In ancient times, there was a man named Yin Shou, who was the teacher of Emperor Yao and lived in Heyang (now Meng County, Henan). A minister of Xia Jie named Yin Xie was killed by Shang Tang. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, there was Yin Gui, a Taoist scholar who lived in Zhongnan Mountain. In the Spring and Autumn Period, there was Yin Yi in the Jin State, and Zhao Jianzi sent him to Jinyang; Yin Xi in the Qin State was appointed as the magistrate of Hangu Pass. According to legend, I traveled to Hangu Pass and was left behind by him, who taught him five thousand words of the Tao Te Ching. During the Warring States Period, Qi State philosopher Yin Wenshan was famous for his debate. "Han Shu Yi Wen Zhi" recorded his article "Yin Wenzi" and was listed as a famous scholar. From these circumstances, we can know that the Yin family's main activities in the pre-Qin period were in today's Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Shandong.
From the Western Han Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, some of the Yin family moved to Hebei, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Anhui, Sichuan, Hunan, Gansu, Jiangxi and other provinces. During the reign of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, Yin Guiweng, a native of Pingyang, Heyang, served as the prefect of Donghai. He was an honest official and won the hearts of the people. He was later promoted to You Fufeng. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a Confucian scholar Yin Min, a native of Zhuyang, Nanyang, who was erudite and talented, but did not believe in prophecies; Yin Zhen, whose birthplace was Kaili County, Guizhou Province today, had learned Confucian classics from Xu Zhen, returned to his hometown to teach, and later served as the governor of Jingzhou. During the Sixteenth Kingdom, the Yin family developed into a prominent family in Tianshui (today's Gansu) and Xizhou (today's western and northwest Gansu). There have been many accomplished people.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Yin Min's descendants developed into a prominent family in Hejian, and the Yin family also had settlements in places such as Xiangyang, Hubei Province today. In the Tang Dynasty, there was Yin Sizhen, a native of Chang'an, who served as governor of 13 counties throughout his life. He was known for his integrity. There was also the painter Yin Lin, who was famous for his good painting of Buddhists, ghosts and gods.
During the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, the Yin family developed to some places in today's Jiangsu, Yunnan, Liaoning and other provinces. In the Northern Song Dynasty, there were scholars Yin Yuan, a writer, known as Mr. Hanoi in the world; scholars Yin Chun, the author of "The Analects of Confucius and Mencius' Interpretation".
In modern times, there are overseas Chinese with the surname Yin in Singapore and other countries.