Author: CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (---.uwa.edu.au)
Date: 07-18-02 21:41
An Overseas Chinese Family (01)
Members of my family asked me to write the history of our family before it is lost. I only know how to write about the past and I do not know how to write about the future. I am sure that the story of my family could be similar in many respects to many other Overseas Chinese families. The story revolve three generations; my grandparents generation, my parents generation and my generation. My grandparents started with nothing, in fact my grandfather was an illiterate indentured labouerer or a human pig (豬仔). Many of the offspring, over a hundred of them, including the fourth generation, of my grandparents are professional people and industralisits
Quotation from Dr Han Suyin,
"A man's life begins with his ancestors and is continued in his descendants. My father's life, and after my father my own life, begins with the Family. To describe the Family I must go back into the past and tell how the progenitors came to the land where they settled."
This is the history of the origin of our family surname Chung or Zheng (鄭) in Pinyin (Chinese phonetic transcription).
In 1134BC, Ji Fa (姬發) became the leader of the Zhou People (周族) who
lived in the center of the Wei Valley (渭谷), west of the great bend of the Yellow River. In 1122BC Ji Fa destroyed the Shang Dynasty (商朝 1783BC to 1122BC)
and established the Zhou Dynasty (周朝 1134BC to 256BC). Ji Fa was installed
the Zhou King Wu (周武王), the first king of the Zhou Dynasty.
In 827BC, Ji Jing (姬靖), a descendant of Ji Fa was crowned crowned Zhou King Xuan (周宣王), the eleventh King of the Zhou Dynasty. Ji You (姬友) was a younger brother of Zhou King Xuan. When Ji You was thirty three years old, in 806BC, Zhou King Xuan gave him the authority to rule a district called Zheng (鄭 located in the northwest of the present day county of Hua 華縣 of Shaanxi province 陜西省). Zhou King Xuan also bestowed upon him the hereditary title of Bo (伯) or Marquis. Ji You renamed his domain the State of Zheng (鄭國) and he became the first ruler of Zheng.
Zhou King Xuan died in 782BC and was succeeded by his son Ji Gong Nie
(姬宮涅), who ascended the throne as Zhou King You (周幽王). In 777BC Zhou
King You married a beautiful concubine, Bao Si (褒姒). A year later she had a son
who was named Bo Fu (伯服).
In 774BC Ji You was appointed by Zhou King You as a Si Tu (司徒) or an official
of ritual ceremonies in the Zhou Court. Although he was a ruler of Zheng he lived in the capital, Hoa (鎬 present day Xi An 西安 city in Shaanxi province 陜西省) to help Zhou King You to govern the country.
In 773BC Bao Si manipulated the old King into having his official wife, the daughter of the ruler of the State of Shen (申國 present day Nan Yang county 南陽縣 in Henan province 河南省), imprisoned in a house behind the palace. Zhou King You also banished his eldest son, Ji Yi Jiu (姬宜臼), the crown prince, to the State of Shen. Zhou King You made Bao Si his official queen and Bo Fu the new crown prince.
The ruler of Shen was very angry at the way that Zhou King You was treating
his daughter and grandson. There was nothing the ruler of Shen could do as he was not military strong enough to take on the Zhou Court. So in 771BC the ruler
of Shen formed an alliance with the Quan Rong (犬戎), a nomedic tribe from the northwest, and attacked the Zhou capital which was very quickly overran. The Quan Rong razed the capital to the ground and Ji You, Zhou King Xuan, Bao Si and Bo Fu were killed in the turmoil.
Ji Yi Jiu, the former crown prince, raised a large army from several vassal States, including troops from the State of Zheng, to rescue the capital. The Quan Rong were driven out of the capital to the northwest.
Ji Yi Jiu was crowned Zhou King Ping (周平王). Ji Jue Tu (姬掘突), the eldest son
of Ji You, became the new ruler of the State of Zheng. Hao was uninhabitable as it was totally destroyed by the Quan Rong. So Zhou King Ping decided to shift his capital to Cheng Zhou (成周 present day Luo Yang 洛陽 city in Henan province). Ji Jue Tu helped Zhou King Ping to relocate the citizens to the new capital.
Ji Jue Tu followed Zhou King Ping to live in Cheng Zhou and the State of Zheng,
in the west of the county of Hua in Shaanxi province, was left without a ruler. Ying Kai (嬴開), the 6th ruler of the State of Qin (秦國 present day Feng Xiang county
鳳翔縣 in Shaanxi province) took the opportunity and absorbed the State of Zheng.
In appreciation, Zhou King Ping rewarded Ji Jue Tu the authority to rule the State
of Guo (虢國 in the northeast of present day Ying Yang county 滎陽縣 of Henan province). Zhou King Ping forced Ji Xu (姬序), the incumbent ruler of the State of Guo, to give up his domain in favour of Ji Jue Tu. Guo was renamed by Ji Jue Tu as the new State of Zheng (新鄭國) and estblished his capital in Xin Zheng (新鄭
present day Xin Zheng city in Henan province).
All the rulers of the vassal states were unhappy to see Ji Xu being deprived of his domain by force. Mie Yi (羋儀) the 14th ruler of the State of Chu (楚國 present day Jiang Ling county 江陵縣 in Hubei province 湖北省) was so angry with Zhou King Ping that he threatened to attack the new capital. In order to pacify the anger of the vassal states, Zhou King Ping allocated Ji Xu, the former ruler of Guo, the authority to rule a district called Yang Qu (陽曲 present day north of Tai Yuan 太原 city in Shanxi province 山西省) which was named the State of Bei Guo (北虢國).
Ji Jue Tu started to complain that his State was too small. He became restless
and wanted to expand his territory. Ji Jue Tu began absorbing settlements, that bordered his new domain without the permission of the central authority, the Zhou Court. Zhou King Ping was angry at Ji Jue Tu's actions, but he did nothing because the State of Zheng had become a very powerful State .
Ji Jue Tu died in 744BC and was succeeded by his eldest son Ji Wu Sheng
(姬寤生). Ji Wu Sheng gave his younger brother Ji Duan Shu (姬段叔) the
authority to rule a city called Jing Cheng (京城 present day about 30 kilometers southeast of Ying Yang county in Henan province), at the insistence of his mother.
Ji Duan Shu was very ambitious and wanted to be the ruler of Zheng. In 722BC Ji Duan Shu attacked the capital, Xin Zheng, but he was defeated. Ji Duan Shu fled
north to the State of Gong (共國 present day Hui Xian 輝縣 in Henan province). When Ji Duan Shu heard that his brother Ji Wu Sheng, wanted to attack Gong, he was so frightened that he committed suicide. The fighting between the two brothers was finally over, but at great cost. The civil war drained the state of men and
resources. Additionally, the eventual death of Ji Wu Sheng in 701BC resulted in
twenty one years of internal strife between the four sons of Ji Wu Sheng, Ji Hu
(姬忽), Ji Tu (姬突), Ji Zi Wei (姬子亹) and Ji Zi Ying (姬子嬰). The State of Zheng was extremely weak by then, and was uncapable to defend itself.
During the Spring and Autumn Period (春秋時代722BC to 481BC), and the Warring States Period (戰國時間 453BC to 221BC) the central authority, the Zhou Court, was weak. Previously, all the vassal States had to pay homage to the Zhou Court at least once in every three years. As the Zhou Court grew weaker and weaker the
vassal States came to regard the Zhou Court as a spent force, and eventually the Zhou Court lost its power to mediate in the numerous disputes among the vassal States. Large and powerful States began to conquer and annex the small and feeble ones because they knew that the central authority could do nothing to stop them. Eventually, in 376BC, Zheng was conquered by the State of Han (韓國 present day Lin Fen county 臨汾縣 in Shanxi province 山西省).
Since the inception of the State of Zheng in 806BC it had been ruled by twenty three rulers; but now the last ruler was called Ji Yi (姬乙). In remembrance of
beloved extinct State, Ji Yi and members of the Zheng royal family changed their surname from Ji to ZHENG (鄭).
The surname Zheng originated in an area referred to during the Han Dynasty
(漢朝 206BC to 220AD) as the Ying Yang prefecture (滎陽郡). The present day
location of Ying Yang prefecture is in an area about 17 kilometers southwest of
Ying Ze county of Henan province. The location of Ying Ze county in the world map is 113.4 degree East and 34.8 degree North.
The chrolonlogy of the State of Zheng (鄭國 806BC to 375BC)
Ji (姬) was the surname of all the rulers of Zheng. Bo was the hereditary
title bestowed upon by Zhou King Xuan ( 周宣王 827BC to 782BC).
Name===============Title================Period
(01) You (友)=========Huan Gong (桓公)====806BC to 771BC
(02) Jue Tu (掘突)=====Wu Gong (武公)===== 770BC to 744BC
(03) Wu Sheng (寤生)==Zhuang Gong (莊公)== 743BC to 702BC
(04) Hu (忽)========= Zhao Gong (昭公)==== 701BC to 700BC
(05) Tu (突)=========Li Gong (厲公)======= 700BC to 696BC
=== Hu (忽) Reinstated===================695BC to 695BC
(06) Wei (斖)=======Zi Wei (子斖)==========694BC to 694BC
(07) Ying (嬰)=======Zi Yi (子儀)=========== 693BC to 681BC
=== Tu (突) Reinstated=================== 680BC to 763BC
(08) Jie (捷)=======Wen Gong (文公)======= 672BC to 628BC
(09) Lan (蘭)======Mu Gong (穆公)=========627BC to 606BC
(10) Yi (夷)=======Ling Gong (靈公)======== 605BC to 605BC
(11) Jian (堅)=====Xiang Gong (襄公)======= 604BC to 587BC
(12) Fei (費)===== Dao Gong (悼公)=========586BC to 585BC
(13) Yan (睔)=====Cheng Gong (成公)=======584BC to 583BC
(14) Xu (繻)======Zheng Ruler (鄭君)======= 582BC to 582BC
=== Yan (睮)=Reinstated==================581BC to 571BC
(15) Yun (惲)=====Li Gong (釐公)===========570BC to 566BC
(16) Jia (嘉)=====Jian Gong (簡公)==========565BC to 530BC
(17) Ning (寧)====Ding Gong (定公)========= 529BC to 514BC
(18) Chai (蠆)====Xian Gong (獻公)========= 513BC to 501BC
(19) Sheng (勝)== Sheng Gong (聲公)========500BC to 462BC
(20) Yi (易)======Ai Gong (哀公)=========== 461BC to 455BC
(21) Chou (丑)===Gong Gong (共公)========= 454BC to 398 BC
(22) Yi (已)===== You Gong (幽公)===========423BC to 423BC
(23) Tai (駘)==== Xu Gong (繻公)============422BC to 398BC
(24) Yi (乙)=====Kang Gong (康公)========== 397BC to 375BC
The founder of the Chung family was from northern China in the present day city
of Xin Zheng (新鄭) in Henan province.
Twenty five generations ago around 1270AD during the Song Dynasty (宋朝
960AD to 1279AD), he fled from the conquering Mongolian armies. Genghis Khan and his hordes were riding into Zhong Yuan (中原 Middle China). The Song Court fled to the South and later to the coastal region of present day province of
Guangdong (廣東省). My ancestor was supporting the Song Court and went with
them to the south. This movement of people is referred to as the third migration of the Hakka People.
In 1278AD Emperor Zhao Bing (趙昺), the last ruler of the Song Dynasty, was only
an eight years old young boy. After fleeing the Mongols the Song Court
arrived in the present day of Xin Hui county (新會縣 in the vicinity of present day Hong Kong) in Guangdong province. They set up their Court on the boats because they had no land of their own.
A year later the Mongols finally caught up with them. In front of them lay the deep waters of the South China Sea and behind them stood the Mongol armies. Quite literally, the Song Court was between the devil and the deep blue sea.
The Prime Minister, Lu Xiu Fu (陸秀夫), carried the young Emperor Bing on
his back and said: "我們君臣﹐不應受到外國人的侮辱 We, the Emperor and
the Prime Minister, should not be humiliated by foreigners".
With that statement and the young Emperor still on his back, Lu Xiu Fu
walked right into the sea. Both of them were drowned. That was the end of
the Song Dynasty which had existed for 320 years.
After the extinction of the Song Dynasty, the founder of my family remained in the
and south got married and settled down in a small village called Feng Gang (鳳崗) in the district of Dong Guan county (東莞縣) in Guangdong province (廣東省). He composed, or engaged a scholar to compose, a poem of thirty-six characters as a guide, a kind of family tree, for his future descendants. The thirty-six characters were written on two rolls of eighteen characters each. The rolls were hung up in between his family altar, one to the left and the other to the right.
Of course, all his descendants inherited his surname Chung, or Zheng (鄭) in pinyin. For his children he used the first character of the roll hanging on the right-hand side of the altar. This character became the first generation name of his new family. All his children shared this character as they were the first generation. Each one of his children was given a name as his or her own which no one shared. For example, my full name Chung Yoon Ngan (鄭永元) is formed by Chung, my surname; Yoon, my generation name (25th generation) and Ngan, my own name.
All his grandchildren were named after the second character and they became the second generation of the family. His great-grandchildren were named after the 3rd character as they became the third generation. Future generations of his descendants thereafter adopted each of the generation names until it came down to us, the 25th generation, bearing Yoon, the 25th character.
All my brothers and sisters share the character Yoon as we are the 25th generation. The children of my father's sisters are not considered as the direct descendants of the Chung family but belong to another family. Those who belong to the 25th generation from other families of our Chung clan also share the character Yoon as their generation name. Ngan, the third character of my full name (or my first name in the Western equivalent), is my own and no one shares it with me.
CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
All rights reserved 2002
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