I am looking for Zhaoqing 陳 Chen Clan genealogy/Jiapu. My Chen ancestor (the grandfather of my grand

LegacyUser

I am looking for Zhaoqing 陳 Chen Clan genealogy/Jiapu. My Chen ancestor (the grandfather of my grandmother) went to Xiengkhouang in Laos during the French colonization.

I am a descendant of the 陳 Chen Clan of Zhaoqing in Guangdong province, my ancestor went to Xiengkhouang in Laos during French colonization (about the End of Qing Dynasty or the Beginning of Republic of China). I went to Zhaoqing on last July but I can't find the Jiapu of Chen clan, the Office of Overseas Chineses said that there is a lot of Chen Clan in Zhaoqing, there is a Chen Clan who went to Malaysia, a Chen Clan who went to Thailand, etc, etc. My Chen Clan ancestor went to Laos, Xiengkhouang city and in this place he was married with a Tai Phuan lady. How can I contact the Chen Clan who have members went to Laos the last century ? Thank you for your help.

HenryTom

Jeremy,

 

Toward the end of the Qing Dynasty, many Chinese from Fujian & Guangdong provinces were attracted to the area around the Malaya Archipelago for the tin mining / pewter industries.

 

Here is the contact information for what seems to be quite a large Chen Clan Ancestral Hall in Zhaoqing:

 

34 Enlongli, Zhongshan 78th Road, Liwan, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, 510040

广东省广州市荔湾区中山七八路恩龙里34号 邮政编码: 510040

46HR+W2 Liwan, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

+86 20 8181 4559

 

This grand Chen Ancestral hall was built in 1894, probably from the remittances of the Chen clan. You may want to ask somebody to call this ancestral hall to find out which other Chen ancestral hall in Zhaoqing had members that went to Laos.

 

Are there any Chen ancestral halls in Xiengkhouang ?

 

While jiapu are rather specific to a village/town, prominent clan members that went overseas and sent back remittances may have had their family lineages incorporated into the larger clan books/tablets in the clan ancestral halls.

 

Please be aware that the Chen is a Pinyin romanization, while Tan is a Minnan romanization - which is quite common in Malaysia. But, they are both romanizations of the China clan surname of 陳/陈 Also, to make it even more confusing, the Pinyin romanization of "Tan" refers to my own clan surname 譚/谭

 

By the way, Zhaoqing is probably the most famous place to buy Chinese ink wells for Chinese writing / calligraphy.

 

Henry

 

 

LegacyUser

Hello Henry,

 

Thank you for your answer.

 

I don't know if there was a Chen Ancestral Hall in Xiengkhouang, anyway this city has been in ruins since the Vietnam War, it seems difficult to me to go there to do genealogical research.

 

In any case according to members of my family, the name of my ancestor was Chen 陳 (they speak mandarin so this is not the cantonese prononciation of this name). I have taken note of your information about the Chen Ancestral Hall in Guangzhou, I can contact people there, so they can go there to help me.

 

Thank you for your great help.

 

Jérémy

HenryTom

Hello Jeremy,

 

Since Xieng Khouang is not far from Vientiane, you may want to try to see what can be uncovered by researching the Chen clan in Laos.

 

Here are 2 links to help get you started.

 

Regards,

 

Henry

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=v9QEBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA683&lpg=PA683&dq=chen+family+associations+in+vientiane+laos&source=bl&ots=kykAo_OjUz&sig=ACfU3U0oTjG5Q_V2dn8JF8mz-ZKfctgVNw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjFhYzC1MnmAhWJhJ4KHWCdCmYQ6AEwAHoECA4QAQ#v=onepage&q=chen%20family%20associations%20in%20vientiane%20laos&f=false

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g293950-d12059435-Reviews-Chinese_Association_Temple-Vientiane_Vientiane_Prefecture.html