Wu (w ǔ) surname

He inherited from King Ping of Zhou, Wu Ding of Shang, and his ancestors were Ji Wu and Sikong (Duke Wu of Song). It is the 95th surname among the top 100 contemporary surnames in China. The contemporary Wu surname is about 2.2 million, accounting for approximately 0.18% of the total population of the country. The ancestors of the Wu family, who migrated from Hongdong and Dahuaishu during the Ming Dynasty, were from Pingyang and Taiyuan prefectures, Ze, Lu, Liao, Fen, and Qin provinces, as well as Hongdong and Zhaocheng counties. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, it was ordered to relocate the large locust trees in Hongdong to other places. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, their descendants were distributed in Henan, Shandong, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Anhui, Jiangsu, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Shanxi and other places. 

The earliest record of the Wu surname can be found in the Eastern Han Dynasty's "Customs and Customs: Surnames" chapter.

There are five main sources of surnames:

① Originating from the Ji surname. According to the "Genealogy Table of Prime Ministers" in the New Book of Tang, in 770 BC, the Invaders invaded the Western Zhou Dynasty on a large scale, killing King You of Zhou and destroying the capital city of the Zhou Dynasty, Haojing. Yijiu, the son of King You of Zhou, was supported by some feudal lords such as Shen, Xu, and Lu. He ascended to the throne in Shen (now northern Nanyang, Henan) and soon moved his capital to Luoyi (now Luoyang, Henan), known as the Eastern Zhou in history. Yijiu is King Ping of Zhou. It is said that Ji Wu, the youngest son of King Ping of Zhou, had a pattern on the palm of his mother's hand that resembled the character Wu. King Ping of Zhou bestowed upon her the title of Wu and appointed her as a high-ranking official of the Zhou Dynasty. Her descendants took Wu as their surname. It is the surname Wu from Henan. It is historically known as the authentic Wu surname.

② Derived from the surname of the child. According to the "General Principles of Customs", during the Spring and Autumn Period, Sikong, the son of Duke Dai of Song, succeeded to the throne in 765 BC and reigned for 18 years. After his death, he was posthumously named Wu and was historically known as Duke Wu of Song. The descendants of Duke Wu of Song took the posthumous name Wu from their ancestors as their surname. It is the surname Wu from Henan province; According to the "Wuban Stele", there were also descendants of King Wu Ding of the Shang Dynasty with the surname Wu, such as the Wuban of the Han Dynasty.

③ Derived from the surname of a country. According to the "Shiben" and "Wanxing Tongpu" records, during the Xia Dynasty, there were various feudal lords in the state of Wuluo. Later, when the state fell, the descendants of Wuluo took the state as their surname, which was later abbreviated as the Wu surname.

④ Originating from compound surnames starting with the word 'wu'. General Bai Qi of Qin was once conferred the title of Wu'an Jun for his meritorious service, and his descendants were granted the title of Wu'an Shi. The descendants of Jiman, the grandson of King Zhou Qing, were once enfeoffed in Wujiang and later adopted Wujiang as their clan. The descendants of the Wu'an and Wujiang clans later changed their surnames to Wu.

⑤ Originating from the Tang Dynasty, the Mao surname and the bestowed surname. During the Tang Dynasty, there was He Lanmin, originally from the Helan clan, who later changed his surname to Wu and became known as Mao; Wu Zetian once bestowed the surname Wu upon the wives of Zuo Yuling, Li Kaigu, Qi Xinming, and others.

The Wu surname counties mainly include Taiyuan County, Pei County, etc. Taiyuan Commandery: First established in the fourth year of King Zhuangxiang of Qin (246 BC), with its capital located in Jinyang (now southwest of Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province).