Posted by Lin Kim Lennie Lee on August 13, 1999 at 10:44:37:
In Reply to: Re: Li geneology posted by JWC Low on December 15, 1997 at 17:48:44:
: Well, it's actually better to interview both your parents, other relatives about your grandparents and the family history. Toishan is a large county in Guangdong Province, Southern China. There are many branches of the Li (Lee) family in the various villages in Toishan. You need a village to pinpoint your Li line. If you have the Chinese characters (copies or photos), ask a Chinese translator to help locate the village. Also, don't discount accessing your family through the released US Census which start from 1790-1920 which may be located at the research libraries (archives, genealogy) near you or Latter Day Saints' Family History Center on microfilm. You must know the county & city where your ancestors lived in Oregon. Info given is name of household, occupation, age, sex, marital status, country of birth, other family member names. Doing family history starts with the most recent information on your family and working back.
John Lee:
I agree that if multi-generational American-born Lees who wish to learn about their Toishan heritage and geneology should interview their elders and other relatives like my two grandsons did.
The interviews of elders should include fourt-fifth generations older American=born such as I, like my two grandsons did. I have the advantage of being born in San Francisco's old Chinatown, when Chinese segregations laws were largely still in existence and learn a lot from elders of my era.
Since President Nixon visited China, many American-born Toishanese have taken their families to Toishan.
I took my two grandsons to Toishan, 1984, when they were small children. The older grandson, like many American-born once spoke English only; quit his research job at University of California, Davis, and attended college in Beijing to study formal Chinese, and is presently associated with several Beijing citizens in developing an international related business services.
Does the romanization "Hat Lo Hant Village," Toishan, meant "Iron Stove Canyon" in Chinese? I've romanized "Iron Stove Canyon" as "Hit Lo Houng" in my autobiography.
L. Lee