a state established by the Xianbei people, and the imperial family of Northern Wei paid great attention to learning from the advanced culture of the Han people and often changed their surnames to Han single surnames. According to the "Official and Clan Records" in the "Book of Wei," there were 117 cases of Xianbei compound surnames being changed to Han single surnames, such as Qiumuling being changed to Mu, Bulugu being changed to Lu, Hela being changed to He, and Duluo being changed to Liu. The Liao and Jin were states established by the Khitan and Jurchen people, and many people changed their surnames to Han during this period. For example, Xiao Han, a relative of the Liao dynasty, was appointed as the Military Commissioner of Bianzhou by Liao's Taizong, and was given a Han name, Xiao, after which the three clans of relatives of the Liao dynasty—Bali, Shulu, and Ishuji—changed their surnames to Xiao. Moreover, the surname Xiao and the imperial surname Yelü became the most prestigious surnames in the Liao state. Although the Qing Dynasty used Manchu compound surnames such as Aisin Gioro and Yehe Nara for a long time, they gradually changed to Han single surnames later, such as Aisin Gioro being changed to Jin, Yi, Hong, and De, and Niuhulu being changed to Lang, Bu, and Niu.
(2) Han Surnames Changing to Ethnic Minority Surnames It is not common for Han people to actively change to ethnic minority surnames, usually occurring in multi-ethnic areas. For example, the ancestors of Liang Yu of Northern Zhou were originally Han, but because they were stationed on the northern border, they changed their surname to the Xianbei clan name Heduoling (later the Xianbei merged into the Han and returned to Han surnames). Qi Lianmeng of Northern Qi's ancestors were originally Ji, but during the late Warring States period, they fled to the border and guarded Qilian Mountain, taking the mountain name Qilian as their surname, which was later misspelled as Qilian, becoming a surname of the Xianbei clan.
7. Simplifying Surnames
In the development of surnames, there is a trend toward simplification, mainly manifested in two aspects:
(1) Compound Surnames Changing to Single Surnames Comparing the "Customs of the Han Dynasty" in the Eastern Han Dynasty with the "Hundred Surnames" in the Northern Song Dynasty, the former had one-third of dual-syllable surnames, while the latter had only one-tenth. This shows that compound surnames were gradually simplifying to single surnames. There are many examples of compound surnames changing to single surnames in ancient texts, such as the descendants of Fu Fu Zhongsheng (a compound surname Fu Fu) changing their surname to Fu, the descendants of Ximen Bao (a compound surname Ximen) changing their surname to Xi, and Duan Fuchu, originally with the compound surname Duanmu, later changing to Duan. Others, such as the Murong clan, changed to the single surname Mu, the Zhongli clan changed to the single surname Zhong, and clans like Beimen, Beigong, Beiguo, Beiren, and Beinye all changed to the single surname Bei. Clans like Sima, Simkong, Simtu, and Simkou also changed to the single surname Si. The trend of compound surnames changing to single surnames is even more evident today. The National Language Commission and the Institute of Genetics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences conducted three sampling statistics on the data of the third national population census, with a total of 1.3 million people. They found 1,436 surnames, of which only 21 were compound surnames, accounting for only 1.46%. Some data from the census also showed that some compound surnames were in the process of changing, such as in Shanxi and Guizhou, there were people with the surname (a combination of Linghu), and in Hunan and Jiangxi, there were people with the surname Yang (a combination of Ouyang). The pronunciation remained the same, but the writing form was unified. This is a phenomenon worth noting.
(2) Removing Radicals Some surnames originated from state names, and many of these characters had the radical "β" (a of "yi"). Later, people removed the radical "β" and changed to simpler writing forms. For example, Zhang, Bing, Zeng, Zhu, and Cheng were changed from Zhang, Bing, Zheng, Zhu, and Cheng, respectively. There were also cases of removing other radicals, such as Dan being changed to Ran, Tan being changed to Tan, Su (2) being changed to Sui, and Lu being changed to Lu.