尋根 In Seach of Roots ...

From our experience, family research is not for everyone -- some finds it too challenging. Yet, once you have been bitten by the Family Research Bug, it is quite contagious and actually fulfilling in an odd way. Some folks see it as their heritage right, while others see it as a heritage endowment that they can hand down to the following generations. In any case, we of the Gin Family from the Pearl River Delta of Guangdong Province has a long and proud history, stretching way beyond 800 years and much more. In fact according to the Gin Clan family history our progenitor Gin Sun Hall, lived from CE 1195 to CE 1274. He who originated from the Great Plains of China can trace his lineage to one of the legendary Chinese emperors.

Thus, the purpose of this Page is to provide some guidance to those who wish to embark on a journey of finding and recording their Gin Family Roots.

In the Page "A Branch ..." we share with you a sample of a "In Search of Root" endeavour. That search began in Australia and stretched over 60 years and covered the countries of China, Malaysia and the United States.

The lessons from that journey of Family Tree Trace included the following points:

1.You need sourcedocuments, ideally written in Chinese. If you have access topictures of the Family Altar, then it is likely that the name of yourvenerable ancestors are listed there.

2.You need to knowyour forebear's Married Name / Generation Name (號), not just his legal name.

3.You need to have aClan Family Register, specific to your forebear's Ancestral Village.

4.You need to handleboth versions of Chinese characters, viz. Simplified and Traditional.

5.Have patience andask for your elders, past (pray to them) and present (talk to them), for help.

The Gin Sun Hall Family Associations around the world can usually help to source the relevant Gin Clan Family Register (甄氏族譜) , (甄氏家譜)or down to the level of the "Heung" ( 鄉 ), as for examples, the Shek Hoi Gin Clan Family Register (石海甄氏家譜),and the Lak Chung Gin Family Register ( 甄氏勒沖家譜)see pictures below.

The main Registers are for the following "Houses" ( 房 ), from the the relevant "Heung" ( 鄉 ) or City (市).

     石海房 / Shek Hoi
     霞坑房 / Har Hang

     勒沖房 / Lak Chung

     北房 / Wong Pak (包括中山,西宁)

     仙塘房 / SinTong (開平沙塘等地)
     台山市 / Toisancity (台山市等地)
     恩平市 / Yun Pingcity (恩平市平塘,錦崗房)