Chinese surname No.412 OU-YANG

[CHUNG Yoon-Ngan]

Surname No.412 Ou-Yang (歐-陽)
Ou means: a Chinese surname
Yang means: the sun; bright; clear
The surname Ou-Yang is about 2,300 years old

The three surnames Ou (歐), Ou-Yang (歐-陽) and Ou-Hou (歐-侯)
originated from the same ancestor. However, it seems that surname
Ou-Hou has disappeared.

There was a big pavilion built on a mountain called Ou Yu (歐餘).
It was facing south and received sunlight throughout the year. People
living around the area near the mountain called it Ou Yang Ting
(歐陽亭) or Ou the sunshine pavilion (in present day Wu Jin county
吳進縣 in Jiangsu province 江蘇省). It was situated within the dominion
of the State of Yue (越國 present day Zhu Ji county 諸暨縣 in Zhejiang
province 浙江省).

The States of Yue (越國) and Chu (楚國 present day Jiang Ling county
江陵縣 in Hubei province 湖北省) were neighbouring and rival States.
In 334BC Chu and Yue were at war. The State of Yue was defeated and
annexed by Chu.

Si Ti (姒蹄), the second son of the last ruler of Yue, Si Wu Jiang
(姒無疆),
was given the authority by Xiong Shang (熊商), the ruler of Chu, to
administer the district of Ou Yang Ting. He was titled Ou Yang Ting Hou
(歐陽亭侯) or the Marquis of Ou Yang Ting. The title was inheritable by
his
descendants after his death.

By the end of the period of Warring States (戰國時代 453BC to 221BC)
there were only seven States left in the land. The State of Qin (秦國
present day Feng Xiang county 鳳翔縣 in Shaanxi province 陜西省) was
the strongest. Eventually, Ying Zheng (嬴政), the ruler of Qin conquered

all the other States in the land and established the Qin Dynasty (秦朝
221BC to 207BC).

In 223BC the State of Qin conquered Chu. The title of Ou Yang Ting Hou
was abolished. Si Ti the first Ou Yang Tin Hou had many descendants.
Some of them adopted Ou (歐), some adopted Ou-Yang (歐-陽) and
some adopted Ou-Hou (歐-侯) as their surnames and left off the word
Ting (pavilion). The members of the Ou branch emigrated to the north.

The surname Ou-Yang originated in an area referred to during the Han
Dynasty (漢朝 206BC to 220AD) as the Bo Hai prefecture (渤海郡).
The present day location of Bo Hai prefecture is in Cang Xian county
(滄縣) of Henan province (河南省)

CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)