The origin of the surname Wang is very complicated
(1) It comes from the surname Gui. According to legend, after the ancient emperor Yu Shun, the surname Wang, who regarded Yu Shun as his ancestor, is the most important of the surnames. One. After King Wu destroyed the Shang Dynasty, Guiman, a descendant of Yu Shun, was granted the title of Chen. After Chen Wan became an official in Qi State, he was changed to the Tian family. After Qin destroyed Qi, Tian Sheng and Tian Huan, sons of King Tian Jian of Qi, changed their surnames from Tian to Wang. This branch of Wang surname has Beihai and Qingzhou as the county commanders. Wang Mang of the Han Dynasty originated from this branch of Wang surname; (2) It comes from the surname Ji, which is derived from Bi Gonggao, the fifteenth son of King Wen of Zhou Dynasty, and originated from Bi Gong of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. Bi Gonggao, the younger brother of King Wu of Zhou, was granted the title of Bi State. During the Spring and Autumn Period, his grandson Bi Wan served as the Situ of the Jin State and was granted the title of Wei. During the Warring States Period, the three families of Wei, Han and Zhao divided the Jin State. After Qin destroyed Wei, his descendant Wei Wuji's grandson Wei Beizi fled to Mount Tai, Shandong. In the early Han Dynasty, Wei Beizi was ordered to serve as an official and was granted the title of Lanling County. Because he was the descendant of the Wang family, he called his family the "Wang family" and took Wang as his surname from then on;
(3) It comes from the surname Zi, after the prince Bigan of the Shang Dynasty;
(4) Foreign surnames in history, such as Wang Jian, the founder of Goryeo (now North Korea), Wang Xiong, the ancestor of the Pin family of the Western Wei Dynasty, Wang Ji, the ancestor of the Xiner family, etc.
(5) The descendants of the king are often named Wang, and they often take the surname.
(6) Giving a surname, such as the great-great-grandson Jia of King Dan of Yan in the Han Dynasty, who was given the surname Wang during the reign of Wang Mang;
(7) Forging a surname, such as Wang Shichong's original surname Zhi in the Sui Dynasty, Wang Baoyi of the Five Dynasties, whose original name was Liu Qufei, all assumed the surname Wang.
(8) Historical reasons, such as changing the surname to Wang to avoid revenge and escape for one's life.
In addition to the famous Langya Wang family, Shanxi Taiyuan Wang family, and the famous Sanhuai Wang family, there are also the Beihai Wang family in Changle, Shandong, the Donghai Wang family in Shandong Juncheng, and the Shandong Wang family. The Gaoping Wang family in Juye, the Jingzhao Wang family in Shaanxi, the Tianshui Wang family in Tianshui, Gansu, the Dongping Wang family in Dongping, Shandong, the Shanyang Wang family in Tengzhou, Shandong, the Xincai Wang family in Xincai, Henan, and the Wang family in Dingxian, Hebei Province. The Wang family of Zhongshan, the Zhangwu Wang family of Xingtang County, Hebei Province, the Donglai Wang family of Ye County, Shandong, the Guanghan Wang family of Sichuan, the Jincheng Wang family of Shaanxi, the Hedong Wang family of Shanxi, the Changsha Wang family of Hunan, and the Liuhe Wang family of Jiangsu. , the Wang family of Nanjun in Henan, etc. are also famous families. Some books record that the famous Wang family has as many as thirty-eight Wangs nationwide, which is seventeen Wangs more than the twenty-one Wangs. This shows the wide distribution of the Wang family across the country and the prosperity of the family.
The surname Wang can be seen from historical biographies. Most of the surnames of Chinese kings are "queen of kings", that is, they are descendants of emperors. During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Ji Jin, the crown prince of Zhou Ling, was demoted to a commoner because of his outspoken advice. He was demoted to a commoner because of his loyalty to the country. He felt resentful and resentful, and soon died in depression. His son Zong Jing's family took "Wang" as their surname. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the descendants of Prince Jin formed a cultural background in which the surname and family name were unified under the new form of social development, and the surname "Wang" was transformed into the surname "Wang". In addition to the surname of King Taiyuan, the descendants of King Wen of Zhou and King Kao of Zhou either fled into exile or seized titles and lost their country after the change of dynasties. In order to let future generations remember their noble origins, they also took the surname Wang. In addition, the emperor gave surnames, and ethnic minorities changed their surnames to Wang during the process of sinicization, which is also how the surname Wang originated. Among the more than a dozen royal surnames in Shandong, several were changed by the Mongols to the surname Wang in the Yuan Dynasty and have been passed down to this day.
Taiyuan Wang family
The Taiyuan Wang family’s surname is Taizi Jin, the founder of the family. He is the prince of Zhou Ling, whose name is Jin and whose courtesy name is Ziqiao. He was born in about 565 BC and died in AD. In 549 BC, his surname was Ji.
Historical records state that Prince Jin was "virtuous at a young age, intelligent and broad-minded, gentle, courteous and smart". At the age of fifteen, he assisted the government as the prince. King Ling took him seriously and the princes followed him. At that time, Duke Ping of Jin Dynasty sent Shi Kuang to see Prince Jin. Shi Kuang asked about the virtues of a gentleman. Prince Jin replied eloquently: "Shun is like a man whose benevolence and virtue match the way of heaven. Although he sticks to his post, he always thinks of the people of the world and makes people far away." All people can receive his help and benevolent, and they are in harmony with the way of heaven. This is what Yu is like, and he does not take credit for his work, and everything is based on the world. , must be in line with the right path, which is called a sage. Another example is King Wen, whose main path is benevolence and whose small path is benefit. He has divided the world into two. He is still extremely humble and serves the Yin Shang people. However, he lost his body and was imprisoned by the tyrant Zhou, and he did not move to fight. This is called benevolence. It is also like King Wu who killed the tyrant Zhou in a righteous way to benefit the world, and the people all got what they wanted. This is called righteousness." Shi Kuang praised him endlessly for his kindness.
In the 22nd year of King Ling (551 BC), the Gu and Luo rivers overflowed and were about to destroy the palace. King Ling decided to block the flood with dams. Prince Jin Jin admonished: "No. I have heard that the elders of the people since ancient times will not fall into the mountains, fill up the lakes, or release the water sources. The heaven and the earth naturally have their own ways to restrict life." He also proposed gathering soil, dredging rivers, and blocking rivers. Methods such as marshes and pit ponds are used to divert floods. At the same time, the history of the Gun and Zhou Dynasties, which harmed the world by "blocking and controlling floods", points out that what the Ling King did "has nothing to do with the chaos" and "is the behavior of the king of death."
Prince Jin's direct remonstrance angered King Ling, and he was deposed as a commoner. He became depressed and died within three years. When Shi Kuang went to court to see the prince Jin, he saw that the prince was red in color and was dying. Prince Jin said: "In three years' time, I will go to heaven to visit the Jade Emperor." Sure enough, within three years, the messenger of the obituary arrived in Jin.
Because Prince Jin could predict life and death, later generations said that he became a god. "The Biography of Immortals" records that Prince Jin was good at playing the sheng and singing the song of the phoenix. When he was traveling in Yi and Luo, the Taoist priest Fuqiu Sheng led him to Mount Song. Thirty years later, when he met Hengliang, Prince Jin said: "You can sue my family. In July Meet me at the foot of Fengshi Mountain in the seventh day."
At that time, he was indeed riding a white crane on the top of the mountain. It was within sight but out of reach, and it took him only a few days to get there.
Shortly after the death of Prince Jin, King Ling died, and Prince Jin’s younger brother succeeded him as King Jing. Zong Jing, the son of Prince Jin, later became a Situ. Seeing the decline of the Zhou Dynasty and the chaos in the world, he asked the elder to become an official and fled to Taiyuan. At that time, people still called it the Wang family, so they took Wang as the surname, becoming the ancestor of the Wang family in Taiyuan, and respected Prince Jin as the ancestor of the surname.
In the Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian ascended the throne and changed the title to the Yuan Dynasty. When he granted the title of Zen to Songyue, he granted the title of Prince Immortal and established a temple. In the second year of the Holy Calendar (699), he was fortunate again and established the imperial book "The Monument of the Prince of Immortality". The Temple of Shengxian Prince, also known as the Temple of Immortal King, is now located in Fengshi Mountain, Yanshi County, Henan Province.