gān 甘

Migration and Distribution According to *Shuowen Jiezi* (Analytical Dictionary of Characters), "It means beautiful. It consists of 'kou' (mouth) containing 'yi' (one). 'One' represents the way. All characters related to 'gan' are under this radical. Pronounced as 'gu san qie'." It can be seen that the Gan surname has its origin in occupation. The ancestors of the Gan surname were ancient wizards who made a living by divination, so the words they spoke were all regarded as "the way". After Huangdi (the Yellow Emperor) defeated Yandi (the Flame Emperor) and Chiyou and unified the world, he used the precious tripod bestowed by heaven to measure the operation laws of the sun, moon, and stars and created the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. He also used the yarrow stalks for divination to calculate the calendar and predict the solar terms and days. He taught the common people to sow all kinds of grains and plants according to the solar terms and to domesticate birds, beasts, fish, and insects. Huangdi entrusted the important task of managing astronomy, calendar, and divination to his thirteenth son and enfeoffed him in Gan. Later, as his descendants multiplied, they took the name of the state as their surname, becoming the ancestors of the Gan surname, who were engaged in the study of astronomy, calendar, and divination.