China Collection of Genealogies - FamilySearch Historical Records

Collection Time Period
Records in this collection contain information between the Qing dynasty and the Republic era (1700s to early 1900s), even though some preface material includes earlier dates.

Collection Description

The records are mostly about families who have lived in the Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces for several generations. Some of the records contain information about only the most recent few generations. Some of the records are hand-copied, while others are published records in standard format. Most of the records are written in traditional Chinese characters. Most of the records are easily readable, although some have damages due to age, water, and tight bindings. Additional records are being added to this collection about residents of the Shandong, Jiangsu Guangdong, Henan, and Anhui Provinces of China.

General Description &amp; Background:
The Feng Ping Shan Library Collection contains Chinese genealogy titles from Hong Kong University’s Feng Ping Shan Library. Microfilms come from four acquisition projects from the Hong Kong University. Other record types in these projects, such as cemetery records and local history records, are excluded from the current collection. The records are not always complete and may not contain information that would normally appear in traditional Chinese genealogies, such as ancestral burial ground descriptions, family mottos, or generation poems, and so on. Additional collections have been added to this database, including records from the East Asian Library Collection from Columbia University in New York. Collections scheduled to be added to this database are from the Zhongshan Library, Hunan Provincial Library, Shanghai Municipal Archives, and the Hainan University Institute for the Study of Ancient Literature,

Record Content
Information found in this collection includes the following:


 * A brief history of the origin of the family and the dispersion pattern of some of the branches.


 * A list of male ancestors’ names according to generation order.


 * The birth year or death year of the ancestor, if known.


 * The maiden surname of the spouse, if known.


 * The number and names of the male descendents of each couple, if known.

How to Use the Collection
Begin your search by using the family surname, then the country (which is China most of the time), then the province, and then the county if known. The title of the records from the county will be listed. Some of the records include a publication year, if known. Even though many records are from Guangdong province where most of the families lived in the last century, some of the records are listed under the province and county where the ancestors originated. Some records list “unknown” as the family’s locality because the record itself does not specify any particular place or no single place can be used because the family is too widely scattered.

Assumption
Since most of the records are written in traditional Chinese characters, it is assumed that the user should be able to read Chinese or get help from someone who can read Chinese to fully benefit from this collection.

Related Web Sites
Chinese genealogies

This is not a complete list, your input is desired.

Related Wiki Articles
China

China Genealogy

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should also list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again.It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the Wiki Article:How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.

Examples of Source Citations for a Record in This Collection:

 * United States. Bureau of the Census. 12th census, 1900, digital images, From FamilySearch Internet(www.familysearch,org: September 29, 2006). Arizona Territory, Maricopa, Township 1, East Gila, Salt River Base adn Meridian; sheet 9B, line 71.
 * Mexico, Districto Federal, Catholic Church Records, 1886-1933, digital images, from Familysearch Internet (www.familysearch,org: April 22, 2010), Bapistm of Adolfo Femandex Jimenez, 1 Feb. 1910, San Pedro Apostol, Cauhimalpa, Districto Feeral, Mexico, film number 0227-23.

Sources for This Collection
China. Various libraries and archives located in Hong Kong, China and the United States. Chinese genealogies and clan histories.

Originals are located at:


 * Feng Ping Shan Library.Chinese Genealogies. Hong Kong University,China
 * Columbia University Library. East Asian Library Collection, New York.