American Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This study investigates an unusual pattern of marriage and kinship preserved in local family history in Jinlian Village, Qiqin Town, Xinjian County, Jiangxi Province. For generations, families bearing the Deng surname have intermarried, whereas marriages with the Li families of nearby Dageng Village, Chengshang Township, have reportedly been avoided for more than eight centuries. At first sight, this practice appears inconsistent with ordinary Han Chinese naming conventions and marital customs. Through genealogical records, local traditions, surname history, and historical reconstruction, the study examines the possible origins of this long-standing prohibition.

The analysis follows the ancestral development associated with the Deng families of Xuancheng and explores their connection with the Li surname. Particular attention is given to Li Youxin, Marquis of Xuancheng during the Southern Tang period, and the historical tradition that links the adoption of the Deng surname to his father, Li Tianhe, who held the title “Deng King.” The investigation subsequently traces earlier ancestral narratives connected with the Tuoba branch of the Xianbei and examines processes through which Xianbei ruling groups, aristocratic families, and ordinary communities became incorporated into Han society during the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

By extending this genealogical inquiry further into earlier historical periods, the article considers traditions linking the Tuoba people with broader Xiongnu ancestry and explores the proposed paternal connection between the Xuancheng Deng family and the lineage of the Han general Li Ling, grandson of the renowned general Li Guang. Rather than presenting Chinese population history as a simple or linear process, the study highlights the complexity of migration, surname transformation, intermarriage, cultural adaptation, and changing ethnic identification. The case demonstrates how family memory and local marriage customs can preserve traces of wider historical interactions and offers a genealogical perspective on the formation of interconnected communities within Chinese history.

Keywords: Deng Family History; Surname Transformation; Genealogical Memory; Xianbei Tuoba; Han Identity; Intermarriage; Historical Ethnic Interaction.