Yan / Yen
The Yan surname mainly has two branches: the ancient Yan state and the Mi surname. The ancient Yan branch has a history of at least 4,000 years, while the Mi-surname Yan branch has a history of more than 1,900 years.
Historical origins of the Yan surname include changes from the Zhuang surname to avoid an imperial taboo, descendants of King Zhuang of Chu from the Mi surname adopting a posthumous title as a surname, descendants of Qin's Yan Junji adopting a fief name, people of the ancient Yan state adopting their state's name, and Yan surnames among Dingling people and other ethnic groups.
During the Eastern Han, some people with the Zhuang surname changed it to Yan to avoid the personal name of Emperor Ming, Liu Zhuang. During the Wei and Jin periods, some Yan families restored the Zhuang surname, so both surnames continued to exist, accompanied by the saying that Zhuang and Yan came from one lineage and should not intermarry.
The main commanderies associated with the Yan surname are Tianshui, Fengyi, and Huayin. Its principal hall names include Tianshui, Fuchun, Tiaoshan, Guqiu, Qianshan, Yiya, Silu, Chiwu, and Haiyun.
After the Eastern Han, the Yan surname formed a concentration in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang area; by the Tang and Song periods it was widely distributed along the Yangtze River basin. During the Ming and Qing periods it was concentrated along the coastal areas of Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian, while today it is especially common in Hubei, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang.
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