In the early feudal era, not only titles but also official positions were hereditary, forming the so-called "official system" and "clan". Hereditary official position becomes a symbol of family political power and social status; Therefore, official position has also become one of the sources of surnames. According to the statistics of Tongzhi genealogy in Zheng Qiao in Song Dynasty, there are nearly 65,438+000 surnames in China's surnames that originated from official positions. For example:
Sima-an official in charge of the national army;
Stuart-the official in charge of national map and population statistics;
Scott-an official in charge of national criminal law and social security;
Sikong-an official in charge of national water conservancy, civil engineering and equipment manufacturing;
Commander-an official in charge of justice;
Ji-an official in charge of national classics;
History-an official responsible for recording history;
Yu-the official in charge of the grain depot, etc.
Another example is Shaozheng, Shangguan, Temple Man, Travel, Money, Music, Seating, Division, Army, Chop and Servant, which are also surnames derived from official positions.
2. Professional surname
Most of the occupations and skills of ancient handicrafts were passed down by families. Of course, this inheritance is not the monopoly of power, but the result of skill inheritance and continuous improvement. Family members engaged in a certain skill formed by the ancestral skills of the single biography, it is natural to maintain consistency and confidentiality, with the color of monopoly on industry skills. Hereditary occupations and skills become symbols of families and even the source of surnames. Kao Gong Ji is an ancient book which specially records various handicraft production technologies during the Warring States Period. It records dozens of handicraft industries and occupations, such as carpentry, ironware, leather, silk weaving, printing and dyeing, weapons and musical instruments. Most of them are called a certain family, such as Zhu (architecture), Webster's (cobbler), Ye (casting) and Zhong (casting bell).
Another example is: pottery (making pottery), slaughtering (slaughtering), boiling (cooking), catalpa (carpentry), truth (making pottery), car (making cars), pu (weaving), Yi (making chess), wizard (sorcerer), divination (divination) and actor (actor).