Finding Clues to Your Family in Genealogies and Local Gazetteers

Tracing the Original Text: A Feature on Tracing Family Roots

Open the ancestry research notes tool: Save original texts, page numbers, and family oral histories, then export them for further organization.

Starting with a specific question, read alongside the original page, then organize your own family clues.

• If your ancestral home is recorded as Suzhou, Wu Commandery, or Pingjiang Prefecture, how can you use the Wu Jun Zhi to verify old place names?

  Compare the two main-text pages on administrative changes in the Wu Jun Zhi, examine clues in the names Suzhou and Pingjiang Prefecture, and learn to verify your ancestral home layer by layer by period, prefecture and county, and village.

• Winter Solstice, Koushu Porridge, and Fen Sui: How can the Wu Jun Zhi help organize family memories of seasonal celebrations?

  Compare the customs section of the Wu Jun Zhi, read the original text on Winter Solstice, Koushu Porridge, Fen Sui, and the New Year's Eve vigil tray, with original-image page numbers and family interview questions.

• Where to Start in Local Gazetteers When Tracing Your Ancestral Home: Understanding the Catalog Through Clues from Place Names, Schools, and Waterways

  Using the actual table-of-contents pages of the Pinghu County Gazetteer, Xuzhou Prefecture Gazetteer, and Suzhou Prefecture Gazetteer, organize your ancestral research in reading order based on clues from former place names, schools, streets and lanes, and waterways.

• The genealogy says “third compilation” and “ninth compilation”—how can you verify the number of revisions and the genealogical prefaces?

  By cross-referencing the verified original pages of Qian Family Genealogy, Third Compilation and Nanfeng Lianxi Fu Family Ancestral Genealogy, Ninth Compilation, distinguish the book titles, the genealogical-preface contents, and the actual years in which the genealogies were revised.

• The genealogy only says “married a woman of the Chen clan”—can my grandmother’s name be identified?

  Using the verified brief marriage entries in Puyang Renfeng Ying Family Ancestral Genealogy and Litang Fan Family Ancestral Genealogy, demonstrate how to record spouse clues and avoid mistaking people with the same name for one another.

• The old genealogy says “Wujiang”—can an old county-boundary map directly identify the ancestral village?

  By cross-referencing the verified table-of-contents pages of the Hongzhi Wujiang Gazetteer and the Jiajing Wujiang County Gazetteer, explain how to find old place names through historical changes, territorial boundaries, and county-boundary maps, avoiding the assumption that a place with the same name is the ancestral home.

• The genealogy contains “third branch” and a “lineage chart”—does that mean I can connect it to my own family branch?

  By cross-referencing verified brief entries from the Le'an Ying Family Ancestral Genealogy and the Litang Fan Family Revised Ancestral Genealogy, explain the order for checking branches and lineage charts.

• The local gazetteer's contents include “People” and “Notable Officials”—can I find my own ancestor?

  By cross-referencing the verified table-of-contents entries in Continued Compilation of the Yangzhou Prefecture Gazetteer and Brief Gazetteer of Yunjiang, distinguish between entry points in the People section, same-name clues, and genuine family relationships.