Chinese surname · rank 299
苑
苑 is read as yuàn.
yuàn
Simplified and traditional 苑
pasture, park, garden; mansion
Earth
Time: Shang Wuding Yuan Hou layer about 3100 years in 23mofang, Spring-and-Autumn Qi Yuan Heji line about 2500 years, Zhou-dynasty dispersal after the fall of Shang, Three Kingdoms Shanyue changed-surname layer, Ming Hebei-Shandong-Henan distribution, and modern North-China concentration; Shang tradition, c. 1600-1046 BCE
Place: Old Yuan/Wan state near northeast of Xinzheng, Henan; Wancheng/Nanyang, Wanqiu/Huaiyang, Wanting/Changyuan, Wanyang/Linzhang, and Wanping near Beijing; Qi state and Shandong context; Zhuozhou/Fanyang in Hebei; Jingmen/Yongning in Hubei; Shuozhou/Mayi in Shanxi; Wu-region Shanyue context; modern Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Jilin, Liaoning, Beijing, and Xinjiang
Origin note
Yuan is written and is kept here with the working reading yuan. The main ancient layer is a Shang state or title tradition: King Wuding's son Wen, sometimes written Zhi in later summaries, was enfeoffed as Yuan Hou; descendants used Yuan as a state or title surname. 23mofang places the old Yuan or Wan state around northeast of today's Xinzheng, Henan, and says that after King Wu of Zhou destroyed Shang, the Yuan state disappeared and its people dispersed to places such as Wancheng/Nanyang, Wanqiu/Huaiyang, Wanting/Changyuan, Wanyang/Linzhang, and Wanping near Beijing. A second line comes from Qi: Spring-and-Autumn Qi official Yuan Heji had descendants who used Yuan. Later layers include a Shanyue changed-surname branch in the Wu region and commandery traditions in Fanyang, Yongning, and Mayi. Because sources differ on whether the surname is read yun or yun, the page notes the reading variation rather than hiding it.
Historical figures
Historical figures to enrich
This surname page is ready for a fame-ranked figure list. Later passes can add generals, poets, rulers, artists, scholars and modern public figures with source links.