Pearl River Delta genealogy questions

[gregleck]

In 1997, while visiting Macau,I attempted to find out some information about my grandmother, who was born near Macau. Unfortunately I do not speak Chinese, and had a very difficult time explaining to Chinese what I was trying to do. (Western expatriates instantly understood what I was hoping to accomplish.) Of course there was virtually no online guidance, then, either.

My grandmother, Sue SOO, was the daughter of a merchant and was born in the village of Kiao, distirct of Heungshan. These names were found on the Portuguese birth certificate of her first child, after she had married an official in the Chinese Maritime Customs and they had moved to Macau. I don't know if this is the Wade Giles, Yale, or Post Office romanization of the village names.

Can anyone tell me what the name of this village and district is in pinyin?

I don't know the han zi for my grandmother's family name, SOO, and have been unable to find any documents which contain it. Is it likely there is more than one way in which it was written?

What suggestions can anyone make for trying to find out more about her family?

[Raymond]

Gregleck,

Starting in 1925 Heungshan In (named for its fragrant flowers) was renamed Chungshan In (in the local dialect) in honor of its native son Sun Yat-sen (aka Sun Chung-Shan) who became the first President of the Republic of China in 1911. He has also been referred to as the George Washington of China. Chungshan is a county and the name is now commonly written as Zhongshan in anglicized Mandarin. Chungshan has also been referred to as a district. At one time there were 300+ individual villages in Zhongshan. If your grandmother's ancestral village is near Macau, then most likely the village is in the general area nearest Macau called Gook Doo (doo means district) which has over 70 villages. Being that very few villages are written in anglicized English, you need to find out how the village of "Kiao" is written in its proper Chinese characters in order to have a reasonable chance of locating your grandmother's ancestral village. Her family name Soo is a bonafide Chinese family clan name. The Soo surname can also written in anglicized English as Sue, Su and So if the Chinese surname character is the same. Good luck on your genealogical search.

Raymond

[gregleck]

Well, that clears up some of the confusion. Many thanks for your helpful information regarding the district and county names.

Presuming I can identify the village, what can I expect to find in the way of records? I suspect that there will be little for daughters, perhaps not even a birth record. However, I know my grandmother's father's name because on her son's birth certificate, it lists both parents' names, as well as all four grandparents.

thanks,
Greg

[Raymond]

Greg,

Although Chinese genealogy place great emphasis on the males, this has slowly changed over the more recent years. Your grandmother's legacy should still be fresh among her villagers' memory. Should you by chance locate her village, most likely the Soo surname will dominate in that village, and if and when you go there, you should be able to locate the Soo family clan genealogy book called a "jook po" in the local dialect. This book should prove invaluable in your search, but it will be in Chinese and you'll need it translated. Your grandmother's name should be in there as well as all her side of the family tree. Furthermore, you are likely to discover relatives in the village that you may not have known you have. Anyway, be optimistic and continue to pursue your genealogical quest.

Good luck,
Raymond

PS: There is a possibility that your grandfather's village is located in close proximity to your grandmother's village. If you can locate his village, then you may be able to narrow your search to better locate her village of Kiao.