Shi / Shih
The surname Shi originated from an official title. In ancient times, officials in charge of music were called shi or taishi; descendants of musicians in the State of Jin during the Spring and Autumn period began using Shi as their surname. Its history is about 2,600 years.
Historical figures listed for the Shi surname include Shi Fu, a grandee of Jin in the Spring and Autumn period; Shi Kuang, chief musician of Jin; Shi Kui, a musician of Zheng; Shi Jin, a musician of Chu; and the musician Shi Cao.
Among the listed genealogical records, the Shenyang Shi Clan History and the Dongshan Shi Genealogy of Jiangxi both use the hall name Taiyuan Hall. Related genealogies are also recorded for Weichuan County in Henan and Zizhou County in Shaanxi.
During the Song dynasty, the surname was concentrated mainly in Sichuan, Henan, and Hubei, with Sichuan accounting for more than half of the population. During the Ming dynasty, it was mainly distributed across Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei, Shandong, Henan, and Sichuan, with Shanxi accounting for about 35%.
Because all states in the Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn periods had musicians, Shi lineages did not come only from musicians of Jin. Other pathways include Yin-born Shi Anshi, who changed his surname to Shi to avoid a taboo, and Shi surnames adopted as Han surnames by Mongolian and Manchu people.
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.
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