積谷村 / Chik Kuk Village Sun Wui Jiangmen

[Danshui Hakka]

My cousin KS Siew WhatsApp me with the exciting news that he has found his late father pocket notebook and written down was his ancestor village name 積谷村新會 in China.


I did a quick check in the website of Roots VillageDB and found the details; County – 新會 Sun Wui Area 3 Heung 天河鄉 / Tin Ho Heung Village 積谷村 / Chik Kuk Village (黃 / Wong). The details were correct except the surname in the village are Wong (黃) but not the surname Siew (蕭)


I would appreciate help from our forum members advise on how to go about in checking whether in this Chik Kuk village, if there are villagers with the surname Siew and also help me with the location map or coordinates of the village.

Thank you all in advance.


Michael Wong

[lachinatown]

天河 Tin Ho is in the upper tip of 新會 Sun Wui.
The 積谷村 / Chik Kuk Village maybe too small to be shown on a map.

[Danshui Hakka]

Thank you. 

[Henry]

Danshui Hakka,

Searching the Village DB for 積谷 Chi Kuk

villagedb.friendsofroots.org/display.cgi?level=Heung&id=257




As lachinatown said : " The 積谷村 / Chik Kuk Village maybe too small to be shown on a map "

The reason for this is that smaller villages & hamlets (very small villages - as indicated by "lay" ) are consolidated into a larger village cluster, which takes the name of the largest village, i.e., Tin Ho:

The largest village Tin Ho village not only became a village cluster but also replaced the areal extent of Tin Ho Heung.

Within Tin Ho Heung, while Chik Kuk may have been a predominantly a "Wong" village, it may have also had some "Siu" families living there. But, also within this Tin Ho village cluster are 2 Siu villages:

#6 朝陽里 / Chiu Yeung Lay (蕭 / Siu)

#20 槎溪里 / Cha Kai Lay (蕭 / Siu)

Cha Kai / Cha Xi is currently located in the Pengjiang district:

www.google.com/maps/place/Chaxi,+Pengjiang+District,+Jiangmen,+Guangdong+Province,+China/@22.7662294,113.0578178,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x340202b7e23ec905:0xf252c4bdd680d38e!2sTianhe,+Xinhui+District,+Jiangmen,+Guangdong+Province,+China!3b1!8m2!3d22.473721!4d112.799674!3m4!1s0x34023f63e2279bcb:0xf810de4df566776f!8m2!3d22.7662295!4d113.0665952?hl=en

As you will note:






Cha Kai/Cha Xi is a standalone village with a Cha North and a Cha South extension villages. I believe it would be reasonable to assume that these two extension villages may be in reality the 2 small Siu villages [Chiu Yeung Lay and Chi Kuk] no longer shown on any maps by their individual name, but, incorporated into Cha North and a Cha South extension villages.

But, if you do visit, the local villagers of Cha Kai / Cha Xi can identify which hamlet is your ancestral village " Chi Kuk ".

Henry

[jasonwu]

Hey Henry,

Just to add - the village at the very bottom of your Tianditu screenshot is labelled 向陽 Heung Yeung - this is synonymous with 朝陽 Chiu Yeung, as they both mean "Facing the Sun." It is a name often used by east-facing villages. Not sure if Heung Yeung in the map and Chiu Yeung in the VDB are the same village, but given its proximity to the larger Cha Kai village, it seems probable.

Jason

[Henry]

Hey Jason,

Thank you :-)

So, if 向陽 Heung Yeung & 朝陽 Chiu Yeung are one & the same village, then possibly it is either Cha North or Cha South would be the elusive Chi Kuk hamlet.

Henry

[Danshui Hakka]

Hi Henry & Jason
Thank you both for your time and feedback. Appreciate it. Regards. Michael Wong