Han Family History

Chinese: Mandarin pronunciation of the surname 韓: (i) it is said that the surname is borne by descendants of Han Liu (韓流), a grandson of the legendary Huang Di the ‘Yellow Emperor’ (c. 27th century BC). (ii) shortened form of Han Yuan (韓原), the name of a fief (possibly present-day Hejin in Shanxi province or Hancheng in Shaanxi province) granted to Bi Wan, also known as Han Wan (韓萬) or Han Wuzi (韓武子), a politician in the state of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BC). His descendants inherited the name of the fief as their surname.

(iii) from Han (韓), the name of a state during the Warring States Period (475–221 BC). The state was established in 403 BC and annexed by the state of Qin in 230 BC. Descendants of nobles from this state inherited it as their surname. (iv) From the Chu Da Han (出大汗) family of the Xianbei ethnic group in northern China, who adopted the surname Han (韓) during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386–534 AD).

Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 寒 meaning ‘cold’ in Chinese: (i) said to be traced back to Han Ai (寒哀), the name of an official during the reign of the legendary emperor Huang Di the ‘Yellow Emperor’ (c. 27th century BC). (ii) from Han (寒), the name of an ancient state (located in Shandong province) during the Xia dynasty (2070–1600 BC). (iii) adopted in place of the homophonous Chinese surname Han (韓) by some people who changed their original surname Han (韓) to Han (寒) in order to avoid feud.

Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 杭, see Hang. Korean: written 한 in Chinese characters 韓. There are actually two Chinese characters for the surname Han. However, one of these characters, meaning ‘China’, is very rare (only two households with this surname appeared in a recent census), so only the other will be considered here. Some records indicate that there are 131 clans of the Han family, but only one – the Han family of Ch’ŏngju – can be documented.

Some sources name Han Ran as the founding ancestor of the Han family. Han Ran is recognized as one of the men who assisted the first Koryŏ king, Wang Kŏn, in setting up the Koryŏ kingdom in 918. More recent scholarship, however, postulates that the Ch’ŏngju Han clan's founding ancestor was U-P’yŏng, one of three sons of the fortieth generation descendant of Kija, the founder of the ancient Chosŏn kingdom (died 194 BC). The other two sons, U-sŏng and U-Kyŏng, founded the Ki clan and the Sŏngan clans, respectively. Compare Hahn. 5: Vietnamese (Hàn): from the Chinese surname 韓 see 1 above.