Tracing Roots Through Historical Sources · Original-Page Comparison

A Genealogy Is Labeled “Three-Revised” or “Nine-Revised”: How Do You Verify the Number of Revisions and Its Prefaces?

Question: If a genealogy is titled “Three-Revised” or “Nine-Revised,” does that mean the copy in hand is the complete genealogy produced at the third or ninth revision? It cannot be determined from the book title alone. The title, prefaces, general rules, actual volumes, and printing information must be checked separately. The two original-page images below provide leads for further research.

Find the Preface First, Then See What It Says

On scan page 3 of Volume 1 of 《钱氏三修族谱》, the title “Preface to the Qian Clan Three-Revised Genealogy” is visible. This can help locate a preface, but the title alone cannot establish the specific year of this revision, its chief compiler, or whether the first two revisions survive. The next step is to open the full preface and separately record its closing signature, date or era designation, reason for the revision, and the names of earlier genealogies it mentions.

《钱氏三修族谱》, Volume 1, scan page 3 — 《钱氏三修族谱》, Volume 1 · Scan page 3 (not the page number printed in the original book).View the bibliographic record and verify the excerpt

How Can “Opening Preface,” “Second-Revision Preface,” and “Third-Revision Preface” Be Used?

The checked contents entries on scan page 2 of Volume 1 of 《南丰潋溪傅氏九修宗谱》 include “Opening Preface,” “22 General Rules,” “Original Preface,” “Second-Revision Preface,” and “Third-Revision Preface.” They indicate that a single volume may bring together texts from different periods. The order of the contents does not equal the order in which events actually occurred, nor does it indicate that the contents of each piece have been fully checked. Review the main text and closing signature of each piece, build a timeline, and then compare it with the title of this volume.

《南丰潋溪傅氏九修宗谱》, Volume 1, scan page 2 — 《南丰潋溪傅氏九修宗谱》, Volume 1 · Scan page 2 (not the page number printed in the original book).View the bibliographic record and verify the excerpt

A Checklist You Can Apply Directly

Book title and volume number: transcribe them exactly; do not first rewrite “Three-Revised” as a verified date.
For each preface: record in separate columns the title, the page on which the main text begins, the date or era designation in the closing, the signatory, and the earlier genealogy it mentions.
Volume status: check whether pages are missing, the volume was reprinted, multiple volumes were bound together, or later additions were made; record scan page numbers and printed page numbers separately.
Conclusion: enter only revision events that can be confirmed from the original pages into the family genealogy; mark any revision number that cannot be confirmed as “pending verification.”

For example, if family oral history says, “The ancestral genealogy was revised nine times,” first create a question card in your record-keeping tool with the exact words of the oral account, the speaker, the book title, the scan page, and the preface to be checked. Once you find the corresponding preface’s closing signature, update the question card; do not write the words “Nine-Revised” directly as nine evidence-backed years of genealogy revision.

Scope of This Article’s Research

This verifies only the titles or contents entries visible on the specified scanned pages of the two genealogies. The full texts, dates, and participants of each revision have not yet been checked; the title or contents cannot be used to infer that all nine revisions have surviving editions.