Hawaii Chou Dynasty Cultural FAQ (cites the Imperial Chinese customs or endowments related to the Chou clan in Hawaii) Important Bits of Imperial Culture ---------------------------------- [01] The Chou clan follows Imperial Chinese customs, below, as mentioned in the Encyclopaedia Sinica, by Samuel Couling, M.A., Lately Honorary Secretary and Editor, North-China Branch, Royal Asiatic Society, Kelly and Walsh, Ltd., publishers, Shanghai, August 25, 1917, page 391. "The personal name of the Sovereign were not to be uttered or written by the general public so long as that dynasty might last. Any character occurring therefore in such a personal name is written in ordinary usage with some alteration." "The Emperors are known after death by their posthumous or 'temple name,' miao hao, the 'dynastic title'; but while living their reign has some 'style,' the nien hao, which may be changed during the reign. Thus when foreigners write of Emperor K'ang Hsi, the meaning is, "that ruler whose dynasty title or miao hao, is Sheng Tsu Jen, and whose reign period was known as K'ANG HSI. His personal name HSUAN YEH would not be uttered by ordinary people, nor would a character making part of it be written in its proper form so long as the Manchu dynasty lasted." [02] By the Chou's family's heritage or essence, they follow the following prescription, below, as written in "The Origin of the Chinese People" by John Ross, D.D., 1916. "Lastly, with respect to the prevailing social order and religion, it was the duty of the King to perform religious ceremony and to conduct prayer on behalf of the nation." The original religion of China was or should have been the direct worship of Heaven (God), rather than any other manifestation. Chinese were originally not Buddhist, Taoist, Nestorian, Manichean, Hindu, or Muslim. Excerpts taken from "The Origin of the Chinese People" by John Ross, D.D. and published by OLIPHANTS of London, Eng. 1916. Additional comments by HIM Yao Sui, Emperor of the nation of China. [03] Normally, the Bai Tsun ceremony would be headed by the clan head, who would do a reading of the clan's history for all members of the clan. Since genealogy is a private thing, today, as it, also, was or may have been in the past, family genealogy records are not given out to outsiders, nor stored in public genealogy libraries. Therefore, any reading of the family heritage and genealogy would have to be done in some abbreviated form and/or spoken in classical Chinese. Our family genealogy is a private record and should not be given to, nor housed at the Mormon Genealogy Library or any other genealogy preservation library without our permission. If a family member became a Mormon, they would be prohibited from releasing this information. [04] The name and identity of T'ai Ju or T'ai Kung (Grandfather) of the Manoa Chinese Cemetery, according to cemetery officials and according to older members of Hawaii's Chinese community, is not known. A lot of history is orally passed down and forgotten with time. Some of history is recorded, only to be later destroyed. Some of history is recorded in secret codes, to be revealed by discovery at perhaps some later time. The Chinese community does preserve genealogy, ancient knowledge, and writings. According to the cemetery officials and others, when asked about the identity of the T'ai Kung or T'ai Ju, they can only reply that "the T'ai Ju (or T'ai Kung) was the first to be buried." Exactly what does that mean, no one seems to really know. According to research, Chinese did not originally bury their dead. People were tied up in straw, when they died, and left to rot and disintegrate into the earth. The T'ai Ju, therefore, being of Shemite origin, was the first person in China's history to be buried. This event occurred sometime after 2269 BC. The Chinese, like the Japanese and Koreans, are Han people (descendants of Ham of bible record). As Hamites, being of the eastward migration of people, river of Hiddekel, and being followers of Nimrod, they did not live by the same civilization's code as people following God's ways. Burials were not known to people of the Chinese civilization, nor to the people migrating eastward with Nimrod. Because the Chou clan were descendants of Shem (known as Shemites, Hebrew, or Arab, today), their customs included the true worship of God, burial customs, etc. It is a known fact or presumption, based on a reading of ancient texts, that the man buried as the T'ai Ju/Kung, preserved by the Chinese race of people, throughout all of these centuries (migrating with artifacts of their past and the remains of their tribal leader), is the Shemite named Jobab "the first person to be buried" within the Chinese civilization and culture by ancient Shemite custom. The Hebrew, Jobab, is the man whose name the Chou (Chow, Chou, Zhou) surname is derived from and Jobab is the first ancestor of the Chow clan. It is Jobab's body that is buried or symbolically buried as the T'ai Ju/Kung of the Manoa Chinese Cemetery, the Chou clan's first nameholder and heritage ancestor in China. The terrace is the largest tomb at the top of the hill in the Manoa Chinese Cemetery and the place where all worship takes place every year, during the Bai Tsun ceremony. [05] The Chungshan district in mainland China, where 70% of Hawaii's Chinese population comes from, is the secret capitol and Southern seat of the Chou clan descendants, in spite of the fact that Northern China is usually thought of as being more from the Chou Dynasty, while Southern China is usually thought of as being more from the Ming Dynasty (Chun family name). Chungshan is a district comprising of five regions with its capitol at Shek Kee. Each region representing one brother from the descendancy of the Chow clan. It is from Shek Kee that the tomb of the T'ai Ju comes from and was laid to rest many years ago. The name Chungshan means "center mountain" or secretly "center mountain of people," the term being derived from its Chou clan origin. Since Shem was the second or middle son of Noah, the term "chung" meaning middle or center (son) came into usage here. Chinese people have been perpetuated this heritage for thousands of years as the nation's heritage. [07] The existence of a Grand Guardian to the Throne. The Shang Dynasty, Chou Dynasty, and Han Dynasty of China are Shemite populations of people who are descendants of Jobab. During the Han Dynasty (Lau family surname), a general by the name of Ho Chin was named as Grand Guardian of the Han Throne. Here in Hawaii, we recognize that distinction as being a reflection of our Han-Chinese roots, because the Han Dynasty was composed of our Chow clan family members. From the word steward, servant or caretaker, from Middle English, comes the meaning "hall caretaker," "ward," meaning the action of watching, overseeing, and guard. From the word dean, we have the word meanings of administrator; head of a division, college, or church district; and from Late Latin, decanus, literally meaning "chief of ten". [08] Chinese family surnames that make up the Chou Dynasty are as follows, below. 1. Families from the Chou Dynasty Prince or Emperor's lineage: Ch'eng = main Chou lineage, Chow surname T'ang Shu = Ho clan ancestor, Ho surname Po Ling = Chiang clan ancestor, Chiang surname Mao Shu = Mau clan ancestor, Mau or Mao surname Shu Tu = Choy clan ancestor, Choy or Tsai surname Shu Feng = Sun clan ancestor, Sun surname Ji Tsai = Yap clan ancestor, Yap, Yip, Yeh surname Shu Gao = Wong clan ancestor, Wong surname Shu Tien = Lai clan ancestor, Lai surname T'ai Po = Wu and Ke ancestor, Wu surname Chung Yung = Wu and Ke ancestor, Wu surname Kuai Chung = Kwock clan ancestor, Kwock, Kwok, Kuo, Guo surname Kuai Shu = Kwock clan ancestor, Kwock, Kwok, Kuo, Guo surname Gong Shu Zu Lei = Loui clan ancestor, Lui surname Gong Liu = Lau clan ancestor, Liu, Lau surname 2. Families that descend from Chou Dynasty Kings: King Ch'eng = Holds the Chow surname King Huan = Lum clan ancestor King Chuang = Chang clan ancestor King Hsi = Goo clan ancestor King Ch'ing = Ching clan ancestor King K'uang = Ing clan ancestor Additionally, it would also include people from the Shang and Han Dynasties and others not mentioned above. As the Chou tribe begins to migrate into China, 1900 BC to 1800 BC, family member surnames are added, joined, to Emperor Huang Di's 100 family surnames. [09] As to the identity of tribal peoples, China is a patriarchal society, coming from early Shemite roots, and the ethnic identities of clan or tribal societies is determined by family surname. This is consistent with the world's definition and concept of tribe. It is also consistent with ancient Hebrew custom. Lastly, from the Greek word "patriarches," we derive the meaning "lineage" or "father". [10] The last major remnants of the Ch'ing Dynasty or Manchu court were brought here to Hawaii as were all of the possible Manchu claimants and Emperor's lineage. They were intermarried (integrated) into the Chou Dynasty, clan family, with the exception of Henry P'u Yee's younger brother's descendancy. Henry P'u Yee's younger brother's descendancy, now lives in mainland China as the family representative (standard bearer) for the Ch'ing or Manchu dynasty. [11] The major lineages of the last indigenous Han Chinese dynasty, the Ming Dynasty (Chun family name), were brought here to Hawaii, where they currently, now, reside. [12] The descendants of the extended Court that had installed CHOU Shun Cheong as Emperor, in 1644, were also brought to Hawaii. Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Lester D. K. Chow 06-30-99a [Notation: An additional explanation of what is copywritten. Basically all copyright laws are applicable and intellectual property, thereby, protected. While family genealogies generally do not fall under the copyright laws (as they are thought to be the possession of all family members) this does not apply here. The above genealogy list is the academic studies work product of Lester D. K. Chow, who is a self-taught ancient world and Asian history minor. Permission must be obtained for its use. Please write to zhouclan@NOSPAMyahoo.com (Remove "NOSPAM.")]