Careful people will find that seven of China's eight surnames have the word "female" beside them. One explanation is that surnames originated from matriarchal society, so ancient surnames were all related to "female".
Ancient eight surnames
The origin of surnames can be traced back to the matriarchal clan system in primitive human society, so many ancient surnames in China are beside or at the bottom of female characters. In ancient times, not everyone had a surname, only nobles could have it, and eight surnames were the most noble. These eight surnames are called "Eight Ancient Surnames".
At the same time, these surnames have also changed in the long process of inheritance and evolution. It can be said that most surnames in China today are derived from the eight ancient surnames.
Surname is one of the 12 basic surnames given by the Yellow Emperor. It is a very old surname with a glorious tradition. It is said that Ai's ancestor was the son of the Yellow Emperor. The Yellow Emperor named Botong Gu Yan, and his son Chien Sun established Gu Yan. However, according to the records of ancient books and documents, we can also see the humble status of Yan State.
Yao's surname comes from Yu Shun, one of the five emperors. Shun was born in the ruins of Yao, and later generations took the land as their surname, which was called Yao's. Today, Yao's surname should be regarded as the most popular. Its distribution in China is mainly concentrated in Zhejiang, Anhui, Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces. Ranked 10 1 among the hundred surnames in Song Dynasty, and ranked 5 1 among the hundred surnames in China in 2007.