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Post by harc3 on Apr 2, 2009 9:13:09 GMT -5
Well it all finally paid off!!!!! I believe Cheung Dai as the village of my ancestors. Unfortuneately it is believed my lineage and geneaology books were destroyed during the cultural revolution.
First of all thanks to all who provided me with help BUT I would like to personally thank Helen. I have been communicating back and forth with her for the past few weeks. With her help and her contacts we both feel we have tracked down my family history. It's been very rewarding and couldn't have done it without her. THANK YOU SO MUCH HELEN. We are continuing our communication to make sure we are 100% sure.
I am now looking for any help getting there. like the best time of year, which airport, translator and guide, etc etc
Thank you to you all
The search continues
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Post by Henry on Apr 2, 2009 10:02:33 GMT -5
Harc3,
Your family/clan genealogy book may have been destroyed during the Cultural revolution - but it can be re-compiled.
Since you have the name of your ancestor and know the name and location of your ancestral village. Somebody needs to go talk to the village chief and villagers to see if anybody knows if they are related to your ancestors. Some of the village elders may be able to remember a couple generations of the ancestors name. This is what happened in a previous case that I had the great pleasure of helping to recover a village genealogy book.
I was contacted for help and the only information provided was the Chinese name of an ancestor and the county he was born in - this was all the information I had. With the help of a friend, we were able to determine the names of villages in that county that had people with the generational character (bon pie), second character of the name. Then my friend called the village chiefs for these villages and we narrowed it down to a single village. Unfortunately, this village also suffered the destruction of family/clan genealogies during the Cultural Revolution and there were no genealogy books left in the village.
The village chief spoke to a village elder, who was a relative of the man we were inquiring about and he could recall the names of ancestors for a couple generations before him. With that information, I was able to find the entire lineage of this person from a 3 volume Tan genealogy book set on my shelf. The confirmation was a photo, in this genealogy book set, of the uncle of the man that initiated the search. So now, he has the full lineage all the way to Tan Hongzhi, progenitor of the Tan clan in Guangdong province and the village will also have its village genealogy book restored when he brings it to the village next year.
Sorry about the long narrative, but, the point is - all is not lost just because there is no genealogy book.
My recommendation is to see if a village elder can remember the names of some ancestors and then visit nearby villages with the same surname in the same area or even within Zheng Cheng county. There should be enough overlap in the repetition of horizontal and vertical lineages from from a couple of these existing clan genealogy books to recover those lineages for your particular branch of the clan and then you can have a new genealogy book compiled for your ancestral village - but, now with the names of your family included.
It is not easy, but, not impossible.
Henry
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Post by Ah Gin on Apr 2, 2009 11:51:44 GMT -5
Harc3,
We celebrate with you, in getting to where you got to. There is no question that members of this Forum are very giving, helpful, encouraging -- and they all helpful to new players like us.
The events that resulted in destruction of many things including books etc. are a sad historical part of the development of a proud nation that can lift its head now, in the World Community.
As Henry said, all is not lost . Another possible source is overseas locations, such as Clan Associations. Many Clan Associations maintain a library of Clan Zupu, and there may be other knowledgeable and helpful folks at the Clan Associations who can help. Also, back in China, Clan Associations (usually supported by the Single-named Villages are rebuilding Memorial Halls (in memory of the relevant Fouders of the Village, or Progenitor), and you will be pleasantly surprised to find books that were thought to have destroyed, somehow survived the turbulant times.
And one more thing: in our work, I think "Things find us, not we find them" -- at least that's our experience anyway.
Good luck and good hunting.
Regards, A Gin
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Post by helen on Apr 3, 2009 3:00:52 GMT -5
Hi Harc3 - I have emailed you the telephone numbers and address. Over to you now. Keep us posted on the progress.
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Post by helen on Apr 11, 2009 19:23:36 GMT -5
Hi Harc3 - I was at the market again today, and the older man mentioned that a lot of Shums went to Canada, from your village. If it is anything like the men who came to New Zealand, then they could all be related to your family.
From our experience here, 1 person would "borrow" the 100 pound poll tax money from fellow villagers. As they settle here, and sent money back to repay the loan, they also sponsored brothers/cousins to come here as well. Gradually many of their fellow male villagers made it here, and usually settled close to each other, ekking out their existence.
It was only 70 years ago that the women and children were allowed to come here. Is there any other country that will be celebrating the 70 years anniversary of the arrival of the Chinese refugees to their country?
Before that time, many of the men went back to the village for a visit, then came back - most times leaving a baby behind. Hence some brothers and sisters have a 10 year, and sometimes 20 year gap between them.
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Post by harc3 on Apr 12, 2009 10:50:33 GMT -5
Thanks Helen
I have found numerous "Shums" from the village. Have all the documents saved so far just in case they are related.
We had the "Chinese Head Tax" which was a large fee the Chinese had to pay to come here. When the Gov. found the large fee wasn't stopping the Chinese from coming here they instituted
the "Chinese Exclusion Act" which ran from 1923-1947. During which time less than 50 Chinese were allowed to enter Canada.
It was passed on July 1 1923, dominion day for Canada, well for obvious reasons the Chinese community referred to it as "Humiliation Day"
Finally repealled in 1947
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Post by helen on Apr 12, 2009 15:41:55 GMT -5
Harc3 - It would be a good idea for you to document the information you have - because there will be other families in the Village eager to find information on their Canadian families.
My cousin went back to my Paternal Grandfather's village a couple of years ago. Using a very old address I gave, cousin was able to locate out relative. In 1947 my Mum and Dad married in China. They returned to Hong Kong in 1948. There was a plan for my Dad to go back to the village and bring his 8 year old cousin back to NZ, using his late sister's identity. But the borders closed and he was unable to get back to her.
When my cousin found her 60 years later - she said she had often wondered where her big brother went, and why he never came back for her.
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Post by harc3 on Apr 12, 2009 15:48:31 GMT -5
Ya all the documents I have found are saved on my laptop and hard copies have been printed. I will also save them to an internet photsite and a usb drive and dvd just in case the laptop crashes
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Post by helen on Apr 12, 2009 16:03:28 GMT -5
Harc3 - Have you created a blog with your information - for the Shums to see? Blogspot is a great place.
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Post by chansomvia on Apr 13, 2009 5:30:43 GMT -5
Hi Helen,
I note your comments:
"Blogspot is a great place."
The reality is that it comes as a shock to us in New Zealand that China has been blocking Blogspot on and off, I could not access it and other sites when I was in China. It is available again now. In view of this irregular censorship - I could not access my direct NZ mail except mail sent through the gmail and yahoo.com .addresses. Worth opening up additional mail boxes for travel to China.
Joe
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Post by helen on Apr 14, 2009 3:34:52 GMT -5
Thanks Joe - I have both Gmail and yahoo accounts. My relatives use the gmail account so hopefully I can get it there.
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Post by helen on Apr 26, 2009 1:14:32 GMT -5
Harc3 - I found out today that the village was foundered by 3 brotherS and the population may be around 1000. And I think the ancestral hall may still be up. If so, the chances of getting the family tree may be a good one.
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Post by harc3 on Apr 27, 2009 10:08:40 GMT -5
That's great news Helen!!! Thanks. If you get a chance to get there on your trip can you find anything you can for me. You are definitely getting over there before me, but I WILL be going.
Did the elder gentleman from the market return yet?
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