The Di Family Name#

Family name: Di, pronunciation: dí

Distribution of the Di Family Name#

Tianshui County, Gansu Province; Taiyuan County, Shanxi Province.

Origins of the Di Family Name#

The origin of the “Di” family name can be traced to several sources:

1. It may originate from the mother of Qi (Ebo), the founder of the Shang Dynasty, named Di. This type of surname is derived from the name of a maternal ancestor.
2. It could also stem from the Di tribe, a northern ethnic group during the early Zhou Dynasty. In this case, the surname is based on the name of the tribe.
3. Some branches of the Di family name may have originated from the Jiang clan, as descendants of the Yan Emperor were granted the Di title during the Western Zhou Dynasty and settled in Di City.
4. The Di family name could be derived from official positions, with officials bearing the title “Di” during the Zhou Dynasty.
5. Another origin relates to the Ji clan; during the Spring and Autumn Period, a craftsman named Di Mi from the State of Lu adopted this surname.
6. Some Di family members may have been granted the surname by emperors from the Xiongnu or Uyghur ethnic groups during the Tang Dynasty.
7. There are also cases where the Di surname originated from the Khitan people, such as the general Yelü Hemiao during the Five Dynasties period of the Liao Dynasty.
8. Some Di family members adopted this surname as a result of sinicization.

Migration and Distribution

The Di family name is a typical example of a multi-ethnic and multi-source surname. It does not rank among the top 300 most common family names in mainland China or Taiwan Province. The Di family originated in northern China and is primarily found in provinces such as Jiangsu (Liyang), Shandong, Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang. Due to its rarity, there are not many historical records about it, and the exact origins are not fully agreed upon.

In ancient times, “Di” was a general term for northern ethnic minorities. During the Shang Dynasty, the Di tribe was active in present-day Gansu, Shaanxi, Ningxia, and Inner Mongolia. Under the leadership of Gugong Tanfu during the Zhou Dynasty, the Di people developed agriculture in the Bi area of Shaanxi (Xunyi, Shaanxi). They often faced raids from neighboring tribes, such as the Xu and Di, and moved downstream to the Zhouyuan region (Qishan, Shaanxi). After King Cheng of Zhou ascended the throne, he defeated the Xu and Di tribes, and the Zhou state gradually became powerful. The Di tribe was divided into several groups, with the Chidi, Baidi, and Changdi being the most prominent. The Chidi, also known as the Guifang, were located in the northwest of the Yin and Western Zhou dynasties; various historical records mention the battles between the Yin and Zhou dynasties and the Guifang.

In the early Spring and Autumn Period, the Chidi moved eastward into the territories of Qin and Jin, establishing several small kingdoms along the Taihang Mountains. They later conquered the states of Xing (Xingtai, Hebei) and Wei (Qixian, Henan). The Chidi also invaded the states of Zhou and Jin and colluded with the Zhou prince Dai to expel King Xiang of Zhou from the capital. Duke Wen of Jin led an army to defeat the Chidi and killed Dai. The Chidi then crossed the Yellow River and invaded provinces in Henan and Shandong, causing trouble for the states of Song, Wei, Qi, and Lu. Internal divisions within the Chidi tribe led to their decline, and they were eventually conquered and expelled by neighboring states.

The Baidi originally lived in the Yongzhou area, alongside the Qin people, and later migrated to the eastern parts of Jin and western parts of Shandong, establishing several small kingdoms. Among these, the Fei, Gu, and Xianyu kingdoms in central Hebei were the most significant. By the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the Xianyu tribe renamed itself the Zhongshan state and became one of the powerful kingdoms during the Warring States Period, on par with Yan, Zhao, and Han. Archaeological discoveries in the 1970s in Pingshan County, Hebei, including the tomb of the Zhongshan king and the remains of the Zhongshan state, indicate that the Chidi tribe had integrated into Chinese culture.

During the Han Dynasty, a district named Di Dao (where “Dao” refers to a county inhabited by ethnic minorities) was established in Longxi Province. In the Jin Dynasty, it was renamed Wushi County. During the Sui Dynasty, it was reverted to Di Dao and under the jurisdiction of Lanzhou. In the third year of the Tianbao era of the Tang Dynasty, Di Dao County was officially established, with its old city located in present-day Lintao County, Gansu. The Di tribe remained active in the regions of present-day Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Henan, Hebei, Shanxi, and western Shandong until the 1st century AD.

Although the Di tribe and the Di family name are not directly related, King Cheng of Zhou’s grant of the Di title to a certain area in Di City was certainly connected to the powerful Di tribe at that time. According to the Di family genealogy compiled during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty (1534 AD), the Di family of Liyang traces its ancestry back to Di Renjie, who came from Taiyuan. The Liyang Di family genealogy (compiled in 1925) states that Di Ying, with the courtesy name Tianxiu, followed Emperor Gaozong of Song to the south, served as an official in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and later settled in Liyang. After retiring, he became the ancestor of the Di family in Liyang.

Notable People with the Di Family Name

Di Renjie: