Looking for our relatives in Amoy

[angel1260]

Hi!

I started having an interest in looking for my great Grandfather's family (who are believe to be in Amoy, China) when my grand father passed away two months ago. I've been asking around about my great grandfather but no one seem to have full info.

All I know is his name was apparently Ty Hock (I'm still unsure about this, this is the name apparently my grandmother saw whenever my greatgrandad signs some documents). Also, I don't know which would be his name and surname. Would it be Ty? As in our place (Philippines) Our surname was apparently should have been Dy but my greatgrandad changed it later on to Gonzales. It would make sense if it's Ty as it sounds similar to Dy.
Also I'd like to ask, is Amoy in Xiamen of Fujian province?

With the information I have, seems like it's going to lead me to nowhere. But I'm still hoping I could get in touch with my grand uncle and talk to him more about his dad.

Hope someone could give me answers to my questions.

Thank you all in advance.

[Henry]

Hi Angel1260,

Welcome to the Forum.

The Chinese origin to "Dy" is probably the "Li/Lee" surname, please see explanation under "Surnames" in this link:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipino_Chinese

Amoy is now called Xiamen: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoy


In order to find your roots in China, you will need to know the Chinese characters for the names of your ancestors and the ancestral village. Once the ancestral village is identified, there may be a possibility to find a family genealogy book that documents your lineage and relatives.

If gravestones of any of your ancestors have inscribed Chinese characters - please take a digital photo and post it here on the Forum.


Henry

[Ah Gin]

Angel1260,

My brother-in-law is a Hokkian, surname 戴, English transliteration to Tai. In the Village database, 戴 is shown as “Dai”. You say you have come across transliteration of the surname such as Ty and Dy, and I strongly suspect his surname is in fact 戴. My b-i-l’s father had another family in the Philippines, in addition to his own family in Fujian. According to my b-i-l, lots of Hokien 戴 people migrated to the Philippines, so all this points to the strong possibility that you grandfather’s surname is 戴. Hope this helps.

Regards, Ah Gin

[angel1260]

Thanks Henry and Ah Gin!

So now we have two possible surnames either Tai or Dy. I'm quite far away from our family house so I won't be able to quickly take a photo of the gravestones. and I believe that my great grandfather's name in the grave stone is not inscribed in Chinese

But i remember looking at some letters that were written in Chinese that was sent to my grandad. Hopefully I still can find this, I might get some clue from it.

If I get a hold of some documents or photos inscribed in Chinese I'll post it here asap.

Thanks for the quick replies! I really appreciate it.

[Henry]

Ah Gin,

Thanks for your input. I checked "Dai" and it is "Ty" in the Philippines. So, I think you are quite correct.

Hopefully, the letters will have a return address in China that will indicate the name of the ancestral village and great grandfather's name - then, we can locate the village.


Henry

[Ah Gin]

Henry,

Yes our guess is as good as it gets. Nothing beats original doc, in Chinese. For that reason, for our Australian, Victorian Goldfields research, I make it my strange hobby of collecting Chinese names and their known "English Names". One of the best was a Petition, listing many names in Chinese and their cross reference with English Names. There were some Business Names as well as Place Names. Other souces include Wills, Probate, Court Doc, Licences.

OK, enough of my rambling. Regards, Ah Gin

[wijaya]

Hi, I am wijaya, I live in Indonesia. I just read a ducument regarding my grandpa . I want to know our relative in mainland china.
My grandpa was born in Fujian on August 22, 1897.
He came to Indonesia around 1920. His name is Tjoa Boen Lie ('Tjoa' is Fujian dialec, but in mandarin spelling we can say 'cai' . I don't have any document about him , but I have some picture of him.
Anybody can help me.........

Thanks a lot

[helen]

Hi Wijaya - what document do you have about your Grand Pa? Do you have a photo of his headstone, with Chinese characters? Any passport or documents for him, or your father?