Chinese surname · rank 153

辛 is read as xīn.

Pinyin

xīn

Script forms

Simplified and traditional 辛

Basic meaning

spicy or pungent; toilsome or difficult; sad or bitter; the eighth heavenly stem

Five element

Metal

Origin

Time: Traditional account reaches back to the Xia period; the secure cited records are medieval surname compilations and later transmitted editions.; Xia-dynasty tradition, c. 2070-1600 BCE

Place: Shen, traditionally identified by surname summaries with present-day south/east of Heyang, Shaanxi; later movement traditions mention Henan and Shandong, but use Shaanxi Heyang only as a sourced traditional location.

Origin note

A branch of the Xia royal Si line was traditionally enfeoffed at Shen. Their descendants took the state/place name Shen as a surname; because Shen and Xin were phonetically close, the surname came to be written Xin.

Historical figures

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