On Thu, 2 Jul 1998, DEsTiNySchILd wrote:
> IT MEANS WATER. after my experiences i m not sure if the history of it means
> anything because people seem to adopt surnames with no hesitance. but i want
> to hear the story anyway
Hello whatever is your name.
Your life begins from your ancestor, that is to say your parent give
you your life which your parents can't take it back even if you want to
return it to them. If you want your life to continue you should get marry
and have children so that they can carry on and continue with your life.
The surname is very important to a Chinese because it is through
surname that he can identify his clan and to know where he belongs.
Surname is sacred. Respect your surname as you respect your parents
and your ancestors. Please don't make fun of your own or other people's
surnames.
Chinese are always proud to consider themselves as the descendants
of Huang Di (Yellow Emperor), the founder of the Chinese race. During
his reign (2697BC to 2598BC) as the leader of the confederated tribes
Yellow Emperor encouraged exogamy as he wanted to create a melting pot
of mixed blood people in his domain. This vision made him highly respected
throughout the course of Chinese history.
Yellow Emperor had twenty five sons and in order to proliferate the
tribes or clans he established fourteen settlements in different regions
of the land what we now call China. He appointed 14 of his capable sons
to rule the 14 settlements. The 14 new feudal lords took on new surnames
after the geographical locations which were given by their father. This
tradition of adopting the name of a location as surname persisted. It is
estimated that more than 60 per cent of the surnames were named after some
geographical locality.
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This is the history of surname Shui.
Chinese surname No.38 Shui3
Shui3 means : water
e.g. Shui3 Guo3 means : fruit
Surname Shui3 is about 4000 years old.
Abstract: Surname Shui3 was originated in an area which was called the
Wu2 Xing Prefecture during the Han4 Dynasty (206BC to 220AD).
The present day location of Wu2 Xing Prefecture is in
Wu2 Xing county in Zhejiang province China.
According to the Chinese historical records in about 2297BC there was
a strange phenomenon happening in China. It rained non-stop for a long,
long time. All the rivers in the land overflowed their banks. Houses and
farmlands were submerged. People and animals were drown. The survivours
fled to the highlands. The whole of China was flooded. It was called
"THE DELUGE" by the historians.
Yao2 Di4 the leader of the federated tribes (during those times Kingdoms
were yet to be formed) appointed Si4 Gun3 to dredge the rivers so that
water could flow smoothly to the sea. Yao2 Di4 also ordered the chiefs of
all the tribes to help the leader.
After 9 long years of hard work they failed to dredge the rivers. Yao2
Di4 had them executed and appointed a new leader to undertake the
irrigation works. Ironically this new leader by the name of Si4 Wen2 Ming4
was the son of the executed leader Si4 Gun3.
Water started receding after 13 years of toiling. Water started to flow
smoothly to the sea. The flooding was over.
In 2205BC Si2 Wen2 Ming4 was elected as the leader of the federated
tribes. He founded the Xia4 Dynasty (2205BC to 1784BC). Even thought
the flooding was over many of his descendants continued working in
dredging the rivers. They dredged the river to the Prefecture of Hui4 Ji
(present day eastern part of Jiangsu province and western part of Zhejiang
province). Many of the waterworks workers settled down there. One of
grandsons of Si2 Wen2 Ming4 adopted Shui3 (water) as his surname in order
to commemorate him for his success in dredging the rivers.
Nowadays it seems that there are many Shui3 families still living in
Zhejiang province.
CHUNG Yoon-Ngan. chungyn@mozart.collective.com.au