According to ancient literature, there are three sources of Zhong surname.
1 from last name. For the descendants of Shang Tang, take the city as the surname. According to the Records of Words and Actions of Famous Clans in the New Tang Dynasty and the List of Prime Ministers' Genealogy, it is said that one of the concubines of the ancient emperor was called Zhu Die, because she found a swallow egg, Zhu Die ate it and gave birth to the deed. Later, the deed helped Dayu control the water and was sealed to the merchants. When this incident came to light, an ordinary brother named Qi was sealed in the state of Wei. Seeing the mismanagement of the Shang Dynasty, he went to the bookseller Wang, but the bookseller Wang didn't listen and left. After destroying the business, I went and later changed my name to Song. Is the ancestor of Zhong. However, after textual research by later generations, it is finally concluded that the ancestor of Zhong's surname should be Wei Zhongyan, the younger brother of Wei Zi.
The last name won. Change your name to Zhong's. The descendants of Boyi in Zhou Dynasty shut Li Zhong out of the country, and Chu annexed the country in the Spring and Autumn Period. China people call Li Zhong family. It's from Zhong Shi.
Take the official as the surname. According to the regulations of Zhou Li, one subordinate official is responsible for percussion instruments, such as Zhong Lu, which is called Zhong Shi. As a bell ringer, his position is very professional, so he has been attacked from generation to generation. "Zhong" is the first of the twelve laws of musical instruments, and Yunyi's ancestors took his profession as their surname. Their descendants are more famous, including Dr Zhu, Zhong Jian and Zhong Ziqi. Zhong Ziqi is famous for the story of "Mountains follow the current, know yourself and know yourself" in the Book of Warning.
Many ethnic minorities are surnamed Zhong. Most of them are She nationality. Legend has it that they are descended from the Gao Xin family. Their ancestor Pan Hu had three sons and a daughter. The third son was Pan, Lan and Lei, and the first daughter was Princess Longlang. A local man named Zhong felt redundant and married Princess Longlang. The ethnic composition was changed from Han nationality to She nationality, surnamed Zhong. She nationality is mainly distributed in Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Guangdong provinces. In addition, there are Qiang, Manchu, Mongolian, Bai, Yi, Hui, Yugur and so on. There are also people surnamed Zhong. During the reign of Emperor Gaozu in the Northern Wei Dynasty, Qiang people wore bells. In Qing Dynasty, Manchu people lived in Shenyang and other places, and Zhong Jishi, a member of Manchu Eight Banners, changed his surname to Zhong. Bao Zhong, a man holding a yellow flag, is famous. He first became a penholder of punishments, then became a doctor and assistant minister of the Ministry of Industry. In the twelfth year of Yongzheng (1734), he served as governor of Huguang. He is also a famous dutiful son. Zhong Yin, a blue flag bearer, was originally named Jueluoshi and worked as a local official in the Ministry of Rites. There is also Zhong Yi, Mongolian white flag, deputy commander of naturalization during Guangxu period. The Yi people's surname is Zhong La (a branch of Dimi nationality), and Zhong Ele is the Yugur people's surname Zhong, belonging to the Helangge tribe, living in Longnan, and changed its surname to Zhong in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. When the Japanese army invaded Taiwan Province Province, some Zhong residents were forced to change their surnames to Jin Chong, that is, traditional Chinese characters were divided into Japanese surnames, while others were forced to change their surnames to Yamada. 1945 after recovering Taiwan Province, it also changed its surname to Zhong.