Post by NZBC on Jan 8, 2010 22:02:44 GMT 12
www.hawaiian-roots.com/chinese_1.htm Chinese Genealogy Research Help
Two excellent books to read while searching for your Chinese roots are Researching One's Chinese Roots by Lai and Jean Ohai's Chinese Genealogy and Family Book Guide.
Every person doing research on their Chinese genealogy should know that they will be confronted with several given names for one individual. These may be a milk name, school name, marriage name, professional name, and others. Another thing that you must know is that in a Chinese name the surname comes first then the given names follow.
The Chinese who came to the islands were mainly from the provinces of Kwangtung and Fukien. These two provinces are on the coast way down south. The influence of foreigners was strong. The need for labor in Hawaii was publicized in the port areas, so thousands came to Hawaii as contract laborers. Many Hakka people answered the call for labor. They came from areas near Hong Kong and from towns like Shatin, Pukak and Lilong. Most of the other migrants were described as Punti, meaning local to the land. The Puntis are generally the immigrants from Heong Shan area, later known as Chung Shan. More than 75% of the Chinese living in Hawaii are descendants of migrants from this district.
Two excellent books to read while searching for your Chinese roots are Researching One's Chinese Roots by Lai and Jean Ohai's Chinese Genealogy and Family Book Guide.
Every person doing research on their Chinese genealogy should know that they will be confronted with several given names for one individual. These may be a milk name, school name, marriage name, professional name, and others. Another thing that you must know is that in a Chinese name the surname comes first then the given names follow.
The Chinese who came to the islands were mainly from the provinces of Kwangtung and Fukien. These two provinces are on the coast way down south. The influence of foreigners was strong. The need for labor in Hawaii was publicized in the port areas, so thousands came to Hawaii as contract laborers. Many Hakka people answered the call for labor. They came from areas near Hong Kong and from towns like Shatin, Pukak and Lilong. Most of the other migrants were described as Punti, meaning local to the land. The Puntis are generally the immigrants from Heong Shan area, later known as Chung Shan. More than 75% of the Chinese living in Hawaii are descendants of migrants from this district.