The House of Fan 范

The house of Fan 范 was a noble family that were vassals to the dukes of Jin 晉 during the Spring and Autumn period 春秋 (770-5th cent. BCE). It produced several persons serving in high government positions.

The viscounts (zi 子) of Fan occupied the office of one of the Six Ministers Commander (liuqing 六卿) that highly influenced the government in Jin. The others were the houses of Zhao 趙, Han 韓, Zhi 知, Zhonghang 中行 and Wei 魏.

Fan is the name of the oldest estate of this family, while the family name, Shi 士, referred to the high offices its members held. According to the genealogical book Yuanhe xingzuan 元和姓纂 and the chapter on genealogy (Shizu lüe 氏族略) in the encylopedia Tongzhi 通志, the house of Fan was founded by descendants of Liu Lei 劉累, who was a great-grandson of the mythological Emperor Yao 堯.

During the early Zhou period 周 (11th. cent.-221 BC), the family was called Tang Du 唐杜 because they lived in Du 杜, near the royal capital, and because they were descendants of Yao, who bore the kin's name (shi 氏) Tang 唐. The family head was therefore also called Earl of Du (Du Bo 杜伯). King Xuan of Zhou 周宣王 (r. 827-782 BCE) killed the Earl of Du, and his son Xian Shu "Uncle Xian" 隰叔 (also called Du Xian 杜隰) fled to Jin. The duke of Jin appointed Xian Shu Minister of Justice (shishi 士師). His son Shi Wei 士蒍 was the first person to use Shi as a family name.

His great-grandson Shi Hui 士會 (also called Sui Hui 隨會, posthumously called Fan Wuzi 范武子) was appointed ruler of the town of Fan (modern Fanxian 范縣, Henan). The place name thereafter became the kin's name of this family. The houses of Fan and Zhonghang were destroyed by the viscounts of Zhao, Han, Zhi and Wei in 490.

The most important members of the house of Fan were: