As the hometown of China, Vietnam borrowed a large number of Chinese surnames. Just like there is a big surname in China, "Zhang Wang Li Zhao", there are also big surnames in Vietnam.
The big surnames of Vietnamese include "Ruan", "Li", "Chen", etc. The top three surnames in account for about 58.5% of the total population of Vietnam, while the top ten surnames in Vietnam account for as high as 84.6%.
Among the three major surnames in Vietnam, the surname "Li" ranks third, with about 7.95 million people, accounting for 9.5%.
"Chen" ranks second, with about 9.2 million people nationwide, accounting for 11%.
The surname "Ruan" is the most popular among Vietnamese people. In 2017, it had as many as 31.77 million people, accounting for 38%, almost 40%.
Why do 40% of the citizens of Vietnam, which has a population of nearly 100 million, have the same surname?
1. Vietnam borrows the Chinese surname
as a member of the Chinese cultural circle. Vietnam is deeply influenced by Chinese culture, and even the surnames of Vietnamese people come from China.
As early as Vietnam became a county in ancient China, and before it was directly ruled by China, Chinese culture had already had a profound impact on Vietnam.
Ancient Luoyue Before accepting the influence of Central Plains culture, the local people in Luoyue did not have the etiquette for weddings and funerals. They all chose spouses based on their preferences, and they did not have a fixed spouse. They did not know what the father and son were and what kind of moral constraints should the spouse abide by.
Vietnamese consider themselves descendants of the Luoyue people. It can be seen that before China had an impact on it, Vietnam was almost a wilderness and was in a very primitive social state.
During the th reign of Emperor Ai of Han, Xi Guang was appointed as the governor of Jiazhou, and later he was appointed as the prefect of Jiaozhi.
was Xi Guang who taught Vietnamese civilized matters such as farming and marriage during his tenure, and opened schools to educate etiquette, which accelerated the development of Vietnam's civilization and made Vietnamese begin to know their surnames and names after giving birth to children.
According to Vietnam's "Historical Records of the Grand Historian of Vietnam " and other Vietnamese historical records, almost all the historical figures of Jiaozhi with real names and surnames gradually appeared after they accepted the sinicization.
It is certain that before the pre-Qin period, the Luoyue people did not have a fixed surname, nor did they form a surname system of their own nation.
, the first recorded in Vietnam History , is Li Wengzhong, who has a name and surname. This person appeared in the "Complete Book of Records of the Grand Historian of Yue".
According to the records of the book, it was the time when Qin Shihuang annexed the six kingdoms. Li Wengzhong was a cilian native of Jiaozhi, two feet tall. When he was young, he worked in the village and was often whipped by his superiors.
Later, for some reason, he went to Qin Dynasty to become an official, and even reached the level of Sili School Captain.
The Vietnamese society at that time was not fully civilized, and it is unlikely that a fixed surname would appear. This person recorded in history was influenced by the Central Plains dynasty and had surnames and names after entering the Qin Dynasty.
The origin of Vietnam's surnames is deeply influenced by China. It can also be said that the advanced civilization of the Central Plains has brought a series of cultural factors, including surnames, to Vietnam.
For Vietnamese, "short name" is like an imported product, not naturally produced by the local area. So as early as the 1970s, Vietnamese submitted articles to Chinese magazines to ask about the source of their surnames.
The second issue of "Language" magazine published in 1972 has carefully answered this question.
The "school" of Vietnamese people should have originated from the concept of "household" in Chinese.
The time of the birth of Vietnam's "households" can be inferred from the period when the Central Plains dynasty set Vietnam as a county. This is also the period when Vietnam was incorporated into the Central Plains ruling order and began to be sinicized. From this, it can also be seen that the Vietnamese surname borrowed the concept of China.
As a Southeast Asian country, Vietnam has no surname, just like other Southeast Asian ethnic groups. The reason why later appeared was because Han culture had an impact on it, and the earliest surnames in Vietnam came from the Chinese family surnames.
"The Qin people were moved to the same place, and the old wind in the south was transformed; the changes were all gone" It was the Central Plains dynasty's policy of moving southwards that spread Han culture to the south, promoted ethnic integration, and promoted Luo Yue's group marriage system to pair marriage, which laid a solid foundation for the emergence of Vietnamese surnames.
In the long history, Vietnam was directly ruled and was affiliated with Chinese counties for more than a thousand years.
From Western Han to Tang Dynasty , many Han officials, military officials, Confucian scholars and merchants went to Vietnam to settle down. They intermarried with local people, reproduced their descendants, spread culture, and eventually brought Chinese surnames to Vietnam.
There are not many surnames in Vietnam, and the single surname and compound surname are only more than 200. Most of them can be found in the "Hundred Family Surnames" in China, or they simply come from the Bai Family Surnames.
The same is true for Ruan’s surname. Li Wengzhong, a Vietnamese who was an official in the Qin Dynasty mentioned above, also recorded it in some historical materials as Ruan Wengzhong . But whether it is Li Weng-chung or Ruan Weng-chung, the surnames Li, Ruan, Zhao, Fan, Liang and other surnames are the earliest surnames that appeared in Vietnam.
2. Current situation of the Ruan surname in Vietnam
The Ruan surname can be regarded as a large surname with a long history, a large population and a wide distribution in Vietnam.
Whether it is history or contemporary, the Ruan surname has played an important role in Vietnam, with many heroes emerging and countless capable people.
Open news about Vietnam and you often see Vietnamese leaders surnamed Ruan. For example, Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc , and his predecessor is also Nguyen Phu Tung , who is also named Nguyen Phu Tung . I have been working in , Vietnamese Prime Minister for ten years, and , Nguyen Thi Jin Yin , one of Vietnam's four-horse horses and the first female president of the parliament in Vietnam.
Nuang Jinyong
Among the nineteen members of the Central Political Bureau elected in the 12th session of the 19th Central Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Vietnam 4, five senior officials in the surname Ruan accounted for more than one-quarter. Among the twenty-one inspection committee members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam selected in the plenary session, as many as eight were surnamed Ruan, accounting for more than one-third.
In Vietnamese politics, the Nguyen tribe is definitely a group that cannot be ignored. They may have different ruling philosophy, different political concepts, and different camps, but it is undeniable that their surnames are all Nguyen tribes, and they are both political influences of the Nguyen tribe in Vietnam.
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the number of people in Vietnam began to increase, which was closely related to the social unrest in China at that time.
Due to the war in northern China, many people began to migrate south, intensifying cultural exchanges and ethnic integration between the north and the south.
When Western Jin was , the melee of " Eight Kings Rebellion " completely disrupted the unification situation that had finally stabilized, causing ethnic minorities to knock on the pass and go south, raging in the northern land, and all officials and the people were suffering. The outbreak of
" Yongjia Rebellion " completely ignited the wave of people from the north migrating south, causing the famous "Yongjia South Transport" incident in history. This is also the longest and largest population migration since the Qin Dynasty unified the world. This southward migration also changed the political and economic structures of the north and south, and promoted the vigorous development of South .
The Ruan tribe also migrated south in this wave. They not only went to Jiangnan and other places, but also to Lingnan further south and immigrated to Jiaozhou and Guangzhou. The reason why
migrated to the south is that at that time, Lingnan and other places had already been developed to a certain extent, and their economy and living environment were also improved.
On the other hand, even under the new regime established in the core area south of Yangtze River , the lives of the people are not particularly stable. The continuous change of the "Song, Qi, Liang and Chen" dynasties has also caused people to bear heavy disasters.
In order to avoid the war, some famous people from Ruan began to seek to go out to work. For example, during the reign of Emperor Cheng of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Yin Ruanfu of Danyang felt that the emperor was young and the rule of the court was dispersed, and felt that there might be a war, so he took the initiative to ask to be the governor of Guangzhou.
The enlightenment of leaving and going to remote areas was also appreciated by the court. Eastern Jin gave him a lot of titles such as the military commander-in-chief, Guang and Ning, General Zhennan, General of the Central Army of the Pingyue, and the Governor of Guangzhou.
Ruan Ji , one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest, is also the same, and has obtained the responsibilities of supervising the military, generals of Jiaozhou, and governors of Jiaozhou.
These officials will bring a family of people to take office, and they will settle down in the local area over time. These officials and people took office and moved to Vietnam and other places, which brought the Central Plains culture, and the Ruan surname was also carried forward in Vietnam.
The Ruan surname can be regarded as a high-ranking surname in Vietnam since ancient times.
In 968 AD, the Ding tribe led the to quell the rebellion of the "Twelve Envoys" and established the Daqu Yue Kingdom, which was also the first independent feudal regime in Vietnam. Among the twelve feudal lords who each had separatist kings, the Ruan surname accounted for as many as five.
In 1010 AD, the Li Dynasty was established. The Vietnamese king appointed a large number of officials of the Ruan surname. Vietnam also imitated the official system of the Song Dynasty . The left , the political affairs , the Privy Councillor, the Minister of War, the Grand Tutor, etc., most of the senior officials were from the Ruan clan.
By 1225, after the establishment of Chen Chao , Ruan Nen was named King Huai Dao. As his power expanded, Ruan Nen also called himself the King of Great Victory. Later, when fighting against the Yuan army, the officer Guan of Annan was also a father and son surnamed Ruan. They stationed troops in Qiyuan Prefecture, and then advanced to Yongping, the West Road, to defeat the Yuan army, and finally to serve Chen Liguo.
In the 16th century, the Nguyen tribe established a separatist regime and reached the highest level of the Vietnamese political stage.
It can be said that from the beginning of the pre-Qin period to the contemporary times, the Nguyen tribes played a huge role in the Vietnamese dynasty and opposition. They either participated in Vietnam's politics deeply or directly dominated the political situation in Vietnam. There were always some of the best Nguyen tribes active on the highest stage in Vietnam, affecting Vietnam's progress and development direction.
Not only in the court, but also among the people, the Nguyen tribe once created the largest peasant uprising movement in Vietnam's history.
In the 1870s, the uprising army led by the three brothers Nguyen Wenyue, Nguyen Wenhui and Nguyen Wenlu established Xishan Chao , also known as the new Nguyen regime, and even unified the entire territory of Vietnam for a time.
The Ruan surname is so prosperous and powerful in Vietnam. It is a powerful family with a long history and strong strength in Vietnam. How did it do it?
3. Reasons for the growth of Ruan’s surname
The development of a surname or ethnic group is inseparable from the soil for cultivating it. There are several reasons why the Ruan surname can flourish in Vietnam. The first is that the Ruan surname is originally a major surname in Vietnam.
The surname Ruan is the largest surname in Vietnam and a very common surname in Vietnam.
Above mentioned that the Ruan surname in Vietnam has accounted for about 40% of the total population. Not only in Vietnam, but also in other countries and regions where Vietnamese settle more often, the Ruan surname is also a big surname.
For example, in Australia, the surname Ruan ranks seventh, and the surname that is the largest incoming in Britain.
In the 2000 US census, the Ruan surname rose from 229th place in 1990 to 57th place.
is in Czech , and the Ruan surname is at the forefront of the list of foreign surnames.
The Ruan family has always been in a relatively strong position in Vietnam. Just like the Chinese family, such large families or groups are easy to grow, and they are also easy to reproduce and grow and strengthen their own groups.
Moreover, the Nguyen clan once established a regime in Vietnam, and it can be said that he had been a royal family. Such history has also played an indelible role in the development and growth of the Nguyen clan.
Anyone who is familiar with Chinese history knows that among the major surnames in China, especially the Liu Han and Li Tang prosperous eras, this dynasty that have stood for hundreds of years has played a great role in the growth of the Liu surname and the Li surname in China. The principle of
is also applicable to Vietnamese Nguyen.
Another reason is that Vietnamese change their surnames themselves. After the Chen Dynasty replaced the Li Dynasty, Emperor Taizong asked the people across the country to avoid taboos on the grounds that there was a word "Li" in his ancestors' names.
This is actually just a clumsy excuse for the rulers. It is mainly to prevent the old and young people from the old dynasty from still having the idea of restoring the country, so they directly cut off their thoughts from the root. The command
changed the surname "Li" of Vietnam at that time to the Ruan surname, which suddenly increased the number of people with the surname Ruan in Vietnam.
The third reason is also very historical. Vietnam was once a French colony. After France ruled Vietnam, it wanted to conduct a more thorough census to better carry out colonial rule.
But the French found that this work could not be carried out at all. This is not because the Vietnamese people do not want to cooperate, but because they cannot cooperate at all. Many people at the bottom do not have their surnames at all. How can they count them?
In order to complete this work, the French's method was also very simple and crude. He directly forced a surname to all Vietnamese without a surname, so that they all had a surname Ruan.
Because "Ruan" happens to be the last royal family in Vietnam, the people all have the surname "national surname". I don't know if it is a kindness of colonists towards the Vietnamese.
This forced behavior of the French made the Nguyen tribe in Vietnam grow unprecedentedly, so that almost everyone's surname is Ruan for a time, as if they are full of their own tribesmen or their own clans.
In fact, there is still a big difference between the surnames of Vietnamese and the surnames of Chinese. The surnames of Chinese have historical roots and many allusions. Moreover, many of the surnames of Chinese can be viewed through the genealogy, or even where they come from.
The surnames of Vietnamese seem to be quite chaotic and do not have much historical basis. The surname is very ethereal. In the West, it is divided by profession, and in China it often represents titles or place names.
In foreign places such as Vietnam and Japan, there is no surname culture and can only be borrowed and created.
