Now near Nanyang County, Henan Province, near the south bank of Shahe River, there is a county called Yexian County, which, as the name implies, is the birthplace of the Shi Ye family.
Yexian County has been named after "Ye" since more than two thousand years ago. There is a saying in Zuo Zhuan: "After three years in public, Zheng Gongzi died with Ye", which refers to this place. Later, Emperor Gaozu unified the world and named this place Yexian, which has been in use ever since.
According to research, in the Spring and Autumn Period, Yexian was a fief of Chu. At that time, the descendants of a doctor, Shen Yiwu, were gathered here, so they took the city as their surname and Ye as their surname.
About the ins and outs of the Ye family, Tongzhi Genealogy describes it most clearly: the Ye family is recorded in the old sound, and later generations have the same sound as the leaves of Konoha. "Custom Pass": "Chu Shen Yi gave birth to a beam and ate leaves because of his family." Song dynasty is a surname. In addition, ancient books such as "Famous Words and Actions" and "Textual Research on Surnames" also hold the same view on the origin of Ye's family.
It can be seen that the ancestors of Ye surnamed people were Chu people who dominated the princes two or three thousand years ago. Their hometown, Ye County, Henan Province, is one of the ancient families that originated in the Central Plains.
According to the Textual Research on Surnames, in the so-called Na Man in ancient times, there were also people with Ye as their surnames. In other words, members of the Ye family are not only from Yexian County, Henan Province, but also descendants of Na Man. Although the blood relationship is different, after two famous national migrations in history-Five Chaos and Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the Han people who have been breeding in the Central Plains moved south one after another, and various surnames gradually appeared in various parts of the south. It has been integrated with the local aborigines for a long time, and all aspects have long been mixed together. It is no longer possible to tell who is Han Chinese and who is barbarian.
"A Brief History of Tongzhi Imperial Clans" specifically pointed out: "Ye's surname is Song", which is really good. Because, at that time, there were too many outstanding people named Ye who were outstanding in all aspects.
After the Song Dynasty, the whole Ye family showed more vigor, and there are countless examples of this. Ye Chengzhong, a native of Zhenhai in the late Qing Dynasty, is a model of modern successful people. His life is full of legend and charm. It is said that when he was young, he was poor and lived on the Huangpu River in Shanghai as a teacher. Once, when he was boating a foreigner across the river, he found a lot of money, but his ambition was not bad, so he returned all the money to the foreigner. Out of gratitude and admiration, the foreigner recommended him to the business circles in Shanghai. He started from scratch, thrifty and self-sustaining, eventually accumulated wealth and became a millionaire step by step, enjoying a high reputation in the Shanghai business community.
Ye Chengzhong was born in poverty. After his success, he not only gave generously to local charity, but also invested and founded a "Chengzhong School" in Guangxu period, which was well-equipped and large-scale. The establishment of private schools is the beginning of China's sole proprietorship, which is commendable.