The Lai Clan#

Surname: Lai, pronounced as “lài”

Distribution of the Lai Clan#

• Yingchuan Commandery: Established in the 17th year of King Zheng of Qin. It corresponds to the areas east of Dengfeng and Baofeng in present-day Henan, west of Weishi and Yancheng, south of Mian County, and north of Ye County and Wuyang County. The founding ancestor of this branch of the Lai clan was Shuying.
• Nankang Commandery: Established in the third year of the Taikang era of the Jin Dynasty. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the administrative center was moved to Gan County, covering the areas south of present-day Nankang, Gan County, Xingguo, and Ningdu in Jiangxi. This branch of the Lai clan is descended from Lai Guang.
• Henan Commandery: Established in the second year of Emperor Gao of Han, replacing the Qin’s Sanchuan Commandery. It covers the areas south of the Yellow River along the Luo and Yi rivers, the upper reaches of the Shuangji and Jialu rivers, and Yuanyang County north of the Yellow River in Henan.
• Henei Commandery: Established during the Chu-Han period. It corresponds to the area north of the Yellow River in Henan, west of the Jinghan Railway. During the Western Jin Dynasty, the administrative center was moved to Ye Wang (present-day Qinyang, Henan).
• Songyang County: An old county located in southwestern Zhejiang, which was abolished in 1958 and merged into Suichang County. The founding ancestor of this branch of the Lai clan was Lai Guang from the Jin Dynasty.

Origin of the Lai Clan#

The Lai surname originates from the descendants of Wang Jichang. King Wu of Zhou granted a fief to his brother Shuying in the area of Lai. According to different theories:

1. The Lai family descended from the Ji surname and were descendants of King Wen of Zhou, who was overthrown by King Ling of Chu. They adopted the name of their fief as their surname. This branch is considered the legitimate Lai clan from Henan.
2. The Lai family also descended from the Jiang surname and were descendants of the Yan Emperor (Shennong). It is said that the descendants of the Yan Emperor split into four tribes, one of which was the Lieshan clan. In ancient times, “lie” (烈) was interchangeable with “li” (厉), and thus the Lieshan, Lishan, and Laishan clans were all considered the same group. The Lieshan clan lived in the Fen River basin of Shanxi and later migrated eastward, establishing the state of Lai during the Shang Dynasty. When King Wu of Zhou attacked the Shang Dynasty, the Lai people moved south and received a princehood title from King Wu. In the fourth year of Duke Zhao of Lu during the Spring and Autumn period, they were conquered by King Ling of Chu. Their descendants adopted the name of their former state as their surname, forming the Lai clan in Hubei or Henan.

Migration and Distribution

The Lai clan initially settled in the Yaling area and mainly thrived within Henan. Later, they became prominent clans in Yingzhou, Henan, and Henei commanderies. Due to reasons such as official appointments and wars, some members of the Yingzhou Lai clan migrated to the south of the Yangtze River, settling in present-day Jiangxi, Fujian, Hunan, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangzhou, and other provinces. Another branch moved to Shaanxi. According to the Lai clan genealogies of Jiaoling, Guangdong, and Xingning, Shuying is regarded as the founding ancestor of the Lai clan, with Lai Xian being his 14th-generation descendant. Shuying’s 22nd-generation descendant, Lai Shen, settled in Fengning (present-day Xixiang, Shaanxi); his 25th-generation descendant, Lai Zhongcheng, settled in Songyang (present-day Suichang, Zhejiang). Lai Shuo’s 30th-generation descendant moved to Ningdu, Jiangxi, at the end of the Yuanjia era of the Southern Song Dynasty. Lai Shuo’s seventh son had seven sons who spread across various provinces, forming different branches: the eldest, Lai Zhao, settled in Huitong (now in Henan); the second, Lai De, in Gutian, Shanghang, Fujian; the third, Lai Ming, in Yihuang, Jiangxi; the fourth, Lai Qing, and his descendants in Longnan and Shangyou, Jiangxi; the fifth, Lai Si, and his descendants in Shicheng, Qiuxi, Jianchang, and Guangchang, Jiangxi; the sixth, Lai Yong, and his descendants in Xinfeng and Ruijin, Jiangxi; and the seventh, Lai Yan, who served as an official in Yangzhou, Jiangsu. Lai De’s eldest son, Lai Biao, moved from Gutian, Shanghang, to Shibici, Ninghua County, Fujian. One of Lai Shen’s 11th-generation descendants, Lai Chaomei, settled in Tanghu, Yongding, Fujian. Two other 11th-generation descendants, Lai Zuhua and Lai Zusan, moved from Shibici, Ninghua, to Chengxiang (now Meizhou, Guangdong) during the Ming Dynasty, from where other branches emerged in Jiaoling and Pingyuan. The Lai clan records also mention that some members changed their surname to Luo or Fu to avoid persecution by King Ling of Chu. Many Lai clans in Sichuan and Yunnan integrated with the Achang ethnic group. During the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty, Lai Yun migrated from Zhangzhou, Fujian, to Taiwan and established a new lineage there. Later, members of the Lai clan from Fujian and Guangdong moved to Taiwan and some even went abroad, such as to Singapore.

Clan Hall Names

• “Secretarial Hall” (Mìshū Táng): A Lai family member from the Tang Dynasty named Lai?? was extremely intelligent, able to write essays at the age of 7 and mastered the classics by the age of 20. He became a successful scholar in the imperial examinations and worked as a librarian in the Chongwen Academy but later retired to his hometown. His residence was called “Secretarial Village.”
• Other clan hall names include “Yingchuan,” “Nankang,” “Henan,” “Sichuan,” and “Songyang.”