Zhai / Chai
The Zhai surname traces its lineage to the Yellow Emperor, with Zhai Bo regarded as its founding ancestor. It ranks 108th among contemporary Chinese surnames, with a population of about 1.4 million, accounting for approximately 0.11% of the national population.
The Zhai surname has two main origins: one derives from the Kui surname and descends from the Di people; the other derives from the Qi surname, whose descendants took Zhai, their place of residence, as their surname.
The earliest record of the Zhai surname is found in the Tang-dynasty work Yuanhe Xing Zuan.
The principal commandery of the Zhai surname is Nanyang Commandery. Its principal hall name is Chuanshi Hall, also known as Chongwei Hall.
Before the Qin dynasty, the Zhai surname was concentrated mainly in Henan, Shanxi, Hebei, and Shandong. After the Qin and Han periods it spread northward into the Northeast and southward into Jiangsu and Anhui; during the Tang and Song periods it crossed the Yangtze into Hunan, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi, and by the Ming and Qing periods it was found across the country.
Zhai genealogies are recorded in Hebei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Shandong, Hubei, Guangdong, and Jilin. The Xihe Zhai lineage of Zichuan, Shandong, has generation-name registers for its third, fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth, and ninth branches.
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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