As the saying goes, King Zhang, Li and Zhao are everywhere, and the surname Zhang is one of the five major surnames of the Chinese nation. According to statistics from population experts, the number of people surnamed Zhang distributed in China and around the world has reached about 100 million. So, where are the ancestral roots of the surname Zhang? At present, there are different opinions among the academic circles, but they can be summed up in three opinions: one is the Taiyuan theory of Shanxi, the second is the Qinghe theory of Hebei, and the third is the Puyang theory of Henan. The above three theories each have their own basis. For example, during the Spring and Autumn Period, the descendants of Jie Zhang, an official of the Jin State (the capital is now Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province), were named after them. However, judging from the history of the clan surname, it seems that the Taiyuan Zhang family is a descendant, not an origin, but a branch. Rather than the root, there is no need to go back to Hui Gong, the ancestor of the Zhang surname. There was Zhang Zhong in the Western Zhou Dynasty, which is enough to prove that the Zhang family of Jin is not the earliest ancestral root. The Zhang family in Qinghe is a descendant of Zhang Liang, Marquis of Han Dynasty. Therefore, although the Zhang family in Qinghe is a famous county official with the surname Zhang, it is still not the ancestral root of the Zhang family. The author neither understands archeology nor is good at joking. I only use the Puyang theory of Zhang's ancestral origin proposed by experts as a clue to prove that Zhang's surname originated from Puyang.
Zhang is a combination of the two characters "bow length", and its original meaning is to string the bow. "The Book of Songs? Xiaoya? Auspicious Day": "Zhang my bow" means to open the bow. "Zhou Li? Qiuguan": Luo took the birds and beasts and called them Zhang. When people surnamed Zhang introduce themselves, they all say that the bow is long, which shows that the origin of the surname Zhang is related to the bow. In ancient Chinese characters, the character Zhang has more than ten variations, including the combination of human and bow, the combination of bow and arrow, or the combination of bow and long, all of which are inseparable from the character bow. Therefore, the origin of the surname Zhang is directly related to the invention of bow and arrow.
The origin of the surname Zhang was first recorded in the "Yuanhe Surname Compilation" of the Tang Dynasty: Zhang, the fifth son of the Yellow Emperor, Qingyang, was born as a bowman, watched the arc star and began to make bows and arrows, and worshiped the arc star, so his surname Zhang family. The "Explanation of Surnames" of the Northern Song Dynasty says: The Zhang family came from the fifth son of Xuanyuan. He began to make string arcs and use nets to catch birds. He has been in charge of his duties for generations. So he thought it was his surname. "New Tang Book? Genealogy Table of Prime Ministers": The Zhang family gave birth to the surname Ji. The fifth son of the Qingyang family, Shaohao, Huangdi's son, Hui, was Gongzheng and began to make bows and arrows. His descendants were given the surname Zhang. Regardless of whether Hui is the son or grandson of the Yellow Emperor, the son of the Qingyang family of Shaowu or the Qingyang family of Xuanxiao, just because he was the first to make bows and arrows and string arcs, it can be proved that Hui Gong is the ancestor of the Zhang surname.
There seems to be insufficient evidence for the theory that Hui is the son of the Yellow Emperor. The Yellow Emperor had 25 sons. The famous ones are Xuanxiao, Changyi, Yigu, Canglin, Longmiao, Yuguo, Xiuqing, etc. There is no record of the fifth son, Hui. There are also problems with the theory of Hui being Shaohaozi. Because Shaohao was the legendary leader of the ancient Dongyi people, Shaohao was named Zhi, and was also known as the Jintian clan. The Dongyi people use birds as their totem, and it is said that he once took the bird as his official name. The people of Shan State in the Spring and Autumn Period were his descendants (see "Cihai Shaoao Article"). "The Classic of Mountains and Seas? The Great Wilderness Eastern Classic" says: Beyond the East China Sea is the great ravine, the country of Shaohao. "Zuo Zhuan? The Seventeenth Year of Zhaogong" says: When Shao Zhi was established, the phoenix arrived at the right time, so he recorded the bird and named the bird for the bird master. In fact, it is said that one hundred families are one hundred birds, and Shao Zhi is one hundred birds. king. Shaohao and Huangdi do not belong to the same tribe, how can he be the son of Huangdi?
Then, Hui should be the grandson of the Yellow Emperor and the son of the Xuanxiao Qingyang family. There are two reasons for this: First, "Historical Records: The Chronicles of the Five Emperors" records that among the twenty-five sons of the Yellow Emperor, fourteen of them were given the surname. . "Suoyin" lists twelve surnames, Ji, You, Qi, Ji, Teng, Zhen, Ren, Gou, Xi, Ji, Xuan, Yishi. That is to say, 14 of the 25 sons of Huangdi were given surnames, and they had 12 surnames respectively. There is no Zhang surname among them, which proves that Hui is not the son of Huangdi. Furthermore, the "Historical Records" earlier than the "New Book of Tang" does not say that the Yellow Emperor gave birth to Shaohao, but that the Yellow Emperor's concubine gave birth to two sons. One was Xuanxiao, or Qingyang, who was given the surname Ji; the other was Chang meaning, Chang. It means Gaoyang (ie Zhuanxu). "Book of Han" also states that Huangdi's concubine gave birth to Xuanxiao, which was Qingyang; Huangdi's concubine gave birth to Changyi, Changyi concubine gave birth to Zhuanxu. "Dadai Liji" also quotes Confucius as saying: Zhuanxu, the grandson of the Yellow Emperor and the son of Changyi, was called Gaoyang. According to ancient legends, Hui's father should be Xuanxiao Qingyang, the grandson of Huangdi, and a contemporary of Zhuanxu. Therefore, it can be considered to a certain extent that Zhuanxu's range of activities is also Hui's range of activities.
"Bamboo Chronicles" says that Zhuanxu lived in Pu; "Historical Records of the Five Emperors" also says that Zhuanxu's capital was Diqiu, which is now Puyang in Dongjun; and "Hanshu Geography" records: Puyang in Dongjun , Gudiqiu. It can be seen that Zhuanxu’s residence and capital were both in Diqiu, which is today’s Puyang.
To sum up, the surname Zhang comes from Hui, the grandson of the Yellow Emperor. Because Hui invented the bow and arrow, he was named Gongzheng (official name) by Emperor Zhuanxu, also known as Gongzhang, and was given the surname Zhang. Therefore, the ancestral roots of the Zhang surname should be in the area of ??Puyang, Henan today.
The Zhang family prospered, with a prosperous population and many branches, and developed into a famous family in many parts of the country. Throughout history, people named Zhang have appeared in large numbers throughout history. During the Warring States Period, there was the politician Zhang Yi, whose strategy was known as Lian Heng; during the Western Han Dynasty, there were Zhang Liang, a marquis of residence, and Zhang Qian, who was on an envoy to the Western Regions; during the Eastern Han Dynasty, in addition to the scientist Zhang Heng and the medical scientist Zhang Zhongjing, there were also Zhang Daoling, known as Zhang Tianshi in the world, and Zhang Qian, the founder of Taiping Road. Jiao, the leader of the Yellow Turban Army Zhang Liang; in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there were peasant uprising leader Zhang Feng, educator Zhang Wei, and astronomer Zhang Zixin; in the late Sui Dynasty, there was the leader of the uprising army Zhang Jincheng; in the Tang Dynasty, there were prime ministers Zhang Jiuling, Zhang Shuo, novelist Zhang Du, The calligrapher Zhang Xu, the painter Zhang Xuan, the poets Zhang Ruoxu, Zhang Ji, Zhang Bi, the astronomer Zhang Sui (a monk), and Zhang Guolao, who is said to be one of the Eight Immortals; there was the leader of the rebel army Zhang Yuxian in the Five Dynasties; there was the leader of the rebel army in the Northern Song Dynasty Zhang Hai, Zhang Yu, the materialist philosopher Zhang Zai, the poet Zhang Xian, and the painter Zhang Zeduan; in the Southern Song Dynasty, there were ministers Zhang Jun, generals Zhang Xian, Zhang Jun, Zhang Gui, Zhang Shun, Zhang Jue, Zhang Shijie, poets Zhang Yuanqian, Zhang Xiaoxiang, the calligrapher Zhang Jizhi; the Jin Dynasty had the medical scientists Zhang Zihe and Zhang Yan; the Yuan Dynasty had the general Zhang Hongfan, the sanqu writers Zhang Yanghao and Zhang Kejiu, the lyricist Zhang Ye, the poet Zhang Zhu, the painters Zhang Wo and Zhang Shouzhong; the Ming Dynasty had the politicians Zhang Juzheng, Painters Zhang Lu and Zhang Hong, opera writer Zhang Fengyi, musician Zhang Yetang, medical scientist Zhang Jingyue, writer Zhang Pu, famous Taoist priest Zhang Sanfeng, and rebel leader Zhang Xianzhong; in the Qing Dynasty, there were medical scientist Zhang Shiwan, water conservancy expert Zhang Yushu, scholar Zhang Qi, Zhang Shu, Zhang Wenhu, classical scholars Zhang Huiyan, Zhang Mu, writers Zhang Chao, Zhang Yingqi, poets Zhang Wentao, Zhang Weiping, calligraphers Zhang Zhao, Zhang Yuzhao, dramatists Zhang Dafu, ministers Zhang Tingyu, Zhang Boxing, White Lotus leader Zhang Zhengmo, Nian Army leader Zhang Lexing, Boxer Rebellion leader Zhang Decheng, diplomat Zhang Yinhuan, Westernization leader Zhang Zhidong, and so on. Since the beginning of the 20th century, there have been countless modern Zhang celebrities active in China and overseas.
Ninety-nine are unified, the Zhang surname belongs to the same family in the world, and the ancestor of the Zhang surname is in Puyang. Hui Park, located in the east of Puyang County, now houses the Hui Cemetery, Hui Gong Monument, Hui Gong Statue, Hui Gong Hall, etc., and has become the recognized place of origin of the ancestral roots of the Zhang surname.