HE

Chinese 何: from a southern pronunciation of the name of the state of Han (in present-day Shaanxi province), which existed during the early stages of the Western Zhou dynasty (1122–771BC). This was the fief of a younger brother of Cheng Wang, second king of the Zhou dynasty (see Han). When the state of Han was later annexed by the state of Jin, the members of the royal family scattered. Those descendants who settled further south, in the area of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, found that the character for Han was pronounced He in this area, and so changed their name to a character more widely pronounced He.