Posted by Stanley Wong on May 16, 2001 at 16:24:35:
In Reply to: Re: lieu,lau,lew,(etc),lee,wong surnames from toy shan,canton posted by Kathryn Pollick on October 28, 1997 at 08:40:36:
: :My cousin, Julia Wong of San Jose, CA and I have been trying to locate our family from the toy san
: area also.
: Like you I speak no Chinese. Julia knows Cantonese. Most of our
: families that came to America settled in California.
: I believe they came in the 30's.
julia's Cantonese is probably a Toishan dialect
which is very different from Cantonese. A
Toishanese can understand more of the Cantonese
than the Cantonese can of Toishanese.
Mother's low is probably same as lau. My father
came over in 1915. Toishan is a district. You need to know the name of the village because
surnames in a village are often the same. For
example, he told me to tell people who were not
Wongs that he came from "Baiksa?" and to tell
people who were Wongs that he came from "Baiksa?
Chell-Gane? to zero his home area.
: Our mothers are sisters. I only remember my mother's maiden name
: as "Low Sook Git"
: I don't know if this would help but both of our moms were mentally
: unstable. Julia's mother is still alive but mine died 14 years ago
: in San Francisco.
: I need to find out from Julia our mothers' cousin's last name. I
: think she is also from the toy shan area. When I get more
: information I'll email you back if you'd like. Maybe
: through all of us searching we can also come up with some answers.
: Thanks, Kathy Pollick
: am trying to locate family info on these family names
: : from Canton area on the Pearl River delta region. I had
: : the previlege of seeing the villages where my parents
: : were born, with my parents as guides. Unfortunately
: : I cannot read or write Chinese, and would like to get
: : in touch with cousins who still live there. one of the
: : locals actually had a phone line and a computer! I want
: : to ask them to transcribe the family shrinenames for me
: : and if possible, provide dates of key happenings, such
: : as births, marriages,etc. Can anyone out there help?
: : MANY Thanks in advance!!!!!