Posted on: General Taiwan Query Forum Board URL: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/Taiwan/General?read=21 Surname: ------------------------- I lived in Taiwan for two years. While there I moved alot and lived in many different cities. >From what I understand, the main US base in Taiwan was in Tainan. It was also while I was there I found the largest concentration of people of mixed race in the south. The army also might have a record of the marrage.

Article: Researching Chinese Roots - Verification of Genealogy Message to all list participants. I do extensive Chinese genealogy work and I maintain a genealogy database of about 40 to 60 Chinese surnames, all written in Chinese, going back to the original Emperor Huang Di. There are two known Chinese Emperors that go by the same title of Huang Di, the original Huang Di, founding Emperor of China, and CHIN Shih Huang Di. Huang Di is China's first patriarchal and founding ancestor, while CHIN Shih Huang Di is merely Emperor of China's fourth dynasty. We in the West, today, accept known sources of genealogy as factual and dismiss what may not be properly documented by our own standards. In the process of verifying Chinese genealogy we must remember and take into account that even the best of China historians have written things in error. What should be upheld in researching genealogy is that history is factual, whether documented by oral history, ancient chants, legends, stories, or the abundance or preponderance of historic fact left in evidence (as traditional documentation). Another thing to remember is that in researching genealogy, one must be honest and have integrity. Chinese families do maintain their own family genealogies and such things are kept in the private domain of the family. Therefore, no public record or verification exist as to the truth of such documents. It is, sometimes, next to impossible to verify. A family will not share it's genealogy with anyone asking. Therefore, when asking for help, in researching genealogy, it is best to identify one's self, present checkable credentials and inform the Chinese family, that you are dealing with, as to the true purpose, nature, and use of this study. Some families will not consent to a public publication of their genealogy, but will consent to a discussion of their roots in general. If one is not honest and sincere, they are not likely to find a cooperative Chinese family. When I do genealogy work, I leave my resume with the families interviewed and I fully explain the nature of my research. I, also, inform them as to whether I am doing this research for book publication, media publication, or just self-study. To be sneaky does not pay as sooner or later people are going to find you out. some people in this world try to do underhanded things in researching things, fact finding for nefarious reasons. Honor is needed in this world and people are more inclined to deal with honest souls, rather than dishonest ones. My primary research, in the past, has been on my own family from the Chou Dynasty, on the Ch'ing Dynasty (a Manchurian ethnic group, who ruled China), and on the Ming Dynasty (Chun, Chen, Chu family surnames). By being honest with all of these people, I have been able to verify and document genealogy that does not appear in current publications. If you go to my website, you will find a partial list of my work in Chinese genealogy, http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Courtyard/1535/cha_pu.html. The term "chia p'u" in Chinese means family album or family genealogy tree book. I use the term "cha p'u" instead to indicate that this is my oath as to the truth of my genealogy work. The work "cha" means, blood oath. By being honest with people, instead of sneaking around, I have been able to uncover a lot of past history, which has evaded China scholars and text materials. Usually, if I have any questions, I will go directly to the source and ask, rather than go behind their backs and perpetuate myth and rumor. I think honor is needed in this world and the Christian standard as given in the Holy Bible is a strong and correct standard of general conduct that should be followed by Western genealogy researchers. In Henry P'u Yee's biography he states that this uncle and that uncle went childless and had adopted him heir to the throne. Additionally, people have called P'u Yee a pretender to the throne. A historian should watch what he says, because if one is wrong or guilty of defamation of character, one is libel to another party for making hurtful inferences in the public domain. The research work that I published online, about Henry P'u Yee and the manchurian genealogy is true and P'u Yee is not a pretender to the throne of China. Henry P'u Yee is what would be called, today, a placeholder Emperor as he was not officially installed by Court. The traditional succession of the Ch'ing Dynasty was not published, until I published some of this history and official succession, online, within the past year or so. Presently, I am the family representative for the above three families, in the regard where I am a family member with some degree of authority and the one upholding the family heritage and history as a family historian. Speaking as a man of great honor, someone who places respect in others, I will go directly to a family in order to discover, for myself, their history. If I hear others slandering their good name, I would be willing to testify in Court as to what was said against them. No one deserves a bum rap, not even the Emperor of China. As a Chinese person, I feel that there is honor within the Chinese culture and the Emperor is considered "Son of Heaven". Anyone holding that title should be accorded the utmost respect, perhaps, as a cultural figure, part of China's ancient past. As a Chinese person, I feel proud of my cultural roots and will defend my Chinese roots with honor. It is wrong for anyone of Chinese ancestry to belittle their own cultural past as such things will come back to haunt them as a class later. When people are of a higher class of citizenry, they do hold to higher principles in life, than just trying to get a bowl of rice to eat daily. Always, the proper thing to do is to ask, when one is in doubt or when one does not know. Some people are hurtful and inconsiderate of others, lawless people without the proper regard for integrity. Truth should prevail in genealogy and history research, but truth with a proper eye to things in view of, my opinion, God's standards. If a fact is true, it will be published. If a fact is not true, its publishers should be sued. Slander and public defamation holds no place in the publication of professional historians or genealogists. The traditional and proper last Emperor of China (of the Manchurian Ch'ing Dynasty) is Henry P'u Yee's uncle, who was installed by Court as Emperor Kuang Yao. This installation occurred in Ma Bin Pou, a mythical city 30 miles outside of Canton, a city chosen which was symbolically done in the name of Emperor Tao Kuang, China's rightful succession Emperor of the Manchurian Ch'ing Dynasty Court. Henry P'u Yee, therefore, was the placeholder figure in the Forbidden City, a placeholder in the name of the Imperial throne of the Ch'ing Emperors/Ch'ing Dynasty. Copyright (c) 06-09-00 Lester D. K. Chow