The origin of the Xu family

The origin of the Xu family: derived from the surname Ying and the surname Zi.

1. Derived from the surname Ying, it is named after the country. The distant ancestor can be traced back to the Jintian clan Shaohao (surnamed Ying) during the Five Emperors era. Shaohao's great-grandson was Boyi, who assisted Dayu in flood control. The king of Xia granted Boyi's son Ruomu Yuxu, and his hometown was in the north of Si County in present-day Anhui Province. During the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, Xu State was always active between the Jianghuai River and the Huaihe River.

In the Spring and Autumn Period, King Xu Yan rebelled against the Zhou Dynasty and was destroyed by King Mu of Zhou who united with the Kingdom of Chu. Later, King Xu Yan's son was renamed Xu Zi. During the Warring States Period, the State of Wu destroyed Xu, then the State of Yue destroyed Wu, and then the State of Chu destroyed Yue, and the territory of the State of Xu was merged with the State of Chu. The descendants of Xu State took the name of their country and lived scattered among the Jianghuai River.

2. Derived from the surname Zi, taking the tribe as the surname. In the early Zhou Dynasty, after Zhou Gongdan put down the rebellion of Yinhou Wu Geng and Sanjian, he divided the six clans of the Yin and Shang remnants from Lu Gong, including the Xu clan.

Migration and distribution of surnames

In ancient times, the place where Ruomu was granted the title of Xu State was in the north of Fengyang County, Anhui Province today. The ancestors lived in many places in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Jiangsu and other provinces. The large-scale migration of Xu surnames to the south began in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and further multiplied and developed in the south of my country during the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

At the end of the Song Dynasty, people surnamed Xu moved from Shicheng, Jiangxi to Shanghang, Liancheng and other places in Fujian. During the Yuan Dynasty, the surname Xu was mainly spread in Fengshun, Meixian, Haifeng and other places in Guangdong.

In short, the Xu surname was mainly distributed in the lower reaches of the Yellow River in my country during the Qin and Han Dynasties, especially in Shandong. From the Wei and Jin Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, the Xu surname was mainly spread in most areas of the Huaihe River and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. After the Song Dynasty, it has been distributed in the vast Jiangnan area. As for the large-scale reproduction of the Xu family in southwest my country, it was only after the Song Dynasty.