The 殷 surname

Yin (殷) is one of the surnames of Taishan. It comes mainly from the Zi (子) surname, and its bearers are descendants of the royal house of the Shang dynasty.^[1]

Origin of the surname[edit]

Yin ranks 74th in the Hundred Family Surnames (《百家姓》). Pan Geng (盘庚), the Shang king of the tenth generation, moved the capital to Yin (殷, present-day Xiaotun, Anyang, Henan), and so the Shang dynasty is also called the Yin dynasty; after King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang, descendants of the Shang royal house took the name of their former state as their surname, and so became the Yin clan (from the Book of Origins, 《世本》). According to the Brief Study of Surnames (《姓氏考略》), the state of Bo (亳国) of the Western Rong, which called itself descended from the Yin-Shang, was destroyed by Duke Xian of Qin, after which its people were granted the surname Beiyin (北殷), later changed to Yin; there is also an account that people living on the banks of the Yin River (殷水) took Yin as their surname. The ancestral commandery of the Yin surname is Runan Commandery (汝南郡).^[1]

Coming to Taishan[edit]

How the Yin came to Taishan and where they live is yet to be added. Family members who know more are welcome to edit this article.