The surname Duanmu (Duān mù) has a simple origin and has two origins:
1. It comes from Duanmu, a native of Wei State in the Spring and Autumn Period, after whom he was named after his ancestor. During the Spring and Autumn Period, among the 72 people who studied under Confucius and became proficient in Taoism, there was one named Duanmu Ci, whose courtesy name was Zigong. He was originally from Weiguo, good at business, and was the richest among Confucius' disciples.
2. The Hui people have the surname Duanmu. Duanmu is one of the compound surnames of the Hui ethnic group. Duanmu was originally an ancient Chinese surname and was later integrated into the Hui ethnic group.
Currently, Duanmu surnames are mostly distributed in Jiangsu and the Yangtze River Delta. At the end of the Republic of China, during the Japanese invasion of China, another group fled to Shanghai to avoid disaster and founded the Shanghai Duanmu clan. At the same time, several people have developed abroad, and most of them have made great achievements and become wealthy businessmen.