There were many compound surnames in ancient China, such as Dongfang, Nangong and Ximen. What was the one in the north called?

Beitang.

The surname Beitang is derived from the surname Ji. It comes from Kuo, the great-grandson of Wei Chenggong, the monarch of the Wei Dynasty in the Spring and Autumn Period. It is a surname based on the name of the city where he lived.

Among the descendants of Ji Kuo, there are those who take the name of their ancestor's place of residence as their surname, and are called the Beigong clan. Later, most of the provincial slips were renamed Bei clan and Gong clan, and some were named after their ancestors. Those with the same surname are called the Kuo family, and they have been passed down from generation to generation. The history of the Beigong family is called the authentic one.

As for the Beitang clan, it was actually changed by the Beigong clan, either due to a typographical error or because the second Qin emperor took refuge when he destroyed the Wei Kingdom in the first year of the Qin Dynasty's victory over Hu Hai (209 BC). As a result, his descendants consider themselves a surname, and they still respect Beigong Kuo (Ji Kuo) as the ancestor of the surname, which has been passed down from generation to generation to this day.

Extended information:

1. Dongfang

Dongfang is a very ancient Han surname group. It is not included in the 100 surnames in mainland China and Taiwan Province. The top 300 family surnames are ranked 416th in the Song version of "One Hundred Family Surnames".

"Dongfang" is an ancient surname. As early as ancient times, the ancient emperor Fuxi founded Bagua, and his descendant Sun Zhong was in charge of the Order of Qingyang in the East.

According to ancient books, it is said that when he was born, "out of an earthquake, his position was in the east." That is, according to the Bagua Diagram, it was calculated that he was in the earthquake position, and the earthquake position was expressed as "East". Therefore, he was named "East". Dongfang" is the surname.

During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the famous writer Dongfang Shuo, whose real surname was Zhang, was a descendant of Zhang Hui, a son of Shaohao, a descendant of Taihao Fuxi. His mother died of illness within three days of his birth, and his father also died of illness. It had been many days, so the neighbors named him "Dongfang Shuo" based on the day when he was born in the east.

When he grew up, he became famous, and Dongfang was consolidated as a surname. Dongfang Shuo was from Pingyuan Yanci (now Shentou Town, Ling County, Shandong Province). During the Tang Dynasty, the surname Dongfang had become one of the prominent surnames in Pingyuan County.

There are many people with Eastern names in history, including Dongfang Qiu, Dongfang Xian, etc. Dongfang Qiu was a historian and poet in the Tang Dynasty, and Dongfang Xian was a litterateur in the Tang Dynasty and one of the eighteen bachelors of Kaiyuan. After the Song Dynasty, the Dongfang clan has become elusive and hard to find. Nowadays, there are small quantities distributed in Beijing, Shanxi, Shandong, Taiwan and other places.

2. Nangong

It comes from the surname Ji, from Nangongzi, one of the four friends of King Wen of Zhou Dynasty. It is a surname based on the ancestor's name. ? King Wen of Zhou had the famous "Eight Scholars", one of whom was Nangong Kuo. The so-called "Nangongzi, the four friends of King Wen", refers to Nangong Kuo according to the Shigu annotation in the historical book "Historical Records·Zhou Benji".

According to textual research, Nangong Kuo was a sage who was one of the four friends of King Wen of the Zhou Dynasty. He was a wise minister of King Wen and his son when they promoted Zhou and destroyed Zhou. Later, he took Nangong as his surname and was called Nangong's family. The surname Nangong ranks 558th in population, with a population of 13,000.

3. Ximen

Ximen is a Chinese compound surname. The surname Ximen originated from the Spring and Autumn Period. At that time, a doctor from the State of Zheng lived in Ximen of the city, and his descendants took "Ximen" as their surname. Important figures with the surname Ximen include Ximen Bao, an official of the Wei State during the Warring States Period.

Baidu Encyclopedia——Beitang