KinTraces

Find your roots: tell us what you remember

Many people only remember the generation character their grandfather shared with his brothers, the name of a county, or a family story about where the ancestors came from. Those fragments are exactly what roots-tracing needs.

How we search for you

After you submit, we use AI to search public Chinese genealogy material worldwide — articles published in China and overseas, clan-association and surname websites, generation-poem compilations, and library genealogy catalogues. The AI reads the generation poems, ancestral places, migration routes and hall names in that material and compares them with yours, even when characters are missing or the place is only approximate.

New material arrives every day and we keep comparing. Possible leads appear under "My submissions" on this page; we verify them before contacting you (if you agree).

Find my roots

In order; use □ for characters you have forgotten, e.g. “德□文章□仁义”. Two or three characters are enough to start.

As much as you know, e.g. “Taishan, Guangdong”, “a village near Quanzhou”.

City or county is enough — no street address.

Migration route (optional)

One leg at a time: from where, to where, and roughly when (in your own words).

e.g. great-grandfather …, grandfather …. Deceased ancestors only — please do not list living relatives.

Family stories, ancestral halls, graves, writing on old photos — anything may help.

Tips

  • Write the generation characters in order and use □ for any you have forgotten; the character shared by brothers and cousins of one generation is usually the generation name.
  • Give the ancestral county if you can; a province or a family story is still useful.
  • Write the migration route one leg at a time — from where, to where, roughly when.
  • Deceased ancestors only — please do not enter names or phone numbers of living relatives.
Can I trace my roots if I only remember a few generation characters?
Yes. Enter them in order with □ for gaps; we search generation poems in that order and narrow down by surname and ancestral place.
Will my information be published?
No. It is used only to search for leads; names and contact details of living people are never published.

Generation namesTracing Chinese ancestryMigration and rootsAll Chinese surnames