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Noble family was wrongly accused of disloyalty
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MOST people with the family name Jiang, a common surname in south China, are thought to originate from the same family with nine sons granted the noble rank of hou.
There are an estimated 5.4 million people surnamed Jiang in China — the 45th most common name.
They account for about 0.43 percent of the Chinese population, mostly scattered along the Yellow River, though the name is also found in northeastern regions.
Like many other Chinese surnames, the family of Jiang originates from the family of Ji, the royal family during the Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century-770 BC).
The third son of the Emperor, named Boling, was granted land named Jiang in today’s Huaibing County in central China’s Henan Province. Boling set up the kingdom of Jiang that was conquered by the Chu Kingdom in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC).
The defeated royal family took the name Jiang in memory of their lost kingdom and most left for other parts of China.
Though it originated in central China, the family of Jiang is now a very common surname in southern China.
The name is widely found in ethnic groups such as Man, Hui, Lagu, Bao’an, Bulang, Miao, Yao, Tujia, Zhuang, Qiang, Kucong and also Mongolians.
Jiang lineage can also be traced in Shanxi, Shaanxi and Shandong provinces during the Qin (221-206 BC) and Western Han (206 BC-AD 24) dynasties.
The most famous branch in Shandong Province is named “Le An Tang” — literally Happy and Safe Branch.
Jiangs started to migrate southward from the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220) after Qundao Hou Jiang Heng, a Han general, was wrongly accused of disloyalty by enemies. Fearful for his life, he and his nine sons fled, mostly to south China.
In time, the emperor realized that Jiang had been wronged, and tracked down his nine sons and granted them the noble rank of hou.
The Jiangs of this origin are named “Jiu Hou Tang” — literally Nine Hou Branches). Most of the Jiangs in south China descended from this branch and traces of them are found in most of the southern provinces by the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
The branch of son Hanting Hou has been influential as a prominent family in China’s eastern Zhejiang Province.
Some settled in Xikou Town of Fenghua County. Chiang Kai-shek, former Taiwan leader, was from this branch. Defeated in 1949, Chiang retreated to Taiwan, together with the Kuomintang and many Jiangs.
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