Finding my greatgrandpa's (eng/ng/wu 伍) ancestral village

[chinalane]

Hello all,

I am looking to find my maternal great grandfather's village in Taishan, Guangdong. I have attached an image of his gravestone. My grandmother (who is herself a Chu/趙 whose lineage is from Fow Shek/Fushi in Taishan) has told me that my grandfather's father (surname Eng/伍) came from "Dai Long village" in "Sai Chock heung." The only thing close to a Dai Long village I have found is in a Lian'an village cluster: www.google.com/maps/place/22%C2%B005'24.4%22N+112%C2%B037'01.4%22E/@22.0901111,112.6144807,1070m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d22.0901111!4d112.6170556?entry=ttu www.mychinaroots.com/places/15804/lianan, villagedb.friendsofroots.org/display.cgi/heung/101. However, the surname listed for most of the villages in this cluster is Hung/熊 on Village DB. Only a few villages in the cluster have Eng/Wu/伍 listed, and Tai Long is not one of them. Also, there is no mention of anything close to Sai Chock heung in any of the Taishan areas on Village DB. Do you think this Tai Long village, listed on Village DB is the same as that on my great grandfathers gravestone, or do you think I am looking in the wrong place? 

Thanks,
Sully

[Henry]

chinalane:




大朗 Tai Long / DaLang

www.google.com/maps/place/Dalang,+Taishan,+Guangdong,+Jiangmen,+Guangdong+Province,+China,+529224/@22.060255,112.8429318,15z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x3401c29223b633a5:0x8a8ea618aa844130!8m2!3d22.06825!4d112.84526!16s%2Fg%2F1vspp0v1?entry=ttu





Henry

[chinalane]

WOW... I can't thank you enough for your excellent sleuthing, Henry. I would never have thought to look under the sub-heung section. What is really interesting to me is how d**n close my Grandma's and Grandpas's ancestral villages were to each other, considering they got married in New York and were 3rd and 2nd generation Chinese-Americans, respectively (with very little ties to Taishan, having never been there). I wonder if their families knew how close to each other they actually came from. It's also interesting to see that Dai Long/Da lang is not even on the Kwangtung 40's era map, it must have been a truly tiny village. Even on the google maps image you sent, it's impossible for me to tell which of the tiny hamlets in the area it is, or if it even exists today. I wonder if my grandmother's family, who were all very tall Chu's who claimed distant descent from the Song dynasty nobles, looked down on my grandfather's family, who were shorter and stockier, and clearly came from a comparative backwater near to Fow Sheck. This has been truly inspiring and eye opening-I hope I can visit this area of Taishan someday.

[Henry]

chinalane,

Here are a couple more maps & imagery:














I had to postpone my China Trip to tour & visit ancestral villages.

If interested in my China trip April 2025 - please email me at " [e-mail] "

Henry