Xun Family History

The Mandarin form of the surname 荀 originally denoting a type of grass in ancient Chinese can be traced back to one of the 25 sons of the legendary Huang Di, the ‘Yellow Emperor’ (c. 27th century BC) who was given the surname 荀 (Xun) by his father.

This surname also connects to Xun (郇), the name of a state located in present-day Shanxi province that was granted to Xun Bo, the Earl of Xun, who was the 17th son of King Wen of Zhou (1152–1056 BC). The state was annexed by Jin during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC).

When the name of the state was adopted as a surname, some descendants changed the original written form of the Chinese character 郇 to another homophonous character 荀 and adopted it as the new surname.

Xunzi (荀子, Master Xun), who died in 238 BC, was a Confucian philosopher during the Warring States period (475–221 BC) and was a descendant of Xun Bo.

For further reference, the Mandarin form of the surname 郇 can be seen in section 1(ii).