The Hao Family#

Surname: Hao, pronounced as “hǎo”

Regions Where the Hao Surname is Found**#

The Taiyuan Commandery was established in the fourth year of King Zhuangxiang of Qin during the Warring States period (246 BC), with its administrative center in Jinyang (now southwest of Taiyuan, Shanxi). During the Qin dynasty, its territory corresponded to the area south of Wutai Mountain and Guancen Mountain in Shanxi, and north of Huo Mountain. In the Northern Wei dynasty, it was re-established as a commandery, covering the region between Yangqu, Jiaocheng, Pingyao, and Heshun in present-day Shanxi.

Origin of the Hao Surname**#

The Hao surname ranks 71st among the most common surnames in China and has a significant population, accounting for approximately 0.3% of the Han Chinese population nationwide.

Origins of the Surname “Hao”:

1. The surname originated from the name of a local area. According to the “New Book of Tang: Genealogy of Prime Ministers,” during the reign of King Di Yi of the Shang dynasty, a man named Ziqi was granted a fief in Haoxiang (in present-day Taiyuan, Shanxi), and subsequently took the name of the place as his surname.
2. The Hao surname also exists among some ethnic minorities. As recorded in the “Old Book of Tang: Southern Barbarians,” during the Tang dynasty, there were three prominent surnames among the southern tribes: Hao, Yang, and Liu. Additionally, the Uhan people during the Han dynasty also had the Hao surname.

Distribution and Migration: The Hao surname has a history of over a thousand years, with its origins dating back to the late Shang dynasty in Taiyuan, Shanxi. Although it had spread to most northern regions by the Song dynasty, its central area of origin remained in the Central Plains. The southward migration of the Hao surname began relatively late, with families appearing in certain southern areas only during the Song dynasty. This is why, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Hao surname was still predominantly found in the northern part of China. During the late Yuan dynasty, due to natural disasters and uprisings, some Hao people moved to other regions.

Historical Notes:

• During the Qin and Han dynasties, the Hao surname gradually spread to other parts of Shanxi, as well as neighboring provinces such as Shaanxi, Henan, and Hebei.
• At the end of the Jin dynasty, some Hao people moved from Taiyuan to Danyang in Runzhou (now in Dangtu County, Anhui). One descendant of this lineage, Hao Hui, served as the governor of Jiangxia during the Southern Liang dynasty and later moved to Anlu (now in Hubei).
• Despite the social turmoil of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Hao community in Shanxi was less affected due to its unique geographical location. However, some Hao people in Hebei fled to Shandong to avoid war, and others in Henan moved to Anhui.
• During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Hao surname flourished in the Jingzhao area of Shaanxi, leading to the establishment of the Jingzhao Commandery as a prominent center of the Hao family. Some Hao people also migrated to Hubei and Sichuan.
• After the fall of the Northern Song dynasty, some Hao people moved to the south of the Yangtze River. Hao Zhang, a famous painter from Fenzhou (now in Shanxi), fled the war and settled in Langzhou (now in Sichuan).
• Before the Tang and Song dynasties, the Hao surname was mainly concentrated in the Central Plains. The southward migration was much less extensive and less significant compared to other surnames.
• By the end of the Yuan dynasty, frequent disasters and peasant uprisings led to a significant decline in population in the Central Plains and East China. During the early Ming dynasty, the Hao surname was relocated to various places in Hebei, Beijing, Shandong, and Tianjin as part of the large-scale population migrations.
• During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Hao surname became more widespread in the south, with notable individuals recorded in provinces such as Hunan and Fujian. In the northeast, such as Liaoning, Hao communities also emerged.
• In the Qing dynasty, some Hao people moved to Inner Mongolia and Gansu due to migration trends. Those in Fujian crossed the sea to Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Some Hao people in Sichuan's Ya'an area migrated to Hanyuan for survival reasons, resulting in new branches of the Hao surname there.
• Today, the Hao surname is widely distributed across China, with the largest populations in Henan, Shanxi, and Hebei, accounting for about 59% of the national Han Chinese Hao population.

Family Hall Name: “Shai Shu Tang” (Drying Books Hall). During the Jin dynasty, wealthy families would dry their clothes in the sun on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month to prevent mildew and insect damage. Hao Long, a military advisor to Huan Wen, once took off his clothes and lay in the sun, rubbing his belly while saying, “I’m drying my books—my books are all inside my belly!”

Notable Individuals with the Hao Surname: Hao Yixing: A renowned scholar and exegete from Qixia, Shanxi, during the Qing dynasty. He served as an official in the Ministry of Revenue and specialized in the study of names and objects. He dedicated much of his time to the interpretation of the “Erya” and wrote works such as “Erya Yi Shu” and “Shan Hai Jing Yi Shu,” correcting errors and providing detailed explanations of various terms.

The Hao surname is a classic northern Chinese surname with a long and rich history, originating in Taiyuan during the late Shang dynasty and continuing to thrive in its ancestral home of Shanxi.