Research Helps

https://www.rootsmagic.com

This is a downloadable program that allows you to create a personal family history database. I wanted a place where I could permanently store all of the data, create backups, and not have it all be accessible for others to edit. This holds the master copy of all of my research. Current price is US$39.95.

https://www.familysearch.org

This is the world’s largest free genealogy website. Sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which I am a member, it contains millions of digitized historical records, a collaborative family tree, and free consultations with family history specialists. It is completely free to anyone, member or not.

https://www.mychinaroots.com

This incredible resource is one of the very few I have found specifically designed for those of Chinese ancestry trying to do family history research. It contains thousands of digitized Chinese genealogical records, including my first big break: the one that is the source of all of my current family tree.

They offer free trial access to their databases, which are available by subscription afterwards. They also provide individualized research, travel, and translation services quoted on an individual basis.

https://translate.google.com/?sl=zh-TW&tl=en&op=translate

You may laugh, but without Google Translate, I would not have been able to complete the work I’ve done so far. The quality of their translation has gotten much better over the years. The tool does not typically understand fully genealogy-specific phrasing, but being able to look up the meaning of individual characters has helped me be able to piece together what is actually meant and then conduct better-targeted searches to learn more.

https://www.qhanzi.com

This website allows you to draw a Chinese character into the box, which it will then match to the closest characters in its database. This tool has been invaluable for helping index records and sleuth out the most likely characters for those that have been damaged or partially covered.

https://www.rachelleslab.com

Rachelle is one of the very few people I have found who can translate Classical Chinese. Most translation services deal with only modern Chinese, and the family records I have been working were written in the early 1800s or earlier. She quotes specific projects and bills at an hourly (currently €40) or daily (currently €200) rate.

https://eastasiastudent.net/china/mandarin/words-for-death

This list contains different Chinese phrases that can be used to refer to death and gives both their characters and their specific meaning. It can be useful for translating records and understanding more about that person’s life history.

https://ytliu0.github.io/ChineseCalendar/table.html

Once you know what year the event took place, you can use the tables found on this site to convert the lunar month and day to a Gregorian date. In the future, I hope to create a video explaining the process, but for now, simply find the correct lunar month in the table and then use the date listed as day one when counting out the days.

As a note, if you see the character 閏 before a lunar month, it means an intercalary or ‘leap’ month, similar to the Gregorian calendar’s Leap Day of February 29th. Leap month’s can be found in the next-to-last column of the data tables on the site.

https://www.familysearch.org

Also listed under Family History Databases, FamilySearch will automatically convert Chinese character dates to a Gregorian date. Simply paste the characters into the date field for an individual, and the calculated date will appear and allow you to select it. Click here for a guide detailing the process with examples.

Please note that you cannot include any characters not pertaining to the date or it will not work. So characters meaning ‘birth’ 生 or ‘death’ 卒 or any names cannot be included. Also, in my experience it is not reliable for events prior to the Qing Dynasty, so I calculate all of my dates myself and then use this tool to check my work.

https://homepages.cwi.nl/~aeb/go/misc/jdate.html

Since areas like Taiwan were occupied by Japan for a significant period of time, dates in records or on tombstones will use Japanese eras instead of Chinese reign titles. This page includes a table listing the Japanese eras, their characters, and their corresponding Western dates.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_China_calendar

For Chinese dates after 1912, sometimes the Republic of China calendar (or the Mínguó calendar 民國紀年) is used, which numbers the years starting with the date of the establishment of the Republic of China in Nanjing (1912) as the first year. This Wikipedia article has a table listing the ROC era year with its corresponding Gregorian calendar year.

https://www.familysearch.org/en/chinese/research/?cid=EM-00050500&lid=9rp3d1hlufd2

This page contains links to a lot of articles to help you get started researching your Chinese ancestry, even if you don’t read or speak Chinese. It is a fantastic place to start meaningful work in uncovering your Chinese family roots.

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/img_auth.php/4/47/Chinese_Language_Helps_for_Jiapu-2.pdf

This introduction to Chinese genealogies details much of the vocabulary needed to understand a Chinese clan genealogy record, as well as examples of different formats and how to interpret them.

https://thefhguide.com

This free website contains a multitude of resources for getting started with family history in general, as well as more in-depth guides to specific tools or types of materials to help more experienced researchers. If you are completely new to family history and have more than just Chinese roots in your family tree, this is a really great place to start.

https://blog.billiongraves.com/how-to-date-old-family-photos-find-gravestones/

This blog post by BillionGraves lists clues to help determine the most likely dates of very old photographs.

https://www.familysearch.org/en/chinese/research/gravestones

This page has many links to help you learn about the information available on traditional Chinese gravestones and how to find them.

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Chinese_Naming_Customs

One way in which Chinese customs differ from Western ones is in naming conventions. While most individuals in a Western tradition usually have one name throughout their life (and sometimes a nickname), Chinese individuals prior to the 21st century often had multiple names given for different purposes, such as a míng 名 (‘given name’ used with their family and close friends) vs a zì 字 (‘courtesy name’ used outside of their familiar circle).

This guide discusses the origins of family surnames, some of the types of personal names, and common naming conventions. It also includes links to many other related pages for further research.