Yu / Yu
The Yu surname is one of the Chinese Hundred Family Surnames. In 2018, it numbered about 1.5 million people, or approximately 0.12% of China's population; about half lived in Zhejiang and Jiangsu, with Zhejiang accounting for about 35%.
Several origin traditions are associated with the Yu surname, including origins from the Ji and Mi surnames, as well as sinicized surname changes among Mongolian, Manchu, and other ethnic groups.
During the Shang and Zhou periods, an ancient Yu state existed in what is now western Shandong, ruled by a figure called Yu Bo. It was located around present-day Liangshan in the Shang period and moved north to present-day Xiajin after the Western Zhou. Its history is absent from written historical records and is known only through artifacts excavated in the late Qing period.
Before the Sui and Tang periods, people bearing the Yu surname had spread in Hubei and entered Jiangdong. During the Tang period, descendants reached Guangdong and Guangxi. After the Song period, migration extended to Zhejiang, Anhui, and Fujian; in the early Ming, branches also moved to Shaanxi, Gansu, Hebei, and Tianjin.
The Ming general Yu Dayou left two surviving works, Zhengqi Tang Ji and Jian Jing.
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