Where do I start tracing Chinese ancestors?

Write down what you know, interview older relatives, then look for your branch's genealogy and family graves, and compare generation names with genealogies from the ancestral place.

How do I find my ancestral village?

Check household registers, documents, gravestones and obituaries for the native place (jiguan), ask relatives, and match generation names against genealogies of the same surname from candidate places.

How to trace your Chinese ancestry

Tracing Chinese roots means working back generation by generation from the ancestors you know, until you find the ancestral place (zuji), your branch's genealogy and relatives of the same lineage.

1. Write down what you know

List every ancestor you know with all their names (including generation names, courtesy names and nicknames), dates, spouses, children, places lived and burial places. Even two generations are a starting point. A shared online genealogy such as KinTraces keeps the findings in one place as you go.

2. Ask older relatives and look through family papers

Ask where the family came from (county and village), the names of earlier generations, whether there is a genealogy and where the ancestral hall is. Old letters, photographs, contracts, household registers and gravestone photos often record the ancestral place.

3. Find the genealogy and the graves

Clan associations and relatives in the ancestral village often keep recently revised genealogies; large libraries such as the Shanghai Library hold many historical genealogies with searchable catalogues; gravestones often list the ancestral place and several generations.

4. Use generation names and hall names

Families with the same surname are not necessarily related. Line up the generation characters in your family's names and compare them with genealogies from the ancestral place; a match strongly suggests the same branch. Hall names (tanghao) and choronyms (junwang) help too.

5. Verify before merging

When you find possible relatives, compare generation poems, ancestral places, migration routes and the names of earlier generations. Treat material found online as leads, and rely on original genealogies and on-site checks.

Build your family genealogy online

A family or clan association maintains its own genealogy online. Invite relatives, let each claim "me", keep your own branch up to date, and preview or download the book at any time.

Find my roots Start a genealogy

Frequently asked questions

Where do I start tracing Chinese ancestors?: Write down what you know, interview older relatives, then look for your branch's genealogy and family graves, and compare generation names with genealogies from the ancestral place.
How do I find my ancestral village?: Check household registers, documents, gravestones and obituaries for the native place (jiguan), ask relatives, and match generation names against genealogies of the same surname from candidate places.