葉姓始祖葉公，名諸梁，字子高，是楚國沈尹戌之子，因食采於葉，故稱葉公。劉向《新序．雜事五》記載有“葉公好龍＂的寓言故事，而且流傳很廣，這就給人留下一個很深的印象：葉公是一位言行不一的人。其實，“葉公好龍＂純屬無稽之談，歷史上真實的葉公，則是一位有遠見、有魄力的傑出政治家、軍事家。他一心為國，不謀私利，平定白公勝之亂，是葉公一生中主要事績之一，為穩定楚國局勢，振興楚國，使楚國以一個大國、強國姿態，走向戰國歷史舞臺，奠定了良好的基礎。葉公沈諸梁，是春秋時期楚國的著名政治家、軍事家。在主持葉政期間，他曾經修建了東陂、西陂等水利工程，為葉地經濟的發展作出了貢獻。他果斷行事，及時平定了白公勝之亂，在楚國復興過程中發揮了決定性作用。葉公的豐功偉業值得稱頌，其歷史地位高度肯定。葉公為什麼易如反掌平定了白公之亂，就因為得到了包括國人在內的各階層人士的支持。兩相對比，不難發現白公之亂是不得人心的，非常孤立的。葉公平亂推動了楚國歷史發展，至少可以說它給楚國社會穩定、發展創造了條件，葉公平亂，功不可沒。此外，由於葉公諸梁是沈尹戌之子，葉公諸梁也稱沈諸梁，有人就說沈、葉兩性同源。其實這種說法很不準確，沈、葉並不同源，只有沈尹戌長子葉公諸梁的後人才姓葉。由此我們可以得出這樣的結論：葉姓始祖是葉公諸梁，而不是沈尹戌，這兩家葉姓與葉公子高不是一個系統。“葉公好龍＂寓言故事雖屬無稽之談，污名化了葉公沈諸梁一生高尚的德性，但是此典故在社會上流傳幾千年，影響層面既深且廣，折射出葉公所在地和所處時代龍文化的豐厚內涵。對此，我們應該予以全面的、歷史的、正確的評價。

The first man with the surname Yeh, named Chu Liang, nick name Tzi Gau, was the son of Yin-Ron Shan of Tzu County. He ate leaves, so was also called Sir Yeh(The pronunciation of Chinese letter leaves is YEH) The author Sian Liu wrote the fable “Sir Yeh’s Tale” and gave people the impression that Sir Yeh was a dishonest person. But, actually this fable was just a fake story. The real Sir Yeh Chu Liang was an outstanding politician and military leader with brilliant vision. He was a patriot and brave warrior who defeated the rebels and united his Tzu county to be one of the strongest counties in his time. Sir Yeh Chu Liang made great contributions to his own county including waterway construction for the economic development and many others. He was a very determined governor with good strategy, so he defeated the rebel Bai’s gang Shann and gave the society peace and stable environment. Therefore, he was very important in the Chinese War time. He was the son of Yin-Ron Shan, so he was also called Chu Liang Shan; therefore, some scholars suggest Shan and Yeh are from the same ancestor, but only started from Chu Liang Yeh, the surname Yeh was carried on by his successors. Even though this fable was wrong about Sir Yeh, it had influenced the society for thousand years, so we can also know the historical background of thousand years ago and this is very precious in our historical learning.