THE SOURCE OF THE TAN CLAN

ITS EVIDENCE

The history of the Tan Clan started from the Zhou Dynasty when the name Tan Gong ( 谭 公) appeared in the Book of Odes. Tan Gong meant the King Tan. During the Zhou ( 周) appointment of noblemen to the royal family was very common and Tan Gong was awarded a Viscount drawing allowances from the Tan State which gradually made the post to be handed down from father to sons and eventually to the descendants. Therefore, he was also called Tan Zi.

THE LEGENDRY VERIFICATION
According to the Wei Feng Top Men ( 卫 风 硕 人) Records: [Officials and Private Details of Tan Gong], Zhu Zi ( 朱 子) remarked following the Record which stated that [The husband of sisters is called ‘Private’, because at that time, Tan Gong was the husband of Zhuang Jiang ( 庄 姜) sisters. It further noted that : [When the daughter of a feudal lord married another feudal lord, she is entitled to the same respect – she enjoyed the highest respect among the clansmen.]
According to the Da Dong ( 大 东) Edition of Siaoya Odes ( 小 雅 诗 经), Zhu Zi quoted the Zheng Letter stated that [Tai Dong was fighting the unrest. Because of the war, Dong Guo (东 国) was struggling with the shortage of fund. Physician Tan felt sick from drafting the Odes. The Tan Guo was situated in the East, thus it was named Dong Guo.
The Clans Collation by Shi: As stated in [The Tan Connection Secrets] of the senior Official Draft. Personal denoted as the husband of the Zhuang Jiang Sisters [Physician Tan] as appeared in the Tai Dong Edition Of Siaoya Odes, Zheng Letter: Tan Kingdom was situated in the East, therefore its physician was facing the difficulty in recruiting army personnel. Therefore he drafted a poem pretending that he felt sick. [The Weak Prince] denoted the same as Tai Dong Prince Tan. Prince meant Prince Tan.

Tan was already a Viscount. In addition, he was given the name of Gong. Thus, he had become more powerful and influential. Other senior officials working in a Kingdom normally praised their King by calling him Gong with the hope that by gathering around in his residence they would be given official positions and recognition. Everyone would call him Gong as the highest respect. So, they all would call their King as Gong.