Posted by Raymond (72.235.251.83) on September 03, 2008 at 06:23:46:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Looking for info on James Appoo / Ah Poo posted by John Thatcher on September 02, 2008 at 21:44:53:
John,
Apparently in rural China rivalries among villagers were rampant in the 18th and 19th centuries, and earlier. Many villages have a predominant family clan name, and still do today. Walls were built around villages for protection from intruders and bandits. Rivalries could be family clan(s) vs. family clan(s), region vs. region, ethnicity vs. ethnicity, etc. Many immigrants also harbored these rivalries and carried them to foreign lands as well. In the US the term "tongs" is used to describe some of these rival groups and has taken on a belligerent connotation which is unfair because many of these groups were benevolent in nature. You can Google the term "tongs" and familiarize yourself with the term. However, in terms of searching for information on the nature of the groups in question, I seriously doubt if any information is published about these groups.
Good luck in your genealogical quest.
Raymond