The surname is Shang
It is of the Chengzi clan, with its founding ancestor being King Zhou of Shang. It is the 244th surname in contemporary China. The founding ancestors of the Shang family, who immigrated from the Great Locust Tree in Hongtong during the Ming Dynasty, were from Pingyang Prefecture, Hongtong County, Zhaocheng County and other places. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, they were relocated to other places in a concentrated manner from the Great Locust Tree in Hongtong. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, their descendants were distributed in Henan, Shandong, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Shaanxi, Gansu, Anhui, Jiangsu, Hubei, Hunan, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Shanxi and other places.
The earliest record of the Shang surname can be found in the "Yuanhe Xingzuan" of the Tang Dynasty.
There are mainly four sources of the surname:
① It originated from taking a fief as a surname. According to the "Xing Jie", during the Warring States Period, Gongsun Yang, a member of the royal family of the State of Wei, entered the State of Qin and presented a strategy for enriching the country and strengthening the military to Duke Xiao of Qin. With Duke Xiao's support, two reforms made the State of Qin prosperous and powerful throughout the land. He was enfeoffed in the State of Shang for his great achievements and was known as Shang Yang, with the title of Shang Jun. His descendants took the surname of the fiefdom Shang.
② Originated from Emperor Kunsun of the Yellow Emperor. According to the "Research on Clans", Shang was a place name located in present-day Shangqiu, Henan Province. The grandson of the yellow emperor, Jian Di, the consort of emperor 喾, became pregnant after eating swallow eggs and gave birth to Qi. When he grew up, he became the Minister of Rites of Shun. Later, he assisted Yu in controlling the floods and was enfeoffed in the Shang state, becoming the ancestor of the Shang people. Among his descendants, some took the name of their place of residence, Shang, as their surname.
③ Descendants of the Shang royal family. According to the "General Annals: Brief Account of Clans", at the end of the Xia Dynasty, Cheng Tang, the leader of the Shang people, appointed Yi Yin, the most virtuous prime minister in China, to overthrow the Xia Dynasty and establish the Shang Dynasty. It had 35 emperors and lasted for 629 years. Finally, when the Shang Dynasty was enfeoffed as a king, it was overthrown by King Wu of Zhou. The descendants of the Shang emperor took the name of the lost state, Shang, as their surname.
④ Originated from the descendants of the Shang Dynasty. According to the "Huainanzi" and "Xingjie", Shang Lin, a virtuous minister of the Zhou Dynasty, learned from Laozi. His descendants took his given name as their surname.
The main ancestral home of the Shang surname is Runan Commandery. Runan Commandery was established in the fourth year of Emperor Gaozu of Han (203 BC). It is equivalent to the southern part of central Henan Province and the area north of the Huaihe River in Anhui Province today. Its administrative center was located in Shangcai (now southwest of Shangcai County, Henan Province).
The main couplets for the Shang surname are: The Three Yuan of the Ming Dynasty, highlighting the grandeur of Fengyi (Shang Lu); Confucius' second younger brother once passed on the classics of Zhu and Si (Shang Qu, Shang Ze). His poetry and education never waned, and he was eighty years old (Shang Jinghui). Though life and death may vary, chastity endures through the ages. (Shang Jinglan)
The "Great Dictionary of Chinese Names" includes 16 examples of the Shang family, and the "Great Dictionary of Chinese Names Through the Ages" includes 29 examples. Among the historical figures surnamed Shang in the Zhou Dynasty were the mathematician Shang Gao and Shang Ze, a disciple of Confucius. During the Spring and Autumn Period, there was Shang Qu in the State of Lu, who was a disciple of Confucius. During the Warring States Period, there was Shang Yang in the State of Qin. During the Song Dynasty, there was Shang Feiqing, a native of Linhai, who held the position of Director of the Ministry of Works. During the Yuan Dynasty, there was Shang Ting, who served as a vice premier. During the Ming Dynasty, there was a Shang Dajie, a native of Zhongxiang, who served as the Right Deputy Commander-in-Chief. There were commercial transactions in the Qing Dynasty.
According to the statistics of the seventh national census, there are 5,149 people surnamed Shang in Shanxi Province, 1,097 in Linfen City and 708 in Hongtong County.
The ancestral altar of the Shang family is enshrined in the No. 1 altar in the Ancestral Hall of the Great Locust Tree.
The main genealogies of the Shang surname include: "The Six-Volume Genealogy of the Shang Family from Sizhou, Jingjiang, Jiangsu Province" (by the Xiju Troupe of Jingjiang County, Jiangsu Province). "Four Volumes of the Houshang Family Genealogy of Mingzheng Mountain, Yanxi, Zhejiang Province" (Shengshan Township, Lanxi County, Zhejiang Province) The First and last volumes of the Twenty Volumes of the Shang Family Genealogy of Xinzhou, Hubei Province (Zhoushang Village, Kongbu Township, Xinzhou County, Hubei Province).
The first ancestor of the Shang family in Puyang moved from Hongtong, Shanxi Province to Shangsuocheng Village, Haitong Township, Puyang County during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. The founding ancestor of the Shang family branch in Xin County moved from Hongtong, Shanxi Province to Yingtou Village, Zhanglu Hui Town, Xin County during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. The founding ancestor of a branch of the Shang family in Fangshan moved from Hongtong, Shanxi Province to Zhangfang Village, Fangshan District, Beijing in the first year of Yongle during the Ming Dynasty. The founding ancestor of a branch of the Helingeer Shang family moved from Hongtong, Shanxi Province to Xinfeng Village, Helingeer County during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty. The founding ancestor of a branch of the Shang family in Yanggu moved from Hongtong, Shanxi Province to Shangkeng Village, Shimen Song Township, Yanggu County in the early Ming Dynasty.
The founding ancestor of a branch of the Haitong Shang family moved from Hongtong, Shanxi Province to Shangsuocheng, Haitong Township, Henan Province during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. The founding ancestor of a branch of the Laiwu Shang family moved from Hongtong, Shanxi Province to Guangrao Shangzhuang, Kenli, Shandong Province in the fourth year of Yongle during the Ming Dynasty. The founding ancestor of the Neihuang Shang family, Hui Xian, moved from Hongtong, Shanxi Province to Houhua Village, Neihuang County, Henan Province in the second year of Yongle during the Ming Dynasty. The founding ancestor of a branch of the Shang family in Dezhou moved from Hongtong, Shanxi Province to Buguantun, Wucheng County, Dezhou City, Shandong Province in the early Ming Dynasty. The founding ancestor of the Shang family in Dezhou moved from Hongtong, Shanxi Province to Shangzhuang, Xiajin County, Dezhou City, Shandong Province during the Ming Dynasty. The founding ancestor of a branch of the Zhanhua Shang family moved from Hongtong, Shanxi Province to Zhanhua County, Shandong Province in the fourth year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty. The founding ancestor of a branch of the Shang family in Wudi moved from Hongtong, Shanxi Province to Dashan Street, Wudi County, Shandong Province during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty. The founding ancestor of the Shang family branch in Fangzi moved from Hongtong, Shanxi Province to Dayingzi, Fangzi District, Shandong Province during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty.