Wong family of Baoding
Mar 7, 2008 10:17:55 GMT -5
Post by annasgranddaughter on Mar 7, 2008 10:17:55 GMT -5
I am looking for Anna Wong Munkberg's nephew and any information on the Wong family in Baoding prior to / during WWII. Anna is my grandmother.
Anna's nephew contacted her in the late 1980's after immigrating to the US. He was living in Hattiesburg, MS. The two names I have, from different notes, are Jian Xiaoning and Jian Wei.
On her immigration papers, her father is listed as Charlie Wang and her mother Mary Chen. I know that she only took on the name of Anna when she worked for American organizations during the war. I do not know her original name nor do I know how accurate her parents' listed names are. Anna left China in the spring of 1948 and never had any contact with her family until her nephew.
Her family lived in Baoding. Her father owned a munitions factory. She had several brothers, many who died in the war and one sister. She attended Bridgeman Girls school in Beijing until they closed the school due to the Japanese invasion. She returned home for a short while until her hometown was also taken. There are many stories including that her parents knew the town was going to be invaded, so they had the local officials lock them up in a 'comfy' jail cell and sent my grandmother and her brother to the south with a bunch of gold. She said she learned that when food is scarce, it doesn't matter how much gold you have. At times she said she went on foot with a pack mule and at other times she said she took a bus with a bunch of other students. Perhaps they are different parts of her journey.
Another family story is about her grandfather endeavoring to build two elaborate buildings. He is said to have imported masonry from France. After one building was finished, he was told that the Feng Shui was wrong. He said he'd fix it, but died of TB before he was able to complete the project. She also told of silk couches from the Czar of Russia that were in her grandfather's attic, she said that as a little girl she used to poke her fingers in the brittle silk upholstery.
We do have pictures of Anna with her mother, sister, brother-in-law and nephew. There are other photos as well but we don't know who they are.
I would love to hear from anyone who knows of her family or has suggestions on where to look for information.
Lara
ps- I did have Anna write out characters for me. She wrote Wong with the three line character.
Anna's nephew contacted her in the late 1980's after immigrating to the US. He was living in Hattiesburg, MS. The two names I have, from different notes, are Jian Xiaoning and Jian Wei.
On her immigration papers, her father is listed as Charlie Wang and her mother Mary Chen. I know that she only took on the name of Anna when she worked for American organizations during the war. I do not know her original name nor do I know how accurate her parents' listed names are. Anna left China in the spring of 1948 and never had any contact with her family until her nephew.
Her family lived in Baoding. Her father owned a munitions factory. She had several brothers, many who died in the war and one sister. She attended Bridgeman Girls school in Beijing until they closed the school due to the Japanese invasion. She returned home for a short while until her hometown was also taken. There are many stories including that her parents knew the town was going to be invaded, so they had the local officials lock them up in a 'comfy' jail cell and sent my grandmother and her brother to the south with a bunch of gold. She said she learned that when food is scarce, it doesn't matter how much gold you have. At times she said she went on foot with a pack mule and at other times she said she took a bus with a bunch of other students. Perhaps they are different parts of her journey.
Another family story is about her grandfather endeavoring to build two elaborate buildings. He is said to have imported masonry from France. After one building was finished, he was told that the Feng Shui was wrong. He said he'd fix it, but died of TB before he was able to complete the project. She also told of silk couches from the Czar of Russia that were in her grandfather's attic, she said that as a little girl she used to poke her fingers in the brittle silk upholstery.
We do have pictures of Anna with her mother, sister, brother-in-law and nephew. There are other photos as well but we don't know who they are.
I would love to hear from anyone who knows of her family or has suggestions on where to look for information.
Lara
ps- I did have Anna write out characters for me. She wrote Wong with the three line character.