The Meng Clan#

Clan Name: Meng, Pronunciation: mèng

Distribution of the Meng Clan#

To the east of Licheng County, Shandong Province; southeast of Qufu County, Shandong Province; and in the Han-established commanderies of Gansu Province.

Origins of the Meng Clan#

The origin of the "Meng" clan can be traced back to:

1. The Meng clan originated from the royal family of the State of Lu during the Spring and Autumn period. The founding ruler of Lu was Bo Qin, the eldest son of the Duke of Zhou (Duke Dan), who was in turn the brother of King Wu of Zhou. Therefore, the Meng clan should be descended from the Ji lineage of King Wen of Zhou.
2. During the Spring and Autumn period, there was also a branch of the Meng clan in the State of Wei, which was established by Kang Shu, the younger brother of King Wu of Zhou. The location of Wei was roughly in the areas of present-day Henan and Hebei, within the Yellow River basin. The ancestor of this branch of the Meng clan was Meng Ju, the brother of Duke Ling of Wei. His descendants adopted "Meng" as their surname, indicating that their common ancestor was also King Wen of Zhou.

Ancestor of the Clan Name

The ancestor who gave the Meng clan its name was Qing Fu, an illegitimate son of Duke Huan of Lu. Qing Fu was a person of extremely poor character; he had an affair with Ai Jiang, the wife of Duke Zhuang of Lu. Since Ai Jiang had no children, Qing Fu conspired with her to make Zi Kai, the son of Ai Jiang's sister Shu Jiang, the heir to the throne of Lu. After Duke Zhuang's death, Qing Fu's younger brother Ji You, following Duke Zhuang's wishes, made Zi Kai the new ruler, known as Duke Min. Later, Qing Fu sent someone to kill Duke Min and attempted to seize the throne for himself. As a result, the people of Lu hated him deeply, saying, "Until Qing Fu dies, Lu's troubles will not end." Fearing for his life, Qing Fu fled to the State of Ju. Ji You bribed the people of Ju to send him back, and Qing Fu committed suicide on the way home. Ji You, who was then the chancellor of Lu, appointed Qing Fu's son, Gongsun Ao, to inherit Qing Fu's position. Since Qing Fu was the eldest among his illegitimate sons, and the character "Meng" represented the eldest in the order of brothers, and to avoid the crime of regicide, Qing Fu's descendants changed their surname to Mengsun. Later, the Mengsun surname was simplified to Meng.

The events surrounding Qing Fu's usurpation and the subsequent changes in the clan name all took place in the State of Lu, which had its capital in Qufu (now part of Shandong). Therefore, this branch of the Meng clan originated in Shandong.

Spread of the Meng Clan

During the Pre-Qin period, the Meng clan was initially active in the region where Henan, Shandong, and Hebei met. From the Han and Tang dynasties onwards, the Meng clan began to spread across North China, the Central Plains, the northwest, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan, and Hubei. However, its main stronghold remained in the areas of Hebei and Shandong. After the Tang dynasty, due to the invasion of foreign tribes from the north and frequent changes in governance, there were several large-scale migrations southward, which led to the rapid expansion of the Meng clan beyond the Yangtze River. By the Song dynasty, the Meng clan numbered nearly 320,000 people, accounting for about 0.42% of the national population, ranking 55th in prevalence. The province with the largest number of Meng clanspeople was Hebei, accounting for roughly 30% of the total Meng population nationwide. The Meng clan was most concentrated in Hebei, Shandong, and Sichuan, with these three provinces accounting for 54% of the total Meng population. Other significant populations were found in Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui, and Henan.

During the Ming dynasty, the Meng clan had about 200,000 members, accounting for 0.22% of the national population, ranking 89th in prevalence. The main distribution of the Meng clan was in Hebei, Shandong, and Shanxi, with these three provinces accounting for 58.7% of the total Meng population. The remaining 42% was distributed in Jiangsu and Shaanxi. Shandong was the province with the largest Meng population, accounting for about 32%.

Over the 600 years from the Song to the Ming dynasty, the Meng clan migrated primarily to the southern and eastern regions of China, with concentration in Lu, Hebei, and Shanxi. Today, the Meng clan has a population of over 3.3 million, ranking 73rd in the country, accounting for about 0.27% of the national population. The growth rate of the Meng clan over the past 1,000 years since the Song dynasty has followed a V-shaped trend. The current distribution of the Meng clan is mainly concentrated in Shandong, Henan, and Hebei, with these three provinces accounting for about 46% of the total Meng population. Additional significant populations are found in Jiangsu and Liaoning.

Shandong remains the province with the largest Meng population, accounting for about 32%. Over the past 600 years, the migration of the Meng clan has mainly been from the southeast back to the Central Plains and North China, with a particular focus on the northeast. The frequency of the Meng clan in different regions indicates that in areas such as Lu, Hebei, Beijing-Tianjin, most of Heilongjiang, central and eastern Inner Mongolia, northern Henan and Anhui, and northeastern Shanxi, the Meng clan accounts for more than 0.48% of the local population, with some areas reaching