Ancestral village from tombstones

[evasmith]

Can anyone help me with translating these tombstones?  Are these three people all from the same village?  The top right two characters look the same.  Thank you!


imgur.com/a/88HUaaJ

[gckimm]

Hi:

The inscriptions mention the native place of each person, as well as dates of birth and death and the names of descendants responsible for installing the monuments. I or one of the other forum members can give you more detailed translations later, if you wish. But I think what you are most interested in are the references to the places of origin. To answer your question, all three of these individuals were from, or had as their ancestral home, Nan'an County 南安縣 (now Nan'an City 南安市) in Fujian Province 福建省. The characters you recognized as the same are the characters for Fujian. However, only the headstone for Ben is more specific, mentioning Jiumen Township 舊門鄉 in Shishan District 詩山區, Nan'an, Fujian. Note that Jiumen, as recorded on the headstone, is not a village; the village is a smaller entity that would be located within the township.

Greg

[evasmith]

Thank you so much, that is very helpful!

[Henry]

Hi Eva,

Adding to what Greg said.

Map:

www.google.com/maps/place/Shishanzhen,+Nan'an,+Quanzhou,+Fujian,+China/@25.1855827,118.2874122,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x3415180516fac467:0x66b03c461b9fff4d!8m2!3d25.185564!4d118.296167?hl=en

Nan'an is about 45 miles NW of Quanzhou, Fujian - about an hour & 15 minute drive. Shishan district has a number of villages:

baike.baidu.com/item/%E8%AF%97%E5%B1%B1%E9%95%87/5881467

To determine the exact village would require a researcher to travel to Shishan district for on the ground research.

If you want the family lineage, you might be able to request the Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs in Quanzhou to try and locate a copy of the zupu for you. These offices usually do not charge any fees.

Office of Quanzhou People's Government

Email: [e-mail]

Address: Municipal Administrative Center, Fudong Road, Fengze district, Quanzhou

Tel: [phone]

Fax: [phone]


Department of Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs of Quanzhou Municipal People's Government

Address: Municipal Administrative Center, Fudong Road, Fengze district, Quanzhou

Tel: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

Henry

[evasmith]

Thank you Henry, I will contact them and see if they can help me!