Jin is the Hanyu pinyin transliteration of a number of Chinese surnames. The most common one, Jīn , literally means "gold" and is 29th in the list of "Hundred Family Surnames". As of 2006, it is ranked the 64th most common Chinese surname and is sometimes transliterated as Chin. The other, less common, surnames that are "Jin" in pinyin include Jìn (/) and Jìn (). 金 (Jīn) Mythology Jin is an ancient surname, dating back over 4,000 years. It was first mentioned during the period ruled by the Yellow Emperor, a legendary Chinese sovereign and cultural hero, who is considered in Chinese mythology to be the ancestor of all Han Chinese. The legend behind the Jin surname is as follows: The Yellow Emperor's son, Yi Zhi (Shaohao), eventually succeeded him. On the same day he was installed as leader, a golden phoenix flew down and perched on top of a house exactly opposite of where he sat. His followers reckoned it was an auspicious beginning. They decided to use gold as the emblem of their tribe. Yi Zhi was retitled Jin Tian Shi ("golden skies") by his people, and headed the Jin Tian Tribe. Their settlement was located in Qufu (presently Qufu city in Shandong province). Yi Zhi died in 2515 BCE. Some of his descendants adopted Jin as their surnames and left off the words Tian Shi ("skies"). The surname also appeared in an area called Pengcheng (now known as Tong Shan Xian) during the Han Dynasty, from 206BCE to 220BCE. Origin of Surname Jīn (金) Jin Midi (金日磾) was with the Xiongnu people during the Han dynasty and received the surname Jīn (金) from Emperor Wu. His father, Xiutu (休屠) was a general-feudal lord of the Xiongnu. Jin Xuan (金旋) and Jin Yi (金禕) were his descendants. Qiang people use the surnames Jīn (金), Chang (羌), Gong (功), and Ju-Goo (俱). Some of Qian Liu's (錢鏐) descendants received the surname Jīn (金). Jin was among the surnames granted to the Kaifeng Jews by an unnamed Song dynasty emperor. During the Yuan dynasty, the Chinese Liu (劉) clan received the surname Jīn (金). Jīn Fuxiang (金覆祥). Mongolian Ye (也) clan got the surname Jīn (金) during the Ming dynasty Taiwanese aborigines received surname Jīn (金), Zhang, amongst others, during the Qing dynasty. Aisin Gioro clan got the surname Jīn (金), as "Aisin" means "gold" in Manchu language, following the