GGood Chinese Name

Chinese surname · rank 364

於

於 is read as yū.

Pinyin

yū

Script forms

Simplified 于 · Traditional 於

Basic meaning

in, at, on; interjection alas!

Five element

Earth

Origin

Time: Xia-dynasty tradition, c. 2070-1600 BCE

Place: Yu/Yuzhong/Yushang around Xichuan, Henan; Shangyu/Neixiang enfeoffment traditions; Lu clan layer; Western Han Xiongnu and Eastern Han Xianbei layers

Origin note

於 should not be merged with the separate surname 于. Source traditions for 於 are layered rather than single-line. One source-backed layer treats Yu, also written Yuzhong or Yushang, as an ancient state around modern Xichuan in Henan; after the state was absorbed in the Zhou-era regional changes, descendants are said to have used the state name as a surname. Another layer connects the surname with a Ji-surname branch among the Spring and Autumn Lu ruling clan. Wikipedia records a separate Shiben-style tradition about Yu Ze, a Yellow Emperor-era figure associated with an enfeoffment at Yu, while a Han Dian Baijiaxing annotation gives a Huangdi-descendant/Shangyu version. Later layers include Western Han Xiongnu Yu Dan descendants and Eastern Han Xianbei Yu Qiuben descendants. The page keeps these as parallel traditions and keeps the everyday grammar meaning of 於 separate from the surname origin.

Historical figures

Historical figures to enrich

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Sources checked