Posted by M.H. Yee (142.3.144.167) on August 09, 2004 at 14:41:52:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Can someone help with characters for the following names please. posted by June on April 25, 2004 at 18:18:32:
Since your brother-in-law is deceased, try searching the service bulletin, Chinese obituary, or eulogy as these are often bilingual and mention names of close kin. It is also the Chinese custom to take photos of the deceased and since the floral ribbons have names of the giver, check these, as well. If your in-laws celebrated a major birthday at ages 60, 70, 80, try looking at the invitations as these often list their decendants in both Chinese and English. Along this same line look for wedding invitations. Did your relations belong to a Chinese church? If so, many churches or other voluntary associations, have donation, telephone and membership lists and these are often bilingual. Again, the best methods include talking to older relatives and searching through old papers since many older Chinese will not destroy documents especially if there is even a mentioning of a family member. Unfortunately, knowledge of some written Chinese is vital or much resources may be lost.
MHY