The 何 surname

He (何) is one of the surnames of Taishan and is fairly widespread, most numerous in Duanfen (端芬), Guanghai (广海), Chixi (赤溪), Duhu (都斛), Shangchuan (上川), Wencun (汶村), Beidou (北陡), Nafu (那扶), Shenjing (深井), Dalongdong (大隆洞) and other places. The He of Taishan fall mainly into two branches, the Longtang branch (龙塘房) and the Shangshufang (尚书坊); most came from Xinhui and Kaiping, though some came from Enping, Gaoming, Yangjiang, Heshan and other places. The He around Baisha (白沙) and Yudi (鱼地) in Wencun came from Fojing Village (佛井村) in Longtang (龙塘), Kaiping, in the Kangxi period of the Qing.^[1][2]

Origin of the surname[edit]

The He surname comes mainly from the Han clan (韩氏) of the Ji (姬) surname. According to the Yuanhe Compendium of Surnames (《元和姓纂》), An, King of Han (韩王安), a descendant of Tang Shuyu (唐叔虞), younger brother of King Cheng of Zhou, was destroyed by Qin and his descendants scattered; in the Jiang–Huai region "Han" was pronounced close to "He", and so they became the He clan.^[1][3] Most He genealogies say that Han Jian (韩瑊), of the ruling house of the state of Han, took his wife and went to live in exile in Lujiang (庐江) after Qin destroyed Han, changed his surname to He to escape capture, and is honored, together with his younger brother He Shu (何庶), as the progenitor of the He surname.^[1][3] Of the He clan's ancestral commanderies Lujiang is the best known, and most descendants use "Lujiang Tang" (庐江堂) as their hall name, though some use "Donghai" (东海) or "Henei" (河内).^[1] There are also origins in the "Nine Zhaowu Surnames" (昭武九姓) of the Western Regions and the Tuyuhun (吐谷浑), and in changed and bestowed surnames.^[1]

Coming to Guangdong[edit]

According to He genealogies from many places and the Record of the Southward Migration of the Zhuji Lane Clans (《珠玑巷氏族南迁记》), the He moved south with the people of the Central Plains at the end of the Northern Song and the beginning of the Southern Song, entering the Pearl River Delta by way of Zhuji Lane (珠玑巷) in Nanxiong (南雄); of the 97 people of 33 surnames that book records moving south, 4 were surnamed He. Origins of Taishan's Surnames (《台山姓氏源流》) divides the He who came to Guangdong into three groups:^[1][2]

• The Nanxiong line: takes the three brothers He Tang (何棠; also named He Ji, 何集), He Li (何栗) and He Ju (何榘) as its first migrant ancestors. All three became jinshi in the 5th year of Zhenghe of the Northern Song (1115) and were known at the time as "the Three Phoenixes of the He family" (何家三凤); He Li was the top graduate (zhuangyuan) and rose to Grand Academician of the Guanwen Hall; in the Jingkang Incident he went north with Emperors Huizong and Qinzong and died without submitting. Their descendants are scattered in Panyu, Shunde, Zhongshan, Xinhui, Nanhai and other places.
• The Fujian line: takes He Yuanmei (何源美; Niansilang, 念四郎) as its founding ancestor; in the 2nd year of Hongwu of the Ming (1369) he moved from Songyuan (松源) to Chengxiang (程乡; today Meixian District, Meizhou), and his descendants are scattered in Meizhou, Heyuan and other Hakka areas.
• Officials who came to Guangdong: branches whose ancestors held office in various parts of Guangdong and then settled there.

Longtang, Kaiping[edit]

According to the He genealogy of Longtang, Kaiping, He Yuan (何源), founding ancestor of the He of Kaiping, courtesy name Laiyuan (来远), art name Qingfu (清甫), was originally a man of Putian County (莆田县), Xinghua Prefecture (兴化府), Fujian, and passed the jinshi examination in the same year as He Li; under Emperor Huizong of Song he served as Commissioner of Instruction (宣教使) in Eastern Guangdong (东粤; today around Xinhui, Jiangmen), and when his term ended he was promoted to Right Assistant Director (右丞), but did not take up the post. The genealogy says that because of the fighting and the blocked roads he could not return home, and settled with his family at Longtang in Dengmingdu (登名都), Xinhui (today around Longtang, Shuikou Town (水口镇), Kaiping City), making a living by farming and raising ducks, and acquired the property of "Sicheng Tang" (思成堂). Qingfu had four sons: Shaoyu (少裕), Ciyu (次裕), Jiyu (季裕) and Youyu (幼裕). Besides living together at Longtang, his descendants also moved to other parts of Kaiping and to the counties of Zhongshan, Xinhui, Taishan, Enping, Yangjiang and others, and live abroad in Singapore, Canada, Malaysia and the Philippines, and in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.^[1][2]

Coming to Taishan[edit]

According to Origins of Taishan's Surnames, the He of Taishan are in two branches: one is the Longtang branch, the descendants of Qingfu of Longtang, Kaiping; the other is the Shangshufang. The He of Wencun and Shangchuan belong to the Longtang branch; the He of Helveju Village (何略咀村) in the Nanyang (南阳) Management Area, Duanfen, belong to the Shangshufang and came from Xinhui; in Beidou, Guanghai, Duanfen, Chixi, Nafu, Shenjing and other places the two branches live mixed together.^[1][2]

The Baisha line in Wencun

According to the Longtang genealogy, He Xianjie (何显结) of the 16th generation married a woman née Zhang and a woman née Zhen and had two sons, Qingbo (清波) and Qinglang (清浪). Qingbo (17th generation) was a man of Fojing Village, Longtang; he was born in the 8th year of Kangxi (1669) and died in the 5th year of Yongzheng (1727). Poor in his early years, he went with companions to buy rice at the house of Chen Deng (陈登) of Xikang (西康), Wencun, Haiyan, Xinning; Chen's wife, née He, was also from Longtang, recognized him as a relative of the same lineage, and urged his family to move to Baisha, Heisha (黑沙) and Yudi and farm the He family's ancestral fields. With the agreement of his mother, née Zhen, and his brothers and sisters, Qingbo moved from Fojing Village and settled at these three places. Qingbo had five sons: Kunyu (昆玉), Kunmei (昆美), Kunzhen (昆珍), Kunrui (昆瑞) and Qindian (勤典); he and his wife, née Chen, are buried together at Shimiaoshan (石庙山), Yudi.^[1][2]

As for the year of the move, the original text has "the 9th day of the 11th month of the guisi year of Kangxi (1713)", and also says Qingbo was then 24; reckoned from his birth year, he would have been 24 around 1692, so the two do not agree.^[1][2] In addition, another passage of the original text calls Qingbo the "10th-generation ancestor", which does not agree with "17th generation".^[1][2]

Distribution[edit]

As recorded in Origins of Taishan's Surnames (vol. 1) (figures from the 1990s):^[1][2]

• Duanfen: more than 200 households, nearly 1,000 people.
• Beidou: more than 300 households, nearly 4,000 people (so in the original).
• The three villages of Baisha, Yudi and Pingfeng (平丰) in Wencun: more than 200 households, nearly 1,200 people.
• Shangchuan: more than 50 households, more than 200 people.

Elsewhere they are mostly scattered, especially in the hill areas. Baisha, Yudi and Pingfeng are today villagers' groups under the Baisha Village Committee of Wencun Town.^[4]