Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 04-14-12 04:37
中國姓氏故事 - 嚴姓
事雖小不做不成,---Shi4 sui xiao3 bu4 zuo4 bu4 cheng2,
子雖賢不教不明.---Zi3 sui xian2 bu4 jiao4 bu4 ming2.
Although it is only a small matter it will not be completed
without working on it.
A son is wise but he does not know it unless he is taught.
A Chinese proverb
........................................................
Surname YAN (嚴姓)
Yan means: stern; strict; serious.
The surname Yan is about 2,000 years old.
The surname Yan was originated in an area referred to the during the Han
Dynasty (漢朝 206BC to 220AD) as the Tianshui prefecture (天水郡). The present
day location of Tianshui prefecture is in the northwest of Tongwei county
(西南通渭縣 105.8 degree East and 35.4 degree North) in Gansu province (甘
肅省).
The Chu tribe (楚族) were the descendants of the Miao clan (苗). They lived
in the area between the Changjiang (長江) or the Yangtze River and the Hanshui
River (漢水 in the present day county of Zi Gui 秭歸縣 in Hubei province
湖北省). They shifted to Danyang (丹陽 present day Zhijiang county 枝江縣
in Hubei province). They expanded their domain across the Hanshui River
to Huai Shui (淮水) River in the east. They conquered and annexed several
vassal States of the Zhou Dynasty (周朝 1134BC to 256BC).
In 704BC, during the reign of Zhou King Huan (周桓王 719BC to 697BC), the
14th King of the Zhou Dynasty, the 17th ruler of the State of Chu, named
Mie Xiongtong (羋熊通) proclaimed the formation of a new Kingdom called
Chu (楚王國). He titled himself the King of Chu (楚王). Mie Xiongtong changed
his surname from Mie (羋) to Xiong (熊).
Mie Xiongtong's action infuriated the authority of the Zhou Dynasty. As
far as Zhou King Huan was concerned there was only one Kingdom and one
king in the land. The two Kingdoms became antagonists.
Zhou King Huan summoned troops from the vassal States with the intention
of destroying the Kingdom of Chu. Many battles were fought and the allied
armies were defeated. Even though the Kingdom of Chu had won the day it
did not expand further north as it had exhausted its own resources.
During the Spring and Autumn Period (春秋時代 722BC to 481BC) in 598BC,
the Kingdom of Chu and the State Zheng (鄭國 present day Xinzheng 新鄭
in Henan province 河南省) formed an alliance. The ruler of the Kingdom of
Chu was Xiong Lu (熊旅) who was also known as Chu King Zhuang (楚莊王) who
ruled Chu from 613BC to 591BC.
The ruler of the State of Jin (晉國 present day Yicheng county 翼城縣 in
Shanxi province 山西省) was Ji Ju (姬據), who was the 26th ruler and he
ruled Jin from 599BC to 581BC. Ji Ju imprisoned Ji Jian (姬堅), the 11th
ruler of the State Zheng, while he was on a official visit in Jin.
The following year in 597BC the people of Zheng appealed to Xiong Lu, the
ruler of Chu, to help them to get back their ruler. The Kingdom of Chu
and the State of Jin fought a battle at a place called Bi (邲 present day
Zheng county 鄭縣 in Henan province), over the issue of the ruler of Zheng.
Chu defeated Jin. Ji Jian was released. The victory of Chu over Jin was
respected by other States and they regarded Chu as a very powerful State.
King Zhuang of Chu was hailed as the hero of the day.
In 590BC Chu King Zhuang died a happy man. Some of his children adopted
ZHUANG as their surname in remembrance of his victory over the State of
Jin.
In 58AD, Liu Zhuang (劉莊) became the 2nd Emperor of the Later Han Dynasty
(東漢朝 58AD to 220AD) who reigned from 58AD to 75AD. Liu Zhuang was a very
capable ruler and the country prospered during his reign. In 73AD he ordered
two of his generals called Dou Gu (竇固) and Ban Chao (班超) to led a large
expeditionary force to invade the Northern (present day Inner Mongolia province
內蒙古省) and the Western (present day Xinjiang province 新疆省) parts of
the Han Empire. These regions were settled by the Xiongnu tribe (匈奴族).
The two generals defeated Xiongnu and annexed the two regions as part of
the Han Empire.
Emperor Liu Zhuang was a well respected ruler and many people with the surname
Zhuang did not want to share the same name with the Emperor. So they changed
their surname from Zhuang to YAN (嚴) which have the same meaning as strict
or solemn, but different pronunciation. It can be said that the surname
Yan was the offspring of surname Zhuang (莊).
The couplet of surname Yan
姓嚴羋氏,---Xing yuan Mie shi
望出天水.---Wang4 chu Tianshui.
Surname Yan was evolved from the Mie clan,
And originated from the prefecture of Tianshui.
....................................................................
Prominent persons produced by Yan Clan include:
(1) Yan Fu (嚴復 1853AD to 1921AD)
Yan Fu was born in Houguan (侯官 the present day city of Fuzhou 福州市in
Fujian provinxe 福建省) during the Qing Dynasty (清朝 1644AD to 1911AD).
In 1876AD, he was 23 years old when he graduated from a college in Fujian
province. He then, went to England to further his study at the British Naval
Academy (英國海軍學校). When he returned to China he was appointed a lecturer
at the Tianjin Naval Academy (天津北洋水師學堂). He was later promoted the
Principal of the academy.
After the Sino-Japan War (甲午之役 1894AD to 1895AD) Yan Fu published many
essays such as "論世變之亟", "原強", "救亡決論", and many others. He criticized
the conservatives and said that China must reform, change and learn from
the West. He encouraged new learning and voiced that the conscious participation
of every citizen in the life of society could make China rich and powerful.
He introduced Western ideas by translating into Chinese the writings of
Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, Charles Darwin's Origin of Species,
John Stuart Mill's Ethics, the works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Herbert Spencer'
s Logic, Baron de Montesquieu's On Law and many others. The language he
used was succinct.
He aroused his countrymen to save the nation from subjugation and ensure
its survival (救亡圖存). His works and translation greatly influenced the
intelligentsia at that time.
................................................................
(2) Yan Song (嚴嵩 1480AD to 1569AD)
Yan Song was born in Fenyi (分宜 present day Fenyi county 分宜縣 in Jiangxi
province 江西省) during the Ming Dynasty (明朝 1368AD to 1644AD). He passed
the Imperial Examination during the reign of Emperor Xiao Zong (孝宗皇帝
朱祐檔 1488AD to 1505AD) and was appointed an official. He was recalled
back to the palace and was appointed as the tutor to the Crown Prince. He
was a poet and had written a book called 鈐山堂集 (Qian shan tang ji).
...............................................................
(3) Yan Kejun (嚴可均)
Yan Kejun was born in Wucheng (烏成 present day Wucheng county 烏程縣 in
Zhejiang province 浙江省) during the Qing Dynasty (清朝 1644AD to 1911AD).
He dedicated himself in studying the pronunciation of the ancient words.
He published a few books about this subject.His two most popular books were
說文生類 and 說文校議. All his books were to explain the book called "說
文解字 or the pronunciation and the meaning of words" written in Han Dynasty
(漢朝 206BC to 220AD).
...............................................................
Note
Surname YAN (嚴姓) is the 94th most common Chinese surname in the world.
Posted to asiawind.com
By CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)-
|
|
The Asiawind forums are provided to you by
InTechTra Inc.
