[5] The surname Lü originated from the Jiang 姜 clan, which is said to have descended from the legendary Yan Emperor.

[6] A member of the Lü lineage of the Jiang clan, he was a top general who led the Zhou army to decisively defeat the Shang at the historic Battle of Muye.

Inscriptions on many excavated bronzes from the period show that the Lü lineage played an active role in the Zhou court.

[9] The state was later relocated to the Nanyang basin, in present-day southern Henan, during the late Western Zhou.

During the Spring and Autumn period, Prince Chong'er was exiled from the Jin and one of his followers was Wei Wuzi (魏武子).

[8] During the Xianbei Northern Wei dynasty, Emperor Xiaowen (reigned 467–499 AD) implemented a drastic policy of sinicization, ordering his own people to adopt Chinese surnames.

[8] People from many other ethnic minorities in China have also adopted Lü as their surname, including the Manchu, Li, Tu, Mongols, Tujia, and the Koreans.