Speaking of the story of our country’s surnames, it will not be finished in a short time. Its development history is as exciting as the development history of the country. If you are not Chinese, you will really envy it.
So far, there are more than 5,600 surnames recorded in literature alone, and this does not include the surnames of the Mongolian and Manchu people in the Yuan and Qing Dynasties. If all the surnames were added up, there might be more than 10,000.
With so many surnames, there are always some that everyone likes, some that make people so embarrassed that they don’t want to say their last names, and some weird surnames that make people so embarrassed that they don’t know how to choose a name. So, do you know any last names that are easy to break down?
The picture comes from the Internet: Surnames with documented records
1. The origin of surnames
In the beginning, people did not have surnames, and everyone only had a first name. . Later, people discovered a problem. The same name may exist in one village and in the next village. It is difficult to distinguish who needs to be contacted or who has made a mistake.
After discovering this problem, people came up with a way. If there is a big mountain nearby, they would add the name of the mountain in front of the houses that live around the mountain. If someone lives by a river, also add the name of the river in front of the people.
In this way, although there will still be duplication of names, the repetition rate has been reduced a lot. It is easier for people to understand and accept this distinction, and it will serve multiple purposes.
Although naming individuals in this way is easy to remember, it can occasionally cause embarrassment. Furthermore, surnames are not static. Sometimes people will change their surnames in order to escape for safety or the like. The change of the surname, coupled with the change of the meaning of the words, resulted in the following embarrassing surnames.
Pictures: stills of people escaping for their lives
2. Fuck: easy to misunderstand as a curse word
When everyone sees this word, the first reaction in their hearts is Why don't you pronounce it as the fourth tone and curse in your mind? This is also the embarrassing thing about Cao's surname. Usually everyone is used to pronouncing it as the fourth tone, making people with this surname embarrassed to say their own surname.
There are two main theories about the origin of the surname Cao. One is that it originated from an official position and was a surname given by a certain monarch. The editor swears that when this monarch gave his ministers a surname, he never thought that this word would develop into a word full of derogatory connotations. The second theory of the surname Cao is that they are descendants of King Wu of Zhou, who are now mainly distributed in Anhui Province.
During the Sui Dynasty, a man named Cao Shiqi and others formed a rebel army and captured what is now Nanchang. At that time, the rebel army developed very rapidly, but unfortunately it eventually failed. He was suppressed and Cao Shiqiu was killed by an arrow during his resistance.
The picture comes from the Internet: Cao surname
3. Gou: homophonic with dog
There are many folk opinions about the origin of the surname Gou, which are relatively true. There are mainly two kinds of people, one is said to be a descendant of Emperor Huang or Emperor Shun, and the other is from the Xun family of Jin.
The Gou family was a powerful family in Jin State, but later they were framed for some reasons. In order to escape, the Xun family had to change their surname to Gou. According to statistics, there are about 330,000 people with this surname in the country, most of which are located in Sichuan.
The surname Gou is relatively rare in history. The most famous one is Gou Bian, a general during the Warring States Period. The reason why people feel embarrassed is that "Gou" and "dog" have the same pronunciation. As soon as outsiders hear the surname Gou, they will automatically convert it into "dog". Although people like dogs, the word "dog" still contains the meaning of swearing, which is why people with the surname Gou feel doubly embarrassed.
The picture comes from the Internet: Gou surname
4. Zai: full of blood
At first glance, the word "zai" is a word full of blood. Neither animals nor humans like to see such destructive words. There are also many theories about the origin of the surname Zai, among which the most recognized one is that it originated from the Shang Dynasty.
It is said that there was an official named Dazai at that time. Dazai's main responsibility was to assist the emperor in handling state affairs and he had high authority. This official position was similar to the later prime minister. Dazai was also called Zaifu in the Shang Dynasty. After the fall of the Shang Dynasty, the descendants of Dazai changed the compound surname "Zaifu" to the single surname "Zai".
Nowadays, the position of Dazai no longer exists, and there are only a few people with the surname of Dazai. Even the surname of Dazai has become a rare surname and rarely appears. Regardless of whether it is "Zai Fu" or "Zai", it doesn't feel peaceful, which makes people feel horrified. Officials with the surname Zai recorded in official history include Zai Kong during the Zhou Dynasty, Zai Chao during the Han Dynasty, and so on.