The origin of Cao Qiusheng’s surname Cao
1. Granted to Cao Guan, taking Guan as his surname
According to "The Art of Finding the Roots of Hundreds of Surnames and the Art of Naming" and other information: The earliest branch of the surname Cao comes from the surname Ying, which is the surname Ying. Descendants of Emperor Zhuanxu. The ancestor Cao An was the fifth son of Zhuanxu's great-great-grandson Lu Zhong. "An" was given the title of "Cao" because of his contribution to Yu's flood control, that is, the "circular soil" was used as a prison and was the prison officer who guarded the slaves. Cao An first lived in Caoshui, Lingbao, Henan Province. Cao An was once the king of the Xia Dynasty. There are Caoyang Ruins and the remains of Caoyang Keng nearby. Cao An later opposed Yu's succession to the throne of Shun, was attacked by Yu, and moved to Cao An in Huaxian County, Henan. This is what the "Preface to Poetry" said: "The attack of the Di people in the Wei State came from Cao". After the Shang Dynasty destroyed the Xia Dynasty, the surname Cao rebelled against the Shang Dynasty and was demoted to the Fang Kingdom and was called Cao Fang. Because of being attacked by Shang Dynasty, he moved to Dingtao County, Shandong Province. In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Cao Di in Huaxian County became Cao Yi of Wei State. In 660 BC, Wei State was defeated by Zhai, and Cao (Tongcao) was occupied by Zhai. It turns out that the descendants of the Wei Kingdom who were enfeoffed in Caoyi took their ancestral fiefdom "Cao" as their surname. In the Han Dynasty, there were knights Cao Shaoyou and Cao Zhongshu. "Xutongzhi Clan Lueliu" records that in the Ming Dynasty, there was Cao Shiqi, the chief minister of Jiajing. After Cao, it evolved into Chao, both of which were later Cao.
2． The surname Ji is derived from the country.
The surname "Cao" also originated from the country "Cao" with the surname Ji during the period of King Wu of the Western Zhou Dynasty. According to Sima Qian's "Historical Records." "Book of Zhou" records that Ji, the ancestor of the Zhou people, was good at farming. He was elected as a farmer during the reign of Emperor Yao and was given the surname Ji. During the reign of Emperor Shun, he was granted the title of "Tai" (today's Shaanxi Wugong area). In the late Yin and Shang Dynasties, the Zhou people had been handed down for thousands of years, and finally settled in Zhouyuan (in the Baoji and Qishan areas).
In the 11th century BC, the power of the Zhou people increased greatly when Jichang of Xibo became their leader. At that time, the Yin Dynasty was under the tyranny of Zhou. Xibo Jichang united with the small countries such as Yu and Rui in the Jingshui River Basin, as well as the Shu, Qiang and other Xirong tribes to attack King Zhou. After the death of Ji Chang, his second son Ji Fa continued to lead the Xiqi tribes to attack Zhou. Finally, King Zhou of Shang set himself on fire, and Shang destroyed Zhou Xing. Ji Fa was the King of Zhou Wu, and Ji Chang was the King of Wen. After the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, King Wu enfeoffed meritorious officials and his brothers with the same surname, which is what history books call the "feudal system of enfeoffment".
"Historical Records·Guan Cai Family" records: "King Wu has ten younger brothers from his mother Kun. His mother is Taisi, who is also the princess of King Wen. His eldest son is called Boyi, his second son is called Wu Wangfa, and his second son is called Guan Shu. Xian, the next is Zhou Gongdan, the next is Cai Shudu, the next is Cao Shu Zhenduo, the next is Cheng Shuwu, the next is Huo Shuchu, the next is Kang Shufeng, the next is Ran Jizai." That is to say, King Wu had ten brothers from one mother. Cao Shuzhenduo was the sixth son born to King Wen of Zhou's wife, Taisi, and was the fourth brother of King Wu of Zhou. When King Wu was enfeoffing the feudal states, he granted Zhenduo the title of "Cao". Shu Zhenduo is also the king of Cao State. "Cao" was originally the name of a vassal state with the surname Ji.
3. The descendants of Cao An took Yi as their surname
In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Cao Jie, a descendant of Cao An, was given the title of "Zhu" (southeast of today's Qufu) by King Wu of Zhou. During the Warring States Period, the "Zhu" state was destroyed by the Chu State. Some of their descendants took Cao Yi as their surname, and some took Zhu Yi as their surname of Zhu, which was later changed to Zhu. The two surnames Zhu and Cao have the same origin. (See "Three Kingdoms·Wei Zhi·The Chronicles of Emperor Wu").
4. Other theories
⑴ His surname was changed to Cao. Cao Song (Cao Cao's father) of the Later Han Dynasty was the adopted son of Cao Teng. His original surname was Xiahou. Later, he changed his surname to Cao and became the ancestor of Cao surname in Anhui.
⑵ During the Western Han Dynasty, people from Cao, one of the nine Zhaowu surnames in Central Asia, took the country as their surname after coming to China. In the same example, there are surnames such as An, Mi, and Hou. It is the ancestor of the surname Cao in Hexi.