The Sang Clan#

Surname: Sang, pronounced as “sāng”

Distribution of the Sang Clan#

1. Liyang Commandery: Liyang County was established in the early Western Han Dynasty and was renamed Liyang Commandery during the Northern Wei period. It is located in the central part of present-day Henan Province.
2. Henan Commandery: Established during the reign of Emperor Gao of Han. It is situated in the area around present-day Luoyang City, Henan Province.

Origins of the Sang Clan#

There are three theories regarding the origin of the Sang clan:

1. According to historical research, the Chinese Sang clan originated from the “Qiongsang” clan, which has a very long history. Both the “Xingpu” (Genealogy) and the “Wanxing Tongpu” (Comprehensive Genealogy) mention this origin: “The Sang clan descended from the Qiongsang clan of Shaohao; their descendants adopted ‘Sang’ as their surname.” In ancient times, Qiongsang was located north of present-day Qufu City, Shandong Province. After Shaohao ascended to the throne, the capital was established in Qufu. Shaohao was also known as Jintian. Since he lived in Qiongsang and became emperor there, his descendants adopted “Qiongsang” as their surname, which was later simplified to “Sang.” In other words, the ancestral home of the Sang clan in China is located north of Qufu, in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, in Shandong Province.
2. Around 2,000 to 3,000 years ago, during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the ancient Sang family merged with another large group of people, namely descendants of the royal family of the Qin state who also used “Sang” as their surname. According to the “Xingyuan” (Garden of Surnames), Duke Mu of Qin’s grandson, Gongsun Zhi (styled Zisang), adopted his grandfather’s courtesy name as his surname.
3. It is also said that Shennong (the legendary founder of agriculture in China) married a woman from the Sang clan, and their descendants adopted “Sang” as their surname.

Migration and Distribution

The prominent families of the Sang clan are found in Henan (northeast of present-day Luoyang, Henan) and Liyang (northeast of present-day Xun County, Henan). There are significant populations of the Sang clan in Guzhen County, Suzhou, and Taihe, Anhui Province. In present-day Shandong Province, there are approximately 10,000 people with the surname Sang in Donggao Village, Daxinzhuang, Xiaoxinzhuang, Sangjiazhuang, and Taoyuan Village, Heshan Township, Ningyang County, Tai'an City; there are also several thousand people in Tuntou Village, Taoyuan Town, Feicheng City. The Sang clan in various parts of Shandong all trace their ancestry back to Donggao Village, Heshan Township, Ningyang County. This village (originally named Sangjiahaizi) has a family temple and genealogy (their ancestors migrated from Hongtong County, Shanxi Province, and settled there in the early Ming Dynasty). In Yanjiaguo Village, Gaobeidian City, Hebei Province, there is a group of about 400 people with the surname Sang, who are said to have originated from Shandong. In Huangzhuang Town, Laiwu City, Shandong Province, there are several thousand people with the surname Sang in villages such as Jinshuihe, Dongwangjiazhuang, Xiangyu, Taizi Village, and Eggplant Valley Village. There are also many people with the surname Sang in Shouguang, Shandong, but they share the same ancestry as those in Guzhen, Anhui. In Qixia, Yantai, Shandong, there is a village called Sangjiazhuang (originally named Shangzhuang), where all the residents have the surname Sang.

Hall Names (Tanghao)

1. Shumiyi Hall: During the Ming Dynasty, Sang Shijie was granted the title of Marshal of Qinhuai Wing and successfully conquered the counties east of Zhenjiang; he later served in the Secretariat.
2. Tieyan Hall