The 雷 surname

Lei (雷) is one of the surnames of Taishan. Together with the Fang (方) and Kuang (邝) surnames it honors Shennong (神农氏) as its distant ancestor, and the three surnames have formed a joint clan association, the Suyuan Tang (溯源堂). The Lei of Taishan take as their first migrant ancestor Lei Fu (雷复), the 2nd-generation ancestor of the Lei of Guangdong, who in the 9th year of Xianchun of the Southern Song (1273) moved from Gubo Du (古博都) in Xinhui (新会) to Tangmian Township (塘面乡) in Dajiang (大江). His descendants live mainly around Dajiang, Shuibu (水步) and Gongyi (公益), and one branch lives in Haiyan (海宴) and Wencun (汶村).^[1][2]

Origin of the surname[edit]

The genealogies of the Lei, Fang and Kuang all trace their surnames back to Shennong. According to the Kuang Genealogy (《邝氏族谱》) and the Fang Genealogy (《方氏族谱》), a son of Emperor Yuwang (帝榆罔), the 8th-generation descendant of Shennong, lived at Leize (雷泽) and took Lei as his surname; for his services in helping the Yellow Emperor campaign against Chiyou (蚩尤) he was enfeoffed at Fangshan (方山; northwest of today's Yuzhou, 禹州, Henan), and his descendants took the name of the fief as their surname, so that there is also the Fang surname; Fang Yiping (方以平), eldest son of Fang Tingying (方廷英), 7th-generation ancestor of the Fang of Jiangnan, changed his surname to Kuang. The three surnames therefore regard themselves as sharing one origin: the Suyuan Tang has the saying "Fangshan and the Lei, traced to their source, come from Shennong", and the door couplet of the Suyuan Family School (溯源家塾) at Shuikou (水口), Kaiping (开平), reads "Of one source and one line, spread into three clans".^[1][2]

There are several other accounts of the origin of the Lei surname: one says it comes from Lei Gong (雷公), a minister of the Yellow Emperor, whose descendants took Lei as their surname (the New Hundred Family Surnames (《新百家姓》) follows this account); one says it comes from Lei Kai (雷开), a minister of King Zhou of Shang (商纣王); and another says that minority peoples living in what is now Hubei in the Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern dynasties took up the Lei surname and later moved into Lingnan (岭南).^[2][3]

Coming to Taishan[edit]

According to the history of the Lei published on the Taishan Municipal Government website, the Lei genealogy lists as an ancestor Lei Wanchun (雷万春), a Tang general who defended Suiyang (睢阳). Lei Wanchun's 19th-generation descendant Lei Lan (雷兰; courtesy name Xinsi 馨斯, art name Zhitang 芝堂, official name Chao Weng 朝翁) came south when the Jin armies invaded the south, and registered his household at Zhuji Lane (珠玑巷), Shashui Village (沙水村), Baochang County (保昌县), Nanxiong Prefecture (南雄府); he passed the jinshi examination, served as deputy prefect (二守) of Nanxiong, and is the founding ancestor of the Lei of Guangdong. Lei Lan had two sons, the elder Lei Yu (雷豫) and the younger Lei Fu; after he and his wife died they were buried together at Shoushan (寿山) in Nanxiong. Later, because of "the affair of the imperial consort" (皇妃之变), the two brothers each took their sons south to Guangzhou: in the 8th month of the 9th year of Xianchun of the Southern Song (1273) Lei Yu settled at Weichong (韦涌) in Panyu (番禺); in the same year Lei Fu moved to Gubo Du in Xinhui County (roughly today's Shuikou area of Kaiping), and his descendants spread to Doudongli (斗洞里) in Wenzhang Du (文章都; roughly today's Dajiang, Gongyi and Shuibu area of Taishan), living apart in more than ten villages, including Shagang (沙岗), Tangmian, Xintangji (新塘基), Dugang (独岗), Caogang (曹岗), Lvbian (吕边) and Zhangliangbian (张良边).^[2]

Tangmian Township in Dajiang, where Lei Fu settled, is today's Zhongjian Village (中间村) in the Shiqiao (石桥) village committee of Dajiang Town. An article on the Taicheng Subdistrict Office website also takes Lei Fu as the founding ancestor of the Lei of Taishan, saying he came from Gubo Du in Xinhui (now part of Shuikou, Kaiping).^[1][2]

The Haiyan branch

Lei Lan's 7th-generation descendant Lei Ang (雷昂; courtesy name Boyong 伯颙) moved to Haiyan; he died in the 17th year of Chenghua of the Ming (1481), aged 67. His descendants live apart at Henan (河南), Xinhe (新河), Shatou (沙头), Aocun (澳村) and Shabian (沙边) in Haiyan Town, and at Shapu (沙浦), Leixu Village (雷许村), Shangkeng (上坑) and other places in Wencun Town.^[2]

Branches that left Taishan

The same article records that Lei Lan's 7th-generation descendant Jishan (积善) and 13th-generation descendant Wenli (文力) moved to Dutou Village (渡头村), in the Huancheng (环城) area of today's Zhongshan City (中山市); the 8th-generation ancestor Guanbao (观保), the 9th-generation ancestor Guichang (癸长) and others moved to Yangjiang (阳江).^[2]

Distribution[edit]

Two sources on official Taishan City websites give different population figures, both of them old:

• The article on the Taicheng Subdistrict Office website says Lei Fu's descendants live in 134 natural villages under 38 village committees in 14 towns, including Dajiang, Shuibu, Sijiu (四九), Chonglou (冲蒌), Taicheng (台城), Sanhe (三合) and Doushan (斗山), with a total population of about 20,600 (another account says 31,000), most concentrated in Dajiang Town, with about 13,000. The article says it has been "730 years to date" since Lei Fu came to Taishan, so its figures describe roughly the early 21st century.^[1]
• The history of the Lei in the "Taishan Surnames" column of the Taishan Municipal Government website says (using the term of its time, "administrative area", 管区): Lei Fu's descendants live in 95 natural villages in all, at Zhangliangbian in Gongyi Town; at Shiqiao, Hemu (河木), Datang (大塘), Tangdi (棠棣), Xindajiang (新大江), Gongqiao (拱桥), Li'ao (里坳) and Chenbian (陈边) in Dajiang Town; and at Jingfeng (井风), Maolian (茅莲), Changkeng (长坑) and other places in Shuibu Town, numbering about 15,000 or more; another 6,000 or so live in 28 natural villages in Sijiu, Taicheng, Sanhe, Chonglou, Doushan and other towns; Lei Ang's descendants in Haiyan and Wencun number about 5,200; in all, the Lei living in Taishan number about 31,000. The article says Lei Fu came to Taishan "more than 720 years" ago, so its figures describe roughly the 1990s.^[2]

Ancestral halls and overseas Chinese magazines[edit]

• Lei Main Ancestral Hall (雷氏大宗祠): in Zhongshe Village (中社村), Shiqiao, Dajiang Town.^[4]
• Suyuan Tang: the clan association of the Lei, Fang and Kuang surnames; the date of its founding is yet to be verified. According to the Taishan Municipal Government website, the Suyuan Family School at Shuikou, Kaiping, was built in the 26th year of Daoguang of the Qing (1846); the Suyuan Tang of Erbu (二埠; Sacramento) in the United States was founded in 1859, and the Suyuan headquarters (溯源总堂) in Dabu (大埠; San Francisco) was built in 1886; since then branches have been set up in many places, including the United States, Canada, Cuba, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Australia, Myanmar and Hong Kong.^[2]
• Suyuan Monthly (《溯源月刊》): the magazine of the three surnames, founded in Taicheng in June 1926 and suspended after the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japan; it resumed on July 15, 1947, was suspended again in the first half of 1949, and resumed a second time in September 1984. Its emblem is three interlocking rings, red, blue and green, signifying the common origin of the three surnames. Since resuming it has printed about 3,000 copies an issue, sent to 19 countries and regions including the United States, Canada, Cuba, Brazil, Australia, the United Kingdom, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan; by 2004, 39 issues had been published. In November 1993 it won second prize in the Guangdong Province competition for overseas Chinese magazines and hometown newsletters (侨刊乡讯).^[1]
• Suyuan Middle School (溯源中学): built in Taicheng in 1936 with donations from overseas kin of the three surnames; four stories high, with a floor area of more than 4,000 square meters. The school building was occupied by the Japanese army during the War of Resistance against Japan, and after the war it became the Suyuan Primary School. After the building was returned in 1984, the Suyuan Electronics School (溯源电子学校; later called the Suyuan Electronics Vocational School) opened there in 1986.^[1]