Chu Surname

Surname Overview

The surname Chu is pronounced chū. It has multiple origins, is relatively rare today, and is mainly distributed in the Jiaodong Peninsula of Shandong, Liaoning, and Jilin.

Reference: 初姓_百度百科

Origins

Multiple Origins

Recorded origins of the surname include descendants of Shang Tang adopting the surname to avoid danger, descendants of Xiong Shukan of Chu adopting it, Sinicization of the Xigan Xianbei lineage, Qi Wei adopting it after an imperial misreading, and Sinicized surname changes among Manchu and Hui groups.

Reference: 初姓_百度百科

Historical Records

Documentary Attestations

The surname appears in the Xingyuan. The Shiben records “Xiong was the Chu surname,” while the Xituo Stele from the Later Tang period contains phrases including “the Chu lineage transmitted the surname” and “tracing first to Jing-Chu.”

Reference: 初姓_百度百科

Migration and Distribution

During the Later Tang period, one Chu lineage led by Chu Hui'an moved to Zhifu Island in Yantai and later spread through Jiaodong. Dense distributions were recorded in Dengzhou and Laizhou prefectures during the Qing dynasty.

Reference: 初姓_百度百科

Notable People

Historical Figures

Chu Wei was a Northern Song native of Jiaoshui, a presented scholar who served in the Jixian Academy and as prefect of Weizhou. Chu Pengling was a Qing-era native of Laiyang, passed the metropolitan examination in the forty-fifth year of the Qianlong reign, and later became Minister of War.

Reference: 初姓_百度百科