Zou surname
It is inherited from 颛顼 di and Wei Zi Qi, and its founding ancestors were Cao Xie and Shu Liang He. It is the 67th surname among the top 100 surnames in contemporary China. The contemporary population surnamed Zou is approximately four million, accounting for about 0.33% of the total population of the country. The founding ancestors of the Zou family, who immigrated from the Great Locust Tree in Hongtong during the Ming Dynasty, were from Pingyang and Taiyuan prefectures, Ze, Lu, Liao, Fen and Qin prefectures, and Hongtong and Zhaocheng counties. In the early Ming Dynasty, the Hongtong Great Locust Tree was relocated to other places in a concentrated manner. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, its 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 Zou surname can be found in the "Yuanhe Xingzuan" of the Tang Dynasty.
There are mainly four sources of the surname:
① It originates from the surname Cao. According to the "Kaolue of Surnames" and "Shuowen Jiezi", in ancient times, there was the State of Zhu Lou, which was established by Cao Xie, a descendant of Emperor 颛顼, and was enfeoffed by King Wu of Zhou. It had the territories of present-day Fei, Zou, Teng, Jining and Jin counties in Shandong Province, with its capital in Zhu. The former site of Zhu is located in Nanzou Village, southeast of Qufu, Shandong Province today. During the Spring and Autumn Period, in 614 BC, Duke Wen of Zhu moved the capital to Yi and became a vassal of the State of Lu. During the Warring States Period, Duke Mu of Lu changed the state of Zhu Lou to the State of Zou. Later, it was conquered by the State of Chu. Some of its descendants and citizens took Zou as their surname, which is known as the Zou surname of Shandong.
② It originated from the Zi surname and was a descendant of Wei Zi Qi, the half-brother of King Zhou of Shang. According to the "Records of the Grand Historian: The Annals of Yin" and the "Yuanhe Xingzuan", during the Zhou Dynasty, after Duke Dan of Zhou quelled Wu Geng's rebellion, he enfeoffed the old capital of Shang and its surrounding areas to Hui Ziqi, the half-brother of King Zhou of Shang, and established the State of Song to offer sacrifices to Tang of Shang and set its capital at Shangqiu. There is the area between the eastern part of present-day Henan Province and Shandong, Jiangsu and Anhui. It was passed down to Duke Min of the Song Dynasty. His grandson, Kaofu, lived through the reigns of Duke Dai, Duke Wu and Duke Xuan. Kaofu's fief was in Zou. The former territory of Zou is located in the southeast of Zou County, Shandong Province today. When it was passed down to the fifth-generation grandson, Shuliang He, he took the name of the fief, Zou, as his surname, which is the Zou clan of Shandong.
③ It originates from the surname Si. According to the "Records of the Grand Historian: The Biography of Dongyue", King Goujian of Yue was of the Si family. In Fujian and other places, there were descendants of the King of Yue surnamed Zou.
④ It originated after Chiyou. According to the "Supplementary Records", when the Yellow Emperor defeated Chiyou, he moved his people to Zoutu and named their clan Zoutu after the place name. Later, they were divided into the Zou and Tu surnames.
The main ancestral home of the Zou surname is Fanyang Prefecture. Fanyang Commandery: In the seventh year of Huangchu of the Wei Dynasty during The Three Kingdoms period (226), Zhuo Commandery was renamed Fanyang Commandery. In the present-day Jixian County of Hebei Province and the areas of Changping and Fangshan in Beijing.
The Zou family also used Fanyang, Jieshi and Baijian as their ancestral hall names. The Hall of Admonition: During the Warring States Period, Zou Ji of the State of Qi, seeing that King Wei of Qi was not very fond of listening to others, said to King Wei of Qi, "I am not as good-looking as Xu Gong in the north of the city." But when I asked about my wife, concubine and friends, they all said that I was more beautiful than Xu Gong. I looked at myself in the mirror again and again, but I still looked far worse than Xu Gong. I thought: Why would they praise me as more beautiful than Xu Gong? My wife values the private relationship between husband and wife. My concubine is afraid of me. My friend has a question for me. So everyone praises me for being beautiful. I thought again: Both the king and his attendants care about your personal feelings. None of the king's ministers is afraid of you. The people of the State of Qi have no expectations of you. It seems that none of them will tell you the truth. You have been deceived too deeply. How can a country be governed well? When King Wei of Qi heard this, he issued an order, saying, "Those who can expose my mistakes to my face will be rewarded." I was awarded the prize for being able to write written materials to point out my mistakes. I dare not expose it in person or write written materials. If I only talk about my mistakes outside and hear them, I will reward him with the third prize. At first, everyone vied to offer suggestions to King Wei, and the area in front of the Meridian Gate was as crowded as a fair. Two months later, those who offered suggestions were like stars in the morning - very rare. At three months, not a single person was left. King Wei of Qi collected these opinions and immediately corrected his mistakes. When other states heard of this situation, they all came to pay homage to the State of Qi and dared not invade it anymore. All of this was the result of Zou Ji's tactful and indirect advice. So the Zou family also called it the "Hall of Admonitions".
The couplets for the Zou surname include: Originated from Zhu Lou; Looking out, one can see Fanyang (the ancestral home of the Zou family). The scholar was called De Yi (Zou Li). His place name was Bin Xian (Zou Yi). Liang Yuan Zhaoxue (Zou Yang) The millet brings spring back (Zou Yan). A Collection of Suggestions and Wishes for Learning (Zou Yuanbiao) The Revolutionary Army of Manifesto (Zou Rong). Lu County is known as Zhongling Land (Lu County). Zou Tu then moved to Shanxiang (the Zou Tu clan). Peng Qin offered herself to be the prime minister (Zou Ji). The Study of success: Observing Yin and Yang (Zou Yan) A Casual Ode to the Snow in Liangyuan (Zou Yang) The Six verses can bring back the spring of millet and grain (Zou Yan). The spirit of Dao is endowed with the elegance of the land (Zou Yuanbiao) Poetry captures the splendor of the moon and dew (Zou Ding). The Memorial directly states the true demeanor of a minister (Zou Zhi); In his last will, he exhorted good friends and admonitions (Zou Changqian). Youdaoplaceholder0 Only in accordance with the purgative authority; Youdaoplaceholder0 Ji Ning Xiang Ya Wang gao (Zou Yigui).
The 1999 edition of Cihai includes 13 examples of the Zou family, 99 examples in the Great Dictionary of Chinese Personal Names, and 106 examples in the Great Dictionary of Chinese Personal Names Through the Ages. Among the historical figures of the Zou surname, there was Zou Ji, a renowned minister of the State of Qi during the Warring States Period, and also Zou Yan, who was known as the Yin-Yang School. During the Han Dynasty, there was Zou Yang, a scholar, and also Zou Changqian, an old acquaintance of Gongsun Hong. In the Tang Dynasty, there was Zou You. During the Jin Dynasty, there was Zou Gu, who served as the chief of the Dali Temple. Zou Yinglong, a prime minister of the Song Dynasty; During the Ming Dynasty, there was the painter and poet Zou Diguang, who was from Wuxi. There was also the poet Zou Liang, one of the Ten sons of Jingtai. During the Qing Dynasty, there was a cabinet scholar and a renowned painter named Zou Yigui.
According to the statistics of the seventh national census, there are 10,275 people surnamed Zou in Shanxi Province, 2,081 in Linfen City and 47 in Hongtong County.