The Qiu Clan#

Surname: Qiu, pronounced as “qiú”

Regions where the Qiu surname is found**#

Bohai Commandery: Established during the Western Han Dynasty, it is located along the coast of the Bohai Bay in present-day Hebei Province and Liaoning Province.

Origins of the Qiu surname**#

There are four theories regarding the origin of the Qiu surname:

1. The Qiu surname originated from the Chou surname. According to historical records, the Qiu surname was originally the Chou surname, but it was changed to avoid feuds and killings.
2. It originated from the Ji surname. The name of a place was adopted as the surname. During the Spring and Autumn Period, a high-ranking official from the state of Wei was granted the fief of Qiu, and his descendants used Qiu as their surname.
3. It originated from an official title. It is said that during the Zhou Dynasty, there was an official named Qiu Guan whose duty was to manage the production of leather goods. His descendants took this official title as their surname. For example, the owner of the “Qiu Bo Ding” artifact, Qiu Wei, is believed to have belonged to the Ying surname based on inscriptions on the artifact.
4. It originated from the Qiu surname, which was simplified for convenience in writing.

Ancestor of the surname

Qiu Hou: During the Spring and Autumn Period, a high-ranking official from the state of Wei was granted the fief of Qiu (located in the northeast of present-day Henan Province), and he was known as Qiu Hou. His descendants used the name of their residence as their surname, thus forming the Qiu clan. Therefore, Qiu Hou is revered as the ancestor of the Qiu surname.

Distribution and Migration

The Qiu surname is not among the top 100 most common surnames in mainland China or Taiwan. During the Spring and Autumn Period, a high-ranking official from the state of Wei named Shi was granted the fief of Qiu (located in the north of present-day Henan Province). His descendants adopted the name of their fief as their surname, which became the origin of the Qiu surname today. Some theories suggest that the Qiu surname is related to the Qiu Guan from the Zhou Dynasty. In ancient times, the Central Plains were cold in winter, and the court stored a large amount of leather clothing. The Zhou Dynasty established the position of Qiu Guan to manage the production, classification, storage, and distribution of these garments. Some descendants of these officials took their official title as their surname, which became another branch of the Qiu lineage. Many prominent families with the Qiu surname originated from the Bohai region, with the administrative center of Bohai Commandery located along the coast of the Bohai Bay in present-day Hebei Province and Liaoning Province. Qiu descendants can be found in many places across the country, including Beijing, Songjiang in Shanghai, Jing County in Hebei, Qingyuan in Liaoning, Taitaiyuan and Datong in Shanxi, Chongren in Jiangxi, Qingliu in Fujian, Yongkang in Zhejiang, and Chongren Town in Shengzhou, Zhejiang. The Qiu surname is relatively common, accounting for about 0.01% of the Han population in China, with a concentration in Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, which together account for approximately 61% of the national Han population with the Qiu surname.

Notable individuals with the Qiu surname

Qiu Lian: From Cixi, Zhejiang Province, he was a successful candidate in the imperial examinations during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty and a renowned playwright. His works, such as “Kunming Chi,” “Ji Cui Qiu,” “Jian Hu Yin,” and “Qi Ting Guan,” are all based on stories from the Tang Dynasty and are collectively known as the “Four Rhymed Stories.”