As a society that practices ancestor veneration, the Chinese have traditionally kept genealogies. These include:
- zongpu (general genealogies)
- zupu (clan genealogies)
- jiapu (extended family genealogies)
- shipu (branch genealogies)
- jiacheng (family records or annals)
Our family genealogy that was brought by Chock Chin to Hanalei is one such record. Technically, it is probably considered a “shipu”, since the cover page calls it “The Genealogy of Kuei-Te-T’ang, a Branch of the Chou family”.
These records are considered to be highly reliable genealogical resources.
During the Cultural Revolution many of these records were destroyed, as they were seen as artifacts of the old imperial China and the bourgeoisie. According to the FamilySearch.org wiki:
Genealogies are scattered in libraries throughout mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, and in the United States. These public collections consist chiefly (some 85%) of published genealogies with about 15% as manuscripts. Many genealogies are in private possession of families. Of these, an estimated 85% are manuscripts and 15% are printed genealogies. Many genealogies in mainland China were destroyed during the cultural revolution. These were kept in ancestral halls, few of which now exist. Existing manuscript genealogies are likely in private possession of senior family representatives.
In our case, the genealogy was in the possession of Chock Chin, the family heir and survived the destruction because he had removed it from China.
Many descendants of Chinese immigrants work very hard to locate their family’s genealogy, and will often travel to the ancestral village in China that was/is the family seat. Unfortunately, many discover that their family’s records were destroyed in the Cultural Revolution (1966-1971). Most jia pus cover about 400 years, so we are very lucky that ours dates back to 1140 AD.
