Wing
Member
Posts: 9
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Post by Wing on Apr 17, 2011 9:02:41 GMT -5
just a quick question.. I keep coming across the term 'tong' or "堂".. does that mean it is a clan registry?
i noticed this in a zupu i was looking at.. and it seemed to have the lineages from different registries?
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Post by laohuaqiao on Apr 18, 2011 8:30:49 GMT -5
There are many meaning of the word tong/tang 堂. It could mean a large hall or common room, as in ancestral hall citang 祠堂, church jiaotang 教堂 , classroom ketang 課堂, etc. Even though it has the meaning of the common room or living room for a household or family, it is not used to refer to the room itself anymore, but is often referring to the family itself. The expression 五代同堂, 5 generations sharing the living room, is a sign of good luck, longevity and harmony.
Tang xiongdi 堂兄弟 , brothers of the same tang, are first cousins on the fathers' side.
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Wing
Member
Posts: 9
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Post by Wing on Apr 19, 2011 11:06:04 GMT -5
in this specific instance the context was "順德水藤鄧永錫堂族譜 - 順德水藤鄧永錫堂, 1996" which i thought maybe my family zupu.. seems this specific zupu is referenced a few places online but i can't find it digitized anywhere.
i recalled incorrectly.. it was "房" that i came across.. so it would be XX房.. and then xx房.. someone suggested it maybe referring to the families within the clan instead of registries
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Post by laohuaqiao on Apr 19, 2011 19:50:17 GMT -5
Fang 房 means "room". In Chinese genealogy, it indicates lineage. I don't know if it's used only for specific ancestor such as the clan's founder or someone of prominence, or it can be used for any ancestor. In reference to a particular ancestor, 大房 refers to the lineage of the eldest son, 二房 that of the 2nd son, 三房, 四房, etc. Sometimes, the name of the sons are used, which is probably the case you mentioned XX房.
For following generations, clans might use 支 (branch), 派 (tributary or faction), or 系 (department) to indicate the subbranches. For example, 4th generation subbranch of an ancestor may be XX 房 XX 支 XX 派.
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Post by laohuaqiao on Apr 19, 2011 20:03:12 GMT -5
in this specific instance the context was "順德水藤鄧永錫堂族譜 - 順德水藤鄧永錫堂, 1996" which i thought maybe my family zupu.. seems this specific zupu is referenced a few places online but i can't find it digitized anywhere. Here 堂 refers to the the ancestral hall/temple, which is sometimes named, in this case 永錫堂. And Deng 鄧 is the family name? |
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Post by lesthean on Apr 30, 2011 20:07:50 GMT -5
Wing and Laohuaqiao your posts caught my attention when I saw my surname mentioned.I am not chinese literate.May I offer an insight on the word Fang........In my family,this is used to indicate different branches of a particular ancestor.Eg; If there was 4 sons,the families from the first son would be considered to be from the first room(Tai Fang) and the second son's decendents would be from the 2nd room etc.
BTW Wing are you a Deng?I am a Deng(from Malaysia) and I know I have relatives in Melbourne...
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Wing
Member
Posts: 9
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Post by Wing on May 4, 2011 8:31:18 GMT -5
thanks for all your help Laohuaqiao.. as you can probably tell my chinese is quite limited because i grew up in Australia. yes.. 鄧 is the family name.. i think it was 水藤房 so it must be referring to the 水藤 branch.. lesthean, yes.. i am a Deng.. but being from HK we have romanised as Tang... i didn't know someone shared my surname on this forum  if i manage to track down my zupu we maybe able to find a common ancestor All I have is what my grandma left which goes back 4 generations from me to my great-great grandfather. |
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Post by lesthean on May 12, 2011 8:01:45 GMT -5
Wing, we might have common ancestors.My grandfather came from Dan Sui which is about 120 Km NE of HK.I am hoping to visit his ancestral home next year. I have a Zupu which goes back a little more than that.I am Hakka not Cantonese though.
We may continue to converse here or via my email which is listed in the members list :-)
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