shēn 莘

Migration and Distribution (Information missing) The Shen surname is not listed among the top 100 surnames in both the Chinese mainland and Taiwan. The Shen surname originated from the Ni surname. In ancient times, Yan Di was a well - known tribal chief. Among his descendants, there was an outstanding tribal chief named Zhu Rong. Legend has it that he was the first to invent and use fire, thus ending the era when people ate raw meat and drank blood. Therefore, he was respected as the God of Fire. Zhu Rong's descendants were divided into eight major surnames, and Shen was one of them. Yu the Great made great contributions to flood control and was highly respected by the people. So, Shun abdicated the position of tribal chief to Yu. Later, Yu passed the throne to his son Qi, who established the Xia Dynasty and was known as Xia Qi. Xia Qi enfeoffed his illegitimate son Zhi in Shen (southeast of present - day Heyang County, Shaanxi Province). Zhi's descendants took the name of the fief as their surname, and this is another origin of the Shen surname today.