{"id":2064,"date":"2021-05-12T19:17:15","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T18:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.mychinaroots.com\/?p=2064"},"modified":"2022-11-08T06:31:13","modified_gmt":"2022-11-08T06:31:13","slug":"waste-no-time-visit-your-ancestral-chinese-village","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mychinaroots.com\/blog\/genealogy\/waste-no-time-visit-your-ancestral-chinese-village\/","title":{"rendered":"No Time Like the Present"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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As genealogists working in China, much of the research we do relies on our ability to visit people’s ancestral homes. Over the years, we have witnessed first-hand how quickly villages are disappearing, and how difficult it then becomes to discover ancestral stories, records, and relatives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article you’ll learn why villages are so important to Chinese family history research, and what you can do to preserve your ancestral heritage, before it’s too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is an ancestral village?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your ancestral village is the place in China where your ancestors lived last and for multiple, successive generations before migrating overseas. Most villages owe their inception to brave sons who left their father\u2019s homes or villages to set up households elsewhere. Over time, the household grew into an extended family, which grew into a sub-clan, then into a village. As a result, most villages in the south of China are still populated by only one or two clans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"an<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Why are ancestral villages so important?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

China has long been an agrarian society. Generations of families would live on the same land for centuries, and as a result the connection of family to place is a key pillar of Chinese culture and identity. This is reflected in language: while in English we refer to our home, family, house and relatives as distinct concepts, in Chinese we have the unique concept of Jia (\u5bb6), which encapsulates them all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brimming with history, ancestral villages are the most important sources of information in Chinese family research. Finding your village can lead you to living relatives, and holds traces and memories of the ancestors who came before them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What can I find in my ancestral village?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a typical roots trip, we look for various traces of people’s families, both tangible and intangible:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Zupu or jiapu: this is the genealogy\n clan book of the family, tracing your lineage\u2019s history back up to 3,000 years. It might be kept inside the\n ancestral hall or with relatives.<\/figcaption style=\"margin-bottom: 20px\">\n <\/figure>\n
\"An\n
Ancestral graves: the burial site of\n your clan\u2019s founding ancestor might still be standing in your village.<\/figcaption style=\"margin-bottom: 20px\">\n <\/figure>\n
\"The\n
Ancestral halls or temples: serving as\n the centre of a village\u2019s social, economic, political and spiritual life, these halls are used for\n collective rituals and festivals in honour of ancestors. They also double up as venues for weddings,\n funerals, council meetings, city-hall functions, and sometimes even classrooms.<\/figcaption style=\"margin-bottom: 20px\">\n <\/figure>\n
\"Black\n
Ancestral tablets: usually found\n inside the ancestral hall, these tablets are intended to embody the spirit of your ancestors. <\/figcaption style=\"margin-bottom: 20px\">\n <\/figure>\n
\"An\n
Ancestral house: sometimes, the house\n your ancestors lived in is preserved by a relative to take care of the house, entrusted by the first\n generation who left. It might contain photos, altars or other traces of your family history. <\/figcaption style=\"margin-bottom: 20px\">\n <\/figure>\n
\"MCR\n
Distant relatives: if your ancestor\n still had family in the village when they left, you may be lucky enough to meet some long-lost relatives!\n <\/figcaption style=\"margin-bottom: 20px\">\n <\/figure>\n
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Oral histories: distant relatives and\n elderly villagers may have stories or information about your ancestors, as well as local government\n documents recording which villagers left what year, where they left to, and when they returned.<\/figcaption style=\"margin-bottom: 20px\">\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the rush?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chinese villages are disappearing at an alarming rate. According to one Chinese study, 80 to 100 villages are demolished each day to make space for new residential areas, development zones, highways, high-speed railways, and water reservoirs. While urbanization in China is often regarded as a very positive phenomenon, it has happened at the expense of cultural heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My China Roots researcher Lai Yiling with villagers of Cuiwei Village, Guangdong.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Between 2010 and 2015 alone, the number of rural migrants moving to the cities reached 300 million \u2013 almost equivalent to the current US population. As this trend continues, many villages will be abandoned, with no one to look after heritage buildings such as ancestral temples and graves.

Xingtan township<\/a> in Shunde district, Foshan city, is testimony to this sad trend. Of its 234 ancestral temples, almost a third have been abandoned and emptied, with an additional 15% already torn down. Foshan is one of the key areas that major waves of Overseas Chinese emigrated from, so returning roots-seekers from this area may no longer be able to find what they\u2019d hoped for in their forefathers\u2019 hometowns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most old buildings had been demolished, and out of the 38 Woo clan ancestral temples which once stood in Cuiwei, only two remained. <\/p>Yiling Lai, researcher at My China Roots<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In a recent field research trip, My China Roots researcher Yiling Lai arrived at Cuiwei village in Zhuhai, Guangdong<\/a> to find it undergoing a massive reconstruction project. Most old buildings were no longer standing, and out of the 38 temples of the Woo clan that once stood in Cuiwei, only two remained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do I know if my village is in danger?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best is to make contact with your village as soon as you can, and if you aren’t already in touch with people there, you’ll need to locate it first. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try to find the contemporary village name in Chinese characters: many village names and jurisdictions have changed over the last century, so your family’s home may be known under a different name today. Look on tombstones, travel or ID documents that belonged to relatives in China, or other written documents that your family has held onto for a Chinese address. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, type it into My China Roots’ Village Search<\/a> or Google to see what it looks like today. (Can’t find it on a map? Our researchers will track it down<\/a> for you.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no one-size-fits-all way to find out what’s left in any given village. You’ll have to make contact with the village directly by reaching out to local government offices, clan associations and overseas Chinese affairs offices. If you don\u2019t speak the language, you could ask a friend, or My China Roots, to help!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you have confirmed the location of the village, your next step will be to reach out to the village leadership with photographs and information about your ancestor: what their Chinese name was, when they left, and who they were related to. Hopefully, leaders or locals will be able to tell you more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A My China Roots researcher speaks to a village leader in Jingkou, Xiamen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What if I\u2019ve been told that my village is no longer standing?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s still worth a shot! Some villages might have been replaced by high rises and skyscrapers, others chemical plants or water reservoirs. But families and clans often move away together; your relatives might still live in the vicinity, and might kept hold of traces of family history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What next?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the years go on, the history that villages teem with with may become irretrievable. Over the years, our researchers have often arrived at villages just in the nick of time. Our founder Huihan visited his mother\u2019s ancestral village in southern Fujian a few years ago. Today, that village, the beautiful temple it held, and its villagers\u2019 graves are all gone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While some clans have managed to hold onto important artefacts like zupus<\/a>, and successfully protected ancestral temples as tangible cultural heritage, infinite artefacts and histories are already lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Has your village been demolished? Were you able to see it before it was torn down? Let us know in the comments below!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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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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Why you should waste no time to visit your ancestral village in China<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":2072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"enable","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"No Time Like the Present","ocean_post_subheading":"Why you should waste no time to visit your ancestral home in China. 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