Posted by Raymond (72.235.251.83) on September 03, 2008 at 05:55:05:
In Reply to: HOPING TO TRACE MY GRANDFATHERS HERITAGE IN AMOY,CHINA posted by CHinee YAp on September 02, 2008 at 05:30:45:
Chin,
Your post is a bit confusing. I think what you are saying is your real surname is not Yap �t because Yap was simply the surname assigned to a group of Chinese (including your grandfather) when they first came to the Philippines from Amoy, China. Amoy is now called Xiamen in Fujian Province in China. Also, you mentioned that your grandfather's Chinese name is Kim Chay Tik, which obviously verifies that he is not a Yap. Kim ��is a family clan name in Hokkien which is the spoken dialect in Amoy, so your real surname may actually be Kim, not Yap. It would be most helpful if you have an imprint of the Chinese characters on your grandfather's tombstone because it most likely will have the name of his village on it. Absent of that, you will need to do some research to find what village in Xiamen are predominantly Kim villages. Perhaps there is a Kim family association in the Philippines you can visit and look for information on your grandfather. There may also be a Kim family association in Xiamen.
Good luck on your genealogical search.
Raymond