From the Zhou period to the Chunqiu period, the term indicated the Keishitaifu class (not the Kakyo [Imperial examination] elite in the Song period but the patriarch class in the ancient times) having a "surname," which was also a clan name of ancient times such as "Ji" and "Jiang."
周代から春秋時代には、特に古来の"姫"や"姜"といった族集団名でもある"姓"を持つ卿士大夫層(宋代の科挙試験エリートではなく、古代の族長層）を指す用語であった。