Sixth, profession and craft were used as surnames as well, for instance, Wu (wizard), Tu (butcher), You (actor or actress), and Bu (divination).

Seventh, ancestor's posthumous titles, like Dai and Zhao, were also used as surnames.

Eighth, when an array of ethnic groups amalgamated with the Han people in ancient China, a lot of these people changed their surnames to single character Han surnames. For instance, Batuo was changed to Yuan.

Ninth, some surnames were changed to avoid using taboo names (usually emperors' names), and vouchsafed surnames. For example, the imperial Li family of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) granted some meritorious officials the surname of Li, so did the imperial Zhu family in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Tenth, family names were changed in order to avoid revenge killings by family enemies.

However, within the twisting context of history, one Chinese surname may have different origins, and many surnames may have come from the same origin. Nowadays, a lot of new surnames have also appeared, for instance, some parents combine both of their single-character surnames to make a new double-character surname for their newborn rather than sticking to the tradition of giving the child the paternal surname. .

  Mythological Origins of Chinese Surnames

Ji, one of the earliest Chinese surnames, is said to be related to the Yellow Emperor, a legendary ruler and ancestor of the Chinese nation. According to the Historical Records by Sima Qian, the Yellow Emperor was originally surnamed Gongsun with the given name of Xuanyuan, but he later changed the surname to Ji because he "lived near Ji River for a long time." Because he was considered the greatest emperor in ancient China, more than 70 surnames directly or indirectly originated from the Yellow Emperor's surname Ji.

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