Genealogical Research · Family Connections · Published on 2026-10-06

Anhui Dongzhi Yu Surname Legend: From the Former Sima Surname to Local Migration Memories

Local memories of one Yu-surname branch in Dongzhi, Anhui, recount how its ancestors changed their surname to escape turmoil, moved through Pengze and Wangjiang in Jiangxi, and later settled in Dongzhi. These accounts combine family legends with clues about migration and still require cross-checking against genealogies, local gazetteers, and documentary sources.

The Yu surname is relatively uncommon. In the area around Dongliu Town, Dongzhi County, Anhui Province, there is a story that the ancestors of one Yu family branch were originally members of the Sima clan and later changed their surname to avoid calamity. According to local accounts, the reason for the change was connected to an episode during a flight from danger: while fleeing, an ancestor was rescued by a fisherman, and took “Yu” as the surname in remembrance of this act of kindness. This story has a strong character of family memory and also reflects the phenomenon in the evolution of Chinese surnames whereby new branches emerged through avoiding turmoil, temporary residence, and changes in household registration.

As for the historical context, related accounts place these events around the end of the Eastern Jin dynasty, before and after Liu Yu established the Liu Song dynasty. In 420, Liu Yu replaced the Eastern Jin, and the imperial clan of Sima was caught up in a period of political upheaval. Some descendants may have hidden themselves, migrated, or changed their identities because of the unsettled circumstances. It should be noted that a historical event and a particular local Yu surname branch cannot be directly linked through a continuous, certain genealogical line on the basis of oral stories alone. As an ancient compound surname, Sima has been explained through various origins, including derivation from official titles. Henei, Wen County, and the surrounding areas of Henan frequently appear in relevant surname materials, but the first ancestors to migrate and lines of transmission of different branches should still be examined separately.

According to local legend, the ancestors of this Yu surname branch once took refuge in Jiangxi and later moved from the area around Mianchuan Town, Pengze County, Jiangxi, to Wangjiang, Anhui. By the Republican period, some descendants had moved again and settled in Dongzhi County. This migration route contains several important place names and time markers and is valuable for further ancestral research. However, “Jiangxi,” “Wangjiang,” and “Dongzhi” in oral accounts may refer to ancestral homes, temporary residences, or settlements of different family branches and cannot be directly treated as a complete migration genealogy. The claim of being “descendants of the imperial family” should likewise be assessed on the basis of genealogy prefaces, tombstones, contracts, local gazetteers, and documents from the same period.

Research into rare surnames should not rely solely on linear inferences from currently existing surnames. People with the same surname may not belong to the same lineage, and families with the same surname in a single village may also come from different branches. A more reliable approach is first to organize the genealogies, ancestral spirit tablets, tomb inscriptions, generational characters, and ritual records preserved by clan members, and then cross-check personal names, place names, marital relationships, and changes in local administrative divisions recorded in local gazetteers. Online genealogies can be used to compile scattered lineage information, family memoirs are suitable for preserving oral details about migration, surname changes, and the division of branches, and surname references can help clarify changes in the names used for the Sima and Yu surnames during different historical periods.

Further verification could proceed along several lines: first, locate surviving Yu clan genealogy volumes and their prefaces and postscripts to confirm whether they record the former “Sima” surname or the reason for the change; second, look for local gazetteers, ancestral hall and tomb records, and Republican-era household-registration leads relating to Mianchuan in Pengze, Wangjiang, and the relevant townships of Dongzhi; third, compare the Yu family’s generational characters, ancestral hall name, the name of the first ancestor to migrate, and residences across the generations; and fourth, record family memories and verifiable documents in separate layers, clearly distinguishing what belongs to legend from what is supported by physical or written evidence. Through this process, local social memory can be preserved while avoiding the presentation of unverified ancestral-origin accounts as definitive conclusions.

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