pú 蒲

### Migration and Distribution (Information unavailable) The Pu surname is not ranked among the top 100 surnames in the mainland of China and Taiwan. The Pu surname originated from the Ji surname. During the Xia Dynasty, the descendants of Emperor Shun were enfeoffed in Puyi (west of present-day Yongji County, Shanxi Province) and established the Pu State. Later, the royal family of the Pu State took the name of the fief as their surname and became known as the Pu clan, which is the origin of the Pu surname today. There is another origin. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the descendants of Emperor Shaohao had a fief in Pu (north of present-day Xi County, Shanxi Province) and later established the Pu State. The descendants of the royal family of the Pu State were called the Pu clan. In ancient times, cattails could be used as food, and when they grew old, they could be woven into clothes and mats. Cattails mostly grew by the water and were regarded as auspicious places. Therefore, in some theories, the origin of the Pu surname is related to cattails. According to *The Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms*, "Their ancestors were the descendants of the Youhu Clan. Later, cattails grew in their family pond, and they were called the Pu Family, so they took Pu as their surname." It means that there were descendants of the Youhu Clan whose family pond grew a lot of cattails. At that time, people called them the Pu Family, and later they gradually simply used Pu as their surname. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, after the Arabs from the Western Regions came to China to do business and settled down, some of them took Pu as their Chinese surname. Among the Hui ethnic group, "the Pu surname was a commonly used surname among Muslim merchants during the Tang and Song Dynasties." (From *The Remains of the History of Islam in China*). As early as the Southern Song Dynasty, Quanzhou in Fujian Province was already known as "half the city was inhabited by Muslims" and "half the street was occupied by the Pu clan." The sources of the Pu surname are also quite extensive. For example, the Hui name "Pula" can be transformed into the Pu surname. At the same time, the Pu surname "comes from the pronunciation of 'Ahu'. Before Arab personal names, 'Abu' is often added. The Chinese pronounce it as 'Apu'. Later, the 'A' is omitted, and then it is regarded as the surname 'Pu'." (From *The Relationship between Muslims and the Past Dynasties in China*). As place names and clan names, they are also a source of the Pu surname. The prominent families of the Pu surname are located in Hedong Commandery, which is now the northern part of Xia County, Shanxi Province. (The rest is omitted)