Yu (Surname)
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Yu (Simplified Chinese: 余, Traditional Chinese: 余 or 餘) is one of the Chinese family names. It is listed as the 90th surname in the "Hundred Surnames".
[edit] History
First found in the Spring and Autumn Period of China, the Chancellor of Qin known as Yao Yu, Yu is a typical name in the southern area of China. The place of origin of this name is likely to be in Feng Xiang (鳳翔), Shaanxi to the area of Xian Yang (咸陽). It is first said to appear in the Han Dynasty. The Yu people moved into the county of Xi (歙縣), Anhui. After that, the surname has spread quite well in the south China, but much weaker in the northern China. Many of the Yu moved to southern China, into counties like Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Jiangxi. In the time of Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Yu people have already became a tribe in the prefecture of Xin An (新安郡), Luoyang. Because of the war in the north at that time, people moved to the south, in places like Hunan and Hubei. It was after Tang Dynasty, when the surname finally became popular, and is very famous in the southeast area of China. At this moment, people moved into other places like Fujian and Guangdong. In the later part of the Tang Dynasty, Yu in the northern part became popular too.
[edit] Prominent people
- Yao Yu, the Chancellor of Qin known as Yao Yu.
- Jiyuan Yu, a moral philosopher.
- Yu Hua, contemporary novelist and writer
