Start Your Genealogy Search with Surname and Ancestral Origin

Organize your clues first, then gradually narrow the bibliography.

A guide to organizing information. The examples are fictional demonstrations, not historical cases; please verify conclusions involving people, dates, and lineages against original sources.

Create a Clue Card First

Divide the information you know into three columns: “visible in original records,” “recounted by elders,” and “temporary conjecture.” First write down the original characters of ancestors’ names, former residence, place of migration, possible hall name, and who provided the information. Keep question marks for characters you are unsure of; do not change them in advance to more common characters just to make searching easier.

Search from Broad to Narrow

Start by searching only the surname to see whether the database has any candidate books; then add the ancestral county name, village name, or hall name. Entering too many conditions at once can easily exclude candidates. If there are no results, try the old place name, current place name, and keywords from the genealogy title separately, and record the wording used each time.

Compare Editions Even When Titles Are the Same

Finding a bibliography entry with the same surname only means it may be relevant. Open the preface, table of contents, and migration records, and compare the founding ancestor, branch locations, compilation date, and hall name. Different editions with the same title may include different branches, so do not identify your branch based only on the cover title.

Leave a Record That Can Be Continued When Nothing Is Found

Record the search date, keywords, candidate numbers, reasons for exclusion, and evidence still missing. Narrowing the question to “need to verify the place name of a certain village” or “need to identify the name on a certain page” makes it easier to obtain useful help than asking broadly whether there is a genealogy for a certain surname.

Copyable Record Sheet

已知姓氏：
祖籍原称：
现在对应地区（待核）：
堂号或字辈原文：
资料提供者与日期：
候选书目及编号：
仍需核对的问题：

Download Blank Record Sheet