Finding the Direct Bloodline Of My 111 Ancestors in China

[Henry]

Dear Chen Clan Members,

This recently published book is written in Chinese, however, in addition to the Chinese text, there is a brief English summary of all the
names of our 111 ancestors of the direct bloodline (30 pages within a book of 310 pages) tracing from son to father, father to grandfather, and grandfather to great-grandfather, and so on until reaching the originator of the "Chan 陳 " family tree or genealogy that this writer has found through records of genealogy, public entries, and including history of ancient China.

[ www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_1?rh=n:283155,k:Hanson+Chan&keywords=Hanson+Chan&ie=UTF8&qid=1526536125 ]

Henry

[ian54]

Hi Henry,

Does the book indicate which generation numbers these 111 Chan ancestors start and end with? Also, I presume this book is about the Guangdong ancestors' lineage which would fit in with my mom's Chan side of the family. I see the book is very reasonably price at $15 on Amazon

[Henry]

Hi Ian,

From what I see, it does, however, I would direct all questions to Hanson: [e-mail]

The brief English summary are pages 27 -57.

Henry

[ronchun]

The book starts from Chen Hu Gong (Pinyin), which is Generation No. 42, Chart 2 of most Chen scrolls prepared by moderator Phillip Tan. Hansen does not dispute that Chen Hu Gong is a descendant of legendary King Shun-Di, No. 9 descendant of Yellow Emperor Hung-Di, but he chooses to start the progenitor of our surname Chen (Pinyin) when Chen Hu Gong chose our surname from the land of Chen in which he was given permission to live in the land of Chen during the Chen dynasty. From my standpoint this difference is noteworthy where you want to be a purist of when the first person with the last name Chen descended or as with many surnames whose origin grew from a location or title, that you descendant like all Han Chinese from Yellow Emperor Huang Di. It gives special meaning to the wise admonishment that "Chinese should stick to together" and food for thought when we are reminded that we come from one people.

Anyways, the book starts from Chen Hu Gong passes through Charts 3 and 4 Chen Feng Tai Generation No. 123 through his second son Chen Xuan, Generation No. 123. Where you fit in these charts and Hanson's book depends on your particular circumstances. In my case, it's the same except my line is with Chen Mo's first son Chen Mo, Generation No. 123.  Hansen proceeds to follow from Chen Xuan to him personally.

Thus, in answer to your question, it does begin with generation numbers that are reflective with Chen history with some areas of dispute. Where Hansen starts may be different depending on whether you take the "strict" or "narrow" view of the Chen surname. If you understand the basis, both sides make a valid point. Sorry about the late response. Henry suggested that I take a look at Hansen's book if I'm interested. Ron

[ian54]

Hi ronchun,

Thanks for the belated response. I did communicate with Hansen back in 2018. He felt the book would not be too relevant to me, as he said he was descended from the second son, so I did not pursue it farther.

Anyway, the Chen (Chan) Zupu sent by my long lost cousins had generations 125 to 128 missing. So, attached was my eureka moment when I was able to combine my Chen (Chan) Zupu information with Philip Tan’s charts which had generation 125 to 128. Generations 124 Chen Mo and generation 129 Chen Di matched on both Zupu and Philips chart. Generation 131 is Chen Dao Zhen, founder of my Huangbutou/Lianjiangli village, Enping. From there the lineage traced down to me at generation 147.

What is the name of your ancestral village and where is it located?

Ian

[andytan]

Hey Ian,

Can you send me a copy of your Chen zupu?

Best,
Andy

[ian54]

Andy,

That would not be possible as the Zupu is 1800 pages, so there is no way you can scan it via a home scanner. It would need to be done professionally and would probably cost more than purchasing the book in China and the postage to ship it to the USA

Ian

[andytan]

That is true. I have a 170-180 page zupu book for my Tan Clan, and it took two hours for me to scan everything in 600 DPI format.

[kjhong]

I bought this book a few years ago. It particularly relevant to me because my maternal grandfather is from the same village as Hanson Chan. The zupu that I have matches what Hanson has written going back to our first ancestors in Guangdong, Chen Feng Tai and his son Chen You Weng. There were a few sections that I hadn’t translated to he’s helped me to fill in some details beyond just the names.

Since my zupu stops at Chen Feng Tai, I have been particularly interested in the details going back from there. In the past I’ve used Philip Tan’s scrolls or Al Chinn’s House of Chinn website. Unfortunately while there is a lot of overlap these three versions of the family’s history do have significant differences:
- Al and Hanson trace our family through the branch of Chen Hu Gong’s descendants that went to Qi and adopted the name Tian 田. Philip stays with the royal line that remained in the State of Chen for another dozen generations.
- Al and Philip trace Chen Feng Tai’s ancestors to the Southern Chen dynasty’s first and third emperors. Hanson shows that Chen Feng Tai was descended from a different branch of the Ying Chuan Chens.

I’m wondering how to resolve the differences.

[tsin.unfoon]

As of 12/24/22, Hanson's book is still on Amazon for $15.00. A few months back in September, I got it for $9.09. What a bargain!

www.amazon.com/Finding-Direct-Bloodline-Ancestors-Chinese/dp/1548870676

Section 3 of the book (pages 27 thru 57) are in English with generation numbers starting with Chen Hu Gong. All of Section 3 information plus other sections of the book are available at www.chens.org.cn in simplified Chinese. Section 3 information started on this link:
www.chens.org.cn/show.aspx?id=756&cid=16

Regarding Ken Hong's wondering on how to resolve the difference between Hanson's research to Al/Philip research on our Chen ancestor. I don't think it is possible since we don't know all the sources either side used. I kind of favor Hanson's as he provided much more details than Al or Philip on their respective websites. It may take a while but I am hoping to get both versions onto FamilySearch.org.