A child who had just started school came home after school and cried and made a strong request to his parents that he must change his surname.
Parents asked strangely why? The child complained: "What's wrong with the surname? I have to have this weird surname. When the name was called, the teacher was stuck. He didn't know the word. When writing the name, all the students had finished writing. I couldn't even name the surname. I didn’t even finish writing it, and my classmates all laughed at me.”
After hearing this, the parents couldn’t laugh or cry, so they had to patiently explain it to their children.
So what is this surname that even the teacher doesn’t recognize and that makes the children cry?
It is this word "爨", pronounced (cuàn), with one to thirty strokes, that stumps the teacher and makes the students cry.
It is difficult to say that this Cuan character is an ideographic character or a pictographic character. It first appeared in the Warring States Period. The word "爨" in ancient Chinese characters can be said to be a vivid picture of making fire for cooking. Taking the small seal script of "Shuowen Jiezi" as an example, let's analyze it (see the picture above): Component B represents the steamer (pronunciation) : zèng, generally refers to ancient pots and woks (sound: huò), a type of cooking utensils), component A represents the hands placing the steamer on the stove. The middle component C is the pictogram of the stove mouth. The lower half is the epitome of putting firewood to make a fire: both hands (component E) push the firewood (component D) into the stove, and a "fire" is burning underneath (component F).
This word means to cook on fire. Before there was no liquefied gas or electricity, people would cook on fire like this. I am afraid some older people can still understand this situation. The memory is still fresh.
How can you remember this "Cuan"? As long as you are willing to use your brain, there are always more solutions than difficulties. There is a jingle, the prefix of "Xing" (traditional Chinese), the waist of "Lin", and the bottom of "big fire" burn. If you connect them in this order, you will get this word. It is easy to remember. Lived.
Why is the word "Cuan" used as a surname? It’s a long story. During the Zhou Dynasty, the princes and nobles were gentlemen, and gentlemen were chefs far away, but they also had to eat. Therefore, the king of Zhou established a Cuan official responsible for cooking for the royal family. This official Cuan felt that it was very honorable to cook for the royal family, so he took "Cuan" as his surname.
Let me add that there are many examples of surnames with official positions and occupations in ancient times. For example, Sima is the official in charge of the national army, and Situ is in charge of the national map. and official positions in population statistics, Wei is the official position in charge of justice, Shi is the official position responsible for recording history, etc. There are also "Shaozheng", "Shangguan", "Xing", "Qian", "Le", "Xi", " "Shi" etc. are all surnames derived from official positions.
People with occupations as surnames include Zhu (construction), Wei (cobbler), Ye (smelting), Zhong (bell casting), Tao (pottery making), and Tu (slaughter) ), Pao (cook), Zhen (pottery), Che (car making), Pu (weaving), Yi (chess making), Wu (wizard), Bu (divination), You (actor) and other surnames are all derived from An occupation or skill inherited from a family.
The descendants of this surname Cuan are not very prosperous and have a sparse population, so they have become a very rare surname. They are now mainly distributed in Yunnan Province, Shaanxi Province, Gansu Province, and Sichuan Province. some areas of the province.
Located in Zhaitang Town, Mentougou District, in the western suburbs of Beijing, there is Cuandixia Village. There are many courtyard houses from the Ming and Qing Dynasties in the village. Because of its long history, it was listed by the State Council in 2006. National key cultural relics protection unit. Because the word "Cuan" has too many strokes and is inconvenient to write, it is now usually rewritten as the word "Chuan", so it is also called Chuandixia Village. However, the monument erected by the State Council is engraved with "Cuandixia Village Ancient Building Group", and the word "Cuan" still prevails.
Anyone who likes to read martial arts novels knows that Prince Duan of the Southern Emperor, who can use the "One Yang Finger" magic skill, is the tsundere of the Duan family in Dali, Yunnan. During the Song Dynasty, the Duan family in Dali It is a prominent and famous family. In fact, before the Duan family in Dali, there was another famous family that had been passed down for hundreds of years, and this was the Cuan family.
During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, a Cuan family fled to Yunnan, took root and gradually developed. During the Three Kingdoms period, Prime Minister Zhuge of the Shu Han Dynasty marched southward and pacified Yunnan. Prime Minister Zhuge had a foresighted plan and relied on the local people to "recruit their heroes" as local officials. Among them was a man named Cuan Xi who assisted the prime minister in pacifying the country. To lead the army." From then on, the Cuan family began to prosper.
In 339 AD, Cuan Chen of the Cuan family became the governor of Jiaozhou. He defeated the other two powerful families, Huo and Meng, and dominated Nanzhong. Cuan Chen "sui king of the barbarians" . It created the history of the Cuan family ruling Yunnan for more than 400 years.
From AD 339 to AD 748 in the middle of the Tang Dynasty, for more than four hundred years, this huge family has controlled the entire territory of Yunnan, even some in Guizhou and Sichuan. The area also falls under their jurisdiction. The Cuan family integrated with the local indigenous people and formed a unique political and cultural system, which is called the mysterious Cuan culture by later generations.
The representatives of Cuan culture are two famous stone steles: "Cuan Baozi Stele" and "Cuan Longyan Stele" (commonly known as "Liang Cuan Stele"). This is the research An important reference for the unique cultural phenomena of Yunnan during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.
The full name of "Cuan Baozi Stele" is "Tomb Stele of Cuan Fujun, General Zhenwei of the Jin Dynasty and Prefect of Jianning". This stele was engraved in the fourth year of Taiheng in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (405 AD) . It was unearthed in the 43rd year of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty (AD 1778) at Yangqitian, 70 miles south of Qujing, Yunnan. It was later moved to Wuhou Temple and is now in the "Cuan Stele Pavilion" of Qujing No. 1 Middle School. It is a national key cultural relic protection unit.
The "Cuan Baozi Stele" is 190 cm high and 71 cm wide. ***13 lines, 30 words per line. The lower part contains 13 lines of the name of the person who erected the monument, with 4 characters in each line. The inscription records the life of the tomb owner Cuan Baozi and his praise for the tomb owner.
Kang Youwei, a master of modern calligraphy, commented in "Guangyi Zhou Shuangji": "It is like appreciating the face of Buddha." "Lingmiao" and "Ju Yanyun" are both written in official and regular script, and the origin of the variations can be seen."
The full name of "Cuan Longyan Stele" is "Song Gu Longxiang". "The Monument of the General Protecting the Town Man School Wei Ning Prefecture Governor Hou Cuan of Qiongdu County" was inscribed in the second year of the Ming Dynasty (458 AD) in the Song Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties. The inscription was written by Cuan Daoqing. It has been recorded in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, and rubbings have been circulated. It is now located in Xueguanbao Douge Temple, 3 kilometers west of the colorful sand forest in Luliang County, Yunnan.
The monument is 3.38 meters high. The upper monument is 1.35 meters wide and the lower end is 1.46 meters wide. The monument is inscribed on both sides. The stele has 24 lines and 45 characters. In addition to recording the identity information of the tomb owner Cuan Longyan, the stele also records the origin of the Cuan family, family lineage, the process of the Cuan family entering Yunnan from Henan, and the life and political achievements of the tomb owner. wait. There are three columns of text on the back of the stele, with 15 lines in the upper column, 17 lines in the middle column, and 16 lines in the lower column. The lines range from 3 to 10 characters, including the official position and name of the colleague who engraved the stele. At the end of the stele, there are inscriptions and postscripts by Ruan Yuan, Qiu Junen and Yang Pei from the Qing Dynasty.
There are more than 1,000 words on both sides of the monument. The inscriptions on the stele are in regular script, but still have the official script style. The brushes are mostly square-edged, with sharp turns; sometimes they are used for detailed paintings, and they exude an air of elegance. The structure is mainly square, but still requires changes. The entire stele is thick and vigorous.
Kang Youwei admired this stele very much. He wrote in "Guangyi Zhou Shuangji": "The painting below is like Kun Dao carving jade, but it is pure and beautiful; the layout is like fine workmanship. Painting people should be based on Li and Kaiji rules."
Historical and cultural celebrities with the surname Cuan include Cuan Chen, who lived in the late Three Kingdoms period. The founder of the Cuan family regime in Yunnan during the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Cuan Longyan, courtesy name Shide, was born in the Song Dynasty in the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties. The successor of the Cuan family. During the Southern Dynasty and Song Dynasty, he served as General Longxiang, Colonel Huzhenman, Governor of Ningzhou, and Marquis of Qiongdu County.
Cuan Baozi (380-403), a native of Tongle, Jianning (today's Luliang, Yunnan Province), was "named benevolent" when he was 19 years old and took office in Jianning (today's Luliang, Yunnan). Governor of Qujing, Yunnan. This was the period when the Cuan family ruled Yunnan at its peak.
King Cuangui (AD? 746, the famous Fanwang of Yunnan in the early years of the Tang Dynasty.
"Cuan" is a worthy name. It is the surname with the most strokes and the most complex writing in my country. It makes teachers sad and makes students cry. Now you know.