This photo was taken about 1912 of Chock Sai Shee(See)’s extended family. Chock Hinn is not in the photo as he passed away.
Standing top row: King Tan, Chang Joe(husband of 3rd sister), Dang ? (husband of 1rst sister), Chang (Mun) Ah Gett (husband of 2nd sister (my GungGung), King Chee
Seater: Diana(2nd daughter of 1rst sister), Bernice(youngest daughter), Jack Chang (1rst son of 2nd sister), Kam Pung (my popo), Chock Sai Shee, 1rst Sister, 3rd sister, Lena (oldest of 1rst sister).
In Front: Mary (3rd of 1rst sister), Ah Kwock (1rst son of 1rst sister).
Widowed Chock Sai Shee (See) and Family taken about 1905. It includes the first Son King Lun before he went to China as part of a swim team where he unfortunately drowned.
Left to Right: 3rd brother King Chee, 3rd sister Ah Lan, 2nd brother King Ho, 1rst son King Lun.
Front row: 4th son King Tan, 1rst sister, baby sister Bernice, Chock Sai Shee, 2nd sister Kum Pung( My popo).
Talking to Mayblossom Wilkinson. When I told her about GoonTong instead of GooHokChyun, she said that that sounds right. So I am going to go with GoonTong as our Chock and Chang home village. In Mandarin, it is GuanTang. I also talked to her about the time that Popo and Uncle Jack went back to China. This was because GungGung didn’t feel that he could go back to China because he was unsure whether or not he could get back to Hawaii. He felt he was an illegal (this is why he said that he was from Kauai). Anyway, his parents had fallen ill or passed away and Popo/Uncle Jack went back to visit the Chang and Chock shrine at the ‘village’. So I’m assuming that this village is GoonTong (in Cantonese). I believe it is GuanTang in Mandarin.
Again, the problem is that I’ve seen two chinese characters describing ‘Guan’ but look to be the same town. The other thing is that I’ve seen two sources describing that they belong to two different districts and two different towns.
Chock Sai Shee’s Manoa Tombstone indicates Goon Tong 官 塘 Joong San (ChungShan and Zhongshan). In mandarin, it is GuanTang.
On google maps, I found Guantangcun but the chinese characters are 关塘.
The following links all label on the map the same ‘village’ Guantangcun
The following 3 links, however, describe this town from two different ‘districts and towns.
One labels it Guantang community of Tanjiawan Town of Xiangzhou DIstrict of Zhuhai Municipality (city) of Guangdon Province.
Another labels it Guantang Village 关塘 (with the other characters) of Nanlang Town of Zhongshan City of Zhongshan Municipality of Guangdong Province.
The problem is that they GPS the location to the same area.
Here are some links on the history of Chang’s. One of them by Lai talks about the Chang’s of SamXiang which may be the Chang clan that Sue’s Grandmother came from. Problem is that it is the same Chang Character.
This has a whole bunch of articles historically relating to Hawaii Chinese.
Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Macao-Geographical notes
this has some info on the Chang clan of ‘third Village’ (samxiang or samheung) as well as other villages. You should look at Mr. Lai’s digital archives to read other articles etc on Chinese. Lot of good reads.
She said that Chang Ah Gett came to the US from China at the age of 14 with a group of chinese because he could read and write. He was from a family of scholars that were stripped of their ‘title’. Couldn’t make a living so he left. He came from the same home town as Chock Sai Shee and my grandmother Gam Pang Chock (Goo Hok Chyun). They were setup in marriage by Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s brother Son Hu (Sun Mei in Honolulu?). She also relates that my grandmother was presented to Dr. SUn Yat Sen as a possible bride since our families knew each other and were from the same village… but was eliminated.
The interesting thing is that Sun Yat-sen’s village is Cuiheng 翠亨村 (now a part of Nanlang)
Verbally, our town is Goo Hok Chyun, Kung Seong Doo, Chungshan. This is Cantonese
Chungshan is the district in Guangdong province.
Kung Seong Doo is the district which I think has changed.
Goo Hok is the village. Chyun (village).
In Mandarin, it is pronounced GuHe Cun
Kung Seong Doo is one of the administrative districts of Chungshan. Chungshan was named Heungshan pre 1911. Doo is a district so Kung Seong Doo is one of 10. In 1911, there were slight boundry changes and doo became ‘kee’. There were 9 districts. Kung Seong Doo became #6 precinct. I guess it would be called no 6 kee now. I haven’t found a map that states these precincts or districts today, but I did find maps of the ‘doo’s.
Each of these districts then had ‘villages’ within them called chuen (jyutping) or cun (pinyin).
You may see Heung (jyutping) that is a subdistrict made up of one or more villages.
I found several maps of Chung Shan ‘doo’ or ‘kee’ districts: One of them from Wai Jane Char’s ‘Geography of Kwangtung Province for Hawaii Residents’ ( a good read) indicates ‘Goo Hok’ on the left or west side of Kung Seong Doo.
I found this map 1954 army map which indicates Ku-Hao. In the middle next to Mao-wan. I put the larger map also..
I was searching on Google Books and found this excerpt from the book
Chinese Historic Sites and Pioneer Families of Rural Oahu by Tin Yuke Char 1988
There are references to the Chang Ah Gett family. Need to get a copy of this book and article.
Tin Yuke Char also got a book ‘Chinese historic sites and pioneer families of Kauai. THere are Ching’s and Chang’s here.
Aunty May Blossom Chang Wilkinson mentions that Chang Ah Gett had a sister and he came from Kauai. Need to discover and research more of this. Ching’s, is the last name of E.K. Wung’s wife Alicia (Ching) Mother of Jean Wung Chang. The Ching’s came from Kauai.
Chinese historic sites and pioneer families of rural Oahu
I had asked Mayblossom Wilkinson about the village we came from. She verbally talks about the village and county where Chock Sai Shee comes from. I tried to write it in English here.
Jung San Goo Hok cheun Kung seong doo
I found some maps and got ‘Geography of Kwangtung Province for Hawaii Residents’ here. Read it and it will tell you a lot about the villages etc. To find Goo Hok Cheun (village) in Kung Seong Doo #6 district may take some more research. The names have changed.
Such as Doo changed to Kee.
I think that one of the maps shows Goo Hok in the upper left of Kung Seong Doo.
Jack Chang, eldest son of Chang Ah Gett,made and put a headstone for our Great Grandmother Chock Sai Shee at the Nuuanu Cemetary. She is buried in the Chinese Cemetary in Manoa.
![[image]](https://sjsue.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/map-of-villages.jpg)
