Re: help with surname

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

Chine surname No.361 OU (¼Ú) 
Ou means: a Chinese surname.
The surname Ou is about 2300 years old.
The three surnames Ou (¼Ú),    Ou-Yang (¼Ú¶§)   Ou-Hou (¼Ú«J)
originated from the same ancestor; however it seems that surname
Ou-Hou has disappeared.

The surname Ou-Yang originated in an area referred to during the Han  
Dynasty (º~´Â206BC to 220BC) as the Bo Hai Jun (´ñ®ü°p). The present day 
location of Bo Hai Jun is  in Cang Xian (·É¿¤) of Hebei province (ªe¥_¬Ù).

There was a big pavilion built on a mountain called Ou Yu (¼Ú¾l) located 
in present day near Wu Jin Xian (§d¿§¿¤) in Jiangsu province (¦¿Ä¬¬Ù). 
The pavilion was facing south and 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. Mountain Ou Yu was within the 
domain of the State of Yue (¶V°ê), present day Hui Ji Xian (·|½]¿¤) of 
Zhejiang province (®ý¦¿¬Ù).

The States of Yue and Chu (·¡°ê present day Jiang Ling Xian ¦¿³®¿¤in 
Hubei province ´ò¥_¬Ù),  were adjecent to each other, and also hostile 
to one another. By 334BC Chu and Yue were at war; the State of Yue was 
eventually defeated and annexed by Chu. Si Ti (©q¿á), the second son of 
Si Wu Jiang (©q§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 Xian §d¿³¿¤ in Zhejiang province), which was 
situated in an area south of Ou Yang Ting. Si Ti was given the 
hereditary title of Ou Yang Ting Hou (¼Ú¶§«F«J) or the Marquis of Ou 
Yang Ting. 

During the period of Warring States (¾Ô°ê®É¥N 453BC to 221BC) there were 
seven States in the land of what we now called China. The State of Qin 
(¯³°ê present day Feng Xiang Xian »ñµ¾¿¤ of Shaanxi province ÔE¦è¬Ù), 
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. 

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

NOTE:

The island of Taiwan was occupied by Japan from 1894 to 1945. During
the Japanese colonial rule of Taiwan (1894 to 1945) the Japanese forced
those people with the surname Ou-Yang to delete the character Yang.
Within a few days all those with this surname had them shortened from
Ou-Yang to Ou.

The Japanese have double-characters for their surnames and they forbade
the Taiwanese to have double-character surnames like them. However, after
the Japanese surrender in 1945, many Ous did not have their surnames
reverted to Ou-Yang. However they are still considered Ou-Yang ancestors.


CHUNG Yoon-Ngan  ( ¾G  ¥Ã  ¤¸ )
chungyn@mozart.joinet.net.au
Copyright 1999. All rights reserved.