Hu (surname) - History

History

Non-Chinese peoples and ethnic minorities in China sometimes took the Chinese exonym for their ethnic group as their surname. The best example is Hu 胡, which was anciently used to refer to "barbarian" groups on the northern and western frontiers of China. In modern usage, this common Hu surname is semantically neutral and no longer has derogatory or pejorative connotations. In addition, some individuals adopted Chinese surnames that sound similar to their names, such as Hu from Husaiyin 胡赛因 "Husayn (Hussain, Hussein, etc.)".

Within the ancient Chinese Sinocentric worldview (see Hua-Yi distinction), the central Hua or Huaxia 華夏 "Chinese" were encircled by "non-Chinese peoples, foreigners", many of whom were pejoratively named with Chinese "barbarian" exonyms (e.g., Nanman 南蠻 "Southern Barbarians" and Beidi 北狄 "Northern Barbarians"). Hu 胡 was the exonym for several "barbarian, non-Chinese" peoples. For instance, Jiehu 羯胡 for the Jie "a branch of the Xiongnu" or Qianghu 羌胡 for the Qiang "ancient nationality in West China".

Hu 胡 is used for various northern and western peoples of non-Chinese stock. It was commonly used for people of Persian, Sogdian, Turkish, Xianbi, Indian and Kushan origin and, occasionally, for the Xiongnu (probably because of their connections with the Tonghu or Eastern Hu – a separate tribe conquered by the Xiongnu).

Two historically significant Hu names are this Donghu 東胡 (literally "Eastern Barbarians") "ancient Mongolian nomadic group" and the Wu Hu 五胡 ("Five Barbarians") "five nomadic tribes involved in the Wu Hu uprising" (304-316 CE) against the Jin Dynasty.

The Hu 胡 surname's historical origins are uncertain, and Chinese scholars have proposed four hypotheses. First, Hu could derive from the family of Hu Gongman 胡公滿 "Duke Man of Hu". King Wu of Zhou (r. 1046-043 BCE) enfeoffed his son-in-law Gui Man 媯滿 (supposedly a descendent of the mythical ruler Shun) with the state of Chen 陳 (in modern Henan Province) and titled him Hu Gong 胡公 "Duke of Hu". When Chu (state) annexed Chen in 479 BCE, the Hu family name was replaced by the Chen (surname) 陳. Second, Hu could derive from two Zhou vassal states named Hu 胡, one located near Luohe (Henan Province) or another near Fuyang (Anhui Province). Third, Hu could derive from non-Chinese people adopting it as their surname. For example, in the 496 Change of Xianbei names to Han names, Hegu/Gegu 紇骨 was changed to Hu 胡. Fourth, Hu could derive from the clan name of the ancient Tiele people 敕勒 within the Xiongnu confederation.

Hu (Foochow Romanized: Hù; POJ: Hô or Ô) was also one of the eight surnames of the first Han Chinese clans who first moved out the Central Plains into Fujian province (八姓入閩; Foochow Romanized: Báik Sáng Ĭk Mìng) during the Wu Hu uprising.