This site is devoted to the genealogy of Chinese families from an area of Guangdong, China (中國廣東)commonly known as Siyi (四邑) or four counties. The counties are Xinhui (新會), Taishan (台山), Kaiping (開平), and Enping (恩平). The families in this area have much in common besides geographic location. The great majority trace their origin to China’s central plain. Each faamily may have different reasons for leaving the Central Plains and migrated southward. The most common would be fleeing the turmoil caused by an invading nomad tribe, internal uprising or natural disaster. This southward journey happened in multiple stages and over hundreds of years. Each major unrest or disaster drove them further south until they finally settled in their current locations. In many cases this final settlement took place five to six hundred years ago.
Due to crowded living condition and lack of agrarian land the migration, however, continued. At first a small number headed to the South Pacific. Since the 1850′s an increasing large number had crossed the Pacific and Indian Oceans in search of work. This is not a true migration in that they seldom settled in their new locations due to cultural and political reasons. This, however, began to change in the latter half of the 20th century as the Western nations amended their immigration policies primarily because of the overseas Chinese’s contributions to the war effort during World War II. This coupled with events in China made many decided to have their families joined them and settled in the foreign land.
A place of great significant during this southward migration is Zhujixiang, Nanxiong (南雄珠璣巷). A vast majority of the families in the Pearl River Delta area trace their roots to there. One can say it is Pearl River Delta genealogy’s equivalent to the Americans’ Mayflower and Plymouth Rock.
The surnames we are actively researching are: Chan, Chow, Der, Kwan, Lee, Mak, Wong, and Zhao (陳周謝關李麥黃趙). So far we only have time to compile some of the information on the Chow (周), Der (謝), Lee (李), and Zhao (趙).
searching for my father-in laws family in quangdong in china and also in shenzhen my father in law entered new zealand in 1920 and died in nz 27/1/1976 he was a private person didnt talk about his family in china but now we are getting older and that my father in law didnt go back to see his family in china we felt that is my husband and i would like to make contact with the families in china as we would like to vist with our 6 childern to reunite with my father inlaws family his name is joe ying jun his daughter name is feng hua zhou her husband is zhi rni xu i dont know if she is still alive or not if any one knows of these two people could you contact me as soon as possible i think they have been living in shenzhen since 1980s
thank you daphne young
If you have the names of your father-in-law, his daughter, and her husband in Chinese character would be really helpful. You’ll need the name of your father-in-law’s village in Chinese characters as well.
Any correspondence between your father-in-law and people in China are good sources for such information. The question is finding them after all these years.
Good luck!
Daphne – Are you in New Zealand? Is your father in law “joe ying jun “? Where was he living? Is he part of the Joe family from Taranaki?
to helen yes my father in law is joe ying jun he was living in auckland he had a market garden in hamilton then he moved to old papatoetoe he had a fruit shop in papatoetoe im not sure if he has family in nz he had another chinese man that lived with the family for many years until he died his name was joe quin if he was family we dont know i would like to know though if any one knows it would be so good you can e mail me on (due to spam considerarion Daphne’s email address has been deleted. Anybody wanting to contact Daphne, please contact us. See Contact Us.) no im now living in australia we have been here for 5 yrs now i go back to nz every now and then my daughter still lives there
my grandfather is death 15th year ago. Your documents I don´t know your origen exactly. I only know that he is the Cantoon China in Hong Kong. His name was Moi Lam Chong. He come to Nicaragua 60´s approx. I´d like to know your origen and if he has some family there. Present I live in Nicaragua. I need something of information. please and thanks.
Mario,
Canton is now known by its Chinese name Guangzhou which is a short train ride from Hong Kong. See map.
In the old days some people gave Canton as their place origin although they weren’t from there. The reason being it is well-known. If your grandfather’s tombstone has Chinese writing then most likely it has the name of village and county he came from. Take a photo, email it to me, and hopefully we can locate it on the map.
I am looking for any Chinese families associated with Lytton B.C. Canada especially with the joss house that was located in Lytton c.1882-1920.
Thank you,
Koten
Looking for information about the following people recorded as doing business in Lytton B.C. in 1882:
Kwong On (O.K.) – General Merchandise
Foo Sang – General Merchandise
Kong Chong Hing – General Merchandise
Hong Wo – General Merchandise and Laundry
Yong Hing – Boarding House
Man Song Tong – Chinese Doctor and Medicines
Thank you,
Koten
lionsgatebuddhistpriory@lyttonbc.net
In reply to Koten Benson, I am very much interested in your research. I know of some of the descendants from a business family that was located in Lytton for years and have a friend who has done some research as well. Please email me about the joss house. I have always wondered what happened to the deity’s.
John.
Feb 01, 2010
My father came to Samoa (formerly known as Western Samoa) as an indentured laborer in the 1900s and married my mother, a Samoan. His name was recorded as Sing Chao Lei Sam but I believe this was not the correct spelling of his name. His recorded birth date was Feb 14 1914. He was from the Quagdong province or Canton as he told us. We never knew of any of his families and would like to find out any families and his correct name and any other information regarding his family line.
To John Haugen re. Lytton Joss house.
Please email me lionsgatebuddhistpriory@lyttonbc.net
Thank you,
Koten
hello
My Husband is seaching for information about his grandfather.
Could someone give us an idea of where to start please .
We will be thankful for ideas please email us at kepaandsarahandrews@gmail.com
His grandfather was Sing lip Hing Gin,we are not sure extactly what province he was from but stories say he was from Canton. He married Queenie Josephine Birch they had children and later had a market garden in Panmure Auckland. This is the first website we have come across that maybe helpful.
thank you
Hello, I noticed you mentioned having done research on the Chan (陈） family line. My husband is from this family tree we think, but we have no info on the family past his father. My husband’s father was orphaned very young (8 I think, but maybe a few years older). We recently learned from one of my husband’s older sisters that their father came from a chen villiage slightly south of Guangzhou and origionally traveled with a younger brother, who died in their journey. My husband’s father went by the name Chen Laizai, but the sister also told us his origional name was 陈营来 (b. abt 1922) and the younger brother’s name was 陈营富 (b. about 1926 ??)
My husband’s father traveled north of Guangzhou and settled there. My husband grew up in a small village that is part of a larger group of villages called “Bamboo town” just north of Guangzhou. He is the only son and almost the baby of the family (5 older sisters, 1 younger).
My husband’s father died very suddenly and unexpectedly when my husband was just 13 years old, so we know basically nothing about his family. Is there any hope of being able to tie into the Chan family tree with such scanty information??
Thanks.
Hi Amber,
Sorry, what I have is not of much help to you. Chan is the biggest surname in Guangdong. Many of the members on our message board are Chan. Please visit the message board at:
http://siyigenealogy.proboards.com/index.cgi
I’m doing genealogy research on Lau/Liu 劉 family of Mao Lin village near the town Chonglou, ten miles south of Taishan. Can anyone provide me with any leads as to where I can find their genealogy records? You can email me at adam2005lee@yahoo.com
Is the genealogy booklet Mak, the same as “Mai”? I would like to buy same. My grandfather Mark Goey (Mark Ru), (Mark Yuan-Suen formal, Mai Yuan Xuan, Pinyin) came to America in 1884.
Any info will be appreciated. Thank you.
I believe Mak, Mark and Mai are one and the same. Do you have any way of validating the purchased Mak genealogy records?
Interested in finding out father’s family. Adoptive Mother went to Hong Kong in 1918 to 1920 to bring him back to Taishan. He was believed to be born around 1914. He did not know his name, nor where he came from. His adoptive mother noticed he had a different dialect and did not look like the taishanese – he was very fair skinned. He did remember his mother had bound feet. I believe he and his mother were kidnapped away from huge family, with many adults and many children (he remembered this). Are there any documents or history that were kept that may reveal who may have been kidnapping children for adoptions at this time in this region? If you know of any resources that could help me find out my father’s history I would greatly appreciate it. Please email me. Sincerely, Hong
At the time China was going through a long transitional period, the end of the Qing dynasty and the establishing of a new central government. Chaos was the order of the day. On the national front we had the war lords fighting each other. The ongoing warfare displaced a huge segment of the population. Some turned to criminal activities for survival.
Kidnapping was very common. From your information your father was either from a wealthy family where many generations lived together under one roof or from a Hakka family (客家).
The fair skin and large family under one-roof do suggested a wealth family. If he was kidnapped from Guangzhou (Canton) then one of his elders could well had been a Qing official who chose to settle in Guangdong after Qing dynasty ended. This would account for a different dialect.
On the other hand huge family, with many adults and children plus the transaction took place in Hong Kong and he spoke a different dialect make me think your father may have came from a Hakka family. There is a large number of them in the Hong Kong area. They don’t integrate with the local and kept their old customs and language. They also lived in large houses that are designed to defend against intruders. Many of these houses still remain in the villages near Hong Kong.
My great grandfather Yuen Mao Piou was bought off the street and adopted by my great great grandmother Chan Si Laou Si who was childless and feeling very lonely while her husband Yuen Sang left her with a few servants to blaze a trail into the South Pacific islands of Tahiti to prepare a home for them away from Canton.
When Yuen Sang finally sent for his dejected wife and the rest of the household, she had already fled to Paris and left the running of the household to her adopted son, my great grand father who at the time already had a son, about 18 years old, my grandfather Yuen Thin Soy. Both of them barely met the master of the house on his death bed.
I can go back only 4 generations ending with Gione Oum in one line Pen Kao Chin and wife Shi Tsen(or Tein Chao Chin and wife Sin Fook Cheung).
Do you have any information on this family clan? Any help would be sooo appreciated! Thank you.
I think it is safe to say your great grandfather was wealth and may be a government official or had connections to them because those migrated from China generally were poor. They certainly couldn’t afforded to travel with servants. The fact that his wife, your great grandmother, was able to travel to Paris indicates she may be educated and spoke a foreign language. From these I would say your family originated from Guangzhou and may be a prominent member of the upper society. A research of the Yuen family in Guangzhou of that era may be fruitful.
If i understand generational names correctly when i say that my grand father’s Yuen Hsin Soy genarional name is Hsin, how does that fact help me in researching my ancestors?
How does the knowledge that my great grandfather was rich or that he most likely was a court official help me find his lineage?
There are nothing online that I can find about a Yuen lineage in Guangzhou, but there is of a Yuan lineage. Yuan is listed as a variant of Yuen on this website :
http://legacy1.net/chinese-surnames-and-spelling-variations/
Somis it right for me to assume they are family?? What should my next step be?
Thank you so much.
Hi! I’m looking for my grandfather’s family. I know is a very long shot because we have so little information about him. His last name was Xu (we’ve been told this is in Mandarin and it would be Chiu or Shui in Cantonese) his first name was Wang. Xu Wang. His father’s first name was Sang.
We don’t have any more of his name. He was born in Zhongshan, Guangdong in 1905, I understand this is not one of the four counties that you are working in but I’m looking for a place to start… well… looking. He came to Peru around 1935 leaving behind a wife and very young son that we know nothing about. His journey took him first to San Francisco, Panama and then finally de port city of Paita in northern Peru. I would really apreciate any help you can give us.
I’m having a bit of problem with the surname. The Chinese character for Xu, if it is Mandarin as you said, is 許 which in Cantonese is pronounced Hui. Whereas the character for Chiu is 趙. The spelling in Mandarin is Zhao. We’ll have to clarify or establish before we can progress.
Can I assume you have access to his tomb and there are Chinese writing on his tombstone? If so, very likely it’ll have his name and village. Then may I trouble you to send a photo of it to me?
You are right, there must be a problem because I don’t recognize any of the Chinese characteres that you posted. I just remembered I have a document were my grandfather signs with two characters. A long time ago I took it to a Chinese professor at the university, she was from Guangdong. She told me the names were Xu Wang in Mandarin and Ceu Woong in Cantonese, I don’t know if this makes things more clear. I will send you the photo of the tombstone as soon as I can. Thanks so much for your help.
Hi,
Someone read a part of my family’s records for me and told me my family was from Chikan, Kaiping. I have the clan generational name poem, and several pages of records that our cousins in Canada copied when they looked at the records from the village. Then I did a google search, and I see you did some research on Maks from there.
Is the Mak booklet someone referenced above from the same village? would it be helpful for me to purchase it? (Originally, I had planned on going to the village with my dad to photograph the records, but he has cancer and is in no shape for international travel.) Also, I don’t read a lick of Chinese, any ideas as to how I should approach genealogy in a phonetic manner so that the records could be in English? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Anyone have information on Sang Der and his wife Wong Le in San Francisco late 1800s. Their son, Mark Der was my uncle.
Hi, I’m looking for my grandfather’s family or genealogy. His name was Jian Zhao. He came to mexico in 1910 and his ages was 31 years old. The document that I have say his was born in Xinhui city, Guandong province in China. We don’t know if Mexico was the first place in America. Thank you for help!!!
Hi, great site, I’m doing research on my father-in-law, Kwong Yook-Shu, he is from Saam-baat in northwestern Taishan. His village was Heung Mei. He moved to Hong Kong around 1950. Do you have any information on Taishan Kwongs? Or advice on where I might look? I have charcoal portraits of both his parents and their names (his mother’s maiden name is Chan), but nothing further. Thanks for your time!
Looking for information on my grandfather, he traveled from Canton to the U.S. we believe San Francisco in the late teens early 1920′s. We believe his stay was brief before traveling to Mexico where he settled and died in 1985. We know he had family in Canton, a son. A sister of his also traveled to San Francisco, married and the family ownes two stores in Chinatown to this day. I have very little information to go on. We believe his name was:
熊松楠
Xiong Song Nan (Mandarin)
Hong Sung Nam (Cantonese
The village name was written as follows
中國 China
廣東省 Guangdong province
台山縣 Taishan (Toisan) district
大新村 Daxin village
If anyone can help me I would be eternally grateful, my grandfather did not talk about his family or life in China.
I got a copy of the Lee family tree from Heshan(Hokshan)that covers 27 generations. Unfortunately, I cannot read much Chinese. It doesn’t just list names like in a regular family tree, there seems to be some sort of story as well. Does anyone know how I can get this translated to English?
Hi Helen,
I just want to ask how did you got the copy of Lee Family tree? I am also looking for some relatives in China. My father’s name is Lee Poy and was born in Canton China 1919. He died when I was still young and I didn’t have the chance to ask for his family in China. If by chance or any body in here who have some listing of Lee family or some family pictures please post.
This is a great site to start tracing our roots.
Thank you.
What does my surname “QUETUA” mean, and it’s origin. I wanna know.
Hi,
Anyone know anything about Chows from Toisan/Taishan moving to Canada in the early 20th century (1900 to 1950)? My father, Bing Sut Chow, came to Canada from Toisan. He and my mom eventually settled in Ontario. I was born in Toronto. My paternal grandfather (father’s father) lived in Vancouver and died there. Unfortunately, I don’t have his name (I’m researching this still and trying to track down his name).
I have been told though that my father has ‘Chow’ cousins in Vancouver. My father’s brother died young so I assume my father’s cousins would be descended from maybe his father’s brother or maybe from his grandparents (my great-grandparents). Of course, I don’t have their names either. 
I think my best chance will be to get a birth record for my dad from China, but I don’t read Chinese very well yet. (My mom doesn’t like to talk about this stuff – at all. The most I could get was her to write out my father’s name in Chinese and her name in Chinese. I’ll try to get my dad’s name typed out using Cangjie sometime.)
Anyway, I figured I’d put a message up and maybe someone will see this and have information they are willing to share.
My Chinese name is 周婉蓮.
Oops… my grandfather died in Victoria, B.C. I keep thinking it was Vancouver though.
“At the time China was going through a long transitional period, the end of the Qing dynasty and the establishing of a new central government. Chaos was the order of the day. On the national front we had the war lords fighting each other. The ongoing warfare displaced a huge segment of the population. Some turned to criminal activities for survival.
Kidnapping was very common.”
This is very interesting. In asking about my genealogy, my sister told me my dad’s mom was kidnapped as a baby. She never found out where she came from. From pictures of her, she had darker skin than my dad’s father who was Toisanese. I’m guessing there isn’t much in way of records of lost babies during that time period.
My mom’s brother is also adopted. I didn’t know that until recently, but it explains why my cousins from that part of the family don’t look like my other cousins or me and my siblings.
All of these stories is very interesting.
Thanks for putting up this site!
Hi Woodson,
Thanks for this informative site. I believe you have a gifted talent in China’s History. Anyway, I just want to ask, My father was born in Toy Shan (or Taishan), Canton China in 1913. But I remember when I was a kid, neighbors are calling him “Macao” or macanese person. Is that mean that he was born in Taishan but has roots in Macau? or Should I say Taishanese are also Macanese? Do you know about Lee Clan from Macau during 1900s?.
Thanks,
Kind regards,
Andy Lee
I am looking my grandfather’s relatives in GuangDong. my grandfather’s name is 李登宣, he was born on 15th June 1902 in Xinhui. not much information about my grandfather, he is the youngest child, and moved to Indonesia, East Java, Tulugagung at age about 13 y/o. if anyone has information please email meat joh_cb@yahoo.com. thanks
Hi i was wondering if anyone has heard of the surname pronounced ‘Low Hee’
all i have is a piece of paper stating one of my great grandfathers’ possible entry into the UK, with him being from Waichow Canton Hong Kong in 1916
how on this earth can i find relatives?
thanking you kindly for reading
I am looking for information regarding my grandfather who was sent to Samoa as a laborer in the early 1900s. It is believed he was shipped back upon the break of WWII. I am actually looking for information regarding ship logs of passenger names specifically for laborers sent to the pacific island of Samoa between 1900 -1942. Any information as where I can ascertain passenger list, docket or ship ledger with such information would be greatly appreciated. His name may have been transposed into the Samoan language which is “Atagi”; this is the name we go by, but we know we are not Japanese. This is a well-known Japanese name, but no Japanese were ever sent to Samoa as labor workers. We think his name might have been Tagi, Tani, Tungi. I understand that Ah-tagi, meant Mr. Tagi, but I have been unsuccessful in pulling up any of these spellings. Any help is appreciated. Thank you.
The Chinese commonly add “Sh” in front of a person’s name. It doe not mean Mr as you were mistakenly told. The name, generally, is the given name rather than the surname. I would say “Tagi” is your grandfather’s given name which should explain why you have no luck in tracing it.
You’ll need to do some digging around see whether your grandfather had left behind any document or letter which has his surname and, hopefully, information on his place of origin.
I’m looking for my grandpa family in china not sure where about but all I know is his last name “Ah Sam Yuk” my grandpa’s third child of the family of 2older sisters and a baby sister which they all under their step father last name, I’m so desperate for help to find this last name I would love to meet some of my family will be good for each generations in our family that we do have a Asian blood sadly no one know my grategrandpa name but his last name-;( he was married to Peive Akenese (grategrandma). Please I’m so look forward to hear a good news if anybody know or heard of the last name I mention earlier, “A human roots more than a roots of plants”happy new year to y’all may 2012 help me find my Asian families xo
I am looking for my Great-Grandparents 李金巨(this is 1 word) and 李亞好 history. All I have is their names and the village of 新會. My GGFather died in 1966 in his 90s and my GGM died in 1936 in her 30s. We know they owned land back in the old country. They went to Singapore and in the 1920s they had four children 李金蘭, 李烦南 , 李植南. Their eldest daughter died and I have no records of her name.
I am going to Xinhui in July 2012 and would love to find the actual village where our roots started. I doubt we have any family back there.
Can anyone please point me in the direction where to start looking?
Talofa Lava,
May name is Jeff and I am looking for some information about my Grandfather Ah Kee. He came to Samoa from China around the late 1930′s, met my Grandmother Paese and had five children. He chose to go back with other Chinese immigrants back to China around late 1940′s early 50′s. If anyone knows of any info please email me.
Hi I found your website while searching for Chan Genealogy.
I hope I can find out my ancestor if it linked to yours.
Here are the information I have:
Father side:
Great Grandfather:
Ng Sau Cheong 吳 秀 祥
Lee李
Grandfather
Father: Chan Choon 陳 全 Chinese DOB – 29 dec 1886- Canton , Hoksan
Mother: Lee Yoke Mui 李 玉 梅 Chinese DOB 24 feb 1889- Canton, San Wui
Mother side:
Ng Wai Nam 吳 炜 南 Chinese DOB 12 dec 1887 Guangzhou, Nam Hoi
Ying Poh Choo 英 寶 珠 Chinese DOB 14 Mar 1893 Guangzhou, San Wui
Hope to hear from you.
Regards
Eric Chan
Hi,
I am looking for the family of my grandfather, he left Canton City, China when he was 10 years old and worked as a laborer for a ship, he came to the Phillipines and settled here.
He is Chan Chao, from Canton City, China.
Please do email me if you have any info, we are planning to visit and get acquainted with other members of the family.
Thanks.
I am searching for members of my extended family worldwide. My family name is Chu (朱) from 廣東新會縣丹灶村肇恆里。朱廣蘭， 朱有蘭。