According to legend and folk lore the North Emperor or Beid (北帝) is a powerful deity who rules the north. The ancient Chinese believed the world is made up of five elements, metal (金), water (水), wood (木), fire (火), and earth (土). They also assigned an element to each direction, north is water, south is fire, east is wood, west is metal, with earth in the centre. Furthermore, each element has a colour, metal is white, water is black, wood is green, fire is red, and earth is yellow. Each direction then takes on the same colour as the element that it is associated with.

From the above we know the North Emperor is related to water and black colour. No, it isn’t the ruler of the sea. That duty is assigned to various dragon lords with regional territorial control over seas, lakes, and rivers.

Inside the Forbidden City, a walled compound composed primarily of wooden structures, was a shrine dedicated to the North Emperor (Beidi) hoping that as god of water he would protect it against fire.

The third days of the third month on the lunar calender is designated as the North Emperor’s (Beidi) birthday. Part of the celebration is that on the 28th day of the second month the North God descends from his place inside and actually leaves the temple to make rounds among the people. The purpose of the visitation is to bring luck and good fortune. He returns to his rightful place inside the temple on the day before his birthday.

The video is a recording of this event that took place in Fusek, Taishan, Guangdong. The entire video is long, consists of seven parts. Below are Parts 1 – 3.

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• Chow
• Der
• Lee
• Zhao

In most cases it extended to the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, 1276AD or earlier. We have the information for the Der and Zhao families. It is a matter of finding time to translated them.

Chow family:

• Generations 1 – 5
• Generations 6 – 9
• Generations 10 – 13
• Generations 14 – 17
• Generations 18 – 21
• Generations 22 – 25

Der family:

• Wing Shui Xie (謝永述)

Lee family

• Lee On Jing (李安政)
• Generations 1-3 Lee Dong (李棟)
• Generations 2-6 Lee Hon (李侃)
• Generations 15-19 Lan Xiu Li (李蘭秀)
• Generations 19-23 Chang Yi Li (李長檽)
• Generations 23-26 On Wing Lee (李希蔭) Generations 23-26
• Generations 23-26 Hong Li (李希屏)
• Generations 23-26 Yic Wing Lee (李希亭)
• Generations 2-5 Lee Chun (李侚)

Zhao family

• Tze Cang Zhao (趙子聰)

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Not long after getting married and before my sister, Lin Feng (琳鳳) was born, Dad bought Mom a servant girl for company. Soontoi (順彩) was five years old at the time. Well, as Mom said “It was a full time job looking after her. Good thing I just wanted her for company.” In a way, Mom should be thankful for the practical hands-on experience in child care. It was normal then for people to be married in their mid-teens. An unmarried eighteen-year-old girl was considered an old maid and a real cause for concern. Soontoi stayed with us for about ten years before she was married so none of us children got to know her really well.

At regular intervals Dad, in Canada, would sent money home. This was the family’s only source of income. After the States declared war on Japan, the fighting on the Pacific closed the shipping lanes, and the family suffered terribly. However, there were many families in this similar situation. Many sold or pawned their valuables such as clothing and furnishing while others hired themselves out as helpers during harvest and coolies the rest of the time. Mom chose the latter route and with help from her younger brother, Sui Wen Zhao (趙遂文), the family managed to cope. With this suffering fresh in mind, it was not a surprise when upon Dad’s return after WWII that they went and bought some farm land.

Don’t have much recollection of the rice fields because they were surrounded by fields of others. But I still have memories of the plot by the hill because the crops grew there were different. It wasn’t (still is?) suitable for rice, lack of water. So Mom planted peanuts and yams. A treat was roasted freshly harvested yam wrapped in tin foil on a cold winter day.

After giving birth to two daughters, at the rather advanced age of 46, Mom gave birth to a baby boy, Kevin. It was a difficult birth. It was only through the heroic effort of Lai Siu Sang, a nurse, that this joyous occasion remained so. In appreciation, they got their son to treat her as an adopted mother.

The move to Guangzhou and later to Hong Kong must have been very difficult for Mom. First she would have to learn or at least understand a new dialect, which, though somewhat similar to the one she spoke had enough differences to make understanding a problem. And for the first time in her life she had to learn to recognize street names. However, this was child-play when compared to the adjustments she later would have to undergo in Canada.

Somehow Mom got the notion, or somebody had told her that there are no coconuts in Canada. So while in Hong Kong waiting for our visa to Canada, Mom would make coconut congee, a rather sweet concoction, a lot. At the time, it seemed like daily. In actual fact, I’m sure it was only every other day. She would have it ready as an after-school snack. Really a treat to look forward to.

On November 20, 1957, we set sail for San Francisco aboard the President Cleveland. Mom became sea-sick almost as soon as we set foot on the ship. She hardly ate during the whole trip. It was a wonder that she survived the 18-day trans-Pacific journey. From San Francisco we took the overnight train to Vancouver. The two days stop-over in Vancouver rejuvenated her.

We boarded the Trans-continental which departed from downtown Vancouver’s CP Station. For four days, our eastward journey to Montreal took us over the Rockies, crossed the snow-covered Prairies and hilly central Canada. Prior to departure, we purchased some Chinese barbecue goods for the trip. Again Mom suffered from motion sickness, but compared to the ocean crossing this was nothing.

In the spring of 1958, she went to work at Wong Wing Food to earn some money to send back to my sister, Lin Feng, who was still in China. Because of the Great Leap Forward, China at the time was in the midst of a famine. Mom got Dad to bring home chicken feet which the restaurant would discard anyway. She would dry them and shipped it back to China. For a time, inside the house there were chicken feet hanging from everything and everywhere.

Packaging and shipping the dried chicken feet was something to remember. Either Canada Post or China had a weight limit on parcels going to China. I remember we were trying to get as close to twenty pounds as possible but had to remained under the limit. It was quite a challenge using a hand scale. One of us would lift it up and another would get on all fours to read the weight. Wording the declaration was extremely important. A wrong word could result in the parcel being discarded or confiscated by the Chinese authorities.

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To family tree of Thue Loon Jeu and Li Hong (趙翠鸞及李希屏之家譜)

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Zhao Mengfu (1254 – 1322) born during the latter part of the Song dynasty and died just shy of the half point of the Yuan dynasty. He attained a very high position in the Mongolian court. This was a major aspect that his critics focused on because as the 11th generation descendant of Zhao Kuang Yin (趙匡胤), founder of the Sung dynasty (宋朝) many felt he shouldn’t served the Mongolians who ended the Song dynasty.

Zhao Kuang Yin had four sons and Zhao Mengfu belonged to the branch of Prince Qin (秦王德芳), Zhao Kuang Yin’s fourth and youngest son. The ancestor, Baqut (伯圭), four generations before Zhao Mengfu, was the olderer brother of the Song emperor, Xiao Zhong. It was at this time that his family settled in Huzhou, Zhejiang (浙江湖州).

Zhao Mengfu’s biaozi (表字) is Ziang (子昂). A common practice of the time was for scholars to take up pseudonyms or hao (號). Zhao Mengfu had many. Here are some of better known works:

• Songxue (松雪, “Pine Snow”)
• Oubo (歐波, “Gull Waves”)
• and Shuijing Gongdao Ren (水精宫道人, “Crystal Palace Taoist”)

By all accounts he was multi-talented. We were told that he had a photographic memory. He was poet, painter, callicgrapher, craver, and musician. However, he is best known for his paintings and calligrphy.

He painted a very broad variety of subjects: landscape, people, plants, birds and horses. His style was just as diversed, ranging from detailed (工筆), free form (寫意), full colours (青綠), and ink (水墨).

His wife, Guan Daosheng (管道生 1262-1319), was a poet and accompanished painter. Her specialty was bamboo and plum. Their son, Zhao Yong (趙雍) was also a painter in his own right and an art collector.

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We can even say he was from a family of soldiers. His father, Zhao Hong Yin (趙弘殷), was a brave and outstanding soldier and commander. Due to the turmoil coupled with the rapid rise and fall of the warlords Zhao Hong Yin served under the following dynasties:

1. Later Tang (後唐)
2. Later Han (後漢)
3. Later Zhou (後周).

Zhao Kuang Yin was Zhao Hong Yin’s second son who initially joined the army of Guo Wei (郭威). In 951AD Gui Wei captured Kaifeng (開封) and established the Zhou dynasty (951-960) with Kaifeng as the capital. This was known as the Later Zhou dynasty. Guo Wei became Zhou Gao Zu (周高祖). He reigned from 951-954.

By this time Zhao Kuang Yin had risen to the rank of general. His title was Ding Guo Jie Du Shi (定國節度使). In addition both he and his father were appointed commanders of the royal guards (殿前都指揮使).

The Later Zhou dynasty was beset with one misfortune after another. The first two emperors were extremely capable but both suffered untimely deaths. Upon Huo Wei’s death Zhou Xie Zhong Chai Rong (周世宗柴榮), who was Guo Wei’s adopted son, succeeded him. It was during Chai Rong’s reign (954-959) that the unification of China was initiated. His army was so strong that he not only defeated other war lords but was in the process of reclaiming part of northern China that was lost to the nomadic empire, Liao (遼國), when he suddenly took ill. Upon Chai Rong’s death his seven year old son, Chai Zhong Xu (柴宗訓) ascended to the throne. He is known as Zhou Gong Di (周恭帝).

On New Year’s day, word came from the northern front that the Later Han (後漢) army with the backing of the Liao army was on the move and poised to attack. Zhao Kuang Yin was given the responsibility of defending the country against this pending invasion. General Zhao and his army left Kaifeng and moved towards the northern front. The first night after leaving the capital, the army arrived and camped at Chen Qiao Yi (陳橋驛).

Many soldiers didn’t want to leave home because it was the middle of winter and more importantly, it was two days after the new year. Feelings of dissatisfaction were running high. During the night some blamed that the young emperor for sending them away from the warmth of home and family during this festival time. Furthermore it was suggested that a coup would ensure a quick trip home.

The next morning, as soon as Zhao Kuang Yin stepped out of his tent the soldiers waiting outside immediately draped a yellow robe over him. All knelt and hailed him as their new emperor. At this point Zhao Kuang Yin had no choice but to return to Kaifeng where the young Zhou Gong Di was forced abdicated.

With any government succession is always a problem, more so with absolute power. With the Sung dynasty it was a bit more complex. Zhao Kung Yi’s mother, Queen To, had decreed or rather a death bed wish that the throne should pass from brother to brother rather than follow the more common practice of father to son.

Tai Zu’s younger brother, Zhao Guang Yi succeeded him as the second emperor of the Sung dynasty. The events on the eve of his succession, however, remained one of the unsolved mysteries in Chinese history. The generally accepted course of event is as follows. Sung Tai Zu wasn’t feeling well. At midnight he asked to see Zhao Guang Yi. During the visit all servants were kept at a distance. From the distance they can only made out the shadows under the light. Hearing the conversation was beyond question. They saw the shadow of Zhao Guang Yi repeatedly getting up from his seat and sitting down. Finally they heard the sound of an ax stricking the ground. In the morning Guang Yi emerged to announce Tai Zu’s death. Tai Zu was only 50 years old with no known illness. Later in the day, he ascended the throne. Historians called this “the shadows by the candle and the sound of the ax” incident (燭影斧聲).

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