Huang Clan Genealogy

[huang]

Hi, I recently (as in 2019) received my family "Huang Clan jiapu" that my father brought home to Singapore in the 80s when he visited the ancestors' village in Webchang, Hainan.

As a non-chinese speaker or reader I am having a hard time making sense of it all. Having spent the last few months online, I discovered Tony King article on "Tips to read Chinese Genealogy without any Chinese" and also youtube video by Henry Tom, Anthony King and Patrick Chew. Now I can recognized some Chinese characters but still long way from making sense of it all.

Using Google translate I came across the name "Kang Youwei" in the cover of my family jiapu and wondering what's the connection or if any at all. I attached the image of the cover of the jiapu to see if anyone can shed some light here.

The first column from right reads something like "2,419 or 2,490 years of .........
The second column is clearly "Huang Clan Jiapu"
The third column is "Kang You Wie ...."

There are 5 other books, two of which has the line charts showing generation 1 to 30, the other showing 31 to 45 plus two other one page pedigree charts. I can see my name, my father's and grandfather's name in one of the chart but not the other. Any help or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[philiptancl]

Hi Borobi,

I have done quite a number of ancestral pedigree charts for various people relating to your surname (黃) and one of them was from Wenchang (文昌), Hainan (海南). If you wish to have your pedigree chart done for you and your family so that you can better understanding of your ancestry, I could do that for you as well. In order for me to design and construct that for you, I would need to have a scan of your zupu you now have and to point out where your ancestor closest to you is located therein.

You said you father is in Singapore. I understand some members of the Genealogy Society Singapore (GSS) would be coming to Malacca to attend my talk at Teng Choo Hall (Opposite Cheng Hoon Teng Temple) on Sunday 14 July 2019 at 10.00am. I understand this from Ng Yew Kang of GSS. If you are keen for me to assist you, can photocopy or scan you zupu and pass it through him or you can come to Malacca as well. I understand the quota for GSS is already taken up as the trip involves other activities as well. However yyou can come just for the talk by registering with the organizer at [e-mail]

Philip Tan

[Doug 周]

huang
Have you looked at my recent post to siyigenealogy.proboards.com/post/21663/thread . This should help you organize your Clan Genealogy Book to see what you might want to translate. Your book is a valuable genealogical resource, and if philiptancl cannot help you, consider commissioning a translator to interpret your passages. susanchocksalgy provided a reference in her posts based in Taiwan. Henry and fonny are also resources for translation jobs.

[huang]

Hi Philip and Doug,
Thank you for your reply and sorry for the late response. My father has long passed away in the 90s. After his death, my siblings kept the books in a lock safe and only recently I was handed the jiapu/zupu and some pedigree chart.

As the files are quite large, I can email you the link to my google drive and you can access them there. All books are complete except one that I am still trying to scan.

And Philip, I would have loved to attend your talks in Malacca (grew up there in Bukit Baru) but I am living in Perth, Australia and the timing is not suitable for me at the moment.

[philiptancl]

Hi Huang,

For you to forward the scan of your zupu/jiapu, I just forward you my email through personal message in this forum.

Philip Tan

[gckimm]

Hi:

In regard to your question about the cover, the date on the far right side refers to the year from the birth of Confucius, a calendar beginning from the year 551 B.C. Your book is dated 2469 or, according to the Western calendar, 1918. This year is confirmed by the Chinese characters that follow, 戊午年. Those characters refer to another calendar system, utilizing the "Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches."

The inscription is signed by the famous Chinese reformer Kang Youwei. This means that the original calligraphy was supposed written personally by him, probably as a favor or gift to the clan.

Greg

[huang]

Greg,

Thank you very much for the clarifications. I have asked my siblings, cousins and uncles who have been back to the village several times over the years and none has been able to provide any clues or answers.

Huang

[philiptancl]

I received major part of zupu from Huang by email this morning. As I am busy preparing for my talk in Malacca next week and other commitment today, I did not have a look at them when received. I just had a quick check some minutes ago. Found where the first generation as given in the zupu from Huang is connected to the charts I had designed and constructed. The 1st generation is that at 岸,字:宗极,101,95世. The 2nd generation is the elder brother of 典,字:延林,102,96世.