The Fan trace their origin to the Yao, a legendary Chinese ruler who lived from 2358 - 2258 BCE. Until the Zhou Dynasty 1122?256 BCE they are grouped with the Du clan. Legend has it that the Fan became an independent clan when a descendant of Du Bo was created Duke of Fan. His son took the name of Fan Quan or Fan Ziwen, and must have lived in the ancient state of Jin in the beginning of the Spring and Autumn period. [1]
Later the Fan clan lived in the area situated in the southern part of present day Shanxi and western part of present day Henan. There is nowadays a Fan county (??) in Puyang prefecture situated in the north east of Henan province.
Some families of this name are derived from the M? (?) surname.
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