The Clan - Early Generations

The words of my uncle:

The Clan
Our family name is pronounced as Chiu in the Beijing dialect, the Common National language; as Yau in Cantonese, the provincial dialect; and as Hugh in Taishanese, the Taisan county dialect. Most names in the clan will be more conveniently translated according to Cantonese pronunciation, and partly to Taishan pronunciation.

Early Generations
Jung Yoon was considered the founding father of our Na Tai District. He and a branch headed by Jee Pon arrived at the area almost simultaneously. Jee Pon's offspring represent a mere 1-2% of the local population, only a handful of families at Yin On Village. Jung Yoon's offspring are 98% of the local population, making up the overwhelming majority.  We belong to this line.

It was said that Jung Yoon migrated from the north as a refugee, passed through Nam Hung, a town that bordered Jiangsi Province. As soon as he arrived at the area, he claimed ownership over the very wide territory of lands. That was about one thousand years ago.

Jung Yoon had five sons and one daughter. The daughter married a Yuen. Since the daughter had no inheritance right to the lands, Jung Yoon let the Yuens collect the rents of certain lands as long as she lived or for a certain number of years, after which the lands would be returned to the family. The Yuens disputed the deal and murdered Jung Yoon, the father-in-law. Jung Yoon ordered two inclusions into his will just before he died.  First, no Chiu will ever marry a Yuen; and second, his blood-stained robe would be displayed at his temple during every annual festival so that all his offspring will never forget it. The first edict was strictly followed to this very day. The robe was lost or disintegrated at about the time of my grandfather's generation.

The eldest son of Jung Yoon had three branches (sons), very populous and prosperous. The second son of Jung Yoon is our ancestor. He had one son.  The other sons of Jung Yoon migrated to areas further west.

The grandsons of Jung Yoon descended from the eldest son spread out and settled three villages: Ox Head, Six-Homes, and Jung-Wo. Our ancestor's descendants, the village generations, became the majority in our village.
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Village Generations
Each of the next 20 generations began with a designated middle name, in the following order:

I belong to generation X (10), Ping rank. My milk name is Chi-Chao (in Cantonese, Kai Chiu). But my married name should be Ping Hoi as registered at our village temple, if the Communists had not interrupted the tradition. My father belongs to generation IX (9) and Chai rank. My grandfather belongs to generation VIII (8) and Sau rank. Etc. The number of generations does not matter. The rank means everything. Within the whole Jung Yoon clan, about 98% of the people in our Na Tai District, when you meet someone and are not sure what to address him, all you have to ask him is "What rank are you?" If his answer is Chai and you are a Ping, then you should address him as Uncle, because that guy is in the same rank as your dad.

Jee Loon, our ancestor, (generation IV) was considered the most populous, prosperous, intelligent and prominent clan in the whole village, or even in the whole district. In the past 50 to 100 years, this clan had more weddings, more children attending schools, and more houses built than any other clans. This clan also appears to be more close-knit, exhibiting more caring and sharing, and more togetherness. Jee Loon had four sons.

Son A: Very weak branch. The line only produced a single son for two generations. The grandson did not even have one son so the great-grandson and his wife were adopted. I remembered both of them had an accent different from our local dialect. This granduncle also had a chronic varicose ulcer. Their descendants in the 10th rank were about five years younger than I, and revitalized the family after the Communist revolution.

Son B: Our branch, the strongest. He had one son who in turn had five sons. The second of those five sons is my great great grandfather, Sing Bing.

Son C: A weak branch. My grand-uncle from this branch was adopted, he lived in Long House Hill Village. His two sons were diligent peasants when we were young kids.

Son D: A weak branch for three generations. Then one great-grandson had three sons. Our clan helped him to go to America and he in turn helped all his three sons get to America, thus revitalizing the family. First uncle used to work at Lotus Inn in Baltimore as a cook and brought us a West Lake duck on two occasions. Second uncle was a laundryman in New York. His three granddaughters, all married, now live in New York and Baltimore areas, visit our family in Baltimore quite often. Third uncle was an alcoholic. All three uncles died in New York.

Sing Bing, my great great grandfather, had five sons.