Posted by Raymond (72.234.176.52) on October 16, 2006 at 08:04:56:
In Reply to: Info on Chin Back Dew from Sunwui, Canton to Canada posted by Sharon on October 15, 2006 at 10:09:24:
Sharon,
You need to find a bit more information about your father before you can prudently proceed with your genealogical search. If you know where he is buried, his gravestone marker is likely to have some Chinese characters stating the village or town he is from in Sun Wui (now commonly spelled Xinhui in Mandarin). Also, if you have any old letters he may have received from China, the return address may also indicate the village or town he is from. My other suggestion is to look into Chin/Chen family associations which may have information about Chin/Chen villages in Xinhui County. Finally, take a look at the nearest Kong Chow Association which is the benevolent association for Overseas Chinese who were from Xinhui County, one of the Four Counties (Sze Yup, or Siyi in Mandarin). My parents are also from rural villages in Xinhui County. I have traveled back to my ancestral villages several times. For your information, when specifically identifying what village one is from, the order of progression is County, Town, Village. I have a map of Xinhui County that shows towns and villages, but it is written in Chinese. So, it it imperative that you know the name of either the town or village that your father is from. If you can obtain the Chinese characters for the town or village, then it will be a matter of painstakingly matching it up to the Chinese characters on the map. If the above suggestions do not yield any concrete results, then perhaps an exploratory trip to Xinhui is in order where once there, you can procure the services of a translator/guide and seek out where are the Chin/Chen villages in Xinhui County. Once the villages are identified and located, then you can go to the villages and ask to see a copy of the Chin/Chen family clan genealogy book (called a "jook po", or "zupu" in Mandarin) with hopes of finding the name of your father in it. However, before embarking on a journey there, you may try getting in touch with a contact person in China who has been extremely helpful and resourceful in this type of genealogical sleuth work. He is a travel agent in Guangzhou (capital of Guangdong Province), and his contact information is:
Su Zhiwei
Manager of Europe & America Dept.
China Merchants Travel
Phone: 86-20-83313156, 83312843
Fax: 86-20-83312845
Email addresses:
Email��[email protected]
Finally, for some historical information about Xinhui County itself, take a look-see at the following website link: http://www.legacy1.net/xinhui.html
Good luck in your search. Post any additional information you uncover which may allow me and others to help you get closer to identifying your father's ancestral village.
Raymond