Where did the Yu family originate?
In the beautiful and ancient village of Yuyuan in the south of the Yangtze River, most residents have the same ancient surname - Yu. The reason why Yuyuan is said to be ancient is because the small village has a history of more than 500 years. The reason why the surname Yu is said to be ancient is because the origin of the surname Yu can be traced back to the Huangdi era at least five thousand years ago.
According to the records in "Historical Records: Biography of Bian Que", there once was a good doctor named Yu Tu in ancient times. He is the ancestor of the Chinese surname Yu for thousands of years.
Yu Busheng, a descendant of the Yu family: In ancient times, there was a Hangzhou native named Yu. His father was an official in Songyang County, which is next door to us. He passed away and his son died. He transported the coffin back to Hangzhou and passed by this place. He found a place to put the coffin. He thought the feng shui of this place was very good, so he buried his father here. He also observed filial piety here, so he is here. After having children, it has developed to this point.
Like many ancient surnames, the birthplace of the surname Yu is also in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River Basin. But the Yu surname moved south much earlier than other surnames. During the reign of Wu Zetian, Yu Wenjun, an ancestor of the Yu family, wrote to the emperor, believing that Wu Zetian violated the laws of femininity and masculinity by placing the female protagonist in the yang position, and this was not tolerated by heaven and earth. Yu Wenjun's bold remarks angered the arrogant empress. So, he was sent to a remote place called Lingnan. The descendants of the Yu family also began to multiply and develop in the south.
The people with the surname Yu in Taiwan migrated from the southeastern coast of mainland China. Although the number is not large, most areas of Taiwan Island have the footprints of their descendants.
Yuyuan Village was built in the Southern Song Dynasty shortly after the Yu family moved south. Most of the village layout and ancient buildings are from the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.
Generally speaking, the entire village should be surrounded by water and have a backer. With this backer, it usually faces north and south, so that the light is very good.
Actually, the character "Yu" is a polyphonic character. According to records in "Yuanhe Surname Compilation", another pronunciation of the character Yu is 侴. In ancient times, Yu and Yi were two different surnames. The surname Yu originated from the northern miracle doctor Yu Tu, while the ancestors of the surname Yi were from the Wu Kingdom in the south of the Yangtze River. However, because the two characters "Yu" and "侴" are too similar in shape, they were gradually mixed into one and commonly used as the surname "Yu". Although Yuyuan Village is located in the south of the Yangtze River, the Yu surname in the village is a descendant of the Yu surname in the north.
Yu Busheng, a descendant of the Yu family: There are many ancient buildings preserved in this village, because it seemed to be very wealthy in the Ming Dynasty, especially in the Ming Dynasty. So now, there are more than fifty buildings preserved in the village. They are relatively good ancient buildings from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In particular, there is a relatively complete ancestral hall, the Yu Family Ancestral Hall. This Yu family ancestral hall currently covers an area of more than 3,000 square meters and is the only one among our nearby cities and counties.
Speaking of the Yu family's ancestral hall, they also have a poetic name called "Liushui Hall". "Liu Shuitang" is named after the allusion of "high mountains and flowing water". Yu Boya, a native of the Spring and Autumn Period, was good at playing the harp. One night, Boya was playing the harp on the bow of the boat and found a young man secretly playing the harp on the shore. This young man was Zhong Ziqi. Every time Boya played a piece of music, Ziqi could accurately understand its meaning. Since then, "high mountains and flowing water" has been used not only as a metaphor for beautiful music, but also to describe true friendship. Descendants of the Yu family in various places even use "Liu Shui" as their hall name, and it has been used to this day.
In fact, using an elegant title like "Liu Shuitang" as the name of the hall is very suitable for the surname Yu. Because there have been many people named Yu since ancient times.
There were many scholars in the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty. There were more than 30 Gongsheng students and above, and more than 100 scholars. This shows that this place has a profound cultural heritage and advocates reading.
Yu Yuan was an outstanding person and had continuous imperial examinations. According to Yu family genealogy records, there were 293 Jinshi, martial arts examiners, tribute scholars, and scholars in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
From a nationwide perspective, the ancestors surnamed Yu who worked as editors in the Imperial Academy include Yu Shuzu in the Yuan Dynasty and Yu Yue in the Qing Dynasty; People include Yu Hao and Yu Yan in the Song Dynasty, Yu Dayou in the Ming Dynasty and Yu Wanchun in the Qing Dynasty. They have made indelible contributions to our country's traditional literature.