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Heritage is a strange thing. Everyone of us alive right now are descendants of a thousand, thousand generations, but how many of us can trace our lineage beyond our grandparents? Or even beyond our immediate family? For a long time, a shabby looking booklet sits on the family book shelf. It was a genealogy book that my dad and a Canadian granduncle painstakingly put together in '96.
It wasn't much to look at, a jungle of Chinese words, binded in flimsey scratch paper. From what my dad told me, it wasn't intend to be the main heirloom, merely a supplement to the much better produced, leather-bound Book of the Hong Clan. He just want something to fill the few decade gap since the last edition, focusing on the whereabouts of the dispersed members of the HuLian Village. Apparently, it was made cheap enough that he sent every extant member a copy once done.
For some reason last year, I suddenly felt the urge to dig for it again. Maybe I got older and just want to know about where I came from; maybe I feel nostagia for the village life of my childhood; maybe I miss my grandma terribly.
This image was perhaps the last time most of the village gathered for a Hong family photograph (and maybe the first). I was the kid looking down in the middle. Where has everyone been since then?
This book doesn't have answers for that. It is 16 years old now, completed around the time I moved state-side. Sixteen years are a long time. People die, get married, have kids. Still, leafing through this shabby thing brings some feelings I don't have words for. Old faces flood back to memory, whenever I come across a name I still recognize. Old stories once told, now ink on paper.
A narration on the mythical origin of the 洪 Hong name. My dad told me the story before: the Hongs trace our origin to the water god 共工. For his work in holding back destructive floods, the emperor granted him a new sir name 洪 Hong, adding three water drops to his family name. (note to self: translate this page in full someday).
Traces the founding of my village. No clue what year was this, it's based on the traditional dynastic calendar.
In the 湖蓮, middle names are pre-determined by the generation, set by the village founders centuries ago. My generation's would be 舜 Sun. That explains why most of my cousins are SunJian, SunChao, SunRi. For whatever reason, my dad decided to name my brother and me in lieu of the traditions, picking instead 希, Xi, aka "hope." I heard he was fighting with grandma back then.
My Chinese comprehension never improved beyond fifth grade level (and probably deterioted since then). From the few words I can read, bulk of the book cataloged names, marriage, where they're now, and sons and daughters. There is only one obvious reason why digging through this book today. Where am I?
...and there it is, under the Fourth Household, page 29, second line from the bottom:
HuangZhao, traveled West Germany, Wife YuXing, son XiFan.
I don't have a line myself yet. By tradition, you don't get one until marriage or death.
Somehow, this book doesn't feel so shabby anymore. It's a treasure, an irreplaceable family heirloom, something that connects me to the mythos; and since we shared it, me to you.
Hope you find it interesting as well. Perhaps someone else will dig around and find a real treasure like this. If not, perhaps it's time to make it for your descendants, as my dad has done for me.
  
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England2663 Posts
On February 20 2012 05:32 Primadog wrote:
Heritage is a strange thing. Everyone of us alive right now are descendants of a thousand, thousand generations
Pretty sure I am not the product of a million generations.
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O: That's really cool. I wish I could trace anything back farther than like 100 years haha.
In Russia, most people did not have last names until relatively recently, so as a result when they decided to give everyone last names, they were mostly nicknames for their physical attributes or other aspects of life... I know people's last names that refer to mosquitoes, beasts, frost, crooked neck, long nose, old age... Mine refers to 'grandpa', whoever my ancestor was must have been old when the census went around ^^ Because of this, many unrelated peoples share the same last name, like Smiths in English.
Anyways, you do realize you will probably be responsible at least in part for the next edition of that book, right? Better start reaching out!
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On February 20 2012 06:11 Flicky wrote:Show nested quote +On February 20 2012 05:32 Primadog wrote:
Heritage is a strange thing. Everyone of us alive right now are descendants of a thousand, thousand generations
Pretty sure I am not the product of a million generations.
Yes you are, all the way back from apes and the first mammals and amoebas ^^ Easily a million generations.
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One day my dad got an email from some Belgian guy, Maurice Thorre, congratulating him on the 100 year anniversary of his grandmother coming to America. My last name is Thorrez and my dad started talking with this guy. Apparently he is some huge genealogist and found that we were related from 9 generations back. He sent us this large book he has written that shows my whole family tree back t 1790 lol. I got super lucky and didn't have to do any research lol.
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I can trace my ancestors back to about 1200. And I know people who can go back to BCE.
Still pretty cool, you should get in touch with some of those people.
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I can't trace anyone back at all, guess the Chinese burned all the records of my tree. Ah well.
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On February 20 2012 06:33 IntoTheheart wrote:
I can't trace anyone back at all, guess the Chinese burned all the records of my tree. Ah well.
I asked a lot of my fellow Chinese-American friends whether they have something like this. Apparently, the practice have died out in most places, except for the few villages that retained any form of old traditions.
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On February 20 2012 06:13 Jealous wrote:Show nested quote +On February 20 2012 06:11 Flicky wrote:On February 20 2012 05:32 Primadog wrote:
Heritage is a strange thing. Everyone of us alive right now are descendants of a thousand, thousand generations
Pretty sure I am not the product of a million generations. Yes you are, all the way back from apes and the first mammals and amoebas ^^ Easily a million generations.
But, but the world is only a couple thousand years old...
:p
Cool stuff! :D
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On February 20 2012 06:55 emperorchampion wrote:Show nested quote +On February 20 2012 06:13 Jealous wrote:On February 20 2012 06:11 Flicky wrote:On February 20 2012 05:32 Primadog wrote:
Heritage is a strange thing. Everyone of us alive right now are descendants of a thousand, thousand generations
Pretty sure I am not the product of a million generations. Yes you are, all the way back from apes and the first mammals and amoebas ^^ Easily a million generations. But, but the world is only a couple thousand years old... :p Cool stuff! :D
Oh, that's what he meant... ;;
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On February 20 2012 06:13 Jealous wrote:Show nested quote +On February 20 2012 06:11 Flicky wrote:On February 20 2012 05:32 Primadog wrote:
Heritage is a strange thing. Everyone of us alive right now are descendants of a thousand, thousand generations
Pretty sure I am not the product of a million generations. Yes you are, all the way back from apes and the first mammals and amoebas ^^ Easily a million generations.
pretty sure most people wouldnt consider non humans a generation else its just ridiculous, since single cell divisions are happening so fast.
from now back to the first homo sapien is only something like 30-40 generations iirc; /
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I can only trace my family back to when the spaniards came to mexico.
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My father has his Lineage in a scroll that he keeps in a vacuum sealed bag in a briefcase that's in a safe under his bed.
It goes back something like 15+ generations... and then has previous family lore. The scroll is like 130 years old, but is a reproduction. He has one of 9 pieces, for each of his siblings, of the "original" (the one before the one he has vacuum sealed) someplace even I don't exactly know of. That piece of scroll is supposedly 250+ years old... and was, purportedly, made from the liquefied, then ashed, remains of one that was made even further back... It's an odd mix... Most of it is mega old Chinese, but there are traces of nuanced old Hangul and, of course, "modern" Hangul.
Also, each generation is something like 30 years. So... Humanity has had more than 5000ish generations since approximately Homo Sapiens. Remember a generation is just the time that spans from birth to procreation, so it could even be less than 15 years depending on the time period/birth order of your ancestor.
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On February 20 2012 06:35 Primadog wrote:Show nested quote +On February 20 2012 06:33 IntoTheheart wrote:
I can't trace anyone back at all, guess the Chinese burned all the records of my tree. Ah well. I asked a lot of my fellow Chinese-American friends whether they have something like this. Apparently, the practice have died out in most places, except for the few villages that retained any form of old traditions.
Blame the Cultural Revolution. Worst genocide since Stalin and, perhaps, the worst humanitarian crisis in history... and no education system on Earth seems to give a shit... especially the Chinese.
The records are just beyond horrendous...
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On February 20 2012 09:21 turdburgler wrote:Show nested quote +On February 20 2012 06:13 Jealous wrote:On February 20 2012 06:11 Flicky wrote:On February 20 2012 05:32 Primadog wrote:
Heritage is a strange thing. Everyone of us alive right now are descendants of a thousand, thousand generations
Pretty sure I am not the product of a million generations. Yes you are, all the way back from apes and the first mammals and amoebas ^^ Easily a million generations. pretty sure most people wouldnt consider non humans a generation else its just ridiculous, since single cell divisions are happening so fast. from now back to the first homo sapien is only something like 30-40 generations iirc; /
First homo sapiens = 200,000 years ago.
1 generation = ~25 years (was probably much less in the past but this is the current standard I've heard, make of it what you will)
200,000 / 25 = 8000 generations.
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