Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Han Chinese males with surnames related to the legendary Huang and Yan Emperors are enriched for the top two Neolithic super-grandfather Y chromosomes O3a2c1a and O3a1c, respectively

Pei He, Zhengmao Hu, Zuobin Zhu, Kun Xia, Shi Huang
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/077222
Pei He
State Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics School of life sciences Central South University 110 Xiangya Road Changsha, Hunan, 410078, China
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Zhengmao Hu
State Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics School of life sciences Central South University 110 Xiangya Road Changsha, Hunan, 410078, China
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Zuobin Zhu
State Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics School of life sciences Central South University 110 Xiangya Road Changsha, Hunan, 410078, China
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Kun Xia
State Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics School of life sciences Central South University 110 Xiangya Road Changsha, Hunan, 410078, China
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Shi Huang
State Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics School of life sciences Central South University 110 Xiangya Road Changsha, Hunan, 410078, China
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: huangshi@sklmg.edu.cn
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Supplementary material
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

Most populations now use hereditary surnames, and most societies have patrilineal surnames. This naming system is believed to have started almost 5000 years ago in China. According to legends and ancient history books, there were Eight Great Xings of High Antiquity that were the ancestors of most Chinese surnames today and are thought to be descended from the two legendary prehistoric Emperors Yan and Huang. Recent work identified three Neolithic super-grandfathers represented by Y chromosome haplotypes, O3a1c, O3a2c1, and O3a2c1a, which makes it possible to test the tales of Yan-Huang and their descendant surnames. We performed two independent surveys of contemporary Han Chinese males (total number of subjects 2415) and divided the subjects into four groups based on the relationships of their surnames with the Eight Great Xings, Jiang (Yan), Ying (Huang), Ji(Huang), and Others (5 remaining Xings related to Huang). In both studies, we found that subjects with O3a1c were enriched with Jiang-related surnames and subjects with O3a2c1a were enriched with Ying-related surnames. Also, subjects with Jiang-related surnames were enriched with O3a1c and those with Ying-related surnames were enriched with O3a2c1a. Finally, subjects with O3a2c1 were slightly enriched for the Others-group, consistent with linking O3a2c1 to another legendary leader Chi You who lost to Huang and was largely ignored as an ancestor of Han on par with Yan and Huang. These results are remarkably consistent with historical writings on Yan and Huang and suggest that tales of Yan-Huang and their related-Xings and surnames may not be unrealistic.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted September 30, 2016.
Download PDF

Supplementary Material

Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Han Chinese males with surnames related to the legendary Huang and Yan Emperors are enriched for the top two Neolithic super-grandfather Y chromosomes O3a2c1a and O3a1c, respectively
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Han Chinese males with surnames related to the legendary Huang and Yan Emperors are enriched for the top two Neolithic super-grandfather Y chromosomes O3a2c1a and O3a1c, respectively
Pei He, Zhengmao Hu, Zuobin Zhu, Kun Xia, Shi Huang
bioRxiv 077222; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/077222
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Han Chinese males with surnames related to the legendary Huang and Yan Emperors are enriched for the top two Neolithic super-grandfather Y chromosomes O3a2c1a and O3a1c, respectively
Pei He, Zhengmao Hu, Zuobin Zhu, Kun Xia, Shi Huang
bioRxiv 077222; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/077222

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Genetics
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (4115)
  • Biochemistry (8818)
  • Bioengineering (6522)
  • Bioinformatics (23466)
  • Biophysics (11792)
  • Cancer Biology (9212)
  • Cell Biology (13326)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (7439)
  • Ecology (11413)
  • Epidemiology (2066)
  • Evolutionary Biology (15155)
  • Genetics (10439)
  • Genomics (14045)
  • Immunology (9173)
  • Microbiology (22159)
  • Molecular Biology (8814)
  • Neuroscience (47581)
  • Paleontology (350)
  • Pathology (1429)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2492)
  • Physiology (3731)
  • Plant Biology (8082)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1437)
  • Synthetic Biology (2221)
  • Systems Biology (6039)
  • Zoology (1253)