Tracing Back to Our Ancestors in Fujian First Time

The weather was perfect and after the morning fog disappeared, we could see the landscape clearly. I was sitting by the window. JuTing asked if he could switch seats with me so that he could look outside. I agreed. He was like a little kid on a plane for the first time. We arrived at Xiamen at noon and my brother called right after we got off the plane. He wanted us to be extra careful and not to talk too much, because when I opened my mouth, people would know right away that I was a newcomer. I told him we would be extra careful. He did not trust the people whom I met through our Shangguan family website. I told him that now that I had JuTing with me, I would be okay.

     We took a three-hour bus ride westward to Dingzhou (now 长汀). We met a Shangguan who worked in the local government office. He paged through our Guan family history book on my USB drive and was sure that we were part of the Shangguan there. I told him that I wanted to see Shangguan ChongYong (上官昌永); he said: "your wish would be his command." He called Shangguan ChongYong (上官昌永) right away, asking him to come. Within 15 minutes or so, a man walked in. I thought it was Shangguan ChongYong (上官昌永). He was not, but another Shangguan who would help us settle down. After a few more minutes, Shangguan ChongYong (上官昌永) walked in. I told him that I had called him three times when I was in the US, but all I got was a song that went “you and me…” and the song stuck in my head. He said I must have had the wrong number. I told him that was the number from the Shangguan website. He looked into our family history book too and said we were from the same family of Shangguan. He said he would look into our family history if I sent him a copy.

The Biggest Wine Pot in Tinzhou Wine Festival (100 Pot Feast 汀州百壶[福]祭) 

     Then, the two Shangguans took us to our Shangguan family shrine where we took a picture. The shrine was under repair, which was evident from the bricks lying next to it. After that, they took us out for dinner where I had the traditional Hakka dish, tofu dumplings. Then, they took us to the Hakka hotel and helped us settle in there. They asked about the Guans in Neijiang and Zigong and were surprised that we had 2,000 in such a short time. We were impressed how organized they were. The Guan’s farm was more independent, no one joined Communist party, and they were not interested in any office. They lived off their land. They were surprised that the Guans did not want to get elected; how would you know the government’s new policies if you did not get into local office. You have over 2,000 Guans, but none in the local government. We agreed that the Guans needed to learn from them.

     The next morning, they came to our hotel again to say goodbye, since we were going to Shanghung (上杭), where my ancestors had been. Shanghung (上杭) was a bigger city than Dingzhou. From there, we went to Yongding (永定) Tulou (土樓.) No one there knew where our dragon gate (溪南里 龙门) was.

Shangguan Zhou (上官周1665-1750) stayed in this Shangguan Shrine in  Tinzhou (汀州) when he was young, along with others finished the twelve scrolls of grand masterpiece paintings “Emperor Kangxi Inspects the South” 《康熙南巡图》. Each scroll was 1,552 inches long and 56 inches high. 

     A short school paper written by a thirteen-year-old in 1957 described the place by the pen name Good Hand Connects Clouds (巧手联云). This was the closest thing I could find about the Dragon village (龙门乡寨上). It was divided into upper and lower parts with Dragon gates and two streams running into the Yungding River. Between the two streams, there was a small basin where the land was fertile. They lived in flat houses with land and water, a small community hidden away. They used Zhei (寨) again, just like my grandmother’s and salt merchant’s Zhei (寨) in Sichuan. It was a natural defensive location with minimum reinforcement needed. Only about ten families lived there with about fourteen acres of land hidden away; you could only see about two acres if you were not looking carefully. The rest of the land was hidden away.

     I found the area where our ancestors’ tombs were on the map; it looked like their tombs moved along the Tingjiang River southward, starting from Green Lake (青草湖), Shanghong (上杭) down south to Gaonan Zhuxia (高南竹), Yongding (永定). Yongding’s landscape is composed of 80% hills and mountains, 10% water or rivers, and 10% agriculture fields, which means there was never really room to expand. Today’s Yongding inhabitants are 99% Hakka.

Shangguan (上官) Zhu Pu Storage Box in Shanghong (上杭)

      JuTing and I took a train to Ganzhou (赣州), Jongxi (江西) where my cousins who working for SIMMON in Shenzhen (深圳) met us with their Toyota Highlander. They were my oldest uncle’s daughter and the youngest son. They picked up us from the train station and we stayed at a local hotel overnight before driving to the Guan’s big fortress in Aizi (隘子). We drove along the Qinghua River; the road was in perfect condition compared to the Guan’s farm in Neijiang. The view was just picture-perfect everywhere. It took us over two hours to reach the town. We picked up my contact, Guan Qi-ying (官奇英) a retired pharmacist in Shixing (始兴). He guided us to the Guan’s complex in Aizi. Again, it was amazing that most of the businesses and buildings in the town had our surname Guan, some 8,000 of them.

It was quite overwhelming to be at the actual site of this giant fortress, the biggest in Guangdong Province. Our Guan family owned it until the 1990s when they just could not keep up with the demanding maintenance anymore. They donated it to the government, and the son of Ye Jian-ying (叶剑英) who was also Hakka finally gave a name to our Guan complex called Hakka’s Family Courtyard “满堂客家大围,” although locals still called it the Guan’s family fortress with over twenty Guans still living inside. The Chinese government had spent millions of yuan repairing the place and listed it as a national historical treasure for protection.

Guan Qi-ying introduced us to the elder Guan who kept the Guan’s family history books. We gave him a box of American Ginseng to share and the children American candy. We tried to connect our ancestors with theirs. Their book started from Qian Er-long (means second son 千二郎) in 1442-1448 and ours started from Wan Liu-long (means sixth son万六郎), which was one generation higher than theirs. One generation was missing, we did not know from which Wan ?-long (万?郎) they were from, our Qian Yi-Long (means first son 千一郎) branch was from Wan Liu-long as father. Still, we were the closest match and likely shared the same grandfather. We did not have time to get into our family history in detail. I agreed, however, to give him a copy so he could help connect our history to theirs. We likely shared the same ancestors and they also tried to connect their history to Fujian’s, since we all came from the same place, Dingzhou Shanghong (上杭), and moved southward. They went much further south to Guangdong; we went down a little bit, then far west to Sichuan along the Yangzi River. Their book said that a son, Wen Ming (文明), went to Sichuan as an official. Some of his descendants came back. Is that the same Wen Ming (文明) (former name Xian Ming (献明)) that went to Sichuan and back? We were looking for that lost son as well.

Lunch and dinner were paid for by a Guan who owned the hotel where we stayed. We ate at Hua’s family restaurant. I guessed after all those years, at least one Guan was getting along and doing business with the Hua family now. They served us dog soup (they raised dogs just for meat) and wild rabbit. This dog soup completely spoiled my memory in Kunming right after college when I thought it was so delicious. Now I could not even stand the smell of this and I was not sure why. Maybe I had been influenced too much by the dog culture in America. JuTing, a vegan,  had some special dofu, so I shared his dofu instead. My two cousins enjoyed the meat, since they actually trusted the food here in the remote mountains compared to the big city of Shenzhen, where they had no clue where the food came from.

In the evening, we visited the local artist Guan SuQi’s (官树启) home. He played Erhu and Guzhen (古筝) classics for us and served us tea. In the town, he was a medical doctor and had his own clinic. He was also the director of the local music group. He gave me a copy of his folk music DVD with local scenery as background. I was hoping that I could put them on the Internet to share with others. They were mostly folk songs by Mrs. Du who married into the Guan family.

 Guan SuQi’s (官树启) plays Erhu  

 First Class Erhu player Chen Xionghua's (陈雄华) writing to Guan SuQi

Mrs. Du's   folk songs CD

Intructuction of QinHua Folk Musical Group

My cousins dropped us off at the Shaoguan (昭关) train station, where we took the high-speed bullet train to Wuhan. It was the first time for both of us to take the bullet train; the ride was really smooth and fast, reaching 350 km/hr. We arrived in Wuhan 3.5 hrs later, and boarded a regular train from Wuhan to Chengdu at 6 PM on a sleeping car. What a difference! It was slow and bumpy. When I woke in the middle of the night, I noticed the train was sitting at a stop. I looked out of the window. The stop was Wudangshan Taoist Mountain (武当山), located in northwest Hubei Province. I have always wished that I could climb it.  I just happened to wake up at this stop and open my curtains to look out.  It just happened that the sign was right out of my window.  Maybe some one is trying to tell me to come back or learn Tai Chi.

Wudangshan (Mt Wudang) has seventy-two peaks with steep valleys and beautiful scenery. Tianzhu Peak (Heaven Column) is 1,612 meters above sea level. In the Tang Dynasty (618–907), the Five Dragon Temple was constructed for worshipers. Taijiquan, Xingyiquan and Baguazhang have been considered Wudang style national martial arts. I wished that I could have stopped for a visit.

We came back around 1 PM, took a taxi home, and called my parents to come down to the gate to bring us back to their building. Unlike the old retired man we used to have as a gatekeeper, there were young uniformed security guards with a patrol car standing by 24/7. There had now been many thousands of days now without any crime, disorder, or incident, a lot different from when I was growing up. 
See more :
Guan’s big fortress in Aizi (隘子). 

My Mother's Over 100 Years Old Genealogy ZuPu ( 18 Generations)

Guan family genealogy history books (Zu Pu 族谱) recorded nine generations in Dingzhou (汀州府), Shanghung (上杭), Yongding (永定县溪南里), Fujian(福建) on the coast of China. Tenth generation Wen Gung (文光/獻光/耀远 62 years old) who was a blacksmith, took his son Yuen Hui (云辉  26 years old) and his younger brother Wen Ming (文明/獻明), sailed their own boat from Lake DongTing (洞庭湖) to the Yangzi River, passing through the Three Gorges (三峡) to West Street Neijiang (内江) over 5000 km away, Sichuan. Wen Gung (文光/獻光)'s brother Wen Ming (文明/獻明) returned to the coast. Nine more generations in Sichuan from about 1454 to 1909, covering about 455 years.  Our Zhu Pu Index:

1. The Emperor Kangxi’s Sacred Edicts in 1670 (康熙）聖諭十六條. , I found this close to modern translation of the poem, which turned 16 Chinese commands into a modern poem by Zhu Zeliang, (朱子良) (English translation by Lydia Gerber.)
   聖祖仁皇帝（康熙）聖諭十六條　Kangxi’s Sacred Edicts (1670):
   “1.敦孝悌以重人倫（子孝親兮弟敬哥，一家和氣值錢多。聖賢不出人倫外，留得芳名百代歌。)
   Highly esteem filial piety and the proper relations among brother’s in order to give due importance to social relations.
   2.篤宗族以昭雍睦（祖宗遺下子孫身，根本由來是一人。莫視同宗如陌路，須教族眾共相親。)
    Give due weight to kinship in order to promote harmony and peace.
   3.和鄉黨以息爭訟（萬貫青錢買好鄰，古人垂訓頗諄諄。周旋禮貌存恭敬，彼此幫扶做善人。)
   Maintain good relations within the neighborhood in order to prevent quarrels and lawsuits.
   4.重農桑以足衣食（男耕女織莫蹉跎，耕織勤時衣食多。下撫家室無困乏，上輸國課免催科。)
   Give due importance to farming and the cultivation of mulberry tree in order to ensure sufficient clothing and food.
   5.尚節儉以惜財用（從來淡泊是良方，幾見奢華能久長。但使此身無凍餒，布衣蔬食又何妨。)
   Be moderate and economical in order to avoid wasting away your livelihood.
   6.隆學校以端士習（理學從來景大儒，濂溪嶽麓是良模。敦師說禮崇名教，立志端方品自殊。)
   Make the most of schools and academies in order to honor the ways of scholars.
   7.黜異端以崇正學（積善之家福自隨，何須諂媚尚巫師。速排異說尊周禮，切莫愚迷釀禍根。
   Denounce strange belief in order to elevate the true doctrine.
   8.講法律以儆愚頑（制律原非為殺人，頒行程式儆愚民。若能朝朝殷勤講，自使奸頑志氣純。)
   Explain-laws and regulations in order to warn the ignorant and obstinate.
   9.明禮讓以厚風俗（名分尊卑不可逾，立身行己要謙虛。能明禮義相推讓，風俗自成仁厚區。)
    Show propriety and courtesy to improve customs and manners.
   10.務本業以定民意（勸爾須將生理謀，莫從分外去營求。四民志定無偏向，自致榮華不用憂。)
   Work hard in your professions in order to quiet your ambitions.
   11.訓子弟以禁非為（孩提情性易推移，溺愛安能有好兒！教訓敦敦無懈怠，庶幾日後免非為。)
    Instruct sons and younger brothers in order to prevent their committing any wrong.
   12.息誣告以全良善（止訟應知是善人，忠言逆耳莫相瞋。扛幫挑激非相愛，息事方能種福田。)
   Put a stop to false accusations in order to protect the good and honest.
   13.誡窩逃以免株連（窩隱逃人罪不輕，一家受累九家傾。務須糾察經官府，莫戀親情惹禍端。)
   Warn against giving shelter to deserters in order to avoid punishment with them.
   14.完錢糧以省催科（急公奉上是良民，萬事先當辦課程。依限全完拘繫少，無憂無慮似仙人。)
   Promptly and fully pay your taxes in order to avoid forced requisition.
   15.聯保甲以弭盜賊（賊人化外作頑民，辜負皇恩一片心。保甲相連同恤患，一方高枕得安寧。)
   Get together in-groups of ten or a hundred in order to put an end to theft and robbery.
   16.解仇憤以重身命（怨毒于人不自由，冤冤相報幾時休。亡身招禍非為勇，唾面自乾豈是柔。)Free yourself from resentment and anger in order to show respect for your body and life.”
   Another translation from “China, Korea & Japan to 1800” by Sanderson Beck          1. Stress filial piety and brotherly love to exalt human relations.
   2. Be sincere to your kindred to manifest the virtue of harmony.
   3. Maintain peace in your local communities to absolve quarrels and litigation.
   4. Emphasize agriculture and sericulture to insure a full supply of food and clothing.
   5. Promote thrift to save expenditures.
   6. Expand schools to rectify the behavior of scholars.
   7. Reject heterodox doctrines to honor the orthodox learning.
   8. Make known the laws to warn the foolish and obstinate.
   9. Manifest propriety and righteousness to cultivate good customs.
   10. Accept your own calling to the end that the minds of all may be stabilized.
   11. Admonish your children and youngsters against evil doing.
   12. Eliminate false accusations to preserve the good and innocent.
   13. Refrain from protecting fugitives to avoid collective punishment.
   14. Complete tax payments to dispense with official prompting.
   15. Cooperate with the baojia neighborhood organizations to forestall burglary and thievery.
   16. Resolve vengeance and animosities to guard your own lives.
2. Zhu Xi’s Family Rules(朱子家训):
   夫之所貴者，和也；婦之所貴者，柔也。
   事師長貴乎禮也，交朋友貴乎信也。
   見老者，敬之；見幼者，愛之。
   有德者，年雖下于我，我必尊之；
   不肖者，年雖高于我，我必遠之。
   慎勿談人之短，切莫矜己之長。
   仇者以義解之，怨者以直報之，隨所遇而安之。
   人有小過，含容而忍之；人有大過，以理而喻之。
   勿以善小而不為，勿以惡小而為之。
   人有惡，則掩之；人有善，則揚之。
   處世無私仇，治家無私法。
   勿損人而利己，無妒賢而嫉能。
   勿稱忿而報橫逆，勿非禮而害物命。
   見不義之財勿取，遇合理之事則從。
   讀書不可不讀，禮義不可不知。
   子孫不可不教，童仆不可不恤。
   斯文不可不敬，患難不可不扶。
   守我之分者，禮也；聽我之命者，天也。
   人能如是，天必相之。                                                                                                              此乃日用長行之道，若衣服之于身體，飲食之于口腹，不可一日無也，可不慎哉！    English translation by Xiao En Group (孝恩集团):                                                                            The father cherishes affectionate love of the son; the son cherishes filial piety to the father.
    The ruler cherishes benevolence to the people; the minister cherishes loyalty to the ruler and the country.
    The elder brother cherishes amiability with the younger brother; the younger brother cherishes respect of the elder brother.
    The husband cherishes harmonious relationship with the wife; the wife cherishes tenderness toward the husband.
    In serving the teacher, propriety should be emphasized; in making friends with others, trust should prevail.
    When meeting an elderly person, pay him respect; when seeing a child, give him love.
    Respect a person of virtue even though he is younger than you are, and stay away from a person good-for-nothing even though he is older than you are.
    Be careful not to talk about other people’s shortcomings or show off your superiority.
    Reconcile with your enemies through the practice of justice, and return others’ grumbles against you with sincerity.
    Feel at home and compose yourself wherever or in whatever circumstances you are.
    Tolerate others’ small faults and give reasonable advice to those who have made big mistakes.
    Do not overlook any good deeds or commit any evils however small they are.
    Try to help a person mend his mistake instead of publicizing it and always praise a person who has done a good deed.
    Put aside personal enmities when getting along with people and do not apply private rules when dealing with family affairs.
    Do not make gains at others' expense or grudge others’ abilities and successes.
    Do not get angry and turn irrational with those unreasonable persons.
    Do not transgress against nature and harm any living things.
    Do not accept any unrightful wealth; always follow the path of justice.
    Do not ignore school learning or be ignorant of propriety and justice.
    Educate your children and show sympathy for your boy servants.
    Respect the learned and the virtuous, and help those in difficulties.
    These are principles that all human beings must follow as a way of conforming to the values of propriety.
    By following these principles, you are fulfilling your duties as prescribed by Heaven.
    If you follow these principles, Heaven will reciprocate your effort.
    Like clothes and foods and drinks to our body, they are essential to our daily life and therefore must be taken seriously!”
3. Zhu Bei Lu’s Family Recommendations (朱柏庐治家格言):
   黎明即起，洒扫庭除，要内外整洁；既昏便息，关锁门户，必亲自检点。
    Get up early in the morning and clean inside and outside. Check all the doors before you go to sleep at night.
     一粥一饭，当思来处不易；半丝半缕，恒念物力维艰。
    Think about every meal before you eat and every piece of clothing before you dress. They were not obtained easily.
   宜未雨而绸缪，勿临渴而掘井。
    Prepare everything first; repair the house before the rains. Do not wait until you are thirsty to dig the well.　　
     自奉必须俭约，宴客切勿流连。
    Do not waste; saving is a must. Do not bring up the past while dining with your guests.
     器具质而洁，瓦缶胜金玉；饮食约而精，园蔬愈珍馐。
    Keep China dishes clean, even though they are made from soil; they are better than dishes made of gold and jade. Saving food makes the food precious, even though \ the vegetables are from your garden; they taste better than precious.
   勿营华屋，勿谋良田。
    Do not build luxury homes; do not be eager to buy beautiful gardens.
     三姑六婆，实淫盗之媒；婢美妾娇，非闺房之福。
    Over-exposed beautiful women will not bring happiness home.
   童仆勿用俊美，妻妾切忌艳装。
    Do not hire beautiful maids; wives should not have heavy makeup.
     祖宗虽远，祭祀不可不诚；子孙虽愚，经书不可不读。
    Although ancestors left us a long time ago, memorials should be sincere. Although the grandchildren are slow to learn, they need to learn all the classics.
     居身务期俭朴，教子要有义方。
    Live a simple life; set a good example for the young.
     勿贪意外之财，勿饮过量之酒。
    Do not take things that are not yours; do not drink too much.
     与肩挑贸易，毋占便宜；见贫苦亲邻，须加温恤。
    When doing business with small vendors, do not cheat. Help your poor neighbors.
     刻薄成家,理无久享；伦常乖舛,立见消亡。
    Wealth does not last long when you mistreat others; people who go against nature will not last.
   兄弟叔侄，需分多润寡；长幼内外，宜法肃辞严。
    Family members need to help each other out. The rich need to help the poor. A family needs to have a set of strict rules; the adults need to maintain their principles for the young.
     听妇言，乖骨肉，岂是丈夫？重资财，薄父母，不成人子。
    Listening to women’s gossip will hurt the family; it will not make a good husband. Put money and property first; not taking care of your parents would not be being a good son.
     嫁女择佳婿，毋索重聘；娶媳求淑女，勿计厚奁。
    Do not ask for too many gifts while getting a daughter in-law or marrying a daughter out.
     见富贵而生谄容者最可耻，遇贫穷而作骄态者*莫甚。
     It is a shame just to be nice to a rich man and bad to a poor man.
     居家戒争讼，讼则终凶；处世戒多言，言多必失。
    Avoid confrontations, since there is no winner. Try not to talk too much; avoid things you do not mean to say.
     勿恃势力而凌逼孤寡，毋贪口腹而恣杀生禽。
    Do not take advantage of a widow and her son; do not kill animals just because you want to eat more.
     乖僻自是，悔误必多；颓惰自甘，家道难成。
    A person with self-pride can not get along with others, if unchanged, he is often not successful.
     狎昵恶少，久必受其累；屈志老成，急则可相依。
    Do not get close to bad teens, it will bring you trouble sooner or later. Be humble to the experienced and problem solvers; they could help you when you are in trouble.
     轻听发言，安知非人之谮诉?当忍耐三思；因事相争，焉知非我之不是？需平心暗想。
    Do not believe a person who comes to you to saying someone else is bad. When arguing with others, think hard because it might just be your fault.
     施惠无念，受恩莫忘。
    When you help others, forget. When others help you, be sure to remember.
     凡事当留馀地，得意不宜再往。
    Always leave enough room for others; when successful, be satisfied, not too greedy.
     人有喜庆，不可生妒忌心；人有祸患，不可生欣幸心。
    When others celebrate, do not be jealous; when others fail or experience disaster, do not feel fortunate and happy.
     善欲人见，不是真善；恶恐人知，便是大恶。
    When doing a good deed for show, it does not make a nice person. When doing a bad thing to be hidden, it really makes an evil person.
     见色而起淫心，报在妻女；匿怨而用暗箭，祸延子孙。
    Whenever you see a beautiful woman and have bad thoughts, remember bad things could happen to your wife and daughter. Evil thoughts hurt people; they only hurt your offspring.
   家门和顺，虽饔飧不继，亦有馀欢；国课早完，即囊橐无馀，自得至乐。
    Even poor without much to eat or wear and paying all taxes leaving nothing more, be nice to each other, because it still brings happiness.
   读书志在圣贤，非徒科第；为官心存君国，岂计身家？
    Study classics not for passing the civil examination, but for becoming a good citizen. When becoming an official, you need to put the country’s interests first, not yourself or your own family first.
     安分守命，顺时听天。
    Do your everyday job; live your everyday life. God will take care of the rest.
     为人若此，庶乎近焉。
    If one could follow all of the above, that would be close to the ideal person.  
4. Fourteen pages of specific rules our Guans were suppose to follow, for the guidelines of any future family Zhu Pu (clan book), including ancestors burial, each family member (husband, wives, sons and daughters, sons’ wives), naming sons, financial dealings for family shrines (e.g., harm/disrespect of parents, great-grandparents, punishment from spanking to death, spanking or kicking out of the family shrine if one chose not to work, becoming drunk and committing adultery or visiting a brothel).  The spanking stick (flat bamboo or wooden piece, 3 feet long, 1.5 inch wide)
5. Rules of the Guan Family Shrines, including how each family functions and how to settle family disputes.  How to mange the family shrines, since we had three.
6. List of the Qing Emperors starting from Shunzhi (順治1643-1661); they did not acknowledge two Emperors before ShuZhi, Tàizōng Hong Taiji and Chéngzōng Dorgon.  We all understand why, they had too much blood on their hands.
7. Twelve pages of the family dress codes that I had no clue about.  That is why I hated dressing up all my life.
8. Ten pages of Guan ancestors’ burial maps. 

   

   Burial map of my great great grandfather Rong (溶公1743-1798)

   

   Burial map of Rong's (溶公) wife Tong (童 1745-1807)

9. Three Imperial Edicts (皇帝制曰) for three generations of Guans. (Shortened by Frank Tsay (蔡逢庚), a member of New England Hakka Association. The Emperor awarded three ranks promotion for three generations above Guan Chen Xiang, who was a local fifth rank official.) 成祥克襄王一事,朝廷嘉其功,官加三級,褒其祖上三代,樹德滋嗣,垂教有方,循良教忠,並封贈爵位名號,以示天下天子褒揚有功之士之承諾.    曾祖父 雲輝公 錫封 中議大夫,曾祖母 張氏 封為淑人  祖父 清公 錫封 中議大夫,祖母 黃氏 邱氏 封為淑人    父 立原公 錫封 中議大夫,母 許氏 封為淑人.
   
   
   
   
   
   Imperial Edicts (皇帝制曰) from Guangxu Emperor (光緒) for my family
10.  List of Guan widows who stayed and did not remarry over twenty years.  Fourteen total. Ting Gue’s wife Huang became a widow when she was nineteen years old. Lee Jin's wife Laio was a widow when she was 28 years old, died at age of 77.  Two were recorded in local offical history book.
11. Orders (班次记) before the generation poems: 文祖,辉公, 清(溶洵澝), 立, 成 five generations.  Then 朝庭选举, 忠孝尊荣, 武功丕显, 新体昭明，长思世德, 大振家声 for twenty-four more generations.  We have reached (荣) generation at the Neijiang farm.
    
12. Foreword for this Zhu Pu, which took ten years (during Daoguang 道光) to finish, by Chen Zhong (成仲).
13. Introduction of the Guan family Zhu Pu.  The Guan family moved southward from Shanghang (上杭) to Yongding (永定) during the Southern Song period (南宋1127-1279).  It was about this time when our Shangguan shortened to Guan.  There were about ten generations in Shanhang (上杭) (before the Guan moved to Yongding (永定) and then to Sichuan. By Ju Ren Zhen (恩科举人世姻曾慶昌).
14. Introductions of the new additions of the Guan family Zhu Pu by in-law Ju Ren Zhang (内江庠生世姻晚张龠).  Si Yan 世姻 means that our Guan and Zhang families had been marrying each other for generations.
15. First family wealth divisions since 1724, after 84 years. The first two generations (文祖,辉公) had worked very hard as a blacksmith which started in Rong Chong (荣昌) now (内江).  They expanded the business, including oil houses, land, and other properties with hundreds of employees. Four grown-up sons (清,溶,洵,澝/濘) divided all the family wealth evenly in 1808.
16. New rules set up for the Guan family shrines. Each son contributed 100 Chuan (钏) for the Guan family shrines.  The Guan’s expanded with more farmland, purchased from the Chen’s by Lee Yuan (立原) in 1867.
17.  Memorial for great-great-grandmother Zhang who lived to age ninety-three (Yuen Hui’s wife) by in-law Confucius educator, Jin Si Lo Wen Yong (内江县儒学教諭甲子科副进士罗文黼) and in-law Wu Xi Fan (吴鍚蕃).  Also, a memorial by Jin Zi Wang Go, who built the famous house “景坡楼” in Neijiang. 清嘉庆七年（1802年）进士, 字希仲, 又字退斋, 号称六泉居士山东武定府知府王果.
18. Memorial for great-great-grandfather Wen Gung and Yuen Hui (耀遠,彩祥父子) by in-law Ju Ren Zhen 恩科举人曾慶昌.  And in-law Ju Ren Zhang 内江庠生世姻晚张龠. Memorial for great-great-grandfather Qing (清公) by 板橋居士黄電金.
19. Memorial for our branch’s great-great-grandfather Rong (太学生溶公).  He worked hard with his uncle Zhang in the oil house and sugarhouse.  With the money, they bought the land and built our first family shrine across the river under the foothills of Mt Emei from San Yan Ta. (三元塔) 2,000 Guans still live on this farm today.
20. Memorial for Xuen (洵), Ning (濘), Li Ren (仁).
21. Memorial for our branch’s great-great-grandfather Lee Heng (立亨), who was the beloved youngest son of six. Still, he was a bundle of joy for his parents; he respected them, checked everything with them, and won the greatest love back from his parents.  He was a quiet kind man who never fought with anyone 

Men in Sichuan who made the healthy list: (at least 60 years old)
 Guan Wen Gung (文光) 76.
 Guan Yuen Hui (云辉) 77.
 Guan Xuen (洵) 66.
 Guan Yuan (原) 71.
 Guan Lee Len (立倫) 70.
 Guan Lee Juen (立俊) 66.
 Guan Lee Ben (立本) 62.
 Guan Chen Xiang (成祥) 87.
 Guan Chen Chen (成宦) 86.
 Guan Chen Bing (成冰) 81.
 Guan Chen Yong (成黼) 80.
 Guan Chen Zhong (成仲) 77.
 Guan Chen Yong (成墉) 76.
 Guan Chen Gong (成纲) 75.
 Guan Chen Zhang (成章) 74.
 Guan Chen Mo (成模) 73.
 Guan Chen Kai (成楷) 73.
 Guan Chen Kong (成康) 73.
 Guan Chen Jun (成均) 71.
 Guan Chen Fong (成芳) 66.
 Guan Chen Guen (成桂) 63.
 Guan Chen Sen (成聖) 62.
 Guan Chen Rei (成瑞) 60.
 Guan Chao Xue (朝绪) 76.
 Guan Chao Bing (朝彬) 74.
 Guan Chao Zuo (朝佐) 72.
 Guan Chao Ping (朝聘) 71.
 Guan Chao Lue (朝堃) 70.
 Guan Chao Yang (朝陽) 68.
 Guan Chao Zuen (朝尊) 67.
 Guan Chao Xuan (朝鮮) 67.
 Guan Chao Gie (朝績) 66.
 Guan Chao Wei (朝衛) 64.
 Guan Chao Liang (朝樑) 64.
 Guan Chao Xung (朝馨) 64.
 Guan Chao Zhen (朝政) 63.
 Guan Chao Fu (朝富) 63.
 Guan Chao Yuan (朝元) 63.
 Guan Chao Hen (朝衡) 62.
 Guan Chao Wei (朝緯) 61.
 Guan Chao Lan (朝南) 60.
 Guan Chao Dou (朝斗) 60.
 Guan Ting Zhu (延珠) 77.
 Guan Ting Gi (延璣) 65.
 Guan Ting Kui (延瓩) 64.
 Guan Ting Zi (延芝) 64.
 Guan Ting La (延讷) 61

Wives in Sichuan who made the healthy list: (at least 60 years old)
 Zhang (张淑人) - Yuen Hui’s (云辉) wife 93.
 Qu (邱氏) – Qing’s (清公) wife 85.
 Wang (王氏) - Xuen (洵) wife 85.
 Tong (童氏) Rong (溶公) wife 63.
 Xui (许氏) - Yuan (立原) wife 85.
 Lao (廖氏) – Lee Jin (立敬) wife 77.
  Wang (王氏) – Lee Ji (立基) wife 85.
 Liu (刘氏) – Lee Qian (立廉) wife 77.
 Zhen (曾氏) – Lee Juen (立俊) wife 73.
 Den (邓氏) – Lee Len (立倫) wife 80.
 Den (邓氏) – Lee Heng (立亨) wife 67.
 Xie (谢氏) – Lee De (立德) wife 67.
 Xie (谢氏) – Lee Xin (立信) wife 62.
 Wu (吴氏) – Lee Zen (立仁) wife 61.
 Den (邓氏) - Chen Fong (成芳) wife 93.
 Wei (魏氏) - Chen Mo (成模) wife 79.
 Zhang (张氏) - Chen Kai (成楷) wife 78.
 Zhang (张氏) - Chen Jun (成均) wife 76.
 Wang (王氏) - Chen Rei (成瑞) wife 74.
 Wu (吴氏) – Chen Jie (成杰) wife 73.
 Lin (林氏) - Chen Rei (成瑞) wife 73.
 Zhen (曾氏) –Chen Jian (成鑑) wife 72.
 Wu (吴氏) – Chen Sen (成聖) wife 71.
 Jiang (江氏) - Chen Che (成鐸) wife 71.
 Wu (吴氏) – Chen Bing (成冰) wife 70.
 Xie (谢氏) – Chen Zhong (成仲) wife 70.
 Lin (林氏) - Chen Xiang (成祥) wife 70.
 Zhang (张氏) - Chen Kong (成康) wife 69.
 Sen (沈氏) - Chen Yong (成墉) wife 67.
 Wu (吴氏) – Chen Guen (成桂) wife 66.
 Lie (赖氏) - Chen Xiang (成祥) wife 65.
 Zhou (周氏) – Chen Mo (陈謨) wife 61.
 Ye (葉氏) – Chao Zen (朝禎) wife 85.
 Zhang (张氏) - Chao Zuo (朝佐) wife 85.
 Zhu (朱氏) – Chao Zian (朝赞) wife 85.
 Lu (呂氏) – Chao Qing (朝欽) wife 79.
 Wu (吴氏) – Chao Won (朝望) wife 79.
 Wang (王氏) - Chao Xue (朝绪) wife 78.
 Wu (吴氏) – Chao Zhen (朝政) wife 75.
 Huang (黄氏) - Chao Zuen (朝尊) wife 73.
 Wen (文氏) - Chao Xung (朝馨) wife 72.
 Laio (廖氏) – Chao Xie (朝御) wife 70.
 Xiao (萧氏) – Chao Zhong (朝宗) wife 68.
 Wang (王氏) – Chao Liang (朝良) wife 66.
 Lin (林氏) – Chao Xie (朝炘) wife 66
 Xiao (萧氏) – Chao Bong (朝邦) wife 65.
 Li (李氏) – Chao Yi (朝儀) wife 65.
  Laio (廖氏) – Chao Liang (朝樑) wife 65.
 Xiao (萧氏) – Chao Kuen (朝坤) wife 64.
 Geo (郭氏) – Chao Dong (朝棟) wife 64.
 Liu (刘氏) – Chao Wei (朝緯) wife 63.
 Zhen (曾氏) – Chao Zuen (朝凖) wife 61.
 Li (李氏) – Chao Pei (朝佩) wife 60.
 Fan (范氏) – Ting Zhu (廷珠) wife 74.
 Lan (蓝氏) – Ting Zhi (廷芝) wife 64.
 Wang (王氏) – Ting Kui (延瓩) wife 62

18 Generations, 9 from Fujian and 9 from Sichuan:

First generation: Wan Sixth Nong (万六郎公 1442) and his two wives Liang (梁) and Yan (严) lived in Dingzhou, Shanghung (上杭).  They lived and died there.  All were buried together near Green Lake 青草湖.  They had two sons, the younger son Lian Er (念二) and his wife Huang (黄) stayed, Lian Yi (念一)  moved to Yongding Qi Nan Li’s Dragon Gate village. (永定县龙门乡横溪里中).
Second generation: Lian Yi (念一郎公 1460) and his wife Zhen (曾氏 )had a son De Zhong (德宗公). He and his wife were buried in Lo Bei Beitou Eou (羅 (罗)埤背頭窝).
Third generation: De Zhong (德宗公 1480) and his wife Zhang (张氏) had a son Fa San Long (法三郎).  He and his wife were buried in Hen Qi Gehuli Eou (横溪隔湖裏窝).
Fourth generation: Fa San Long (法三郎公 1510) and his wife Ruan (阮氏) had a son Fa Young (法養公).  He and his wife were buried in Si Gou Beitou Eou (石窝背頭窝).
Fifth generation: Fa Young (法養公 1540) and his wife  Liu (刘氏) had a son Fa Rong (法荣公).  He had his wife were buried in Pen Gou Sai Beitou Eou Hen Qi Li (棚古塞背頭窝横溪田里).
Sixth generation: Fa Rong (法荣公 1560) and his wife Zhang (张氏) had a son Fa Bao (法保公).  He and his wife were buried on the left side of Guan Wu Eou (官屋窝左边上下二穴).
Seven generation: Fa Bao (法保公 1590) and his wife Guan (關/关氏) had a son Zi Won (子旺公).  They were buried in Jiao Tou Eou (蕉頭窝).
Eighth generation: Zi Won (子旺公): his two wife Lo (罗氏) had two sons.  buried in Jao Tou Eou Tian Shang (蕉头窝田上). Shang Len (尚能) and Shang Li.( married to Wen (温). He was buried in Gao Nanzhou Eou Tien (高南竹窝田上) and his wife was buried in Hu Da Eou Gou (虎打窝沟上).  They had a stone memorial.
Ninth generation: Shang Len (尚能公 1620) and his two wives Wu(吴),Liao (廖氏 ) had two sons.  The oldest one was Wen Gung (文光), (former name Xian Gung (獻光) and the younger son was Wen Ming (文明) (former name Xian Ming (献 明).  Shang Len was buried in Gao Nan Zhou Eou Tien (高南竹窝田), there was a porcelain memorial (有瓦碑) and his wives were buried in Han Tang Li Guang Long Bian Tien (旱 塘裏广垄边田上).  The two sons went to Sichuan in 1724 (雍正甲辰二年).  Xian Ming (獻明) returned and the oldest Xian Guan (獻光) stayed in Sichuan (往西蜀居内江县西街).
Tenth generation: Wen Gung (文光 1662-1738), former name Xian Gung (獻光), courtesy name Yao Yuan (耀远), born between 7-9 am on May 15, 1662 (康熙元年) in Yongding (永定县溪南里龙门乡寨上横溪人). His wife, Wang (王), passed away in Fujian Yongding and was buried next to his father Shang Len’s two wives, Wu and Laio, in Han Tang Li Guang Long Bian Tien (旱 塘裏广垄边田上).  At age sixty-two, Wen Gung gave up his comfortable life at home and took his son Yuen Hui (云辉 who was twenty-six years old at the time) and his younger brother Xian Ming (獻明/文明) on a very difficult journey to West Street Neijiang (内江), Sichuan over 5,000 km away with a great vision.  They brought ready-to-eat food with them with minimal luggage.  They sailed their own boat from Lake DongTing (洞庭湖) to the Yangzi River, passing through the Three Gorges (三峡) on the way. Wen Gung opened a blacksmith shop and bought properties there.  He died at age seventy-six.  He had built his own burial site before he died on the East Side of the new town, ba lipai lou (八里牌楼冲). Xian Ming (献明), did not like to stay in Sichuan and went back to Fujian, where we lost contact.
Eleventh generation: Yuen Hui (云辉公1699-1775) (courtesy name 彩祥) was born between 3-5 PM on June 11, 1699 in Yongding (永定县溪南里龙门乡寨上, 横溪人).  In 1724, he followed his father to Sichuan.  He was a blacksmith and soon owned his own oil house.  His great-great grandson Chen Xiang (成祥 1820-1906) was a fifth rank official (清正五品概授奉政大夫) in (Xue County)叙县 (today’s XueYong County (叙永县).  He was promoted as a Mandarin of the third rank Qing official (三品中/通议大夫) by the Guangxu Emperor (光绪) on February 12, 1880, three ranks higher than his great-grandson.  He died in his oil house in Bei Town (椑镇) in 1775 at age seventy-seven.  He was buried on April 3 at Fu Yi Zhao Ba Zhong SiBa Zuei Xiang Lian Hua Xing (富邑廟壩场石壩嘴乾 向蓮花形). In 1812, his grandson Guan Lee Ji (立基) was a salt official in the center of the salt trading city of Hangzhou 杭州 (候补分司-盐务分司长官,掌督察各盐场, 辅助盐运使 盐法道管理盐务). Lee Ji was in charge of salt wells and salt transportation.  He performed Yuen Hui’s second burial and listed Wen Gung and Yuen Hui in the local history book. Local official (邑侯浙西顾文耀) also wrote the four-word phase 源远流长, which means a long stream from a well-established distant source, which implied the Guan family’s root extended far away.  His wife Zhang (张) was born between 3-5 am on February 23, 1715 in Wu Ping County (武平县), Dingzhou, Fujian.  Her father Zhang Jiu Se (张九思) took her and her brother along to Sichuan when she was twelve.  She married Yuen Hui (云辉公) at age seventeen.  She was a good wife and died in the winter of 1807 at an oil house in Bei Town (椑镇) at age ninety-three.  She was buried on right side of Chen Family Shrine (陈壩宗词).  On February 28, 1830, her second burial was done in Mt Emei. Around 1890, she was awarded third rank’s wife Sue Zen (淑人祖母) and listed on Tombstone 碑阴墓志.  They had five sons: FuXing 福星(died young), Qing清, Rong溶, Xuen 洵, Ning 濘. and five daughters. The second son 溶 was our branch’s grandfather.  The left side of the word sons’ names contains the character for "water".
Qing (清公 1740-1797), courtesy name was Ming Yuan (明远). He was born between 7-9 am on April 14, 1740.  He was a Tian Xuie Shen 太学生.  He not only studied books, but also practiced very good martial arts.  He never spent a lot of money on himself, but was generous to others.  His grandson, Chen Xiang (成祥), was a fifth rank official (清正五品概授奉政大夫) in Xu Xian 叙县 (today’s Xu Yong Xian 叙永县).  The place Xu Xian was the central water transportation hub. Chun Qiu Ci (春秋祠) was built by salt merchants in 1900. He was promoted as a Mandarin of the third rank Qing official (三品 通议大夫 中议大夫) by the Guangxu Emperor (光绪) on February 12, 1880, which was three ranks higher than his grandson.  He died on February 5, 1797 at age fifty-seven.  His second burial was between 3-5 PM on March 5, 1843 at Ye Xiu Chong (岳秀冲寅向).  His first wife Huang (黄) was born between 11 pm and 1 am on February 3, 1739.  She was the aunt of DeRen (德仁) of LoShan (乐山), who was a GongShen (贡生), also called MingJing (明经), essentially smart people who advised the Emperor. (科举时代, 挑选府, 州, 县生(秀才)中成绩或资格优异者, 升入京师的国子 监读书,称为贡生. 意谓以人才贡献给皇帝. 清代贡生, 别称“明经”).  She was awarded as a Sue Zen 淑人.  Her Huang family was well-known as a big noble family with great numbers of officials throughout history (江夏巨族, 昭皇恩浩荡, 圣德优渥).  She died between 7-9 AM on April 7th 1765 at age twenty-six after giving birth to her only son, Ben (本).  She was buried in Chen Ba  (陈壩丑向). Guan Qing married again to Qou (邱), who was born at noon on March 25, 1755.  She was like his first wife from a noble family and she too was promoted to a Sue Zen (淑人). She died between 3-5 PM on June 15th 1860 at age eighty-five.  She was buried on the left side in Chen Ba (陈壩). Guan bore Qou two girls and two boys. The boys’ names were Ben (本) and Yuan (原).
Lee Ben (立本 1764-1825), former name Huai Yi (怀义). His courtesy name was RouQuan (如泉) and his pseudonym was BeiTong (柏堂). He was born between 7-9 AM on September 29, 1764. He was a Young Shen or Xung Che (秀才或庠生), loved poems and paintings, and never stopped studying. He was well-known far away from home for his good manners and skills as a public speaker. He died between 7-9 PM on October 2, 1825 at age sixty-two and was buried in Chen Ba (陈壩). His wife Zhang (张) was born on May 28, 1764 and died between 1-3 PM on February 3, 1818 at age fifty-five and was buried in Tong Fu San(同夫山). She had three sons: Long (龙), Feng (鳯), Shi (狮).
Chen Long (成龙 1784-1829), former name Lee Zhong (理常), was born between 7-9 am on May 6, 1784 and died between 5-7 PM on July 2, 1829 at the age of forty-six.  His wife Zhang (张) was born between 5-7 AM on Oct 16th 1782.  She had a girl and four sons: Fu (辅), Rang (勷), Xiang (相), Bi (弼).
Lee Yuan (立原 1797-1867 was the second son of Qing Gou (清公). He was born between 3-5 AM on February 14, 1797 anddied in 1867 at the age of seventy-one. His second son, Chen Xiang (成祥), was a fifth rank official (清正五品概授奉政大夫) in Xu Xian (叙县) (today’s Xu Yong Xian (叙永县).  He was promoted as a Mandarin of the third rank Qing official (三品 通议大夫 中议大夫) by the Guangxu Emperor (光绪).
Chen Xiang (成祥 1820-1906) was born on July 8, 1820 and died on June 24, 1906 at age eighty-seven.  He was a Mandarin of the fifth rank official (清正五品概授奉政大夫) in Xu Xian (叙县) (today’s Xu Yong (叙永县).  The place was the closest way out from Sichuan eastward to the sea.  It neighbored Yunnan and Guizhou and it was an important transit point.  He was an example of what a man should be: fair to others, disciplined, accumulated a lot of land, and helpful to his father, brothers, and whole family. 
Twelfth generation: Rong (溶公 1743-1798) was the second son of Yuen Hui (云辉公). He was born between 1-3 AM on September 28, 1743. He was a student in Ge Zi Jian (国子监) which was the highest place of learning in the country (諡恵勤 太学生).  He was brilliant and fair with the country’s fare.  He was a reformer with vision for the new China. He died between 5-7 PM on Aug 5th 1798 at age fifty-five.  His second burial was between 7-9 AM on July 24, 1882 in Chen Family Shrine (陈壩棠棣祠). His first wife, Chen (陈), was a thrifty good wife.  She was born at noon on July 12, 1742, and died between 5-7 PM on May 2, 1763.  She was buried in Yue Xiuchong (岳秀冲).  She bore him a son Ren (仁).  His second wife Tong (童) was born between 5-7 PM on Feb 12, 1745.  She was a kind, hard-working caretaker. She died between 7-9 AM on September 17, 1807.  She was buried in Chang Yan Pu Zhang Da Wan (长堰舗张大塆).  She had two daughters married to Zhang (太学生) and Peng Gu-Se. She had six sons Huai Lee (怀禮), Ren (仁), Xing (信), Jing (敬,) Lun (倫), and Heng  (亨). The first son Huai Li (怀禮) died young and was buried with his first wife, Chen.  The youngest son Heng (亨) was our branch’s grandfather with his second wife, Tong.  He bought land from Chen and built the first house on today’s Guan Farm.  The house became the second Guan family shrine (中祠堂).
Thirteenth generation: Lee Heng (立亨 1788-1823) was born between 3-5 AM on December 24, 1788.  He was a great man: friendly, kind, and caring.  He was also a law-abiding citizen (英伟敦笃孝友气度端嚴).  His father Rong (溶公) died when Lee Heng was ten years old and he lost his mother when he was nineteen.  Unfortunately, there was no mention of how the wealth was distributed.  The new group in charge was not fair to our youngest great-great grandfather.  He had to abandon his private education and work on the family farm from before daybreak until sundown.  He died between 1-3 PM on Oct 17, 1823 at age thirty-five.  He was buried in Chen Family Shrine (陈壩).  His wife Deng (邓) was born between 11 PM-1 AM on June 25, 1789.  She died between 7-9 PM on April 21, 1879 and was buried in Tong Fu San (同夫山).  They had one daughter and two sons. The sons were Gui (桂) and Fong (芳). 
Fourteenth generation: Chen Gui (陈桂 1809-1872). His Pseudonym was Fu Chuan (福川), which means “happy Sichuan.”  He was born between 5-7 PM on April 4,1809 and died between 5-7 PM on July 19, 1872 at age sixty-three.  He was buried in Xian Li Xiang Tan (仙里響滩).  He lost his father when he was fourteen years old.  He and his brother Chen Fong likely moved away from the farm to Zigong for salt.  He started our salt business.  Chen Gui was smart and quick to react in any situation (性敏达明哲智畧过人).  His wife Wu (吴) was born between 1-3 AM on Oct 1,1807 and died between 3-5 PM on June 8, 1873.  She was buried with her husband.  Her two daughters married to Wu Wenyao (太学生) and Wang.  Her two sons were Zong (宗) and Liang (梁).  The oldest son Zong (宗) was our branch’s grandfather.
Fifteenth generation: Chao Zong (朝宗 1841-1882). His Pseudonym was Fu Chuan Zhi (福川).  He was born between 3-5 PM on the third day of the full moon in 1841.  He was a brilliant smart businessman and merchant (精明纯雅商业超羣).  Chao Zong died between 5-7 AM on February 24, 1882.  He was buried in Ge Xian LiLi Jia Ge zi San (葛仙里李家溝子山).  His wife, Xiao (肖), was born between 7-9 AM on February 6, 1844.  Her two daughters married Fan Mon Chuan (范懋川) and Huang Ge Fan (黄国藩) Her two sons were Liao (燎) and Kun (焜).  The left side of the word for both sons’ names contains the character for fire (火).  The older son’s name, Liao (燎), means the “spread of fire.”  He was our branch’s grandfather.
Sixteenth generation: Ting Liao (廷燎) was born between 5-7 AM on September 2, 1864.  His wife Liu (刘) was born between 9-11 AM on Oct 21,1862.  Liu’s brother was a trainer for officials (训导泰阶), a position that was the seventh level for a Qing official.  She had two daughters; the oldest one married Tong Jiesan (童吉三) and the younger one married Wang.  One owned a silk worm farm processing plant and the other owned a sugar plantation and refinery plant.  Her five sons were Quan (銓), Jian (鏗), Zhen (鏳), Yong (鏞), Cei (鎡).  The left side of the word of each son’s name has the character for gold (金).  He gave his second son Jian (鏗) and fifth son Cei (鎡) to his brother Ting Kun (廷焜) as stepsons.
Seventeenth generation: Xuan Quan (选銓 1881-1960). His Pseudonym was Yi Su (一书).  He was born between 11AM-1 PM on April 11, 1881.  His wife Li (李) was born between 1-3 PM on February 25, 1882; she  died between 11 AM - 1 PM on June 14, 1906.  She was buried in Chen Family Shrine (陈壩).  His second wife Lou (罗) was born between 9-11 PM on October 27, 1886.  She had one son named Yu (煜) who was born between 5-7 AM on September 17, 1909. 
    My grandfather was the third son of Ting Liao (廷燎).  Xuan Zhen (选鏳) born between 9-11 PM on September 14, 1895. His style name was Ze Shu (泽书). The fourth son was Xuan Yun (选鏞), who was born between 11am-1 PM on November 4,1898.
    Chen Guen (陈桂)’s second son 朝梁 was born between 11 AM-1 PM on March 9, 1845 and died between 7-9 PM on August 20, 1863 at age eighteen.  He was buried in Chen Ba (陈壩).  He adopted his older brother Chao Zong (朝宗)’s younger son (廷焜).
    Ting Kuen (廷焜) was born between 11 PM –1 AM on February 3, 1878.  He died between 9-11 PM on May 8, 1905 at age twenty-seven.  He was buried in Chen Ba (陈壩).  He adopted his older brother Ting Liao’s (廷燎) second son Jian (鏗) and fifth son Cei (鎡).  Xuan Jian (选鏗) was born between 3-5 PM on November 24, 1887. Finally, Xuan Cei (选鎡) was born between 9-11 AM on February 12, 1903.
     By look our generation poem again: 朝庭选举, 忠孝尊荣, 武功丕显, 新体昭明，长思世德, 大振家声.

     My grandfather Xuan Zhen (选鏳)  barely made it into seventeenth generation (Xuan  选) in this over 100 years old Zhu Pu.   My mother Guan Ju Fen (官举芬) is the eighteenth generation (JU举) and I am in nineteenth generation Zhong (忠).  My sons are in the twentiesth generation Xiao (孝) and their children will be the twenty first generation Rong (荣).  There are still have five generations living on our Guan farm.  They are Xuan, Ju, Zhong, Xiao and Rong (选举忠孝尊荣).  Four generations( 四世同堂) living are considered a good family, we have five.  So we should be very proud.

Please help to rebuild the eleventh generation (1699-1775) grandfather Guan Yuen Hui ' s tomb: 亟待修复的内江官氏祖坟-云辉公墓

Please wire your donations to Yuen Hui ' s tomb restoration payable to: 

Guan zhong pu (官众仆)
新修内江官氏祖坟外地捐款帐号：   中国工商银行四川内江支行玉溪路分理处

                                                      官众仆 621723 2307000080724

(由本人负责管理海内外捐款，保证每一分钱都用到修祖坟上。重申：人民币1万以上刻碑面、1千以上刻碑阴、100以上记入族谱）

 

The Recovery of Family Genealogy Zhu Pu – Clan History Book

JuTing was able to bring us to the family who held one set of our family’s history books, Zhu Pu ((族谱) . He also took us to meet the family who kept three life-sized color paintings of our ancestors wearing Qing official uniforms, our ancestor’s first two generations in Sichuan, Wen Gung (文光) his son YuenHui (云辉) and his wife Zhang (張氏). I took pictures of the 3 color paintings, some torn although they have been repaired three times already. I was not sure what all of the symbols meant, but I liked them and felt proud as well. I was so excited to see the four old clan books, which recorded eighteen generations of the Guans since my great-grandfather. The general rule for a Chinese clan book is to record nine generations before you at the present, and to prepare space for nine generations after the present. I thought about my oldest uncle; I had to call him to tell him the good news. He was very surprised and excited as well.

Tenth generation: Wen Gung (文光 1662-1738), former name Xian Gung (献光), courtesy name 耀远, was a blacksmith from Fujian Yongding (永定县溪南里龙门乡寨上横溪). His wife, Wang (王), passed away in Fujian. When he was 62 years old in 1724, along with his younger brother Xian Ming (献明), he took his son Yuen Hui (云辉 who was 26 years old at the time). They sailed their own boat from Lake DongTing (洞庭湖) to the Yangzi River, passing through the Three Gorges (三峡), and settled down in Neijiang (内江), Sichuan. Xian Ming (献明), did not like to stay there and went back to Fujian, where we lost contact.



 

Eleventh generation: Yuen Hui (云辉公1699-1775) (courtesy name 彩祥) was born between 3-5 PM on June 11, 1699 in Yongding (永定县溪南里龙门乡寨上横溪). In 1724, he followed his father to Sichuan. He was promoted to Mandarin third rank Qing official (三品中议大夫/通议大夫) by the Guangxu Emperor (光绪) on February 12, 1880.

 



Yuen Hui’s (云辉公) wife Zhang (张) was born between 3-5 am on February 23, 1715 in Wu Ping County (武平县), Dingzhou, Fujian. Her father Zhang Jiu Se (张九思) took her and her brother along to Sichuan when she was twelve. She married Yuen Hui (云辉公) at age seventeen. She was a good wife and died in the winter of 1807 at an oil house in Bei Town (椑镇) at age ninety-three.  She was buried on right side of Chen Family Shrine (陈壩宗词). They had five sons: FuXing 福星(died young), Qing清, Rong溶, Xuen 洵, and Ning 濘.  They also had five daughters. The second son 溶 was our branch’s grandfather. On February 28, 1830, her second burial was done in Mt Emei. She was awarded third rank’s wife Sue Zen(淑人祖母) by the Guangxu Emperor (光绪) on February 12, 1880. Notice the dragon’s claws on her clothes, only Emperor could have five claws, she had four. Korean Emperor allowed four, but Japanese only allowed three claws. Although no more emperor, people in China (5), Korea (4) and Japan(3) still follow the rule.

The next question was how to get this old fraying book out of the farm, since there was no copier or scanner, plus we did not have enough money to copy or scan even if there was one. They were not about to let us take their books away. Finally, we reached an agreement for JuTing to go with us back to the city. My sister and I had opposing views about which city we should bring the books to. She wanted to go home to Chengdu, three hours away; I wanted to go back to my uncle’s house, one hour away. I wanted to make sure the four books were the copies of the same ones my uncle had burned in the Cultural Revolution and only he could tell. I had to let my sister go back to Chengdu to my parents, since she would not want to go back to my uncle’s. JuTing went along with me back to my uncle’s house again.

We had to already let our taxi go, since we could not afford for him to just wait. We had already paid him 400 yuan. Now, we had no other transportation except our two feet. It was already about 4 PM. Now, JuTing was going to take us by the shortest walking route to reach Bei Mu Zhen (椑木镇). From Bei Mu Zhen (椑木镇), we would take a bus back to Neijiang. Then, we planned to arrive in time to catch the last bus at 6 PM to Chengdu for my sister and for the rest of us to Zigong. We walked down slope to reach the river and took a ferry across.

When we reached the ferry, a man was sitting on the boat, enjoying his drink alone. My American thinking came right out, drinking on the job? He was drinking hard liquor, not wine or beer. I felt a little uneasy, since he would be the one to take the three of us across. He greeted JuTing like an old friend and invited him to join him for a drink first. 

 He said “eat wine” (吃酒), which was so familiar to me. “The Dream of the Red Mansion (红楼梦),” a well known Chinese Classic.  It was about paying back the debts from previous life.  The Chinese view heaven and earth very differently from the West.  Earthly lives are recycled and tend to be balanced. Only few could actually get into heaven and hell.  Life in heaven is forever, no human desires so some might even want to come down to the earth to live a short human life.  People in hell had to work very hard to correct their wrongs.  The basic idea was that any debts left over in this life would have to be paid back in the next, or by your love ones.  I have always loved watching the story in plays and movies.  The story setting was very much like my family; the grandmother and the language were very familiar to me.  My grandmother was the one who held our family together and my mother’s grandmother was the one who held the previous generation together.  Our language at home was very similar to the movie too.  For example, we use “eat wine,” not “drink wine;” “eat cigarette,” not “smoke cigarette.”  When I am sad, I love listening the song of Pao Yu (宝玉) crying in front of Dai Yu’s (黛玉) shrine; I would cry with him.  It was as if I wanted to bury all my problems and start over again. 

Dream of Red Mansions 【Eng Sub】

Wine here means hard liquor, not really wine. People do not really drink wine or beer in this area. He would take us across after a few drinks. I was a little concerned about his drinking and driving the boat, since who knew how long he had been drinking here. Nevertheless, I needed to keep my mouth shut and let JuTing deal with him, since this was his territory after all. JuTing asked, almost ordered him, to take us right away, since we were in hurry. The boatman was not very happy, but got up right away. I asked him how much I owed him, since he was going to take just three of us across; he said 5 yuan, which was less than a dollar. JuTing overheard and said to me, “No, do not pay him.” The man did not say a word. I looked at him and gave him five yuan anyway and put my finger on my mouth, “shhh.” He smiled. In fifteen minutes or so we were on the other side of the river. Now, walking up the hill was more of a challenge, since the railway was on the upper slope.

Walking on the railway reminded me of my childhood, growing up with cousins in Zigong. We had to walk on the railway to visit my oldest uncle’s workplace, the shortest way. My oldest uncle had walked one hour each way to and from his work until he retired. We used to be daring; we competed to see who could walk on the iron rail without falling off. We would feel the track shaking and see the train coming before we left the tracks. Sometimes, we would put our ear on the tracks to hear far-away trains. Now, walking on the tracks made me nervous. I have become more fearful as I age, not less. I was not a young girl anymore, not to mention my little sister, who was walking behind us. She had never experienced all of this. She had always been with my mother growing up in the city. Then, we had to walk through a tunnel. I was getting really nervous that a coming train in the tunnel could actually swipe us away. Juting said there should not be any trains coming. Even if there was, an indented area along the walls appeared every now and then, so if a train did come, we just would have to make it there.

From Bei Mu Zhen (椑木镇), we took a bus back to the Neijiang bus station. Then, we took a taxi to my aunt JuLiang’s place to pick up our stuff. She was so excited that she could not believe that my sister and I had found our family history books, shrines, and 2,000 Guan relatives. She was extremely shocked and happy. She said, “It took you coming all the way from America to find all those. What an achievement!” I was trying to tell her it must be our ancestors’ wish to let us find them. All along the way, we were just lucky enough to find the right people. She wanted to have us stay for dinner and spend the night. We had to say goodbye though, since we wanted to catch the last bus out.

Getting on the bus, I suddenly felt hungry and tired. We had not eaten since morning and now it was dinnertime. I felt sorry for dragging JuTing along with me. He said he was used to this kind of life, as long as I was okay. My oldest uncle took us out for dinner, but found out that JuTing was vegetarian. We had to head to a different restaurant. JuTing had stopped drinking and eating meat a few years ago years after his wife died from cancer.

After dinner, we took our family history books to the nearest printing shop (open 24/7). To scan the four books and print three sets overnight cost about 1000 yuan. We could pick them up the next morning. It was their first time scanning such an old book, so they did not know the book started with the last page first. They scanned the first page first like today’s book. I kept reminding them to keep the books in a safe place and warned them not to lose them overnight. They promised me that they would keep the books safe.

I could not go to sleep right away after I had let the books go. I wanted the original copy; maybe I could buy a copy of the clan books from them. The books would be gone soon anyway if not kept away from the humidity as they were in now. I wanted to keep them in constant temperature and humidity. Also, I needed to do something about that tombstone, to make the words show up on my photos. I did not have time to wait there, since I still had trips to Fujian and Guangdong to make. Maybe we could just get some paint ourselves to fill those words, so I could take a picture.

The next morning, my sister called telling me that she was finished accompanying me on my trips to the East Coast. I would have to go by myself. I should have known she would say this, since she did not even want to go on trips in Zigong. Still, I was a little scared to go all by myself, so I told JuTing about my situation. I asked if he was interested in going with me if I would cover all his expenses. He agreed.

We were back at the tomb site in the afternoon; JuTing found two more Guans to help us paint the words on the tombstone. By 4 PM, however, it was getting dark and we could not finish. Therefore, we decided to stay overnight in one of the Guan’s houses. I stayed in JuDe’s house, where a copy of the original family books was held.

While waiting for the morning fog to clear, so I could take pictures after the painting was finished, JuTing and JuDe took me around the farm to see more elders in my grandfather’s generation. I found that most of their generation had blue-ringed eyes (central iris heterochromia), while only two in the Ju generation had it and none in our generation. Most had light brown eyes.  I was not sure from where that blood had come. JuDe said his father was gone most of his life as a businessman; he did not settle down until he was almost fifty years old and had nine kids afterward on this farm. They did not know what he was doing out there. It had something to do with boat transportation. Back in their generation, most men were always away on business and earned money to bring back home. I wished that someone could tell me what kind of business they were doing. Did it have anything to do with our salt? No one knew; whatever they were doing out there, it had stopped and they came back and never went out again. They had enough money to have six wives and multiplied into 2,000 persons today; it had to be the salt.



It was noon when we finally finished the tombstone. Coming down the mountains, I noticed abundant lemons on the trees. They looked ripe and ready to pick. They told me that they were still waiting for buyers. If no one came or the price was too low, they would not pick them. I was shocked, they would not pick them? Let them rot in the field because it was not worth it? There were a few tons of them rotting in the field. “Why don’t you go out to sell them?,” I asked them. They said lemons were not easy to sell. “Why are you growing them then?” They said that it was from the top down; the government asked them. I was shocked, since everywhere else farms had become more market-oriented. They said that last year a buyer came with a truck to carry out lemons. On the way out, the head of the village stopped the truck and asked for 600 yuan to use the road. They started arguing about the money; this year, the buyer did not come again. “No kidding, what were you guys doing?,” I exclaimed. “How could you let this happen? They were your customers; you do not ask for money to use your road. Now, you have tons of lemons in the field and nobody is interested. And you are sitting here, waiting for whoever to come by again.”

We were talking about lemons while coming down the hill; they picked a half dozen lemons for me to take home. It was noon. They insisted that I stay for lunch with them. I agreed, but did not expect them to cook for three tables surrounded by people. The elders were really glad that I was ready to help them update the family history books. They said it was long overdue. I told them it would be all up to them; they had to gather all the information. It would simply be a matter of typing the information into a computer and printing. The hard part was to get all the information from the 2,000 Guans there. JuDe promised me he would collect it. I also asked him to ask all the elders, while they were still around, which tomb was which, since the tombstones were gone or the words had faded away. The best way to preserve the site was to make it into a pubic cemetery where the government or a businessman wanted to invest. Then, they could sell plots and work in cemeteries. That way, they would have money to rebuild the road, have jobs, and keep our ancestors tombs away from developers.

JuTing needed to stop at his place to get a few changes of clothes for traveling with me to the East Coast. He lived on the 7th floor of his building, mostly by himself. It was a very neat 3-bedroom condo. In his bedroom, I noticed he had a picture of Buddha and a Christian Angel above the headboard of his full bed side by side; across was his wife’s poster-size picture with a black border. He told me the Buddha was his teacher and the Angel was protecting his life; he needed both. He had three daughters, two married and the youngest one sometimes stayed with him here. After a few minutes, JuTing finished packing and we went back downstairs. His son-in-law was already waiting for us with his motorcycle to bring us to the bus stop for Neijiang. We did not go to see our aunt this time, but we went to the long distance station directly to catch the bus to Chengdu. 

It was a three-hour ride on the bus. I asked him about life on the farm after 1949; he said the most difficult time was land reform. All the land and properties now belonged to the government. All people were re-classified to landlord, rich peasant, middle-class peasant, and poor peasant. The less you had, the better. The ones who had nothing turned around to rule the ones who had. Big payback time! I saw how bad the landlords’ fates were in the movies when I was little; it was so far away that I never thought this would actually happen here in my own family.

A dozen Guans were classified as landlords, including members of his own family. They suffered the most; even in our own Guan family, fighting between the different groups was very ugly. The ones who had suffered most were the Guan women. I did not understand why the women suffered most. He said the poor villagers would humiliate the Guan women by taking off their clothes and putting them out in public for display. His mother had a psychological breakdown. She just said, “The communists sure have a lot of meetings.” She was in trouble the very next day. It was a mad time. Everyone was trying to get even with each other and no one was paying attention to who was doing what. I told him that my family suffered the most from the Cultural Revolution, but that did not affect them that much, which made sense, since land was the most important thing to them.

He asked about my family. I told him what I knew about my father, a farm boy from the north. He was in my mother’s class in Northwest University. I just learned that my father approached my mother saying he could introduce her to join the Communist Party. JuTing interrupted me saying, “your mother said yes, right?” I said I was surprised she said yes, I probably would have said no. JuTing said, “Ying, your mother is smart; if you can’t fight it, join it. You do not know how difficult it would have been to join the Communist Party; none of our Guan family were party members; no one would introduce us.” I was surprised again, no one out of 2,000? He said, “no one; that was why we were going nowhere.”

Please help to rebuild the eleventh generation (1699-1775) grandfather Guan Yuen Hui ' s tomb: 亟待修复的内江官氏祖坟-云辉公墓

Please wire your donations to Yuen Hui ' s tomb restoration payable to: 

Guan zhong pu (官众仆)
新修内江官氏祖坟外地捐款帐号：   中国工商银行四川内江支行玉溪路分理处

                                                      官众仆 621723 2307000080724

(由本人负责管理海内外捐款，保证每一分钱都用到修祖坟上。重申：人民币1万以上刻碑面、1千以上刻碑阴、100以上记入族谱）