The original meaning of the word He has nothing to do with the surname He
Which came first, the word "He" or the surname He? Is there any inherent connection between the word "He" and the surname He? According to relevant historical data, long before the surname He, the word "He" existed in the oracle bone inscriptions, the oldest writing in my country. In my country's "zishu", "dictionaries", calligraphy works and other classics, there are at least 20 ways to write the word "he", and there are dozens of meanings. The word "He" in oracle bone inscriptions is written in the shape of a person carrying a gun on his shoulders. The word "He" appears very frequently in the works of pre-Qin scholars. In only five works of "The Analects", "Mencius", "Zhuangzi", "Mozi" and "Laozi", the word "He" appears several times. Ten times, but not once, and not a single meaning is related to the surname.
China's oldest dictionary - "Shuowen Jiezi" written by Xu Shen of the Eastern Han Dynasty explains the word "He" in oracle bone inscriptions as follows: "He, Danye. From people, can sound." "Dan" and "eaves" are connected, and the simplified character is "dan". It can be seen that the original meaning of the word "He" should be "load", "burden" and "carrying the load", and has no intrinsic connection with the surname He.
The surname He is derived from the surname Han
The origin of the He family and how to get the surname are issues that are of concern to many descendants of the He family. Experts and scholars generally believe that the surname He appeared after Qin Shihuang unified China. There are many theories about the origin of the surname. To sum up, the main ones are as follows:
1. The surname He is derived from the mispronunciation of the word "Han". Come.
The surname He appeared after Qin Shihuang unified the six countries. The process of obtaining the surname was very special and accidental. This starts with South Korea, one of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period.
Sima Qian's "Historical Records: Han Family" records: "The ancestors of the Han family came from the Western Zhou royal family and the Ji family." The Zhou royal family belongs to the descendants of the Yellow Emperor, so many pedigrees of the He family trace their ancestors to Yellow Emperor.
Historical data shows that Han Wan, a descendant of Tang Shuyu, the younger brother of King Cheng of the Western Zhou Dynasty, was enfeoffed in Hanyuan (now north of Fenshui, Shanxi Province, in the area of ??Hejin and Jishan) to serve the Jin State. . Han Wan, known as "Han Wuzi" in the world, was not originally named Han, but was named Han because of his fiefdom. The Han family got their surname from Han Jue, the third descendant of Han Wuzi. According to the canonization of the Zhou Dynasty, he and his descendants have been the real Han surname since Jue. Han Jue was a man of great political and military talents. Han Jue is not only the first ancestor of the Han surname, but also the first ancestor of the He surname.
The reason why Han Jue is listed as the first ancestor of the surname He is because Sima Qian clearly stated his ancestry in the "Historical Records of the Han Family" from the beginning: From Han Jue onwards, the surname was Han. The second reason is that the surname He was gradually acquired after the fall of Korea, and Han Jue's contribution as the founder of Korea's revitalization and development is indelible.
After Han Jue, his power became increasingly powerful. After defeating Qi, he joined forces with Zhao, Wei, and the Zhi clan to destroy the Fan and Zhonghang clans; then he joined forces with Wei and Zhao to defeat the Zhi clan and divided the territory into three parts. Han's power entered its peak period, thus forming the Han, Zhao, and Wei's situation of "three families being divided into Jin". In the thirteenth year of Jin Liegong, that is, the sixth year of Han Jinghou (403 BC), an epoch-making change occurred in Korean history. This year, Han, Zhao and Wei jointly divided the Jin Kingdom. In 375 BC, during the reign of Aihou, the tenth generation descendant of Han Jue, South Korea destroyed the Zheng State in one fell swoop, thus ending the 430-year history of the Zheng State.
In 230 BC, the ninth year of the reign of King An of Han, great changes took place in Korea's internal and external environment. The feud between Yan Zhongzi and Prime Minister Xia Lei led to internal strife and turmoil in Nie Zheng's assassination. Outside the country, the Qin State has become increasingly powerful through reforms and reforms. It is constantly attacking cities and territories and attacking neighboring countries. South Korea's situation is getting worse and worse. It was also in this year that Qin sent Nei Shi Teng to attack Han on a large scale. Wang An of Han was captured and South Korea was destroyed.
After the fall of Korea, the sons, princes, and grandsons wandered around and scattered in all directions, either to avoid vendettas and wars, or to feel ashamed of the humiliation of the country's subjugation, or to regroup, revive the country, and build a new foundation. Due to geographical and transportation constraints, as well as production and living standards, most of the descendants of the Han family are scattered throughout the Jianghuai River.
Due to the homophonic pronunciation of "Han" and "He" in the Jianghuai area, coupled with the local pronunciation changes in ancient times, along with historical changes, social development, and over time, people gradually read "Han" as "He".
This is a way of saying that the He family got the surname.
"Shuangkeng Genealogy Summary" believes that the Han family "changed the name of Han" because they were afraid of Qin Shihuang's tyranny.
But whether it is due to "mispronunciation" or "fear of Qin", the He family that was transformed from the Han surname has continued to multiply and grow. At present, most of the He family members at home and abroad are of this type. Descendants of a branch.
The He family is derived from the Han family, which has also been supported by the classics of the past dynasties:
The Compilation of Yuanhe Surnames by Lin Bao of the Tang Dynasty said: "The younger brother of King Zhou Cheng, Tang Shu, the descendant of Yu, and the grandson of Han Wang Anwei After the Qin Dynasty was destroyed, the descendants were scattered across the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers. They were named Han, so they were called He surnames."
The genealogy table of "The Complete Works of Han Chang Li Wen" records: "The Han surname comes from the surname Ji, and after Tang Shu Yu, he became the Jin Dynasty. The doctor was born in Han Dynasty, and his surname was Han. Later, he was divided into Jin Dynasty and Wei Dynasty, and he became a prince. He was called Zhaohou Qian, and the country was destroyed by Qin Dynasty. He was granted the title of King of Han, and his son was Gonggaohou Kaidang. Sun Xun, the descendant of Kaidang, was the governor of Longxi in the Later Han Dynasty. He was the son of Sikong, named Boshi. He later moved to Anding and Wu'an, which was the beginning of the Han family's reunification in Hebei."
The ancient document "An Examination of the Origin of the Surname He in Susong County, Anhui Province" records how He got his surname by chance and how He's glorious lineage can be traced back to King Wen of Zhou Dynasty:
The surname He originally came from Han, and has the same surname as Ji in Zhou Dynasty. Later, a Miao descendant came to the Jin Dynasty and was granted the title of Huiyuan. He was named Han Wuzi and became the Han family. Wansheng Zhenbo, Zhenbo begat Dingbo, Dingbo begat Yu, and Yu begat Xianzi Jue. Three generations after Wu Zi, there was Han Jue, and his surname was Han Jue. Jin was the sixth minister, while Han Jue was the first minister, named Xianzi. Xianzi begat Xuanzi, Xuanzi begat Zhenzi, Zhenzi begat Jianzi, Jianzi begat Zhuangzi, Zhuangzi begat Kangzi, Kangzi begat Wuzi, and Wuzi begat Jingzi. Together with Zhao and Wei, he was listed as a prince, and he was called Jinghou.
Jinghou begets Liehou, Liehou begets Wenhou, Wenhou begets Aihou, Aihou begets Yihou, Yihou begets Zhaohou, Zhaohou begets Xuanhuihou, and then he becomes king.
King Xuanhui begat King Xiang, King Xiang begat King □, King □ begat King Huanhui, and King Huanhui begat Wang An. He reigned for five years and gave birth to two sons: the eldest, Cheng, and the second, Yun. They were destroyed by Qin. .
In the twelfth year of Qin Shihuang's reign, he avoided the chaos among the people and gave birth to two sons: Long and Ran. Long followed his father to hide among the people, and gave birth to a son Zhao. Zhao lamented the poverty of his family and had the ambition to be independent. Unfortunately, he died young and gave birth to a son Xin. It is believed that in the fourth year of Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty, in the Gengxu year, he promoted Xiao and Lian, and in the eighth year of Empress Lu, she executed all Lus and was granted the title of county magistrate for their meritorious service. During the reign of Emperor Wen, he was promoted to Captain of Chariots and Cavalry, and later to Governor of Hedong. The concubine Wang's daughter, the wife of the feudal capital, gave birth to two sons: the eldest son was called Shu, and the second son was called Shu. Because he avoided his father's hatred, he went to Lujiang River, so the county was named Lujiang.
When my ancestor was taking refuge, he was leaning between the rafters of a boat. An official boarded the boat and asked him about his surname. He pointed to the river in a playful way and replied, "The surname must be based on the person's name. How can it be based on the water?"
When the common people are running around, if they encounter cross-examination, they will answer in panic. The pronunciation of Han and He was close, so he misunderstood what Han was, so he took He as his surname. It means that He is the surname, and the common people asked Han what it was. Although they answered casually because they wanted to avoid confusion, they both thought that they both came from Han. This is the origin of the surname.
According to the above-mentioned documents, the surname Han changed to another surname after Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty.
Many scholars do not agree with the statement that the He family in Susong County, Anhui Province received the surname. They believe that the first ancestor of the He family who changed his surname to get the surname should be a Korean descendant when Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, rather than the eldest son of Han Xin, the prefect of Hedong during the reign of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty.
Taiwan scholar Professor He Yongren pointed out: "...our ancestors played the leading role in the battle between the seven heroes of the Warring States Period. At that time, the nobles fought with each other. In the 23rd year of King Weilie of Zhou Dynasty (403 BC ), the king appointed Han Qian, Wei Si, and Zhao Jiu as princes. This Han Qian was an outstanding figure of the ancestor of He. Unfortunately, during this period, Su Qin's policy of consolidating and expelling Qin failed, and Zhang Yi's policy of connecting with Qin was fooled. , since 221 BC, all six countries were destroyed by Qin, and our country with the surname He was destroyed in the 17th year of Qin Shihuang (230 BC)."
About the surname He. There is also a relatively complete story about its origin. It is said that after the fall of Korea, a son of the King of Korea fled to the Lujiang River in Anhui Province and made a living by punting boats on the river.
Later, Qin Shihuang went on a patrol and met an assassin in Bolangsha. He suspected that the assassin was the son of a prince from the Six Kingdoms, so he ordered a search for the nobles of the Six Kingdoms and prepared to catch them all. Qin officials sneaked around and met Mr. Han by the river and asked him his name. It was cold weather. Mr. Han pointed to the river and casually replied: "The surname is Han", which is the same pronunciation of "Han" and "Han", meaning that the water is cold to describe Han. The Qin officials heard that the surname was "He" and went there. Later, Mr. Han learned that the visitor was a government spy. He was horrified and sighed: "Isn't this God's will to save me?" So he simply took "He" as his surname. Later, he felt that the surname should be attached to the person's Dingkou, and he could not Like a river that overflows and has no support, how can it be changed according to the sound?
There are many opinions about the origin of the surname He, but in any case, there is no dispute that the surname He is derived from the surname Han.
There is a saying in history that "Korea has been one family since ancient times." He and Han originally had the same surname, which was common knowledge among all surname books and surname scholars after the Tang Dynasty. "Compilation of Yuanhe Surnames" by Lin Bao of the Tang Dynasty, "Tongzhi·Clan Brief" and "Guangyun", "Complete Collection of Clan", "Dialectics of Ancient and Modern Surname Books" by Zheng Jiao of the Song Dynasty, "Tongzhi of Wanxing" and "Clan History" of the Ming Dynasty "Bo Kao", "Surname (Jiao Cui Ao)", and the four school records of "Yuanhe Surname Compilation" written by recent scholars Cen Zhongmian and Sun Wang all record that "the He family is the Han family" and He Han is the same family.
But who is the true ancestor of the He family?
The appearance of the surname He was first seen in myths and legends. According to legend, He Hou lived in the era of Emperor Yao, one of the Five Emperors, and lived in seclusion in Cangwu Mountain. Because he yearned for immortality, Emperor Yao gave him a dose of elixir and asked him to put it into wine. More than 300 people in the family drank it all. The remaining medicinal wine was sprinkled on the houses in the courtyard, and suddenly the whole house was seen rising from the ground, slowly rising into the clouds, and the He family, regardless of gender, was in a fairyland. He Hou became the Immortal Hou of Tai Chi. This is the earliest record of He's ancestors, coming from the Song Dynasty surname book. But this is a myth after all.
Since the surname He comes from the phonetic sound of the surname Han, the ancestor of the surname He should be the person who was the "Great Escape" of the Chinese people after the destruction of Korea.
According to the "A Study on the Origin of the He Surname and the Shou Surname in Susong County, Anhui Province", the ancestor of the He family's Shou surname was Han Shu, that is, He Shu. However, there is another version of the story about the ancestor of the He family. Although the story and legend in this version are the same, the protagonist is not Han Shu, but Han Yao.
According to "Shui Mu Ji of Zhenyang": "The ancestor of He Shi was named Yao, and he was a descendant of King An of Han in the later period of Korea. Yao was appointed as a public official because of his noble moral character and talent. He once worked with Han Fei Together they were in charge of state affairs. Because they disagreed with An about their attitude towards Qin, they had to retreat to Han Yuan. King An of Han was kidnapped by Qin, and the country was destroyed and his family was destroyed. Yao and his wife lived in Lujiang and became a boatman. When he was traveling in Bolangsha, he was attacked and the arrest failed. He suspected that it was the son of the Six Kingdoms, so he ordered the whole country to conduct secret visits to the Six Kingdoms, hoping to eliminate the root cause and eliminate future troubles. We boarded Han Yao's boat and asked about his surname. It was a cold day. Han Yao pointed to the water and jokingly called "this is my surname." Han and Han have the same pronunciation. "He" was his surname, so he answered casually, and the investigators believed him to be true. He was safe and sound, and later learned that he was investigating for Qin's order. He was horrified, and he sighed: Fortunately, God has blessed us, and our family has been spared the disaster. "That's right." "Thanks to the gift of the word He, I took the surname He". Han Yao then settled in Lujiang, worked hard and studied hard, and his family prospered.
Most descendants of the He family believe that Han Yao is the ancestor of the He family, but It is also said that Han Shu was the ancestor of the He family.
2. The He surname among the ethnic minorities was added to the "Nine Zhaowu Surnames" in my country during the Han and Tang Dynasties. What surnames are there in the minority areas? In the Western Region of my country during the Han and Tang Dynasties, there was the Kangju regime established by the Yuezhi people. They originally lived in Zhaowu City in the north of the Qilian Mountains. They were defeated by the Huns and crossed to the west to establish the Kang State. As it became increasingly powerful, the Mi, Shi, Cao, He, An, Xiao'an, Nasebo, Unachang, Mu and other regimes in the Western Regions successively surrendered to Kang State, and all took Zhaowu as their surname to show that they did not forget their history. It is called the "Nine Surnames of Zhaowu", and "He" is one of them.
There were several ancestors of the He surname from the Western Regions in the Liang Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties and the later Sui Dynasty: One was He Xihu, a native of the Western Regions in the Liang Dynasty, who entered Shu for business and settled in Pixian County (today's Pixian County, Sichuan Province). County), served as the king of Wuling, and was the master of gold and silk. Because he became extremely rich, he was named "Sichuan Dajia". The other one is He Tuo, a native of the Sui Dynasty. It is said that he is the son of He Xihu. His courtesy name is Qifeng. He is young and alert. He is famous for his talent. He served as an official in the early Sui Dynasty, and he is the author of "Book of Changes" and "Book of Filial Piety". and other anthologies. The third person is He Chou, who was born in the Sui Dynasty and He Tuo's nephew. He was born in Guilin. He is well-read in classics, knows a lot about old things, and is extremely skillful in making. During the Sui Dynasty and Liaodong Campaign, Yu Wenkai failed to cross the Liao River and built a bridge. He Chou built the bridge in two days and built a palace, which astonished the Koreans with his miraculous feats.
There was a person named He Woisa among the ethnic minorities in the Northern Dynasties. His deeds are unknown, but his name is recorded in Northern History.
There were Tuyuhun among the ethnic minorities in the northern part of the Tang Dynasty, including people with the surname He. During the Five Dynasties period, during the Later Han Dynasty (448), the Tuyuhun Kingdom had a special envoy named He Jia who came to the Central Plains to pay tribute. Tuyuhun was a dynasty established by the Xianbei people in ancient my country. The Xianbei people originally lived in Liaodong. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, they moved westward to the Yinshan Mountains. At the end of the Jin Dynasty, they moved westward to Long and settled in what is now northern Qinghai Province and southeastern Xinjiang. In the Ye Yan era, they were first called Tuyuhun. "It is recorded in "Taiping Huanyu Ji".
The "Journal of the He Family Clan Association in Lujiang, Philippines" (1994 edition) contains this account: During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there was a Xianbei chief named Tu He Shegui. He had two sons, and the eldest son "Tu He" Bathing the soul", the younger son is "like bathing the demon", both of them have their own tribes. Later, the brothers had a feud, and Tuyuhun led his troops to move westward. When his descendant Ye Yan, he named his country "Tuyuhun" and established his own government, namely Tuyuhun Kingdom.
The "Ho Family Genealogy" states that the surname is the branch of the Ho family whose ancestral home is Miryang County, Gyeongnam Province, North Korea, and its relatives and friends are distributed in Liaodong, China and North Korea. This may provide the main clues and ways to research the origin and distribution of the "Tuyuhun" He family.
In the Yuan Dynasty, there was a surname "Hechao'erchi" in Shaanxian County, Ruzhou, Henan Province, who was probably Mongolian.
He Heli, the general of Houjin, originally belonged to the Dong'e clan of Houjin. His father and ancestors were both leaders of the Dong'e tribe.
3. Changing his surname to He's surname
There are several documented cases of changing the surname "He":
First, changing the surname Zhu to He's surname . "Hanshu·Wuxingzhi" says: In the Western Han Dynasty, there was a man named He Miao, whose original surname was Zhu. Later, he claimed to be surnamed He, and his descendants multiplied and became a branch of the surname He.
Second, the surname Fang was changed to He surname. He's surname in Huangtun, Lujiang, Anhui, is a descendant of Fang Xiaoru in the Ming Dynasty. He moved from Jiangxi to Anhui to avoid family trouble, and changed his surname to Fang. However, the surname of this branch is stipulated in the genealogy. Their surname is He when they are born, and their surname is Fang after death.
Third, the surname Xu was changed to He surname. Puyang's "Qiu Shan Yimen He Family Genealogy" compiled by He Kekun in the Qing Dynasty stated that He Yanshou, the first ancestor of the He family, moved to Puyang from the end of Tai Dynasty in the eighth year of Dazhong in the Tang Dynasty, and Huaien, the 20th generation of the late Yuan Dynasty, , had no heirs, so he was succeeded by his nephew Xu Zongfu. In the previous genealogy, Zongfu was previously named the Xu family lineage, and the other two "Puyang Qiushan He family genealogy" respectively regarded Xu Yi or Xu Zongfu of the Southern Song Dynasty as the first generation ancestor.
Fourthly, the surname Chen was changed to He surname. In the 48th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, He Shizhen was a Jinshi and a native of Xincheng, Shandong. He served as a minister to the governor. His original surname was Chen. The seventh generation ancestor adopted his uncle's surname and inherited it. This caste origin is a rare phenomenon.
The fifth is to change the surname collectively. In addition to Ji's surname He, there is another surname derived from a foreign family. After Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty entered Luoyang, he collectively changed the surname of the Heba clan of the Gaoche tribe in the northwest who accompanied him to Luoyang. Their descendants settled in the Central Plains and multiplied into a prominent family, known as the "He Clan of Henan".
Sixth is the compound surname. "Surname Genealogy" records: The descendants of the Chanyu of the Xiongnu in the Han Dynasty had the surname "He Nai" after returning to the Han Dynasty, and were also written as the surname "He Nai". In the Jin Dynasty, there was a general under the Mu Wang Jun of Youzhou, whose surname was "He Nai". Tiger". There are also compound surnames such as "He Ba", "He Ju", "He Lang", "He Lu" and "He Qiu".
4. Given the surname He
In the Yuan and Ming dynasties, some people were also given the surname He. "Lanzhou Prefecture Annals" records: In the Yuan Dynasty, the Tubo Xuanwei envoy Suonan, his son Suoming, in the Ming Dynasty, the official paid homage to the commander of the Hezhou Guards, and the Ming Taizu gave him his surname. He Ming was unfortunately killed in the battle with the Liangzhou Qiang people.