Surnames in Taiwan: interpretations based on geography and history.

The geographic distribution of surnames in Taiwan, published by Chen and Fried, was studied as a potential source of information on the migrational history of the Taiwanese population. Isonymies between counties showed little, if any, correlation with geographic distance, and then only with distance by sea route. Tree and principal component analysis showed a clustering which was difficult to interpret on the basis of geographic considerations, but which could be entirely explained on the basis of historical information on colonizations of the island from mainland China in the last three centuries, and later major internal migrations. There has been recently substantial interest in use of surnames for analysis of human populations (see e.g., Crow and Mange, 1965; Lasker, 1969; Cavalli-Sforza and Bodmer, 1971; Yasuda et al. 1974; Zei et al. 1981). Surnames provide possibilities of analysis in a variety of directions, from the study of consanguinity and inbreeding to that of isolation and migration. An important collection of data of Taiwan surnames is due to Chen and Fried (1968). Published results so far include two volumes, one containing tabulations of all 1195 common Taiwan surnames and the other having maps of the geographic distribution of each of the most common surnames. The tabulations give the numbers of individuals carrying a given surname as censused in 1956 in each of the 361 hsians (the finest administrative subdivisions of Taiwan), and also grouped together in the 22 hsiens (counties). The tabulations were done separately for the five following segments of the Taiwan population: Fukien: Descendants of early immigrants (mostly 18th century) coming from the province of Fukien in South China, who formed in 1956 74.5% of the Taiwan population. Hakka: Descendants of immigrants coming from the province of Kwangtung in S. China in the 19th century. They formed 13.2% of the population. Aborigines: 2.4%. They have only adopted surnames since World War II. 1 Department of Mathematics California State University Long Beach, CA 90840. 2Department of Genetics Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. Human Biology, May 1983, Vol. 55, No. 2, pp. 367-374. © Wayne State University Press, 1983 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.223 on Wed, 24 Aug 2016 05:38:34 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 368 Kuang-Ho Chen and L. L. Cavalli-Sforza Mainlanders (coming from many parts of China): about 9.8%. They settled in Taiwan since World War II. Others (not specified): 0.08%. The present paper is devoted to an analysis of this material, the information it can give on the genetic similarities of Taiwanese as shown by surnames, and what these similarities can teach us in terms of population structure, isolation and migration. Chinese surnames, like surnames in people of European origin, are transmitted patrilineally. They are much older than European surnames (most of which go back only to the 15th or 16th century) and there are fewer of them. The reason for the discrepancy is probably found in the five times greater antiquity of Chinese surnames. In general, surnames tend to disappear because of the random extinction of surnames of families in which no male child marries. If there were no generation of fresh surnames (the equivalent of "mutation" in genes), there would remain only one surname in a population at infinity. However, random extinction is counterbalanced by mutation, and at equilibrium between the two forces, a certain number of surnames will remain stable in a population (see Yasuda et al. 1974 for a discussion and references). The smaller Fig. 1. Isonymy tree and geographic map of Taiwan. The tree is calculated using log isonymies. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.223 on Wed, 24 Aug 2016 05:38:34 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Surnames as Biological Markers 369 number of Chinese surnames may in part reflect the fact that there has been more time for random extinction to proceed towards its natural end, the complete homogenization of surnames, which in fact is found in many Chinese villages. It may also reflect a smaller tendency of the generation of new surnames, although there are various mechanisms by which new surnames can arise in China. In this paper we confine our attention to the major administrative divisions, the hsiens, a geographic map of which is given in Figure 1. In the tabulation, cities and their hinterlands are separated, and we have so far excluded cities from the analysis. We first evaluate surname similarities between hsiens. We then proceed to an interpretation in terms of geography on the basis of the correlation between surnames similarities and distance as the crow flies, then with other more subtle measurements of geographic separation. We also give an analysis by tree, as well as principal components, followed by an interpretation based on history of the recent settlements of the island by the Chinese people and of political and administrative subdivisions.