The Shang Clan#

Surname: Shang, pronounced as “shǎng”

Distribution of the Shang Clan**#

Wu Jun: In the fourth year of the Yongjian era of the Eastern Han Dynasty (129 AD), the Eastern Han government split Kaixi Jun and established Wu Jun, with its administrative center in Wu County (present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu). The jurisdiction of Wu Jun included both banks of the Qiantang River from Jiande onwards; therefore, present-day Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, was also part of Wu Jun.

Origins of the Shang Clan**#

The Shang surname has several origins:

1. It originates from the Ji surname, descending from a nobleman of the Jin State during the Spring and Autumn Period. The family adopted the surname as a tribute to an honor received by their ancestor, following a tradition of naming clans after significant events.
2. It also has a Tangut origin, stemming from the Tuoba surname of the Western Xia Dynasty, which was later Hanized.
3. Another branch of the Shang clan comes from the Yi people of Yizhou during the Western Han period, adopting the surname after Hanization.

Ancestor of the Shang Clan

According to the “Wanxing Tongpu” (Comprehensive Genealogy), the ancestor of the Shang clan is Shang Yuqiang, who came from Wu Jun. The Western Xia was a kingdom during the Song Dynasty of China. Shang Yuqiang, originally of the Tuoba surname, ruled over the regions of Ordos (now in present-day Inner Mongolia), Alxa (now in Ningxia), and the northwestern part of Gansu Province. The Western Xia posed a significant threat to the Song Dynasty. Their kingdom was established in 196 AD but was later conquered by Mongol cavalry. The people of Western Xia migrated south and settled in various parts of the Central Plains, gradually assimilating into Chinese culture and becoming a part of the Chinese nation. Thus, Shang Yuqiang is revered as the progenitor of the Shang clan.

Migration and Distribution

The Shang clan is ancient and has multiple origins, spanning various ethnic groups. However, it does not rank among the top 300 surnames in mainland China, and it is ranked 935th in Taiwan Province. The most prominent branch of the clan originated from Wu Jun. The Shang surname did not make it into the top 100 surnames in either mainland China or Taiwan. The origin of the surname is linked to an act of reward received by an ancestor: during the Spring and Autumn Period, a nobleman from the Jin State was rewarded for winning a competition, and his descendants adopted the name “Shang” to honor their ancestor’s glory. Another branch of the Shang clan came from the Western Xia Dynasty; as the Mongol nomadic tribes gained power, the people of Western Xia migrated south and eventually settled in the Jiangnan region, where they adopted Chinese culture and changed their surname to Shang. The Western Xia had their own writing system, but it has been lost over time. When the Western Xia people migrated south, their culture was less advanced compared to Chinese culture, and they were unfamiliar with local customs and language. Despite these challenges, they managed to become one of the prominent clans in the Jiangnan area. Interestingly, although the Shang surname was not originally Chinese, a branch of the Western Xia people settled in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, where they thrived and became one of the eight prominent clans of Wu Zhong. The Shang clan is widely distributed in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang area south of the Yangtze River, with its ancestral homeland being the Wu Jun region (from present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu, to Hangzhou, Zhejiang).

Clan Halls

The Shang clan has several clan halls, including the Wu Jun Hall, also known as the Wu Zhou Hall or Suzhou Hall.