No. 102 OU-Yang

[CHUNG Yoon-Ngan <chungyn@mozart.joinet.net.au>]

No. 102 OU-YANG (¼Ú¶§) 
Ou means: a Chinese surname.
Yang means: the sun; bright; clear.             
Surname Ou Yang is about 2300 years old.
These three surnames (1) Ou ¼Ú   (2) Ou-Yang ¼Ú¶§    (3) Ou-Hou ¼Ú«J
originated from the same ancestor. However it seemed that surname
Ou-Hou had disappeared from history.

Surname Ou-Yang originated in an area referred to during the Han (º~) 
Dynasty (206BC to 220BC) as the Bo Hai (´ñ®ü) Prefecture. The present day 
location of Bo Hai Prefecture is in Cang Xian (·É¿¤) of Hebei (ªe¥_) province.

There was a big pavilion built on a mountain called Ou Yu (¼Ú¾l). It was 
facing south. So it received sunlight throughout the year. People living 
around the area near this mountain, called it Ou Yang Ting (¼Ú¶§«F) or Ou the 
sunshine pavilion, present day near Wu Jin (§d¿§) county of Jiangsu (¦¿Ä¬) province. Mountain Ou Yu was within the domain of the State of Yue (¶V), present day Hui Ji (·|½]) county of Zhejiang (®ý¦¿) province.

The States of Yue and Chu (·¡),  present day Jiang Ling (¦¿³®) county in Hubei 
(´ò¥_) province,  were neighbouring and rival States. In 334BC Chu and Yue 
were at war. The State of Yue was defeated and annexed by Chu. Ti (¿á), the second son of Wu Jiang (§dæ), the last ruler of Yue, was appointed by 
Xiong Shang (ºµ°Ó), the ruler of Chu, to administer a place called Wu Cheng 
(¯Qµ{), present day Wu Xing (§d¿³) county of Zhejiang province, which was situated south of Ou Yang Ting. He was given the inheritable title of Ou Yang Ting Hou 
(¼Ú¶§«F«J) or the Marquis of Ou Yang Ting. 

During the period of Warring States (453BC to 221BC) there were seven 
States in the land of what we now call China. The State of Qin (¯³), present 
day Feng Xiang (»ñµ¾)  county of Shaanxi (ÔE¦è) province, was the strongest. 
In 223BC Qin subjugated the State of Chu. The title of Ou Yang Ting Hou was 
abolished by Ying Zheng (¾Æ¬F), the ruler of Qin. 

Ti, the first Ou Yang Ting Hou, had many desecndants. In remembrance of 
his official title some of the descendants of Ti adopted Ou-Yang, some 
Ou-Hou and the rest Ou as their surnames and left off the word Ting.

In 221BC the State of Qin conquered the other six States and established 
the Qin Dynasty (221BC to 207BC). Wan Li Chang Cheng (¸U¨½ªø«°) or the 
Great Wall of China was constructed during the Qin Dynasty (¯³´Â).

CHUNG Yoon-Ngan		chungyn@mozart.joinet.net.au
http://www.joinet.net.au/~chungyn
Copyright 1999. All rights reserved.