Taishan surnames

The 萧 surname

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Translated from the Chinese article, which is the one that is edited (read it in Chinese).

Xiao (萧) is one of the surnames of Taishan. It comes from the Zi (子) surname and takes its name from the state of Xiao (萧), a dependency of the state of Song in the Spring and Autumn period. According to the Taishan County Gazetteer of Local Lore (《台山县乡土志》), the Xiao of Xiaocun Village (萧村), Taishan, are one of the families that came from Zhuji Lane (珠玑巷) in Nanxiong (南雄).[1][2]

Origin of the surname[edit]

The Xiao surname comes mainly from the Zi surname. According to the Comprehensive Meaning of Customs (《风俗通义》) and the Yuanhe Compendium of Surnames (《元和姓纂》), Xiaoshu Daxin (萧叔大心), a descendant of Weizi (微子) of Song, was enfeoffed at Xiao (its old site northwest of present-day Xiao County, Anhui) for his merit, as a dependency of Song; in 597 BCE it was defeated by Chu, and his descendants took the state's name as their clan name. There is also a line of Khitan people who were granted the Xiao surname. In mainland China, some people surnamed Xiao are registered as 肖, because 肖 was used in place of 萧 when the "second round of simplified characters" (二简字) was promoted.[1]

Coming to Taishan[edit]

The Taishan County Gazetteer of Local Lore lists the families of various surnames that came into Taishan from Zhuji Lane in Nanxiong, among them "the Xiao of Xiaocun". This record, quoted from the book Migrants from Zhuji Lane in the Song and the Agricultural Development of the Pearl River Delta (《宋代珠玑巷迁民与珠江三角洲农业发展》), appears in Huang Renfu's (黄仁夫) article "The Southward Migration of the People of Zhuji Lane and the Origins of the People of Taishan" (「珠玑巷人南迁与台山人的来由」).[2][3]

There is a village named Xiaocun in Haiyan Town (海宴镇), Taishan, and the Mei chapter of Origins of Taishan's Surnames (《台山姓氏源流》) mentions that people surnamed Mei also live there; whether this is the Xiaocun of the gazetteer is yet to be verified.[4]

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

References

  1. "Xiao (surname)", Chinese Wikipedia 「萧姓」，维基百科
  2. Huang Renfu, "The Southward Migration of the People of Zhuji Lane and the Origins of the People of Taishan", Xinning Magazine, 2014, no. 1 黄仁夫：「珠玑巷人南迁与台山人的来由」，《新宁杂志》2014年第1期
  3. "A Study of the Surnames That Migrated South from Zhuji Lane, Nanxiong, Guangdong", Luo Family Home website (reposted from Ye Clan Farming Culture) 「广东南雄珠玑巷南迁姓氏考」，罗氏家园网（转自叶氏农耕文化）
  4. Mei Yimin, "Mei", in "Origins of Taishan's Surnames" (vol. 1), compiled by the Committee for Cultural and Historical Materials of the Taishan CPPCC. Reposted on the Taishan Classmates website in the thread "[Shared] Origins of Taishan's Surnames", 2007 梅逸民：「梅氏」，载台山市政协文史资料委员会编《台山姓氏源流》（第一册）。转载于台山同学网「[分享]台山姓氏源流」，2007年

Last edited 2026-10-19 08:38 · Written together by this site’s users: anybody signed in can edit it, and every version is kept under History.