Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Correspondence
  • Published:

A commentary on molecular genealogy of Tusi Lu’s family reveals their paternal relationship with Jochi, Genghis Khan’s eldest son

Journal of Human Genetics volume 66, pages 549–550 (2021)Cite this article

Subjects

Wen et al. [1] identified C2b1a1b1-F1756 as the Y-chromosomal haplogroup of the Lu clan from Northwestern China, and suggested that it might be the true Y lineage of Genghis Khan, based on the claim that the Lu clan is descendant of Khulgen, the sixth son of Genghis Khan. However, the claim is controversial and dubious, which was already disputed by several previous studies [2,3,4,5,6].

Two genealogy books mentioned in Wen et al. [1], Renewal of the Lu Clan’s Genealogy (重续鲁氏家谱) and Family Genealogy of the Lu Clan (鲁氏世谱), claim that, Toghan (脱欢), the common ancestor of the Lu clan, was titled the Prince of Anding (安定王) of Yuan dynasty. The books were written during the late-Qing dynasty, about 400–500 years after Toghan. Guo [2] found that the two earliest mentions of the ancestor Toghan in the existing documents from the early 1500s during the mid-Ming dynasty never addressed him as the Prince of Anding. Toghan was a very common Mongolian name, more than a dozen of people named Toghan were recorded in History of Yuan (元史) and other historical sources [3, 4]. Wang [4] and Nan [5] studied many of them, including Toghan the Prince of Anding (descendant of Khulgen), and concluded that none of them matches the life story of Toghan the ancestor of the Lu clan. In particular, History of Yuan addressed Dorjiban (朵儿只班), son of Toghan the Prince of Anding, also as the Prince of Anding, suggesting that he already inherited the title from his father during the Yuan dynasty, which contradicts the claim from the genealogy books that their ancestor Toghan died in 1371 after the Ming dynasty was established and he allied with the new Ming government [3, 6]. So it is very likely that later family members of the Lu clan associated their ancestor Toghan with one of the most famous Toghans, a fairly common practice when compiling family genealogy books in China. Furthermore, Toghan’s biography in one of the genealogy books states that he was a descendant of Kublai Khan (founder of the Yuan dynasty) instead of Khulgen, which is clearly false [3]. Lu Jixun, the editor of Family Genealogy of the Lu Clan, mentioned that many documents and archives about the family were destroyed during wartime, which may explain the contradicting claims and lack of credible information regarding their ancestor [4]. Other various arguments against the veracity of the Lu clan’s Genghisid lineage were discussed thoroughly by different studies [2,3,4,5,6]. But researchers do generally agree that the Lu clan is of Mongolian origin. So it is not surprising that the Y lineage of the Lu clan belongs to C2b1a1b1-F1756, a prevalent haplogroup among Altaic-speaking populations.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Wen S, Yao H, Du P, Wei L, Tong X, Wang L. et al. Molecular genealogy of Tusi Lu’s family reveals their paternal relationship with Jochi, Genghis Khan’s eldest son. J Hum Genet. 2019;64:815–20. https://doi.org/10.1038/s10038-019-0618-0.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Guo Y. On the ancestor and ethnic group of the Tusi Lu family from Liancheng, Yongdeng, Gansu (in Chinese). Silk Road. 2003;7:54–56.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Wang J. Investigations of Tusi families from the Tibetan region of Amdo (in Chinese). Northwest J Ethnol. 1988;3:33–47. https://doi.org/10.16486/j.cnki.62-1035/d.1988.02.004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Wang Y. New investigations of ancestry of the Tusi Lu family from Yongdeng (in Chinese). Archives. 2015;4:30–33.

  5. Nan D. Research on the ancestor of the Tusi Lu family from Liancheng, Yongdeng (in Chinese). J Qinghai Junior Teachers’ Coll. 1997;3:56–57.

  6. Wang S. Research and collation of the genealogy books of the Tusi Lu family from Yongdeng (in Chinese). Soc Sci Rev. 2020;35:111–6. https://doi.org/10.16745/j.cnki.cn62-1110/c.2020.03.020.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA

    Yi Liu

Authors
  1. Yi Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yi Liu.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The author declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Liu, Y. A commentary on molecular genealogy of Tusi Lu’s family reveals their paternal relationship with Jochi, Genghis Khan’s eldest son. J Hum Genet 66, 549–550 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s10038-020-00857-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s10038-020-00857-y

Search

Advanced search

Quick links