The Deng Family#

Surname: Deng, pronounced as “dèng”

Regions Where the Deng Family Is Distributed**#

1. The Nanyang area of Henan Province;
2. The southwest of Linfen County, Shanxi Province;
3. The Pingliang region of Gansu Province and the western part of Ningxia;
4. Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province;
5. Some areas of Hunan Province;
6. The Huaiyang area of Zhoukou, Henan Province.

Origins of the Deng Family#

The surname “Deng” has the following origins:

1. It originates from the Si surname. (The founder of the Xia Dynasty, Dayu, belonged to the Si surname.) It is said that during the Xia Dynasty, an ancestor of Emperor Zhongkang was granted a fief in the state of Deng (located in what is now Dengzhou, Henan). The descendants of this nobleman adopted the name of their fief as their surname, thus becoming the Deng family.
2. It also originates from the Zi surname. (The founder of the Shang Dynasty, Qi, belonged to the Zi surname.) Alternatively, it may have originated from the Man surname. King Wuding of Shang granted his uncle (Man Ji) the fief of Dengcheng, and they became the Man family. Later, the Man family was relocated to the state of Deng (located in the southwest of Meng County, Henan). This state existed for over 600 years during the Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn periods. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the state of Deng was an important vassal state in the south of the Zhou Dynasty; however, it was conquered by the state of Chu in 678 BCE. To commemorate their former home, the descendants of the Man family changed their surname to Deng, which is considered the authentic origin of the Deng lineage.
3. The surname also originated from the Li surname. During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Li Congyi, the eighth son of Li Yu (the last ruler of the Southern Tang Dynasty), was granted the title of King of Deng. After the fall of the Southern Tang Dynasty to the Northern Song Dynasty in 975 CE, Emperor Taizong of Song ordered the arrest of the Southern Tang royal family. Li Congyi’s son, Tianhe, fled and adopted his father’s fief as his surname, and his descendants thus became the Deng family.

Migration and Spread

The Deng family originated in the territory of present-day Henan Province and migrated southward on a large scale during the Eastern Jin Dynasty. They also spread to Fujian and Guangdong before the Han Dynasty. In the mid-Han Dynasty, Deng Kuang moved from Chu to Xinye, Nanyang. By the early Eastern Han Dynasty, due to the significant contributions of the Deng family to the restoration of the Han Dynasty by Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu and their familial ties to the Eastern Han royal family, they became one of the most prominent clans in the dynasty. However, during the reign of Emperor An of Eastern Han, Deng Hong and others were accused of opposing the establishment of Emperor An, which led to a great disaster for the Deng family. After that, the Deng family began to migrate outward, with some going to Hunan and Hubei, and others to Shanxi and Gansu. During the “Yongjia Rebellion” at the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, Deng Shuyou from Nanyang moved to Shibei, Fujian, and later branches of the family spread to Quanzhou and other places. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Sixteen Kingdoms period, the Deng family migrated southward from the Central Plains and settled in many provinces in the Jiangnan region, with a large presence in Jiangxi and Jiangsu. Initially, the Deng family's center of expansion was in the territory of present-day Gaomi County, Shandong. At the same time, some members of the family also migrated to Sichuan and Guangdong. By the Jin Dynasty, the descendants of the Deng family were established in various places in the north, including Shandong, Hebei, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Gansu, and Anhui; in the south, they settled in Jiangsu, Hunan, Sichuan, and other areas. During the Tang Dynasty, more branches of the Deng family emerged, with members living in Gansu, Shanxi, Hunan, and Henan. The Deng family spread to Jiangxi, Hubei, Fujian, Guangxi, and other places in the south. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Deng Xianzu from Fujian moved to Taiwan, and later some members of the Deng family from Fujian and Guangdong also migrated to Taiwan, with some even going overseas. Today, the Deng family is most concentrated in the Central Plains, the Yangtze River basin, and coastal areas, with the largest populations in Jiangxi, Hunan, and Henan, followed by Sichuan, Guangdong, Fujian, and Jiangsu.

Famous People with the Surname Deng**#

• Deng Wendu: A scholar from Changshu, Jiangsu Province, known for his landscape paintings, poetry, and love for the works of Song Confucian scholars. He wrote works such as “Yi Jie” (Interpretations of the I Ching) and “Changshu Zhi” (Chronicles of Changshu).
• Deng Zhongyuan (1886–1922): From Huiyang, Guangdong, originally named Shiyuan, also known as Kong. He entered the Guangzhou Military Academy at the age of 19, participated in the Xinhai Revolution, and held various military positions, including Director of the Army Department of the Guangdong Military Government and Chief of Staff of the Guangdong Army. He distinguished himself in battles against Yuan Shikai and Long Ji.
• Deng Xiaoping (1904–1997): A great Marxist, proletarian revolutionary, politician, military strategist, and diplomat. He was one of the main leaders of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese People’s