People will be labeled with one "label" after another in this life. The name is the first "label" a person is labeled with in the world. The name contains the expectations of parents for their children. Hope and best wishes.
As an ancient civilization with a history of thousands of years, Chinese culture has a long history and is profound. When naming their children, parents often use classics and history books to search through the Sikuquanshu. However, "surname" is much simpler. Generally speaking, children follow their father's surname, and rarely follow their mother's. This habit is not innate, but a commandment set in ancient times. Ancient legends
More than 90% of people in China share the same ancestry. According to legend, most Chinese people are descendants of the Yellow Emperor, so he is called the "ancestor of humanity" by later generations. Huangdi was the first person in Chinese history to have a surname. The emperor is the son of Shaodian, the leader of the Youxiong clan. In many historical materials, the emperor is called Youxiong. This is because in ancient times, women were called surnames and men were called surnames.
Before this, people only had first names but no surnames. According to legend, the Yellow Emperor had 25 sons, 14 of them had surnames, and two had the same surname. This seems to be a very natural thing now. , but it was rare at the time.
The emperor's descendants developed these 12 "surnames" in various regions. After a period of evolution, these 12 surnames gradually derived more than 500 "surnames". "Ji's surname" As the emperor's direct lineage, it was the most powerful. His descendants owned 61 territories, and more than 400 surnames were derived from the "Ji surname".
In feudal society, many emperors called themselves descendants of Yan and Huang. The reason for this was that many of these emperors established new dynasties by overthrowing the previous dynasties. They said this to show that everyone retained their With the blood of the emperor, you can call me king, and you can also call me king.
In modern society, surnames cannot be changed casually. If you change them, you will be condemned by the world. However, this was not the case in ancient times. At that time, surnames were extremely closely related to their place of residence, mother's clan, or family totem. relation.
In the society at that time, a clan was not fixed and would often split due to the increase in personnel or internal conflicts within the clan. The newly split clan had to move to other places. After these clans moved to other places, they often derived new surnames based on their place of residence or new totems. The emperor's surname is very different from his parents' Shaodian clan, and the Yanhuang brothers also have different surnames.
With the development of society, the traditional marriage system in the past has changed, and the monogamous marriage system has gradually emerged. Under this marriage system, the matrilineal society has gradually transformed into a patriarchal society, and children They became increasingly identifiable, and the familiar surnames of father and son began to spread. Social Transformation
In primitive society, humans have had a life model of "clan commune" for a long time. This model uses blood ties as a link to form grassroots production units. A clan usually has more than a dozen people. These dozen people have the same bottom line. They work together and allocate the means of production together.
Matriarchal society is the first stage of the entire clan society. Compared with primitive society, people in this period have begun to use tools. They can sew clothes with animal skins, linen, etc. and also go to the forest. Picking wild fruits to satisfy hunger. During this period, women played an important role in the entire society. Whether it was gathering, cooking, or primitive agriculture, women were the main body of society.
Children born to women during this period all took their mother’s surname, because the marriage system during this period was polyandry, and the children did not know who their fathers were. During this period, the presence of men was very low, and children only knew their mothers, but not their fathers. Therefore, most of the surnames produced during this period were dominated by female characters, such as Ji and Jiang.
With the development of society, productivity has also improved. The past production methods have transformed into hunting, farming, pottery and other jobs that require a huge output of labor. These jobs are extremely difficult for women. , the role of men gradually became prominent, and later, men occupied a dominant position in society.
Society soon transitioned from a traditional matrilineal society to a patrilineal society, and the traditional polyandrous marriage system also changed. At this time, children can already tell who their father is, and naturally He took his father's surname. While productivity is developing, culture is also developing continuously.
The Chinese nation is a nation with unique insights into the concept of family. Chinese people have an extremely strong sense of belonging to their families. Due to this culture, Chinese people have a strong sense of passing on the family lineage. In the eyes of many Chinese people, The birth of a new life is a symbol of the continuity of a family, and taking the father's surname is one of the most important ways to continue this family system.
In feudal society, with the development of commodity economy, private ownership gradually formed, and people had the right to possess their own property, which gave rise to the issue of ownership of possession rights. At the same time, during this period, women's social status became increasingly low. Men were the main force in social production. Men could have three wives and four concubines, while women could only follow one man. During this period, taking the father's surname became an important way for these men to mark their children. In this situation, the issue of property ownership has been resolved.