You know that there are fifty-six ethnic groups in China, but do you know how many surnames there are in China? Most people may think of "family names", but is it true?
According to historical records, there are more than 5,600 surnames in China. However, after a long period of baptism, only more than 3,000 surnames have survived to this day, while nearly 2,600 other surnames have disappeared into the long river of history, which is really regrettable.
The Chinese nation has always called itself the "descendant of the dragon", but few people understand the origin of this title. In the ancient East of China, the Yellow Emperor, as the leader of the Youxiong clan, after conquering other tribes in the Central Plains, in order to make the tribe sincerely submit, gave up the original bear totem, connected the bear's head with the body of the snake, and created a new totem - the dragon.
This unification brought together the originally different ethnic groups, and the new totem "dragon" was incorporated into the culture as a national symbol, and further evolved into writing. In the tribe of the ancient Emperor Shun, there was a subordinate named "Nayan", who took the dragon as his name and Ji as his surname, and gradually formed a clansman with the surname of the dragon.
While not all of them have a surname descended from the dragon, there are four surnames that may come from"Fierce God"of the descendants. These surnames are derived from one of the four most ferocious beasts in mythology, Chaos, and the description appears in detail in the Divine Sutra.
Chaos is shaped like a giant dog, covered in thick long hair, with limbs as strong as bears, fingertips without claws, eyes and nose, but unable to see or smell.
It's the same as the name, the character is confused, and when you meet a person with high morals, you will become very **, and when you meet a bad person, you will become.
Chaos, a rebellious and powerful Yellow Emperor who likes to break order and make everything chaotic. In the eyes of his people, he was a fierce god, and people did not dare to approach him.
In order to protect the group, the Yellow Emperor banished Chaos to Hunan, which became the self-proclaimed land of Chaos, where he developed his own family and took Cheng as his surname. Historically, the surname Cheng originated from Bofu of the Western Zhou Dynasty, who presented the king of Zhou with the beautiful stones of Mount Tai, the beautiful jade in the deep well, and the rice with double spikes.
Bo Fu was greatly appreciated by the king of Zhou for his contribution to Guangping, so he was rewarded by Cheng Di, and his descendants have taken Cheng as their surname since then. At present, the surname Cheng is mainly distributed in Anhui, Henan, Shanxi and Zhejiang, among which Anhui has the largest population with the surname Cheng.
There is such an ancient legend about the surname Cheng: there is a fierce beast in the legend, named 梼杌, living in the West, looking like a tiger, with long hair and a cap, thick legs, tiger-like markings on the body, a wide mouth full of sharp teeth, and a tail more than 8 feet long.
The most peculiar thing is that its face is very human-like and looks very vicious. Although this legend is ancient, it adds a touch of mystery to the origin of the surname Cheng.
Legend has it that Han Zhu was the son of Zhuan, who had a stubborn personality and could not listen to the advice of others. Once he is annoyed, he will fight hard, and if someone tells him that he is wrong, he will stubbornly stick to his ideas, and refuse to change even if his head is broken.
Because of his cruelty and cunning, he often brought disasters to the world, and his divine power was amazing, unrivaled, and he was revered as a fierce god. Later, people used "梼杌" to describe those who were stubborn and stubborn, just like the "mallet" that the northerners said and the Chifeng people called "strong seeds".
Because of his overly violent destructive power, he was sealed by the ancient gods with supernatural powers and exiled to a distant place in the west. His descendants have passed on Yu as a surname to this day, and one of his descendants continues to use this surname as a sign of respect for their ancestors.
Qiqi, on the other hand, resembles a lion in appearance, but is several times larger than a lion, with fur as sharp as a steel needle, and a dog barks when angry, which makes people feel frightened. Although the historical record of Yu is different from the mythological story, the historical books still record it as the son of Zhuan Xu, the great Yu who has made great contributions to water control, and Emperor Shun designated him as the heir and became the leader of the Xia Department.
Although he likes to eat people, he lives in a place that is rarely inhabited, because he has wings on his back, and can fly thousands of miles with all his might, and if he is hungry, he will fly far away to forage for food. It is rumored that he is a descendant of the Western Emperor Shaohao, and because he is unable to achieve great things, he hates talented people and loyal people.
If his subordinates are faithful, he will despise them and use opportunists instead. And he doesn't believe in his words, once his heart changes, he will turn his face and deny people, which is deeply hateful.
Qi Qi, a beast that caused disaster and dishonesty, gave his father Shao Hao a headache. The warriors of the tribe sneered at him, and it was very difficult to manage.
Therefore, the Shaohao clan decided to expel him from the clan. However, Qiqi did not give up because of this. He established his own tribe in the exiled land, and the people of the tribe took him as a totem and took the character "poor" as a surname, which gradually evolved into the character "Lü".
Although the people of this tribe live in hardship, they firmly believe that only by working together can they get through it. Gluttony, another bizarre image. Its body is like a sheep, its face is like a human, and it is a monster in the Book of Mountains and Seas.
Although it is not full, its image is unforgettable. It seems to tell us that life is hard, but only by persevering can we achieve our goals.
It has a peculiar pair of eyes, located under the armpits, and is able to see into the secrets of people's hearts. The mouth was full of teeth as sharp as a tiger, and he especially loved human flesh and blood.
It is said that the image of gluttony is the loser of the Jinyun family, this son is insatiable, only cares about accumulating wealth, and ignores morality and law. In the process of looting property, he does not distinguish between young and old, as long as there are benefits to be made, he will catch them all.
Because of his unbridled greed, he has had a great impact on the country and the people, so he is honored along with Qiqi, Hanqi, and Chaos"Four murders"。
Originating from the ancient surname of Emperor Yan - Jiang, the descendants of Jinyun take this as their surname, carrying respect for their ancestors and tracing history. In the long course of cultural development, people's understanding of the unknown is often affected by scarcity, which is more due to the fear of the unknown.
For example, chaos stems from people's failure to grasp the laws of nature, bribery comes from people's anxiety about difficulties, poverty comes from the elusiveness of human nature, and gluttony is a visual expression of people's greed.
These ancient myths and fables reflect the limitations of human perception of ourselves and the world, as well as the fear and greed of the unknown. However, it is this fear and greed that drives human exploration and understanding of the unknown, and also shapes human culture and history.
In the evolution of history, in order to integrate the admiration for the totem into themselves, people have integrated the meaning of the totem into the surname, so that this meaning can be continued. At the same time, mythological stories, as the easiest medium to transmit and remember, give these surnames the most vivid interpretation of their origins.
For Chinese, a surname is not just a mark, but a symbol of thousands of years of Chinese culture.
1.If your surname is among these four, will you feel that you are a descendant of a "fierce god"? 2.With these four surnames, do you feel that you are the descendants of the "fierce god"?
3.Do you feel that you are a descendant of a "fierce god" with your surname within these four? 4.Do people with these four surnames consider themselves descendants of the "fierce gods"?