### King Xu Yan During the reign of King Mu of Zhou, he was a vassal of the Xu State with the title of viscount. He governed the state with benevolence and righteousness. After obtaining a red bow and arrows, he regarded it as a divine sign from heaven and proclaimed himself King Xu Yan. Thirty - six states in the Huaihe and Yangtze River regions followed him. King Mu ordered the State of Chu to launch an attack on him. Out of love for his people, King Xu Yan chose not to engage in battle and was eventually defeated by Chu. ### Xu Fu A Taoist alchemist in the Qin Dynasty, with the courtesy name Junfang. His birth and death years are unknown. When Emperor Shi Huang heard that there was an elixir of immortality on Zizhou Island in the East China Sea, he sent Xu Fu on a large ship carrying three thousand boys and three thousand girls to search for it. Xu Fu went and never returned. He is also sometimes referred to as "Xu Shi". ### Xu Jingye The grandson of Xu Ji in the Tang Dynasty. He was well - known for his bravery and often accompanied Xu Ji on military expeditions. He inherited the title of Duke of Ying. Due to some incident, he was demoted to the position of a minor official in Liuzhou. Later, he joined forces with Luo Binwang and others to oppose Empress Wu. After the military failure, he was killed by his subordinates. ### Xu Da (1332 - 1385) With the courtesy name Tiande, he was from Haozhou in the Ming Dynasty. He assisted Zhu Yuanzhang in rising up in arms, and made numerous military achievements. He led troops to pacify the Central Plains in the north and entered Yanjing. He was a founding hero of the Ming Dynasty, holding the position of the right prime minister of the Zhongshu Province and was enfeoffed as the Duke of Wei. After his death, he was posthumously granted the title of King of Zhongshan. ### Xu Beihong (1892 - 1952) Originally named Shoukang, he was from Yixing, Jiangsu Province. He graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux - Arts in Paris, France. He successively served as the president of the Beijing Art Academy and the China Academy of Fine Arts. He once took modern Chinese paintings to countries such as France, Germany, Belgium, and Italy for exhibitions. His lifelong pursuit was to improve traditional Chinese paintings and promote Chinese art. He was skilled in Western - style painting and was good at depicting animals. His traditional Chinese paintings of horses were the most well - known, with simple, lively brushwork. He was able to integrate Chinese and Western painting techniques to create his own unique style. He authored On the Improvement of Chinese Painting, Beauty and Art, and some painting collections. ### Xu Zhimo (1896 - 1931) Originally named Zhangxu, he was known by his courtesy name. He was from Haining County, Zhejiang Province. He once studied in the United Kingdom and the United States. He was famous for his new - style poems and vernacular prose, with a magnificent style. He successively served as a professor at Peking University, Soochow University, and other universities, and was the editor - in - chief of the Poetry Section of Beijing Morning Post and Crescent Moon Magazine. He died in an airplane crash. His works include Zhimo's Poems, Self - Analysis, Scenes in Paris, and A Night in Florence.

### Xu You Zi Wuzhong, dates of birth and death unknown. He was a noble - minded hermit in ancient times, from Huaili, Yangcheng. It is said that Emperor Yao offered him the throne, but he refused and went into seclusion on Mount Jishan. When Emperor Yao wanted to offer him an official position, Xu You thought the words dirty his ears, so he washed his ears by the Ying River. After his death, he was buried on the top of Mount Jishan. Emperor Yao named him the “God of Mount Jishan” to be enshrined with the Five Sacred Mountains. ### Xu Shen (c. 58 - c. 147) Zi Shuzhong, from Zhaoling, Runan (now Yancheng, Henan). He was a Confucian scholar and philologist in the Eastern Han Dynasty. He was honest and kind - hearted, and was well - versed in the classics since childhood. He studied under Jia Kui, specializing in the ancient - script Confucian classics. His contemporaries praised him as “Xu Shuzhong, peerless in the Five Classics”. He once held the positions of Grand Commandant and South Pavilion Sacrificial Wine. He wrote *Discrepancies in the Five Classics*, which has been lost. He also wrote *Shuowen Jiezi* in fourteen volumes, the first systematic monograph on analyzing Chinese characters' forms and researching their origins in China, which had a great influence on later generations. ### Xu Jingcheng (1845 - 1900) Zi Zhuyun, from Jiaxing, Zhejiang in the Qing Dynasty. He passed the imperial examination during the Tongzhi period and was appointed as an editor. During the Guangxu period, he was sent as an envoy to Japan, Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, etc. During the Gengzi Incident, he was promoted to the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Later, because he criticized the Boxers, he offended Empress Dowager Cixi and was executed. Later, he was rehabilitated and posthumously given the title of “Wen Su”. He wrote books such as *Charts of Foreign Warships*.

### Migration and Distribution (No specific information) The Xu surname is not listed among the top 100 surnames in the Chinese mainland and Taiwan. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Xu Chen, a senior official of the Jin State, had his descendants take his given name as their surname, and the Xu surname has been passed down through generations. Regarding the Xu surname, scholars believe that the Xu clan can be traced back to ancient emperors. The "Huaxu Clan" (Fuxi and Nüwa had the surname Feng). It is said that "the people of this clan wandered about with full bellies and played around with food in their mouths, not knowing what was good or bad." Another clan, the "Hexu Clan", it is said that "they had remarkable virtues that made the people attach to them. Therefore, they were called Hexu, presumably referring to Emperor Yan." Generally, it is thought that the Xu surname descends from Xu Chen, a senior official of the Jin State. According to "Zuo Zhuan", during the Spring and Autumn period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770 - 256 BC), when Duke Wen of Jin (Chong'er) was in exile, the ancestor Xu Chen, with the courtesy name Jizi, followed him and made outstanding contributions. Later, on a mission passing by Ji, he saw Ji Que working with farming tools in the fields while his wife brought him food, and they treated each other with great respect. So Xu Chen recommended Ji Que to Duke Wen. In the Battle of Chengpu between the Jin State and the Chu State, the ancestor covered himself with tiger skins and routed the Chu army. He was appointed as the "Sikong" (a high - ranking official position) and was granted the fiefdom of "Jiu", also known as Jijiu. Some of his descendants used the name of the fief as their clan name, calling themselves "Jiu" or "Jijiu". His son was Xu Jia, grandson Xu Ke, great - grandson Xu Tong, and great - great - grandson Xu Wu, all of whom held the positions of "qing" (high - ranking officials) and "daifu" (senior officials). After Xu Chen's death, in the fourth year of King Qing of Zhou, when the Qin and Jin states were at war, Xu Jia, Xu Chen's son, and Zhao Chuan leaked military secrets. The commander - in - chief Zhao Dun removed Xu Jia from his official position and exiled him to the Wei State, and promoted Xu Ke, Xu Jia's son. During the reign of Duke Li of Jin, Xu Tong, Xu Ke's son, served as a qing. He had deep grudges with the powerful officials Luan Shu and Zhonghang Yan. Later, Luan Shu and Zhonghang Yan were favored by Duke Li, and Xu Tong was killed. To avoid revenge and killings, some of his descendants took their grandfather's given name as their surname, changing "Xu" to "Tong", thus becoming the Tong surname (as recorded in "Tongzhi - Shizu Lue"). Shanxi and Shaanxi areas are the roots of our clan. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Song and Ming Dynasties, clan members expanded to present - day Gansu, Shandong, Hebei, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Hunan, Anhui, Henan, Northeast China, Sichuan and other places. The "Hundred Family Surnames" lists the "Junwang" (a term referring to a prestigious and influential lineage in a certain region) of the Xu surname as the "Langya Commandery". In the Spring and Autumn Period (770 - 256 BC), it referred to the "Qi" region, which is now Langya, Jiaonan City, Shandong Province. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420 - 479 AD), when the Central Plains residents migrated southward, Baixia (now the area north of Nanjing and southwest of Mufu Mountain) was a "settlement area for migrants" also known as the Langya Commandery. Since the "Hundred Family Surnames" was compiled in the Song Dynasty, it indicates that at that time, the Xu surname became a prominent and influential clan in the Langya Commandery (possibly in Shandong Province or Nanjing).

Migration Distribution: Northwest of present-day Dongping County, Shandong Province; West of present-day Lingtai County, Gansu Province; Southeast of present-day Huaxian County, Henan Province.