Posted on: General China Query Forum Board URL: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/China/General?read=192 Surname: KAK ------------------------- Morning All, Looking for info as to direction I should take to trace Greatgrand Father,Joe KAK, death cert only says born Canton, no dates & lots of "unknowns". Family traditons says he was a Market gardener in NZ, fatered two children (one my grand mother) , died Blenheim NZ. Need help in name usage ,have gravestone that I need translated (photo).really just need lots of help,,, pls regards Tuck West Australia

On Mon, 19 Jun 2000, Graham Tuckerman wrote: > Posted on: General China Query Forum > Board URL: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/China/General?read=192 > > Surname: KAK > ------------------------- > > Morning All, > Looking for info as to direction I should take to trace Greatgrand Father, > Joe KAK, death cert only says born Canton, no dates & lots of "unknowns". > Family traditons says he was a Market gardener in NZ, fathered two children > (one my grand mother), died Blenheim NZ. Need help in name usage, have > gravestone that I need translated (photo). really just need lots of help, > pls > regards Tuck West Australia Suggestions on researching Chinese genealogy: (My own personal experience and other things) 1. In order to research Chinese genealogy, you would need to speak to all persons possible. Family members and friends or work acquaintances of the deceased. Sometimes, non-family members or extended kin may know more about the deseased than family. 2. Check all legal records, marriage, birth, or church membership list. 3. Check with local Chinese societies, organizations, and business associations. 4. Check shipping records. 5. Speak to Chinese people in the community as they may be of some help. You need to do all of the above, if you want to find your family's Chinese genealogy. Sometimes, a person's father or grandfather may not know of records, yet records do exist, possibly kept by a distant clan cousin, four to thirty-six generations removed. 6. Check with genealogy libraries like the Mormon Family Center. Though I have never used their services, xungen.com may be a good place to go for help. 7. Many of the major universities may have information on Chinese genealogy and how to go about researching Chinese roots. Some of these books will be written in Chinese, so you'll need to find someone who can read Chinese, in your area, to help you. 8. Save every bit of information that you can find, even if it does not appear to be too important. What you save may one day turn out to be very helpful in your genealogy search. 9. Volunteer your time and help some Chinese clan society or organization. Many of these organizations, like mine, are short staffed and would welcome your help. Life is not merely asking for free information and help from others, but it (life) involves our helping others, too. When you give to others, people will give back to you many times over. So, a search in genealogy is not merely getting, but giving, too. 10. The way I learnt to do genealogy research was by my putting into practice family principles. As a young boy, I had to learn respect of my elders. I worked as a child and youth, whenever I was taken to my grandparent's house. I was taught to listen to people and to be polite, never to talk back or demand my own ways. When I would visit relative's homes, I would always bring a small gift, usually, food or something like that, to show them that I truely cared about their welfare and I was not just there to get or take from them. When I needed genealogy information relatives would freely volunteer information to me, because of the respect that I had earned and because they had come to know me and have placed their trust in me as a person. Within the Chinese community, many Chinese people withheld their family genealogies from kin, because they felt that their kin were unworthy. Many Chinese went to the grave with the knowledge of their genealogies, only because they felt that they were mistreated and not given the proper respect. The Chinese community that I do know and have come to learn about is an ancient community, where ethics was not enforced by American law, but by traditional Chinese custom. So, by giving, true behavior, sincerely, over a time period, Chinese people (some Chinese people) will learn about you and will gain your trust. Many have volunteered their family trees to my keeping, done in the above manner. When you help others, others would be more willing to help you. Sometimes, Chinese people will tell you that they don't have any genealogy records, (you) only latter to find that they had given that information out to other clan relatives. 11. You could pay a professional genealogy researcher. It cost about $160 per hour with no guarantee of finding anything. 12. If your family surname is Chou Dynasty based, the best person to speak with is myself. I may not, in many cases (thinking worldwide), be able to find your ancestry, but I may be able to provide information that will help in your genealogy search. I am, additionally, able to provide you with a copyright background on your family surname, history going back to early and pre-history China. The Chou clan organization does genealogy research as well as houses Chinese family genealogies going back to the year (approx) 2200 BC and earlier. All of our records are in Chinese and my organization does not have a genealogist, the person required to do this genealogy search. We are looking for volunteers, in Hawaii, to help out with our efforts to serve the general community. Chinese surnames of families descending from the Chou Dynasty Kings and Princes are: Chow, Chang, Ching, Lum, Wong, Ho, Ing, Goo, Wu, Choy, Yap, Lai, Sun, Kwock, Chiang, Mao, Lau, and Loui. Family surnames that are directly related to the Chou Dynasty and clan as family are: Dang, Young, Siu, Chock, and Tom. Family surnames that are related to the Chou clan are: Chun (Chun, Chen, Chu) and Aisin Gioro (many in the U.S. now go by assumed Chinese surnames rather than to be known as Manchurians). If your family surname is anyone of the above, please feel free to contact the Chou Clansmen Association of America as we are your authorized family surname society. Go to our homepage for details on who we are and what we do. http://www.idis.com/ChouOnline Our membership, at present, is small, we have less than 10 members and we are looking to grow. We represent China's Chin Ying Tong (family temple), which boast over 29 million members. We (The Chou Clansmen Association of America) represent the succession descendancy of CHOU Shun Cheong Di (r. 1644) and the King's/Emperor's lineage of the Chou clan and dynasty. Our family succession and genealogy can be seen at our website. Because we are located in Hawaii, we are able to help all Chinese living in Hawaii asking for assistance. Free of charge as our contribution to Hawaii's local Chinese community and to the general community. We are easily accessible to people in Hawaii and will do what we can to help Hawaii's local Chinese. The Chou Clan organization, myself for now, has help a few people in mainland U.S. and Hawaii find their genealogies or have been successful in putting them in contact with family members and relatives. We are only limited by funds and by the amont of time that we (again, I) can spend on every request. Once again, we are looking for volunteers to help in building the Chinese community and culture. Volunteers that can help in many ways, including doing genealogy research. No advance training is required as we will train and teach you. We are based in Hawaii, so we're looking for people in Hawaii to volunteer to work at the Chou Clansmen Association. with this we will be able to help not only people from Hawaii, but we will be able to help most anyone who request genealogy information by e-mail worldwide. We do not limit ourselves to service to Chinese solely, we are an American organization, which helps all people. Please go to our website and contact me by phone, if you are in Hawaii...and volunteer! Site for the Chou Clansmen Association: http://www.idis.com/ChouOnline Genealogy site for the following surnames: Chow, Chang, Ching, Lum, Wong, Ho, Ing, Goo, Wu, Choy, Yap, Lai, Sun, Kwock, Chiang, Mao, Lau, and Loui, Dang, Young, Siu, Chock, Tom, and Aisin Gioro. http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Courtyard/1535/cha_pu.html We are one of two Chou/Chow clan organizations advertised worldwide. We, in Hawaii, are the main organization. A Chow clan society exist in Hong Kong for Chow clan members in Hong Kong. The Chou Clansmen Association of America P.O. Box 4604 Honolulu, Hawaii 96812 (808) 538-1855 Our genealogy library houses between 40 to 60 Chinese family surnames dating back to Emperor Huang Di (~2276 BC). We try to do what we can for all people in researching Chinese genealogy for free. We are limited as we do not have a genealogist at this time, although we do have records, we can not do an extensive search. Thank you for allowing me to send this lengthy non-profit informational letter. Lester D. K. Chow