Ancient China was a matriarchal society, in order to avoid the occurrence of marriage with the same clan and affect the reproduction of descendants, the surname was used as the code name of the blood relationship of the same clan, and the same surname was not married; At the same time, in order to distinguish between nobles and commoners, the clan was used as the code name of the aristocratic patriarchal system.
The meaning of the two is different.
The coexistence of surnames and surnames flourished in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Qin Dynasty, because of the admiration of military merit, the old nobles gradually decreased, and the clans gradually became useless.
In the Western Han Dynasty, the clan was completely useless, and since then the surname has been combined into a word, and the meaning has become a symbol of the clan, which has been passed down to the present.
In fact, according to incomplete statistics, there are more than 5,000 surnames, and these surnames have various origins.
The origin of the surname
The different origins of surnames, here are a few examples:
1. The name of the country
For example, during the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, the State of Wu was destroyed by the State of Yue, and the people of the State of Wu who escaped took the name of the country as their surname, which is the source of the Wu surname.
2. Official positions
For example, Xun Lin's father was originally from the Xun clan of the Jin Dynasty, and later served as a general in the Jin Dynasty, so future generations took the surname of Zhongxing.
3. Be enthroned
For example: the Zhao clan was originally a branch of the Ying clan, and later the tribal leader Zao Father was sealed in Zhao Cheng by the King of Zhou, and since then the father and grandson have taken Zhao as their surname, which is the source of the Zhao surname.
In addition to the above three, there are also sources such as place of residence, the name or word of the ancestors, ranking and skill.
From the above sources, it can be seen that the surname is the inheritance symbol of the family, and studying the source of the surname can understand the rise and fall of the family and trace the footsteps of their ancestors.
The meaning of the last name
The surname is the symbol of the family, and the person with the surname is the representative of the family, and conversely, the family must also be responsible for each person with the surname, which is a bit of a "sitting" meaning.
In ancient China, in order to better control the people under them, the rulers specially formulated a variety of severe punishment laws, some of which were specifically used against families, such as clan curses.
At first, it was only the prisoner family that was accused, and later it was added layer by layer, from the three ethnic groups and the five ethnic groups all the way to the nine ethnic groups, and finally Ming Chengzu Zhu Di killed Fang Xiaoru, and ingeniously added a student family in addition to the nine ethnic groups, a total of ten ethnic groups.
It can be said that if a person commits a major crime of clan condemnation, then the father's clan, the matriarch's clan, and the wife's clan will all disappear and completely disappear from society.
It was a very cruel punishment, and there were all kinds of stories about it.
The patriarch of the Zhao clan of the Jin Dynasty was framed by the traitors, and all but one widow was killed. The widow grew up to avenge the family and revive the Zhao family, and this story is the famous "Orphan of Zhao" in China.
Interestingly, sometimes there are special conflicts in the story, such as having the traitor adopt the Zhao orphan.
Then, after the Zhao orphans become adults, if they want revenge, they must kill their adoptive father; If you don't want revenge, then you're sorry for the loyal servants who died for him.
Of course, in the end, the Zhao orphan always killed the traitor. Evil deeds are repaid with evil deeds, and loyal subjects have queens and revive family businesses.
Happy ending for everyone.
From the story, it can be seen that the Chinese people attach importance to blood relations, and then value the surname.
Just like folk tales, those with the surname Yue, those with the surname Yang, and those with the surname Huyan are all loyal servants and filial pieties; Those with the surnames Qin, Pan, and Pang are all traitors and thieves.
This method of identifying good people and bad people by surname is of course incorrect, and those with the surname Qin are not necessarily bad people; Historically, Pan Renmei was not a traitor at all.
But one man ignored all this and overbearingly sentenced him to death with a surname.
Curse the descendants
This overbearing and somewhat unreasonable person was Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. The surname that was sentenced to death was Pu.
The Surname Pu comes from a variety of sources, one of which is the surname taken by Arabs who came to China to do business during the Tang and Song dynasties.
During the Tang and Song dynasties, there was a famous Arab merchant named Pu Shou Geng. He first moved from Champa to Guangzhou, and finally settled in Quanzhou, Fujian.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, Pu Shou Geng owned a large number of sea ships, monopolized the overseas spice trade, and accumulated a lot of money from it, which can be called rich in the world. At that time, the Government of the Southern Song Dynasty appointed him as a Fujian envoy, a red-toped businessman with real power.
In the second year of Deyou, the Yuan army moved south, and the central government of the Southern Song Dynasty in Lin'an was forced to surrender, and then the Yuan army surrendered to the local government of the Southern Song Dynasty. Pu Shou Geng, on the surface, is the first rat at both ends, but in fact has made up his mind to reduce the yuan.
When the Southern Song Dynasty loyalists went south to Fujian and prepared to reorganize the rivers and mountains, Pu Shougeng took the initiative to meet him and invited the Song courtiers to enter Quanzhou to rest. At that time, Zhang Shijie, who was in charge of the government, did not take it, and also plundered Pu's sea ships and assets as military supplies.
Pu Shougeng used this as an excuse to attack the Song army near Quanzhou and kill the Zhao clan, and for a while, the city of Quanzhou was full of people and dead bodies, and Zhang Shijie heard the news that quanzhou could not be attacked, so he had to go to the sea in a hurry, and finally the Song room was destroyed in the sea.
With this great achievement, Pu ShouGeng was awarded the title of Zhongshu Zuo Cheng of Fujian Province by the Yuan Dynasty, and died at the age of 86. Compared to its despicable behavior, it really makes people feel that God has no eyes.
Fortunately, good and evil will eventually be rewarded, although Pu Shougeng escaped the punishment of the manifest, but the great hero Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang gave him a hard blow. If Pu Shou Geng had a spirit in heaven, he would definitely regret it.
Zhu Yuanzhang is a person who "either does not do it, or do it absolutely".
He noticed that pu not only contributed to the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty, but also fought against the anti-Yuan rebels, so Pu became his most hated surname, and Pu was also the family he hated the most.
He decreed the heaviest punishment given to the Pu clan: a man surnamed Pu was a slave for generations, and there was never the possibility of studying or becoming an official; Women have been prostitutes for generations and can only be untouchables for generations.
Since then, the Pu clan people can only engage in lowly work for generations, and some have secretly changed their names and surnames, but they can only tremble all their lives, not knowing when they will be destroyed.
Pu Shou Geng is really a deep sin and a long-term disaster, and pu clan has no possibility of turning over.
Pu Shou Geng harmed the Bo clan, and the harm to the Pu clan can be described as a great deal.
epilogue
Whether Pu Shougeng attacked the anti-Yuan and Song armies and whether he ordered the killing of the Zhao clan was indeed a place of discussion.
However, it can be seen from ming taizu's edict that the surname is a constraint on the individual, and if a person misbehaves, it is very likely to endanger the family and even endanger future generations.
Pu Shou Geng caused the Pu clan to suffer a catastrophe. Instead, someone added a head to the family.
The surname Qian is a famous surname, located in the second place of the hundred family surnames.
Famous people with the surname Qian include Qian Hao, who was in Lin'an five generations ago, who established the State of Wuyue, developed the local economy, built sea ponds and seawalls, and was highly regarded in the southeast.
In modern times, famous people with the surname Qian include Qian Xuesen, the father of Chinese missiles, Qian Weichang, the father of modern Chinese mechanics, and Qian Sanqiang, the father of China's atomic bomb.
These three scientists have all made outstanding contributions to China's scientific cause and are known as three coins.
These people with the surname Qian can be said to have added glory to the surname Qian and added color to the family.
The comparison between the two cannot but make future generations think deeply.