Finding My Roots

[SH Njoo]

Hi everyone,

I try to find my roots from my father’s side.

My grand father came to Indonesia with his 2 other brothers, Lie Bwee – Njoo Soe – Lie Sik Ing.

They were from Lie (李) family, my grandfather was given to Njoo (杨) family. We have been told that they came from Xiamen (Fujian), in Hokkian is Emoey.

From 3 brothers, only my grandfather (Njoo Soe) went back to China and married Tan Hie Nio (she has a small feet). They returned to Indonesia in 1911 and lived in Klakah. Their first son was born in 1912 and the family name is given back to Lie, the other 5 children were given family name as Njoo.


The first brother is Lie Bwee.





From Lie Bwee’s granddaughter, I was told that:

1. She called Njoo Soe as Ngocek Kong meaning her grandfather’s brother no 5 and Lakcek Kong (no 6) to Lie Sik Ing.

2. Later on 1 sister Lie Ging Nio, her husband Tjan Gie Hwat and 2 sons also came to Indonesia.





Their sons are:

1. Tjan Sian Yoe , already 16 years old when he came.



2. Tjan Sian Song , he married with Lie Bwee’s daughter Lie Tjim Nio.





Only these 3 gravestones were written in Chinese character.


I hope someone can help/assist me in finding my roots.


Thank you.

[SH Njoo]

Hi,

I forgot to mention that my grandfather (Njoo Soe) was born on 10 October 1875.


Lie Sik Ing died on 18 July 1971, at 90 years. He must be born in 1881.


I hope this additional information will help.

Thank you.

[helen]

restofworld.org/2021/how-technology-is-reuniting-chinese-indonesians-with-their-ancestral-names/

[SH Njoo]

Hi Helen, thank you for your reply. I have read MCR website.

For searching in MCR web, I need Lie Bwee's name in Chinese character. Could someone help me to write Lie Bwee's name in Chinese character?

Thank you.

[Doug 周]

May 4, 2023 23:55:16 GMT -5 SH Njoo said:

.....Could someone help me to write Lie Bwee's name in Chinese character?

Until a Chinese-literate-Forum-participant helps you, consider uploading the image of the characters in your photo to Google Drive and open in Google Docs. For best results, crop out the English words from the image. OCR has markedly improved. Else, if you have a relationship with MCR (My China Roots), you can ask them to digitize the proper characters for Lie Bwee.

[gckimm]

Hi:

Lie Bwee = 李尾 (Mandarin Li Wei).

Greg

[SH Njoo]

May 5, 2023 22:13:14 GMT -5 gckimm said:

Hi:

Lie Bwee = 李尾 (Mandarin Li Wei).

Greg

Thank you Greg.

[SH Njoo]

Hi,

I searched 李尾 in MCR, it give me 320 Lie zupus.

I'm a little confused as my friend translated Lie Bwee's bongpay, he came from West of Gansu Province. No Lie zupu from Gansu Province.

If according to what I've been told that my grandfather came from Xiamen (Fujian), I found 6 Lie zupus.

I hope someone can assist me about the location.

Thank you.

[gckimm]

Hi:

In order to have any chance of locating your ancestors in a genealogy, you will need to find more specific information about their place of origin. The Lie/Li clan is one of the largest in China and there are many Lie clan members in Xiamen.

The latest photo you posted is of a translation of the headstone. The problem is that it is a literal translation of symbolic language. "Best city" and "long-lived region" are just symbolic ways of saying "grave." As for the place in Gansu, this is a reference to the ancient home of the Lie/Li clan, which may be in Gansu (but I am not sure of this). Even today, it is common for headstones and also for ancestral tablets and altars to carry the name of a clan's ancient home. For example, the ancestral altar in my mother's ancestral home in Guangdong Province also has the characters 隴西 written above it because she belongs to the Li clan. This does not mean that your more recent ancestors came from this place. As you were told, they came from Xiamen, Fujian.

Greg

[SH Njoo]

Hi Greg,

Thank you for your explanation.

I still need help with Li Wei's sister:

Name : Lie Ging Nio / Li ... Niang : 李.娘 (missing the middle character)
Sons : - Tjan Sian Yoe / Zeng Shan ... : 曾善. (missing last character)
- Tjan Sian Siong / Zeng Shan Xiang : 曾善相
At the top of her bongpay, it said Long Shan (山龍). Does it mean she was borned in Long Shan or is Long Shan where her husband was borned, as she married to a 曾 family?

I read in siyigenealogy.proboards.com/thread/2117/searching-family-origins-xiamen-fujian, philiptancl mentioned : Long Shan (龙山) is the name of a branch of the Zeng (曾) surname.

I would appreciate it if you can assist with the missing characters and any opinion from anyone about Long Shan are welcome.

Thank you.

SH Njoo