釋氏要覽 1.11

1.11

西域記云。姓者。所以繫統百世使不別也。氏者所以別子孫之所出也。釋迦氏譜云。夫姓氏之興本。欲召諸質也。故隨物類而命焉。

The Xiyu ji states: 'Surnames are that by which lineages are tied together across a hundred generations so they do not diverge. Clans are that by which the branches of descendants are distinguished.' The Shijia shi pu states: 'The origin of surnames and clans was fundamentally to name their entities; hence they were designated according to the categories of things.'