Genmou

Genmou (根牟, OC:*‍kɯ:n-mu (ZS), mod. Gēnmóu) was a vassal state during the Zhou dynasty in ancient China. Genmou was founded by the Eastern Yi^[1] and was conquered by the state of Lu in the 9th year of Lu's Duke Xuan's reign (600 BCE).^[2][3]

Military general, politician, and classicist Du Yu (223–285) stated that in his time, there was a Mou township (牟郷) in the eastern part of Yangdu district (陽都縣), Langya Commandery (琅邪[郡]),^[1] corresponding to present-day Yishui County, Shandong province.

The unofficial history book Lushi (路史, "Grand History") states that Mou was also Genmou, whence arose the surnames Genmou (根牟氏), Mou (牟氏 / 侔氏) and Mousun (牟孫氏) later.^[3]

Huang Pilie (1763–1825) identifies the Genmou (根牟) with the Xianmou (鮮牟), an Eastern Yi people^[4] who, according to Discourses of the States, tended to the ceremonial torches along with the Chu for an alliance-covenant ceremony convened by king Cheng of Zhou on the southern slope of Mount Qi.^[5][6][a][b]

Notes

1. Huang also contends that, due to scribal error, in one copy 鮮牟 Xianmou became 鮮卑 Xianbei.^[6]
2. Eastern Wu scholar Wei Zhao, who annotates Discourses of the States, distinguishes the Xianmou from the Xianbei; he assigns Eastern Yi origin to the Xianmou^[4] yet Mountain Rong origin to the Xianbei.^[7] For more on the Xianbei's origin, see the article Xianbei.