The Chinese surname of Mao originated from the family name Ji. According to historical records, the King Wu of Zhou Dynasty enfeoffed his brother, born by the same mother, the State of Mao in the upper reach of Weihe River, which is in today's Qishan Mountain and Fufeng areas. The descendents of Shuzheng later used the name of their state as their surname.

As other people say, Ji Ming, the ninth son of the King Wen of Zhou Dynasty was given the Maoyi area of Henan or today's Yiyan of Henan Province and his offspring just took the name of the state as their family name. During the Southern and Northern Dynasty (420 - 589), people of minor ethnic groups joined the Mao family. The Mao people, who had lived in the north for generations, moved to south of the Yangtze River in Han (206 BC-220 AD) and Tang (618-907) dynasties. A branch of them moved from central China to today's Longcheng in Jizhou of Jiangxi Province.

Today, Mao ranks the 67th among Chinese surnames in terms of population.

By People's Daily Online