In ancient Times in China, the Zhurong tribe continued to conjure up many branches, forming the famous "Zhurong Eight Surnames" in history. The Ni clan originated from the Cao surname in the "Zhu Rong Eight Surnames". Therefore, today's Ni clan can be called a branch of the Cao surname Zhu; the Ni clan and the Zhu and Cao surnames in today's China belong to the same lineage in blood.
It was also in ancient times that a clan lived on the present-day Shandong Peninsula. They worship the spider for inexplicable reasons, believing that all members of the clan are descendants of this sacred spider and are blessed by it. Therefore, they sacrificed the spider as the ancestral god of their own clan, using it to make the totem and emblem of the clan, and called the clan "邾".
In ancient times, the Yi clan lived mainly in the area of present-day Zou County, Shandong Province. They also called the place where they lived. Therefore, in the area of present-day Zou County, Shandong Province, it left the names of Yicheng (present-day 26 li south of Zou County) and Yi Yi Mountain (also known as Zou Shan and Yi Shan, 32 li south of Zou County).
In short, because the ancients worshiped spiders, they had the names of the Yi clan, Yi Shan, Yi Shui, Yi Cheng, and Yi Guo.
The Ziyang Zhu Clan Jian'an Genealogy and the Origin of the Surname records that Xia Xia was the 27th generation grandson of Yan An, the ancestor of the Cao surname. In the 11th century BC, the Zhou Wu Revolution occurred in Chinese history, and the Western Zhou regime destroyed the Shang Empire in the Central Plains and established the Zhou Dynasty. The history books record that the state of Yi, which was originally created by Yi Xia, was only a small tribal state with a radius of only 30 miles. At that time, the state of Yi was only a vassal state of the State of Lu, and all its internal and foreign affairs and major state affairs had to actually obey the will of its northern neighbor, the Great Banglu State.
The kingdom was originally the homeland of the former Dongyi clan, where a clan that worshipped spider totems lived. After the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the land was seized by the Zhou Dynasty. After Cao Xia was enthroned, a clan state was established here. When Cao Xia was enfeoffed, he led his Cao clan to move to the same place, but the local indigenous Yi clan was still the main body. Since then, the Cao surname and the indigenous Yi clan have formed a new ethnic group, the Yi people, through long-term integration. They inherited the spider totem of the Yi people, so they took 邾 as the name of the country and the clan of the Cao people, and at the same time inherited the blood symbol of the Cao people, the Cao surname, which became one of the main members of the Chinese nation in later generations.
The name of the state of Yi was also written as "邾娄" (邾娄) in the Warring States period, and was also commonly known as "Zou" or "驺" during the Warring States period. According to the results of the research of experts and scholars, it is believed that 邾娄 is the local indigenous language, 邾 is the correct name, and Zou and 驺 are homophones used after the Warring States period, which is the same as the Yan state called Yan.
The kingdom of Yi, founded by Qiu Xia, later had great changes and developments, and spawned Xiao Yi and abusive states. He was also revered by posterity as the great ancestor of zhu, yi, yan, zou, lou and other surnames for his pioneering work.
There are many characters for "邾" in the country of Yi, but the overall shape looks like a spider, which shows that the ancestors of the country of Yi, this tribe surnamed Cao, once used spiders as the totem of their own clan. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it took "spider" as the name of the country, and later for convenience, it was changed to "邾", and the pronunciation of the word "邾" had two pronunciations in ancient times. In the book "Biography of the Ram" written by the Qi people, the word "邾" is read as "邾娄", and the book "Zuo Biao" written by Lu Ren is read as "Zou". Why are there these two readings? This is because the ancients had two kinds of words, urgent and slow. If it is pronounced as a slow sound, it is a combination of "邾" and "Lou", which is pronounced as "邾娄"; if it is pronounced as an urgent sound, it becomes "邾" or "Zou". These two readings are written in ancient texts as "State of Qi" or "State of Zou", which actually refers to the same two countries.
The State of Qi could only be counted as a small state among the Western Zhou states, and from the beginning of the founding of the state, it was a vassal state of the State of Lu, with a radius of only a few tens of miles. At the beginning of the founding of the Country, the national strength was too weak to compete with other great powers, so there was no deed left in the history books, only a simple lineage for our reference.
During the Western Zhou Dynasty, since Cao Xia was the first monarch, his lineage was: Cao Xia - Non - Cheng - Che - Fu - Jiang Xin": - Zi Father - Yi Father Yan. Since the beginning of Yi Father Yan, the history of the Kingdom of Yi can be sporadically found in the history books, and this time has reached the Spring and Autumn Period. After several generations of hard work, the state of Yi has begun to grow stronger, but it is still a vassal of the state of Lu.
The successor, Yi Father Yan, was a late monarch who reused traitors and made a mess of the kingdom and was extremely corrupt in politics. Later, he passed the throne to his younger brother Shushu. Shu Shu was very virtuous, and he was reluctant to take over his brother's power, so he only did a short period of time before passing the throne to Yi Father Yan's son, Father Xia. After Father Xia became emperor, he sent his brother and friend to Yundi (present-day Dongjiang Village, Xiji) and established the State of Xiaoyi. The State of Xiaoyi was passed down to the 14th Dynasty, and was destroyed by King Xuan of Chu in the middle of the Warring States period. At the same time, Xia's father also sealed Shushu to Cang (present-day southeast of Yangzhuang, Tengzhou) and established the State of Qiang. In the twenty-first year of The Duke of Lu Zhao (521 BC), the emperor of the state of Lu surrendered to Lu and the country fell. Father Xia divided fengyou and shushu to establish a state, so that there were two vassal states around the state.
Source of material "Ni family name source"