middle character on gravestone

[jinpei]

Hi all,
I would appreciate if any members of the forum could help me translate a chinese character on a relative's gravestone.

The character is the middle one on the attached picture (middle-character.jpg).
The top character is "Ten" & the bottom character, I think, is "Dragon"



alternate url

www.esnips.com/doc/57be8d5c-4d64-49ec-8083-e24a476fdccb/middle-character

I have searched standard chinese dictionaries as well as online dictionaries. If any one knows of this character, could you please reply with the definition and mandarin pinyin or cantonese pinyin please?

Thank you in advance for your help and consideration.
Sincerely,
Jinpei

[laohuaqiao]

墟 and 圩 are the same character, meaning market place. In Cantonese, it's hoeu and in Mandarin, xu.

[jinpei]

Dear laohuaqiao,
Thank you for your assistance. That really helps me a lot!.

Sincerely,
jinpei

(here is a non-related side note: The person buried at this grave was born in North America, and never left the continent. However, the information on the inscription indicates the place of origin as an area in China; probably the same area where the parents are from. It appears I have much to learn!)

[laohuaqiao]

Jinpei,

Are you absolutely certain the person was born in North America, with birth certificate as proof? Always keep in mind many who were born in the 1800s and early 1900s and claimed to born in North America were in fact born in China, though frequently they would state their parents brought them back to China when they were 4 or 5 years old and returned when they were older.

[jinpei]

Hi,
Laohuaqiao that is very interesting. I will see if I can locate the birth certificate. Thank you again for the insight and the information.
Take Care,
jinpei.