Shao / Shao
The Shao surname has two main origins: the Zhao Fang group and the Ji surname. The Zhao Fang branch later divided into the Zhao and Shao surnames; the Ji branch came from Shi, the son of King Wen of Zhou, known as Duke Zhao of Zhou.
Shao and Zhao were interchangeable in ancient times. Historical books before the Han dynasty mostly used “召,” while those after the Three Kingdoms period mostly used “邵.” Today they are generally treated as two surnames, with Shao more common among the Han Chinese.
Shao genealogies record hall names including Qianshou, Xiyin, Lirang, Dianyi, Tianyuan, Chuiyu, Qingmen, and Dongling, as well as the founding ancestors, first migrating ancestors, and settlement locations of different branches.
Before the Qin dynasty, the Shao surname was mainly active in Henan and Shandong. During the Qin and Han periods it spread to Jiangsu and Anhui; during the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties it crossed the Yangtze into Hunan and Jiangxi and reached Hebei in the north. During the Tang dynasty it moved south twice into Fujian and Guangdong, and entered Taiwan in the early Qing period.
Duke Zhao of Zhou was an early Western Zhou minister of the Ji surname. He was called Duke Zhao or Marquis Zhao because his fief was at Zhao. He contributed to the founding of the Zhou dynasty and served as Grand Protector under King Cheng, governing west of the Shaanxi region with the Duke of Zhou.
Another tradition holds that descendants of Ji Zai, the tenth son of King Wen of Zhou, also included members of the Shao surname.
Start with ancestral counties, villages, personal names and dates. Record genealogy titles, volumes, editions and catalog identifiers. A shared surname does not prove a shared lineage; compare branch records.
These catalogs or datasets attest written names, not every origin or lineage claim on this page.
This page includes automatically organized material. Check the references and original family documents.
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