Yan Family

Surname Yan

Yan surname, originated from Zhuang surname, is one of the typical surnames in southern China. According to historical records, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, his surname was changed to Yan because he avoided the Ming emperor Liu Zhuang. The ancestor of Yan Ji. In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, some Yan surnames were restored to Zhuang surnames, so there was a saying that they were "a solemn family". The population of Yan family is mainly in Hubei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other provinces, which account for more than half of the population of Han nationality in China.

The surname Yan is the 27th in a hundred surnames. In 2007, the total population of Yan surname in China was more than 2.2 million, ranking 93rd in China. In 2013, based on the comprehensive analysis of the "surname database of China's 1.33 billion people (2008-2010)", the Research Center for the origin of Chinese surnames of Fuxi Culture Research Association released the latest version of China's "Hundred Surnames" ranking, ranking 94. As of January 2019, according to the data of the Public Security Administration Bureau of the Ministry of public security, the population with surname Yan ranks among 95 in China.

Yan is a famous person. He has literary talent and military strategy. For example, in the Western Han Dynasty, there was Yan Zun who read Laozi behind closed doors. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was Yan Guang, a hermit. The generals were Yan Yan in the Three Kingdoms and Yan Wu in the Tang Dynasty.

Historical development

Origin and development of surnames

It comes from the surname MI and comes from the grandson of King Zhuang of Chu. It takes the posthumous title as the surname. In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the Yan Family restored the Zhuang family, thus forming the Zhuang and Yan families. The two surnames were originally from the same family, so there is an ancient saying of "solemnity does not intermarry". In the former Han Dynasty, there were Yan Zhu from Kuaiji, Yan Guang from later Han Dynasty, Yan Zun from Shu County, Yan Yannian from Henan Province, Yan Mai from Yangzhou city.

Originating from the Ying surname, it comes from Yan Junji of the Qin Dynasty in the Warring States period, and takes the name of Fengyi as the surname. During the Warring States period, Ying Junji, a famous general of the imperial clan of the state of Qin, the son of emperor Xiaogong of Qin, and the eldest brother of King Huiwen of Qin, was granted the title of Yandao in Shu county (now Yingjing in Sichuan Province), so he took the name of Fengyi as his surname. The descendants of Yan Junji took the name of the ancestral fief as their surname and passed it down from generation to generation. The Yan Clan of Shu county also firmly refused to join the clan with the Yan Clan of MI family.

The ancient Yan Kingdom originated in ancient times, and its people took its name as their surname. It is said that during the reign of Emperor Yao, there was a high scholar named Xu you. Emperor Yao wanted to give up the world to him, but he did not accept it and lived in seclusion in Jishan. Xu you has a friend Yan Fu, a descendant of the ancient Yan kingdom. Today, in juancheng County, Shandong Province, there is still a group of Yan people who respect Yan Fu as the ancestor of the de surname and refuse to join the Yan Family with the MI surname.

It originated from the Xianbei nationality. In the prosperous period of Murong in later Yan Dynasty, there were people in Dingling who took Yan as their surname. They changed their surname to Han nationality and mainly distributed in Hebei Province.

Originating from the Mongolian nationality, it comes from various Mongolian tribes in the Yuan Dynasty and takes the name of the tribe as a surname. Later, Manchu people took it as their surname.

Originated from the Manchu nationality, it comes from the Nuzhen tribes in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and takes the tribe name as a surname.

It originated from other ethnic minorities and belongs to the Han nationality. Today, the Yan family is distributed among the Yi, Tu, Korean and other ethnic minorities, most of which originated from the Yan Family surnamed Han in the Tang, song, yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties when the central government carried out the Jimi policy and the movement of returning the land to Liu.

The ancestor of the surname de

Yan Ji (about 188-105 BC), surnamed Zhuang, was a Ci Fu writer in the Western Han Dynasty, and later known as "master Yan". His works are abundant, including 24 poems and Fu. Today, there is only one left, which is the work of mourning Qu Yuan. Yan Ji and Sima Xiangru were both good at Ci and Fu when he was young. He once wrote the Fu of mourning for the season. He expressed his feelings of missing talent by lamenting Qu Yuan's loyalty and not meeting the emperor. Liu Bi, the king of Wu, recruited talented people and attracted the world's playful children. Yan Ji, Zou Yang and Mei Cheng were both officials of Wu, and were famous for their literary debates. He wrote a letter to dissuade Liu from conspiring against him. Later, he traveled in Liang Dynasty and got the favor of Liang Xiaowang. It is called "Master Zhuang" in the world. Yan Ji's surname is Yan, which is also a matter after death. Because of their dignity and reputation, the people of Yan family took Yan as their ancestor.

Migration routes

The Yan family name was mainly changed from the Zhuang family name, so it was widely distributed from the beginning. According to historical records, in the pre Qin period, Yan family was weak and concentrated in the northwest. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Yan Family of MI family joined and developed rapidly, forming a gathering area of Yan Family in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas of China. During this period, Yan family lived in Shandong, Hubei, Anhui and Zhejiang. In addition, there are traces of Yan's surname in Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou.

In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the Yan Family of Dingling tribe and Ba people in the West assimilated into Han people, and formed three famous families in Fengyi, Tianshui and Huayin in the northwest. This was an important period for the development of Yan family. Most of the Yan surnames in northern China live in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Gansu and other northern regions, among which the Yan surnames in Shaanxi and Gansu are the most prosperous. The three major counties in the history of Yan surname development: Tianshui County, Fengyi County, Huayin county all come from these two places. It can be seen that the development of Yan surname in northern China was in a grand stage. However, with the war and the change of dynasties, the surname Yan moved to the South and other reasons, the surname Yan in the Central Plains gradually became silent, while the surname Yan in the South gradually emerged.

By the Tang and Song Dynasties, the surname Yan had been widely distributed in the Yangtze River Basin. Although the northern surname Yan was suppressed by the war, there were few celebrities with the surname Yan in the history books, such as Yan Tingzhi, the Minister of Taifu in the Tang Dynasty, who came out of Huayin (now Huaxian County, Shaanxi Province). In the Song Dynasty, there were Yan Ren, Yan Yu and Yan Shen, all of whom were from Shaowu (now Fujian Province), and they were called "three Yan" in the world.

During the Song Dynasty, China formed a cluster belt of Yan surnames with Hunan and Eastern Sichuan as the center and decreasing along the Yangtze River.

In the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, due to the influence of political and natural factors, "Jiangxi filled Huguang and Huguang filled Sichuan". The population of Yan Family in Hunan, the former province with Yan family name, decreased sharply, mainly moving south and East, while the Yan Family in Sichuan, another province with Yan family name, moved north to Shaanxi. In this way, Yan Family in China re formed two large gathering areas with Yan family name centered on Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Jiangsu provinces in the southeast and Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces in the northwest.

During the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, the Yan family began to cross the sea from Fujian, Guangdong and other places to enter Taiwan. During the reign of Emperor Yongzheng and Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, the number of people entering Taiwan gradually increased, and most of them lived in Taipei, Miaoli, Nantou and other places.

population distribution

In the Song Dynasty, there were more than 120000 people surnamed Yan, accounting for about 0.16% of China's population, ranking 99th in the Song Dynasty. Hunan is the largest province with the surname Yan, accounting for 50% of the total population, followed by Fujian, Anhui, Hebei, Shanxi, Hubei, Zhejiang and other provinces.

During the Ming Dynasty, there were more than 370000 people surnamed Yan, accounting for about 0.4% of China's population, rising to the 64th surname in the Ming Dynasty. Zhejiang is the largest surname of Yan, accounting for 23% of the total population. Zhejiang, Shaanxi, Jiangxi and Jiangsu are the main settlements of Yan's surname, accounting for nearly 70% of the total population of Yan's surname in the four provinces. Secondly, it is distributed in Fujian, Sichuan, Guangdong and other provinces.

In China, the Yan surname is most common in Hubei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other provinces. The population of Yan surnamed in China reached 2.2 million in 2007, ranking 93rd in the country. The Yan surname population concentrated in Hubei, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Sichuan and Zhejiang provinces accounts for about 56% of the total population. Secondly, they are distributed in Hunan, Guangxi and Jiangxi, and 13% of them are Yan surnames. Among them, the population of Yan Family in Hubei Province is more than 300000, accounting for 18% of the total population of Yan family. By 2013, China had formed a population gathering area with surname Yan in the Yangtze River Basin, starting from Sichuan in the West and reaching Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the East.

The Yan surname population is also distributed in Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Shanghai, Guangdong, Hainan and Guangxi, most of Jiangsu, Anhui and Hubei, Chongqing, most of Sichuan, Guizhou and Hunan, most of Fujian, southern Shaanxi, central and western Gansu and northeast Qinghai. The Yan surname generally accounts for more than 0.24% of the local population, and more than 0.6% of the central area. The coverage area of the above areas accounts for about 24.8% of the total land area, and about 77% of the Yan surname population live in this area. In southeastern Fujian, Taiwan, Western Hunan, eastern Guizhou, most of Yunnan, Western Sichuan, southern Gansu, southeastern Qinghai, Ningxia, Northern Shaanxi, southwestern Shanxi, western Inner Mongolia, most of Henan and Shandong, northwestern Hubei and Northern Anhui and Jiangsu, the Yan family generally accounts for 0.08% - 0.24% of the local population, covering 20% of the total land area, and the region has a large population About 18% of the people surnamed Yan.

Yan's population ranking in different periods

Surname culture

County Hall

Yan's surname can be seen in Tianshui County, Fengyi county and Huayin county.

The main hall names of Yan family name are: Tianshui hall, Fuchun hall, Tiaoshan hall, Guqiu hall, Qianshan hall, Yiya hall, Silu hall, chiwu hall, Haiyun hall, Yude hall, etc.

Historical remains

Yanziling diaotai, located at the foot of Fuchun mountain, 15 kilometers south of Tonglu County, Zhejiang Province, is the main scenic spot of Fuchun River. In Fuchun mountain, 2500 meters west of Fuchunjiang town. Yan Ziling lived in seclusion here in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Yanziling Diaoyutai consists of Dongtai, Xitai, Mr. Yan's ancestral hall, Shifang, Beiyuan, Diaoyu Island and Xie Ao's tomb.

Yanjia garden is located at Wangjiaqiao, Shantang street, Mudu Town, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province. Its door is opposite Xiangxi and its back is against Lingyan. Although it is located in the mountains and forests, the garden has the best structure, so it does not let the city go. (Tong GA's Jiangnan garden Chronicle). It is one of the famous gardens in Jiangnan.

Yinjiang Yan's ancestral hall is located in yanjiazhai, south of Zhenxing Road, Yinjiang county. It was built in 1816. It has three entrances, South to north, and central axis symmetry. The original gate wall, hexagonal pavilion, front courtyard, wing room, sanxingtai, main hall, back courtyard, back hall, wing room, bell and Drum Tower, playground, etc. The existing main hall, back hall, hatchback and side hall cover an area of 1380 square meters. The main hall is 21.5 meters wide and 10.6 meters deep. The main hall and the two chambers are surrounded by carved stone railings, carved with "Eight Immortals crossing the sea", "lion rolling Hydrangea ball" and other pictures. The stone carvings are exquisite, reflecting the industrious wisdom and artistic creativity of the ancient Han working people.

Genealogical catalogue

lintel

Chinese PinYin : Yan Shi