{"id":1499,"date":"2020-09-01T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.mychinaroots.com\/?p=1499"},"modified":"2022-11-08T06:23:00","modified_gmt":"2022-11-08T06:23:00","slug":"how-a-family-storybook-solved-300-years-of-mystery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mychinaroots.com\/blog\/stories\/how-a-family-storybook-solved-300-years-of-mystery\/","title":{"rendered":"No zupu, no problem: How a family storybook solved 300 years of mystery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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It all began with a puzzling picture above the fireplace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growing up in San Francisco, David Hom never gave much thought to his ancestry, let alone the wall decor in his house. His parents, who immigrated to the US in the 1940s, said nothing of their lives back in China. When they passed away, the only clues they left behind were a mysterious frame above the fireplace… and handwritten notes on old photos that neither David nor his wife Doreen could read in Chinese.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Portrait
Not your typical family photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Then one day, their son Darrick asked if they had a zupu, a traditional Chinese family history book. David had no idea, only the pictures \u2014 and within two months, with a friend\u2019s help, Darrick had all the Chinese captions translated into English. What was revealed surprised them all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In careful detail, David\u2019s parents had mapped a clear trail of names and addresses pointing back to the Hom ancestral village of Paishan. Among the photos was evidence as well of a \u201cpaper family\u201d that sponsored David\u2019s father to immigrate to the US as a \u201cpaper son.\u201d What\u2019s more, the fireplace picture seemed to be a depiction of the very first Hom ancestors, framed with a simple line of poetry: 300 years together as one family<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when we realized, \u2018Wow, there\u2019s a story here,\u2019\u201d recalls David. \u201cBefore, the pictures had no meaning. We didn\u2019t know who we were looking at. Now, we could hear the echoes from long ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Translation
With translation help from a friend, the Homs learned that their 300-year pedigree starts with \u201cgreat-great-grandfather, Mr. Tan Quan Shi, the beginning of the family.\u201d <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\"Translation
Thanks to the handwritten captions left by David\u2019s parents, the Homs could identify who\u2019s who in each photo. “Note: You look like your great-grandfather! Ha Ha!”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Flush with clues, David and Doreen set out to put the puzzle pieces together. What began as an iPhoto album soon grew into a 97-page digital storybook of ancestral photos and family trees \u2014 their own Hom zupu. They left no stone unturned, even unearthing 150 pages of immigration records documenting the tough interrogation David\u2019s father faced at the US border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet as their family tree grew, David found himself with more and more questions. What happened to his father\u2019s siblings after he left for the US? Was his grandfather buried in the US or China? Could Paishan hold \u201cmissing links\u201d to the 300-year-old ancestors on his fireplace? The family photos had brought him this far; now, it was time to put boots on the ground. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

David sent his zupu-in-progress to My China Roots, asking our researchers to uncover any traces of Hom relatives and family history remaining in Paishan. After two months of outreach to local officials and clan association leaders, we hit jackpot. Not only has an original clan zupu been preserved in Paishan, David still has two first cousins living in China after all this time. We found Hom Shing Yong, the 83-year-old son of his father\u2019s missing brother, alive and well in Paishan, as well as Hom Chung Peng, Shing Yong\u2019s 85-year-old sister in Macau. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Elderly
Hom Shing Yong holds up a family photo taken in 1961. David can be seen in plaid on the far right.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thrilled at the news, David and Doreen immediately made travel plans to reunite with their newfound family in Macau. In preparation, they downloaded WeChat, and they weren\u2019t alone. Like many elderly villagers, Chung Peng had not kept up with China\u2019s digital revolution. Yet eager to connect, she too got on WeChat, with a bit of help from younger relatives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have any excuses anymore,\u201d says David. \u201cWhen we were young, we said, \u2018I can\u2019t speak Chinese, so I ain\u2019t gonna talk to them.\u2019 The older generation said, \u2018They can\u2019t speak Chinese, so we don\u2019t want to speak to them.\u2019 But now you can actually communicate, if you truly want to.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon their arrival in Macau, David and Doreen were amazed at the large crowd gathered to welcome them and their sons. After half a generation of separation, everyone was overjoyed to be reconnected at last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChung Peng called out, \u201cFINALLY, WE MEET!\u201d like she had been waiting a long time for us,\u201d Doreen recalls, laughing. \u201cShe felt just like my mother, like real close family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Reunited<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Given the language barrier, we encouraged David and Doreen to print out copies of their storybook ahead of time. Their photos would be a great way to spark stories and create common ground as a family. Sure enough, the moment the cousins saw their mutual ancestors, they lost no time filling in the gaps that had stumped David and Doreen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAccording to Shing Yong, my father\u2019s brother ran away to Vietnam,\u201d says David. \u201cHe was a doctor and never came back, so Shing Yong never got to meet his father.\u201d Incidentally, Shing Yong had also attempted to enter the US with the same paper family who sponsored David\u2019s father. However, his application was rejected, so his life remained in Paishan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChung Peng told us what happened to David’s father’s sister too,\u201d shares Doreen. \u201cShe married an official who beat her to death. It\u2019s tragic, but knowing helps us gain some closure. We could see how both sides in America and China were going through a lot at the same time.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Reunited<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Handwritten
Time to update the family storybook!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To David’s delight, the extended family was eager to share their family trees with him. Sadly, their village zupu had stopped being updated a few generations before the time of David’s great-grandfather. As fate would have it, his homemade storybook would be their <\/em>“missing link” to reconnect their roots as well. Elated, they wrote down new branches of names for David to add to their newfound Hom family history book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne uncle admitted he didn\u2019t realize how important the photos and family trees were,\u201d says David. \u201cNow that he can look back and remember everyone, he said he\u2019ll cherish our book because it brought us all so close together.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From memory lane in Macau, the reunited cousins returned to Paishan, where their ancestral graves and family house still stood. Built over a century ago with their great-grandfather’s hard-earned funds from the U.S, the house was seized after Communist reforms branded him as a landowning capitalist. Today, it has been returned and well-preserved as the finest house in the village, still housing the original wedding bed that David\u2019s parents shared before starting their new life abroad. With such an inheritance, it\u2019s no surprise that David took over 6000 photos on the trip!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Chinese<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Collage
How did these ancestral paintings end up on David’s fireplace? In 1985, another descendant named Tan Jia Ying, who had his own printing company in the US, used his skills to compile the portraits into a commemorative display for posterity.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Finally, their homecoming tour came to its last stop: The Tan Quanshi ancestral hall, honoring none other than the first ancestors framed above David\u2019s fireplace in San Francisco. Here were enshrined the splendid, life-size scroll paintings of Paishan\u2019s founding family, the original Homs who started it all. After 300 years, David\u2018s roots had come full circle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had nothing to go on but his parents\u2019 pictures,\u201d recalls Doreen. \u201cNothing! But it came out to a family reunion we never got to have in their lifetimes. Thank you MCR for helping us get together. We couldn\u2019t have done it without you.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now regularly in touch with their family in China, David is grateful to share this journey with his children. “I did this research mainly for the younger generation. Maybe in another twenty years, we\u2019ll be gone too… but my sons will know where they came from.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>
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Find your ancestral village and connect with Chinese relatives!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Consult Our Researchers<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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If you are interested in finding your ancestral village and connecting with relatives in China, we would love to be of assistance. Our global team of researchers has helped hundreds of families discover their Chinese roots.<\/em>\u00a0Learn more about our services<\/a> or go ahead and get in touch<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the global pandemic, My China Roots is offering virtual tours packaged with our research trips to your ancestral village. Check out a demo here!<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A collection of mysterious pictures inspires a San Francisco family to create their own zupu (family history book) to find missing relatives in 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