The 关 surname

Guan (关) is one of the surnames of Taishan. Its numbers are small: the Guan live mainly at Dongkeng (东坑) on Shangchuan (上川) and at Fengjiang (丰江) in Duhu (都斛), and some are scattered in Guanghai (广海), Nafu (那扶) and other towns. The Guan of Taishan mostly come from Tanyali in Xinhui (新会谈雅里; today Siqian in Xinhui, 新会司前), and honor Guan Zhaozhi (关肇治) of the Song as their founding ancestor; the Fengjiang line in Duhu did not move in until the Qianlong period of the Qing.^[1]

Origin of the surname[edit]

There are several accounts of the origin of the Guan. One says they descend from Guan Longfeng (关龙逢), a minister at the end of the Xia who was killed by Jie of Xia (夏桀) for remonstrating with him frankly; another traces the name to the official who guarded a pass, the “Guanyin” (关尹, keeper of the pass), the title of the office becoming the surname; still another links the Guan to the Huanlong clan (豢龙氏), who raised dragons for Shun in high antiquity. In the Qing, the Manchu Gua'erjia (瓜尔佳) clan mostly took Guan as their Han surname.^[2] Most of the origins section of the Wikipedia article gives no sources.

The Guan of Tanya, Xinhui[edit]

According to Origins of Taishan's Surnames (《台山姓氏源流》), Guan Zhaozhi, founding ancestor of the Tanya Guan, art name Qi'an (器庵), was originally from Gaoliang Township, Zhenning County, Jianning Prefecture, Fujian (福建建宁府甄宁县高梁乡), and was born in the 1st year of Kaiyun of the Later Jin (944). He became a jinshi in the 2nd year of Qiande of the Northern Song (964) and served as a compiler of the Hanlin Academy; in the 7th year of Kaibao (974) he was promoted to grand secretary of the Left Spring Palace (左春坊大学士), and later, for answering the emperor improperly, he was demoted to Gugang Prefecture (古冈州; Xinhui) as assistant prefect (州同). Five years later he resigned and settled in Tanyali, Shibei du (石碑都谈雅里); he lived to seventy-three and is buried with his wife, née Zhan (湛), on Doudong Hill (斗峒冈) in Taishan.^[1] Guan Zhaozhi was the third of his brothers; his eldest brother, Guan Zhaoji (关肇箕), came south with him and later moved to Jiujiang, Nanhai (南海九江); his second brother, Guan Zhaoqiu (关肇裘), moved to Huanglian Township, Shunde (顺德黄连乡).^[1]

The Genealogy of the Guan of Tanya (《谈雅关氏族谱》), a woodblock edition of the 30th year of Daoguang of the Qing (1850) compiled by Guan Tingyu (关廷盓), also takes Guan Zhaozhi as its first migrant ancestor, but records that he moved south with his two elder brothers in the Taiping Xingguo period of the Northern Song (976–984),^[3] which does not wholly agree with the account in Origins of Taishan's Surnames of how he came south.

The sixth-generation ancestor Guan Muzhai (关穆斋) married a woman née Wu (伍) of Doudong; they had four sons, who became the four great branches (fang) of Tanyali. Later the branches moved to Jiujiang, Shunde, Kaiping (开平), Nanhai and other places, and “it is said that overseas in the South Seas (Nanyang) there is also an old Guan village.”^[1]

Coming to Taishan[edit]

The Duhu Fengjiang branch

The Guan of Kengmei Village (坑美村) and Baishi Village (白石村) in Fengjiang, Duhu Town, come from the second line of Guan Tingjian (关庭坚), eldest son of Guan Muzhai, the sixth-generation ancestor of Tanyali. Their founding ancestor, Guan Zuyin (关祖荫; taboo name Yuanfu, 元辅; art name Zhongde, 仲德), was of the 13th generation of the Tanya Guan. In the Qianlong period of the Qing he came as a sojourner to Baishi Village in Duhu; he married women née Guo (郭) and née Yang (杨) and had three sons: Guan Zhenshou (关镇寿), Guan Foshou (关佛寿) and Guan Xianshou (关仙寿). Zhenshou and Foshou stayed in Baishi Village; Xianshou moved to Kengmei Village in Fengjiang Township (formerly called Huaideli, 怀德里), later served as grain transport officer of the Sizhou Guard in Nanjing (南京泗洲卫), and there took a secondary wife, née Zhou (周), so that he has descendants both in Kengmei and in Sizhou. Guan Shisheng (关世盛) of the 22nd generation moved from Fengjiang to Longchuangang (龙船岗) in Guanghai. According to the article, the Guan of Fengjiang and Baishi, together with clan members overseas, numbered about 1,600 (a figure from the 1990s).^[1]

The Fengjiang Guan use the 32-character sequence of generation names composed by Dunzhai Gong (钝斋公) in the Chenghua period and Xiaoquan Gong (肖泉公) in the Wanli period of the Ming: “修 (Xiu) 德 (De) 象 (Xiang) 贤 (Xian), 君 (Jun) 必 (Bi) 汝 (Ru) 显 (Xian), 宏 (Hong) 仁 (Ren) 定 (Ding) 国 (Guo), 崇 (Chong) 勋 (Xun) 则 (Ze) 天 (Tian), 开 (Kai) 基 (Ji) 泽 (Ze) 懋 (Mao), 继 (Ji) 业 (Ye) 光 (Guang) 先 (Xian), 祚 (Zuo) 胤 (Yin) 恒 (Heng) 锡 (Xi), 创 (Chuang) 守 (Shou) 永 (Yong) 传 (Chuan)”.^[1]

The Shangchuan Dongkeng branch

According to Origins of Taishan's Surnames, the Guan of Dongkeng on Shangchuan also come from Tanyali in Xinhui: they moved out from a branch that had moved from Tanyali to Chikan (赤坎) in Kaiping, and later some clan members scattered to various parts of Taishan.^[1]

Legends[edit]

Drawing on the genealogy and the oral accounts of old people, the author of the Guan chapter of Origins of Taishan's Surnames recorded several stories passed down in the clan:^[1]

• The old people of Fengjiang have it that during the Opium War, Guan Tianpei (关天培), commander-in-chief of the Guangdong navy (a native of Shanyang, Jiangsu), put a notice in the newspapers seeking his clan kin of Kengmei Village in Fengjiang and sent his sons and nephews to Guangzhou to wait for them to make contact, but no contact was made. The article itself says this is “according to the word of the elders,” and no other document supports it.
• The fifth-generation ancestor Shilü Gong (石侣公) had an enormous appetite, and the villagers called him “Guan the Big Eater” (关大食); the nineteenth-generation ancestor Huawang Gong (华望公) gave money for the relief of the villages, and the county magistrate presented him with a plaque reading “A Man Blessed with All Five Fortunes” (五福全人). The article says these stories are taken from the Tanya Genealogy (《谈雅族谱》) and are “amusing tales handed down by the elders from generation to generation.”

People[edit]

• Guan Fengxiang (关凤翔), of Kengmei Village, Fengjiang, Duhu, was a military juren of the 8th year of Daoguang of the Qing (1828) and was granted the title Wulüe Cavalry Commandant (武略骑尉). According to clan tradition he was of extraordinary strength, was once posted to garrison Macau, and was later poisoned, at only 36. (Origins of Taishan's Surnames mistakenly gives the 8th year of Daoguang as “1929.”)^[1]