Origins
Main Origin Tradition
The page says the Jian surname mainly derives from the Mi surname and descends from Crown Prince Jian of the state of Chu in the Spring and Autumn period, constituting a surname formed from an ancestor’s name; it attributes this account to the Zuo Zhuan.
Alternative Origin Accounts
The same source also relays two unresolved accounts: one says the Jian surname descends from Jian, the Crown Prince of King Yuan of Chu, a younger brother of Han Gaozu Liu Bang; the other derives it from Mi and from Crown Prince Jian of King Ping of Chu, explicitly marked “possibly erroneous.”