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Wei family emerge from troubled times
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THE dispersions of the Jin Kingdom in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) gave birth to three powerful kingdoms as well as the still-prominent Wei family.
There are an estimated 5.7 million people surnamed Wei in China, ranking the name 44th in terms of population.
A major branch of the Wei family originated from the Ji family, who were descendants of Emperor Wen of the Zhou Dynasty (16th-11th century BC). A descendent named Biwan, who became a high official in the Jin Kingdom in the Spring and Autumn Period, was granted the state of Wei, and so surnamed his offspring Wei. Wei Si, a later descendant of the family, established the Wei Kingdom in the Warring States Period (475-221 BC).
Wei Ran, who was originally surnamed Mi as a member of the royal family of the Chu Kingdom in the Warring States Period, shifted his surname to Wei and started another branch of the family.
Through history, other individuals and families changed their surnames to Wei, including Wei Liaoweng, a scholar from the Song Dynasty (AD 960-1279) who was originally surnamed Gao. Wei families can also be found in minority groups like the Man, Wa, Oroqen, Tujia, Mongolian, Yi, Hui and Chaoxian (Korean).
The family of Wei originated in northern Henan Province and southern Shanxi Province, and later spread to Shandong, Hubei and Hunan provinces.
Wars during the Wei Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties (AD 220-589) triggered a massive migration of the Chinese population, including the Wei families. Another south-ward migration of the family started in Song Dynasty. Today, traces of the Weis are found all over China.
Family celebrities include Wei Zheng, the chancellor during the reign of Emperor Taizong in Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), Wei Yan, a military general of the Shu Han Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms Period (AD 220-280), and Wei Yuan, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty (AD 1644-1911) who drafted a number of proposals for improving the administration of the Qing empire during crises in the early 19th century. Wei Yuan is mostly known for his 1844 work, “Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms,” which contains Western source materials collected during and after the First Opium War.
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