Yongchun, china
Mar 28, 2012 6:06:42 GMT -5
Post by philiptancl on Mar 28, 2012 6:06:42 GMT -5
Hi Senhong,
At age 86 one needs not necessary be considered old for continued interest over one's ancestry or genealogy. I heard of a lady in Penang who got her Zhu jiapu translated into English well into her 80s and published it in as a book form as present to all the Zhu descendants during her 90th birthday celebration. Heard that she went back to her ancestral village last year (past her 90) and she is planning to update her book now. At an age of 89, my mother-in-law filled me in on her genealogy, told me where to get her jiapu and her story regarding her family's contribution towards the updating of her Ong (Wang) jiapu when it was done in Yongchun back in 1930. Among the older generations of Chinese in Malaysia, it is quite common they would know their ancestral address especially with one like your uncle who had been back to Yongchun to revisit his ancestral village. I find that obituaries in Chinese newspapers here often include the ancestral address in China. I could post such an example, if you like. So your uncle could still provide you with valuable information, you just do it expeditiously before it is too late.
You said you know the generation names for a few generations. You should get them written out into Chinese characters. Try to get the complete generation poem if possible. One of your relatives, however distant, may have it. I would not be surprise should Tigerm8n share the same genealogy poem; as both of your ancestries originated from Yongchun and having the same surname. I was given a copy of my generation poem long before I was given a copy of my Zupu in 2007. For my surname clan in Yongchun, we had 90 branches spread over a number of counties in China as well as in Taiwan. In recent years, many of the branches could find connections with each other through the common generation poem that some of the branches had adopted.
Having observed many families, I tend to conclude that it would be quite common to find reluctance in interacting between certain members within a larger family group. This happened even among siblings. Recently heard about one Chen (Chan) originating from Zhongshan and now settled in Sydney who would not let his sister see a copy of his jiapu/Zupu even though he has one. I understand Henry Tom attended his talk while Henry was in Sydney last year.
You appeared to be hesitant in approaching your uncle residence again. Whilst there may be other reason besides age, I would suggest you quickly make the approach again as you had planned and hope for the best.
I hope Tigerm8n could share his jiapu with others like you as it could throw interesting light on the history of how Zheng/Teh/Tay had settled in Yongchun. Being the 21st generation, and if it is counting from the first Zheng that settled in Yongchun, that itself would give an indication of the relative period when Zheng first venture there.
Philip Tan
At age 86 one needs not necessary be considered old for continued interest over one's ancestry or genealogy. I heard of a lady in Penang who got her Zhu jiapu translated into English well into her 80s and published it in as a book form as present to all the Zhu descendants during her 90th birthday celebration. Heard that she went back to her ancestral village last year (past her 90) and she is planning to update her book now. At an age of 89, my mother-in-law filled me in on her genealogy, told me where to get her jiapu and her story regarding her family's contribution towards the updating of her Ong (Wang) jiapu when it was done in Yongchun back in 1930. Among the older generations of Chinese in Malaysia, it is quite common they would know their ancestral address especially with one like your uncle who had been back to Yongchun to revisit his ancestral village. I find that obituaries in Chinese newspapers here often include the ancestral address in China. I could post such an example, if you like. So your uncle could still provide you with valuable information, you just do it expeditiously before it is too late.
You said you know the generation names for a few generations. You should get them written out into Chinese characters. Try to get the complete generation poem if possible. One of your relatives, however distant, may have it. I would not be surprise should Tigerm8n share the same genealogy poem; as both of your ancestries originated from Yongchun and having the same surname. I was given a copy of my generation poem long before I was given a copy of my Zupu in 2007. For my surname clan in Yongchun, we had 90 branches spread over a number of counties in China as well as in Taiwan. In recent years, many of the branches could find connections with each other through the common generation poem that some of the branches had adopted.
Having observed many families, I tend to conclude that it would be quite common to find reluctance in interacting between certain members within a larger family group. This happened even among siblings. Recently heard about one Chen (Chan) originating from Zhongshan and now settled in Sydney who would not let his sister see a copy of his jiapu/Zupu even though he has one. I understand Henry Tom attended his talk while Henry was in Sydney last year.
You appeared to be hesitant in approaching your uncle residence again. Whilst there may be other reason besides age, I would suggest you quickly make the approach again as you had planned and hope for the best.
I hope Tigerm8n could share his jiapu with others like you as it could throw interesting light on the history of how Zheng/Teh/Tay had settled in Yongchun. Being the 21st generation, and if it is counting from the first Zheng that settled in Yongchun, that itself would give an indication of the relative period when Zheng first venture there.
Philip Tan