The statements in this article are based on reliable sources and are repeated at the end of this article
In 2005, a strange thing happened in Taizhou, Jiangsu.
Wu Yuanda, from Wujiashe Village, led more than 600 villagers to apply for a surname change to "Zhang", and also took out his own tablet and genealogy to explain why they did it.
You must know that the name is not only a cultural symbol in modern society, it is also a person's social identity, the change of a person's name will involve the change of ID card, household register, real estate certificate, bank card, driver's license, etc., it can be said that if it is not a special situation, few people change their name and surname.
So what is the reason why these more than 600 people insist on changing their surnames?
01
The surname is Wu, and the surname is Zhang
In fact, the matter of changing their surnames is really not a whim of them, everything is related to a secret of their ancestors.
When Wu Yuanda was still in junior high school, he accidentally learned about it from his grandfather.
It was Chinese New Year's Eve, and his grandfather was sacrificing to his ancestors, and he accidentally found that the name on the ancestral tablet was actually written "Zhang Guangwen", knowing that their surname was Wu.
After perceiving his grandson's confusion, his grandfather Wu Huaibao told him that this was indeed their ancestor, and they had an ancestral motto "Born surnamed Wu and died surnamed Zhang", and their family has been persisting for more than 600 years, and their whole village is like this.
Later, when a reporter came to interview, Wu Yuanda also deliberately took out a tablet, which has a history of more than 300 years, and there are several paragraphs written on the back.
The gist of this line is that they have lived in Hailing (the old name of Taizhou) for generations, but they were originally surnamed Zhang, and the reason why this is the case is to talk about their ancestor Zhang Shicheng.
In the battle with Zhu Yuanzhang, their Zhang family failed, and their branch fled to Huaicheng's uncle Wu's family, and since then they have been incognito.
But hundreds of years have passed since this incident, can a tablet prove that they are Zhang Shicheng's descendants?
02
Zhang Shicheng was defeated
Zhang Shicheng and Lao Zhu both started from the Anti-Yuan Dynasty, but they were not in the same camp, one established the Ming regime, and the other established the Great Zhou regime.
Although the former established a base earlier than Lao Zhu, there was a big gap between the two sides in terms of strength and ambition.
Although Zhang Shicheng has a lot of territory, he doesn't have much ambition, and he is not the kind of person who vows to unify the whole country.
At that time, he controlled the rich land south of the Yangtze River, and through various measures such as tax reductions and exemptions, the local development was good, but he did not use this strength to strengthen his rule, but because of his lack of restraint on the people around him, his subordinates were greedy for pleasure and no longer enterprising, and they lost the battle as soon as they entered the battlefield.
In this case, Zhang Shicheng's territory is also constantly losing, and he once felt uncomfortable about it, and set his sights on Jiangyin and other places, wanting to re-expand the territory, but his subordinates were too wasteful, and they did not succeed once.
When Lao Zhu and Chen Youliang next door fought to the death, Zhang Shicheng hung up high and didn't help anyone, and didn't take the opportunity to develop and grow himself, but maintained the status quo, you can imagine what kind of fate Zhang Shicheng would have when Lao Zhu defeated Chen Youliang.
One mountain does not tolerate two tigers, not to mention that Lao Zhu's goal is to change the dynasty and establish a serious dynasty, the dynasty can not only have a name, the land and everything should be had, like the Eastern Wu regime of the Three Kingdoms, those who are not motivated must be scolded to death, and the unification of the world is imperative for Lao Zhu.
Zhang Shicheng was reluctant to surrender, but his skills were not as good as others and he was directly captured, who knew that in the process of escorting, he hanged himself directly while others were unprepared, at the age of 47.
But when he died, he still had descendants and a bunch of sub-clansmen, what should he do with these people?
According to the records of the Ming Dynasty, when the city gate was broken, he asked all his wives and concubines to self-immolate, and several children were sent outside the city to find another way to make a living.
So where did all his five sons disperse?
03
The descendants of the Zhang family who fled in all directions
When Pingjiang City was about to be breached, Zhang Shicheng asked one of his cousins to break through with one of his sons so that he could start another incident in the future.
Since then, in order to avoid people's eyes, the descendants of the Zhang family have lived near Cangxiang for a long time, and have been engaged in farming and brickwork.
It was not until the reign of Emperor Jiaqing that the descendants of the Zhang family dared to establish the Zhang ancestral hall, and this was also the only family ancestral hall of Zhang Shicheng in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
Looking through the "Wen Zhang Genealogy", we can learn that Zhang Shicheng's fourth and fifth sons were carried by the nurse He and fled on foot to the mouth of the Jiahe River on the Loess Slope of Jiangxi.
But halfway they were exposed, and the two children had to recognize Wen Liangbi, the shipwright at the time, as their father, and their surnames were changed together.
However, after that, the descendants of the Zhang brothers fabricated the "Wen Zhang Family Tree", which can be regarded as clarifying the life history of the two brothers, and their descendants live in the area of what is now Hubei.
In order to remember the place where Zhang Shicheng first ascended the throne, the people of the Zhang clan have always adhered to the hall name of "Gaoyoutang".
It is said that among Zhang Shicheng's descendants, there is also a line of surname Fu, it is said that Zhang Shicheng's youngest son was taken away by the servant at that time, when the servant held a lantern in his hand, there was a "Fu" word on it, and when the officers and soldiers checked it, he said that the surname Fu escaped a catastrophe, so far this vein is also based on this surname.
Not only were these children able to escape, but the rest of Zhang Shicheng's children were also secretly sent to various places to live a wandering life under the cover of their identities.
Zhang Shicheng is dead, but his prestige remains, his cousins are still gathering forces in the shadows, and the powerful Lao Zhu, when he learns of this, is determined to eradicate all potential threats once and for all. Not only Zhang Shicheng's immediate family, but also all those who have supported him will face purge.
In this oppressive situation, Zhang Shicheng's scattered descendants had to migrate again, and in order to be safe, they changed their surnames and concealed their true identities, which was the huge "Hongwu dispersal", and they were dismissed to the northern part of Jiangsu.
But as for why they changed their surname to Wu, maybe it's just because of their uncle's surname Wu!
Dating back to more than 600 years ago, the family motto not only coincides in time, but also in geographical distribution, coupled with the existence of genealogy, Wu Yuanda firmly believes that his inference is correct, and they must be the descendants of Zhang Shicheng.
The ancestral motto of "born as Wu and died as Zhang" is exactly what the ancestors left behind to escape the disaster.
Coupled with the ancestral tablets left during the Qing Dynasty, Wu Yuanda and other villagers increasingly believed that they were the descendants of Zhang Shicheng.
04
epilogue
Although the Wu people were eager to restore their ancestors' surnames, the long term of time made this transformation extremely complicated. Nowadays, the hukou management system is relatively strict, and it is generally not allowed to change the name unless there is a good reason, otherwise, everyone will change their name at will, which will inevitably lead to chaos in the social order.
However, with the help of the government, some villagers surnamed Wu who met the requirements successfully changed their surnames back to their surnames, which can be regarded as fulfilling their wishes.
In order to commemorate that common ancestor, the descendants of the Wu family funded the construction of an ancestral hall and a memorial hall to express their respect for Zhang Shicheng. Since then, Zhang Shicheng's descendants have returned to their origins, and this former hero has finally been respected and sacrificed by future generations.
Reference Sources:
Zhang's surname is the ancestral root of Shuangshan Zhang's ancestor to find the root and ask the ancestor is a "root" with a solution
Purple Cow News Dian said Jiangsu | What does "talking about Zhang" mean? This is the "code word" that Suzhou people have been saying for 600 years