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Post by harc3 on May 12, 2006 22:22:59 GMT -5
Can anyone kindly translate this, we believe it may be my husbands grandfather  Thanks so much!! |
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Post by helen on May 13, 2006 5:44:06 GMT -5
Left hand column = 1962 (Mun Kok 51 - something to do with the Taiwanese year?)
Middle Column -Name is : Low Hun Soong (surname - lowe, Lui, Lo? second name (red?)
Third Column - Village: Wan Sui Heung ( horizontal water heung)
Loong Tong (Dragon Tong)
Fourth Column - Toi San
May be some one else can elaborate - That's my "english translation" based on what my husband said.
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Post by Raymond on May 13, 2006 7:32:40 GMT -5
harc3,
The only thing I can add to Helen's comments is "mun kok 51" means "51 years after the founding of the Republic of China in 1911". Thus, 51 years + 1911 = 1962, which is the year the person in question died. This was how the Chinese designated a specific year on some of the older Chinese gravestones, post-1911.
Raymond
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Post by harc3 on May 13, 2006 8:24:36 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies and translation. I went to the cemetery with a map from city hall and believed that to be the stone. As it turns out there are many names and plots on the map that are not in the cemetery so I may have the wrong stone. I have 2 other stones I will post from the same row as my grandfather. His name was Chong Kee. That I am sure. I will post both other stones and hope someone can translate and am hoping 1 of them makes reference to Chong Kee   |
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Post by Woodson on May 13, 2006 12:14:15 GMT -5
Just to add that the surname of your husband's grandfather in Taishanese is Liu or Lau in Cantonese. The given name is Kun Soon. Kun is the same character as Confucius.
Tong means pond. The village name can be translate into "Dragon Pond".
Of the two subsequent tombstones the first one belongs to a Mr. Soo from Panyu. The second one is that of a Mr. Lam which just gives the name, year of birth and death.
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Post by harc3 on May 13, 2006 13:18:24 GMT -5
Thanks everyone! Apparently either the map of the cemetery we have is wrong, or the headstone is no longer there! We are looking for one that says 'Wong Kee Chong'. We will have to get some more photos translated or find someone who can read Chinese to take to the cemetery with us.  Thanks to everyone for your help, it is greatly appreciated!! |
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Post by MH Yee on May 13, 2006 13:50:37 GMT -5
The first gravestone translation [in pinyin]: interned 1961 [centre] Grandfather SU [name:] Qiuchen's tomb Native of Fenghu, panyu [county]
The second gravestone translation [in pinyin]
[centre] Grandfather LIN [name:] Jinkai's tomb |
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Post by harc3 on May 13, 2006 15:03:04 GMT -5
It seems something isn't right with the plot map and the cemetery. I have about 40 more pics of tombstones but won't post them all, but if someone out there can take a look here www.villagephotos.com/pubgallery.asp?id_=1180227 and see if any of them are Wong Kee Chong. I am also led to believe I have a Great Uncle or 2 there as well. One of them apparently had the name Shi or Chi (sounds like she) in his name. I appreciate all the help and the info being posted. Thank You all very much |
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Post by MH Yee on May 14, 2006 15:07:03 GMT -5
There are 6 Huang (Wong) tombstones: 1 from Kaiping, 1 from Zengcheng, and 4 from Taishan. The 4 from Taishan are as follows [all in pinyin]: 1) Image P5120013.jpg Interned 1953 [centre] Grandfather HUANG [name:] Yushi's Tomb [native of] Shou?gulang, Taishan, Guangdong 2) Image P5120022.jpg Interned 1955 [centre] Grandfather HUANG [name:] Chenpei's Tomb Native of Beikeng, Taishan 3) Image P5120037.jpg Interned 1960 [centre] Grandfather HUANG [name:] Zhaochuan's Tomb [Native of] Shou?gulang, Taishan 4) Image P5120024.jpg Interned 1956 [centre] Grandfather HUANG [name:] Liangguang's Tomb [native of] Taishan
It seems that (1) and (3) above are from the same village and might be related. As well, it is possible that the names on the Tombstones are their "lineage or married names." Hence, you may wish to look into the possiblity of your ancestor having other personal names. |
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Post by harc3 on May 14, 2006 17:10:29 GMT -5
Thanks to everyone for the awesome help!! Just to clarify....according to my father-in-laws birth certificate his father's name was Chong Kee......that's the way he signed it. The cemetery records name him as Wong Kee Chong, ( Chong being the surname), but we're not sure at this point how the 'Wong' fits in. We assume the headstone will say Wong Kee Chong, as the cemetery must have gotten that name from somewhere, but it may only say Kee Chong (or vice versa). At this point it's beginning to look like we might not have gotten a pic of the correct headstone, if it's still even there. We'll probably head back and get some more pics in a few weeks. Thank you so much again to everyone for taking the time to translate for us, we'd have no hope of getting anywhere without you!!!   |
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Post by MH Yee on May 14, 2006 17:11:16 GMT -5
Sorry, missed 3 additional Huangs. 1 more from Kaiping and 2 more from Taishan [making the revised total of 9 Huangs (or Wongs):
5) Image P5120025.jpg
[l] Interned 1957
[c] HUANG Gongxuan grandfather's tomb
[r] Taishan
6) Image P5120021.jpg
[l] 1955
[c] Grandfather HUANG Paixuan's tomb
[r] Native of Leping, Taishan
Note that (1) is pronounced in "Toisan wa" as "WONG Yee Sai."
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Post by MH Yee on May 14, 2006 17:26:07 GMT -5
There are two tombs that may have the Cantonese romanization of "CHONG," both are different surnames.
1) Image P5120031.jpg
[top] Guangdong
[l] Interned Republican Era auspicious year 40 [1961], 12th month, 2nd day
[c] Grandfather ZHONG Baohuan's tomb
[r] [native of] Nanhe xiang, Yaixi, Xinhui [county]
2) Image P5120038.jpg
[l] Died 9th month, 1960
[c] Grandfather ZHANG Bingcun's Tomb
[r] Native of Helou?, Kaiping [county]
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Post by helen on May 16, 2006 3:44:23 GMT -5
wow.. you guys are getting somewhere. The photos are a good collection of grave stones. Maybe a clever person can get a website up for us to post them on. I have heaps of Jungseng graves in NZ
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Post by mhyee on May 16, 2006 17:36:42 GMT -5
This is an observation of the sample of gravemarkers. Of the 40 markers, around 10 are of the surname Huang (Wong). This translates to about 25% which is a significant percentage of a sampling group (and by extension or inference, a Chinese community). Your "Kee Chong" is a name of a business. Among North American Chinese, it is not uncommon for the owner to be referred to by his business name rather than his personal name. Hence you may have "Kee Chong lao-bun" [Boss Kee Chong] or "Kee Chong ah buk' [Uncle Kee Chong]. It is quite possible in this scenario that the "Wong" is the actual surname and that the inclusion of "Wong" is your forefather's attempt to acknowledge that connection.
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Post by helen on May 17, 2006 3:38:03 GMT -5
That's true, my grandfather in law was know as Ching Shing Lee... after the business that he ran. His actual name was Chan Ming Fun. His sons had the surnames of Chan Lee. Totally confusing.
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