Guan Family History

Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 關 meaning ‘forts’ in ancient Chinese: (i) borne by descendants of Guan Long Feng (關龍逢) an official who lived during the reign of Xia Jie the last king of the Xia dynasty (2070–1600 BC). (ii) from the first element of the post name Guan Ling Yin (關令尹) or Guan Yin (關尹) said to have been held by a man called Xi who was in charge of garrisoning forts during the Western Zhou dynasty (1046–771 BC).

Mandarin form of the surname 管 meaning ‘manage, administer’ in Chinese: (i) from Guan (管) the name of a state (located in Zhengzhou in Henan province) which was granted to Guan Shu Xian (管叔鮮) the third son of the virtuous King Wen of Zhou (1152–1056 BC). Guan Shu Xian was later killed because he participated in a rebellion against the king. The name of the state was subsequently adopted as a surname. (ii) borne by descendants of Guan Zhong (管仲) also called Guan Yiwu (管夷吾) a famous politician in the state of Qi during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC).

Mandarin form of the surname 官 meaning ‘official’ in Chinese: (i) from the first element of the post name Guan Shi (官師) head of officials hosted by Duke Ding of Liu an official during the Western Zhou dynasty (1046–771 BC). (ii) borne by the Guan Zu (官族) i.e. descendants of those officials who had made such great contributions to the state that their granted fiefs and titles would be kept forever.

Mandarin form of the surname 灌 meaning 'irrigate' in Chinese: from the second element of Chen Guan (斟灌) the name of an ancient state (located in present-day Shandong province) during the Xia dynasty (2070–1600 BC).

Variant Romanization of the surname 阮 see Ruan; Teochew or Hokkien form of the surname 顏 see Yan; variant Romanization of the surname 袁 see Yuan.