The ancients used to take the country name as their surname. The Xia and Shang Dynasties all sealed the land for Hou, and in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, it was more popular in the big and small vassal States, and these country names became the surnames of future generations. For example, his youngest son was given to Di, and his descendants were named "Di". A branch of Bai Di established a drum country in Wuji County, Hebei Province, and its descendants named it "Drum".
Yan is from Yanling County near Kaifeng, Henan Province, and was called Yancheng in ancient times. During the Zhou Dynasty, a nobleman was sealed here and established Guo Yan. Later, his descendants took the country name as their surname and passed it down from generation to generation.
There is no record of Yan's surname in ancient and medieval history books. Until the Ming Dynasty, several celebrities suddenly appeared, such as Gao Yan, Yan Guizhi and Yan, all of whom were well-known officials. In the Ming dynasty, there was a rebel leader named Yan Benshu, who was upright and upright. During the Hongzhi period, there were 100,000 rebels under his command. In modern times, Yan gave birth to many famous artists. For example, Yan Ruyu, who is very proficient in porcelain making, once copied 100 pieces of enamel porcelain for Yuan Shikai, with pure white tires and exquisite paintings, commonly known as hongxian porcelain, which is a once-in-a-century treasure. (Jingdezhen Ceramic History Draft). In the Qing Dynasty, there was a Zhen Zhen whose name was Tenggu. Good bamboo stone. There is also a Yan Qi, a bamboo word teacher, who can write and draw, and especially likes to write ink bamboo. (Qing painting).