|
Post by Henry on Dec 20, 2008 22:12:40 GMT -5
Dear Colleagues, I am posting a very preliminary lineage just to get things started where I show Tan Hong Zhi, the Tan clan progenitor for Guangdong province and some of his 8 great grandsons who, in turn, become the Tan clan progenitors of various counties that belong to SanYi and SiYi counties. Please excuse this information which is in very rough form. I was planning to provide a much better reference chart that could be downloaded, however, I thought I had until after the first of the new year to prepare it, but, this new subject was started tonight and I had to respond. I would appreciate it if some of our Chinese literate Forum members could translate the names of some of the other counties and also provide the PinYin names - this would be a great help and post them here or send them directly to me at: Tomclan@Gmail.com I can already see that the number 2 great grandson was the Tan clan progenitor for Gaoming mysite.verizon.net/vzepzaui/Tan Lineage.jpg[/img] Henry
|
|
|
Post by Henry on Dec 30, 2008 11:14:06 GMT -5
Dear Colleagues, The following is a better chart to see the Tan progenitors within Guangdong province. Henry
|
|
|
Post by tamkw on Mar 20, 2009 22:42:03 GMT -5
Dear Henry
My grandfather came to Malaya in 1900s (now Malaysia) and passed away in 1971.
His name is Tam Chew, a cantonese from Kaiping , Guangdong. According to the charts does it means he and his descendants in Malaysia is related to Chao An?
thank you
|
|
|
Post by Henry on Mar 21, 2009 7:17:39 GMT -5
Hi Tamkw, Yes, if he originated from Kaiping ( Hoiping ), it is almost certain that he and his descendants in Malaysia are direct descendants of Chao An. Does your family have a Tam genealogy book? If so, go to the front of the book and look for the 4th generation ancestors - to find Chao An. Then you and the descendants of Tam Chew are also descendants of Tan Hong Zhi. I am including a Tan Lineage chart from my forthcoming book "Tan Genealogy: Heritage and Lineage" that will probably be published by this Summer. Tan Hen Lin migrated from Kaiping (Hoiping) to "White Water", Taishan - an area this to the NW of Taicheng (Taishan City). I am a White Water Tan. If you have a copy of your family genealogy and can link in to Tan Hong Zhi, my book will provide you with the additional 113 generations, name by name, to Huang Di - then, you probably have about 140 plus generations back to Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor. Henry mysite.verizon.net/vzepzaui/Tan Chart.jpg[/img]
|
|
|
Post by tamkw on Mar 21, 2009 21:00:36 GMT -5
Dear Henry
Thank you for your reply
I do not have a Tam genealogy book, I will try get one from tam association in my area. I have only sketchy picture of my ancestor's background, Before my father passed away, he visited China but did not go search for his father's roots, because our grandpa did not give him any lead and he did not know how and where to start.
I felt very grateful for what you have started , not only for the Tam or Tan ( as mandarin pronounciation) but also for other grandchild of overseas chinese like ourselves.
Please do let me know about your "Tan Genealogy: Heritage and Lineage"
cheers
|
|
|
Post by Henry on Mar 21, 2009 21:47:10 GMT -5
Hi Tamw,
Yes, see if you can find the Chinese names for your father, grandfather, great grandfather. Can you also find the Chinese names for your ancestral village and also the Chinese name for the nearest market town to your ancestral village - this will help to locate your ancestral village.
When you have this information - then a person can be sent to your ancestral village to identify your village relatives and to try and find a copy of your family genealogy book - in case you cannot find it in Malaysia.
Please contact me on Tomclan@Gmail.com and I can put you on the list of people that would like to get a copy of my forthcoming book.
Regards,
Henry
|
|
|
Post by philiptancl on Mar 27, 2009 2:01:21 GMT -5
I am anxiously looking forward to read Henry forthcoming book on his Tom/Tam/Tham/Tan surname genealogy. I am full of admiration on the tremendous amount of effort and resource (in terms of money and time) that Henry had spent (and is continuing to do so) in undertaking his research, travel, purchase of zupus and genealogy books, and in getting them translated. This is all the more remarkable for one who do not know how to read Chinese and on a surname where hardly any research had been undertaken previously. From what I can gather his book is also going to cover the lineage all the way to Huang Di (the Yellow Emperor). Not many Chinese surname lineage can go back that far.
Whatever amount that Henry is going to charge for his book will never be enough to cover even a tidy fraction of what he had already spend. It surely must be for the love in tracing his Chinese roots and genealogy that he had undertaken this noble endeavor. Further generations of Chinese, with the surname Tom/Tam/Tham/Tan, will no doubt look at his book with gratitude and reverence especially for those who know only English.
It is my great fortune that I get to know Henry Tom through this Forum and subsequently to meet him in person even though we live on opposite side of the world. His generosity not only with his friends and with others, especially in this Forum, knows no bound. I am truly blessed to count him as my friend.
|
|
|
Post by tamkw on Apr 27, 2009 9:04:41 GMT -5
Dear Henry I like to share with you on one of our ancestor named Kapitan Tham Yeong, ...as in Captain that the British colonials of Malaya conferred him. He is from Hoiping too this the webpage lunako.com/NSTam/Tam%20Association.htmWell as for my grandfather tombstone, there is no village name , but i learnt from my uncle that he has a brother who came to malaya with him but lost contact. till then cheers tamkw
|
|
|
Post by Henry on Apr 27, 2009 12:11:23 GMT -5
Dear TamKW,
Thank you for sharing the very interesting URL link about Kapitan Tham Yeong.
Okay, if your grandfather's tombstone does not have his village name, I hope you still took a photo of his Chinese name.
Do you know from which area/county that he came from? Do you have any old envelopes with return addresses in Chinese or any documents that might list his village of birth? It would be very helpful if you could provide the village name.
If not, it will not be easy to find the village - then the research has to be done in the "field". Basically, from your grandfather's name, second character - we will know his "bon pie", the Tan /Tham generational character. Then we have to determine which Tan/Tham villages had people with that "bon pie" around the time frame of your grandfather. Next, each of these villages have to be visited and the village chiefs will have to be interviewed about your grandfather's name and any other names for his father and siblings - until the specific village is located. Then your village relatives can be identified, and my nephew will try to find and make a copy of your family/clan genealogy book. I have to tell you - this is a considerable amount of work.
A few months ago, I only had a name of a Tan/Tham person and knew he was from Xinhui/Sunwui county.
After some heavy duty researching - I came up with the name of his ancestral village and his Tan/Tham family genealogy book - which even had a photo of an uncle of the person who contacted me to do the research. So, it is not impossible.
Ciao,
Henry
|
|
|
Post by Henry on Aug 29, 2010 11:12:30 GMT -5
Dear Clansmen and Colleagues,
Since I moved from Frederick, Maryland to Goodyear (just west of Phoenix), Arizona on July 4th, 2010, I had to shut down my "Tom Genealogy" website because Verizon, the website sever, does not provide telephone service in the Phoenix area and this was a basic condition to have a website on their server.
But, since my website has been offline, I have not received any requests to see the "Tom Genealogy" re-established.
Over this next month or so, I will wait to see if I have any requests, if I do not receive very many requests, I will not re-establish the website because of the lack of interest.
"Tomclan@Gmail.com"
Henry
|
|
|
Post by chumley on Aug 29, 2010 14:08:21 GMT -5
Henry,
I'm not a Tom (Tan), but wanted you to know I did enjoy visiting your website in the past (as well as others from this forum). You've spent an enormous amount of time (years) on your research as well as sharing it on your website (which is a chore in itself).
I didn't join this forum until weeks ago, but have been lurking for years during my own genealogy research. Reading the forum posts, seeing other overseas born Chinese researching their roots and visiting websites created by English speaking overseas Chinese inspired me during my research. Thank you.
|
|
|
Post by Henry on Aug 29, 2010 16:34:47 GMT -5
Hi Chumley,
Thank you for the kind words for my website.
Although my website was focused on my Tan/Tom clan, it had information that was basic for neophytes to Chinese genealogy research - especially for those like me - who could not read or write Chinese.
Okay, if I continue to get positives responses, I will start thinking about how I can re-establish my website in a compact, concise, and interesting manner - much of the information needs to be updated.
Henry
|
|
|
Post by raymond on Aug 29, 2010 21:23:14 GMT -5
Henry,
I share your feeling of being so disheartened that so few people seem to show genuine interest in what we at the forum know as your "work of love" in the Tom genealogy website. We know how important and how timely genealogical information is. Although generating the same enthusiasm and fervor in others is out of our hands, what you have done and continue to do is invaluable and noteworthy, even to those of us who are not Tom's. In due time you shall see the fruits of your labor did not go for naught.......Raymond
|
|
|
Post by wongroots on Aug 30, 2010 0:06:04 GMT -5
Henry,
I wasn't able to see your website as I only discovered this forum a few weeks ago. However, with your help, I inadvertently have my lineage from Huang Di to me without prior knowledge that this is kind of a "holy Grail". I do realize that this is a "genealogy" website but it wasn't my intention to know my lineage when I signed onto this forum. I just wanted to throw out there the name of my ggf and the name of the village and see what kind of bites i would get.
From this forum i have learned so much about Chinese history, can recognize a few Chinese characters and now have a better understanding of clan structure and tradition. On a personal level I now have knowledge of the location of my village and that it still exists. I have a greater foundation to begin research on my own family history now that i have the location of the village and my family lineage.
For me, my interest in family history started less than 2 years ago and required a "perfect storm" of circumstances to bring me where i am now. You don't know what you don't know. When i talk to others about my new hobby, I have to gauge their interest level because some don't really care and i just change the topic quickly. I was in their shoe too at one time. For others who may be interested, they just wouldn't know where to start for lack of information.
Anyhow, to make a long story short, even though I'm not a Tam, I would probably benefit from seeing your website. I picked up a lot of information from our conversations so I'm pretty sure your website will be another valuable source of information. Thanks Dave Dave
|
|
|
Post by Ah Gin on Aug 30, 2010 3:31:01 GMT -5
Henry,
I understand your feeling and line of thinking, regarding if all your Tom Family web-based work means anything to someone else. I for one was and am impressed with your web site, your work, your unselfish approach in answering gene-related questions from old hands and young ones, especially on Location, Location, Location. Your leadership in debating or discussing issues or stimulating research and sharing is exemplary, something this young fellow can learn. My praise comes from the bottom of my heart, and not "blowing smoke".
Regarding your new home state: I am sorry to hear that there are no cheap and cheerful approach to web hosting. As you know, I am from the South, deep south to be exact, and fast internet is still not as fast or cheap as I hope for. For one of my heritage-related web sites, I use Tripod, free of charge. Naturally, there is a limit on the sorts of bells and whistles I can use on my web site. Maybe you can explore that path.
I am also the web master of my Clan Home Page, and for that our Clan subscribed to Network Solution's web hosting. Not very expensive and I don't use lots of bells & whistles.
So from this old fellow, I suggest you carry on, find a free web hosting provider or cheap provider outside your home state and maybe reduce your original site to less information intensive?
Carry on if you please, as the heritage community will surely miss the Tom Site.
Regards, Ah Gin
|
|