From the tone of your reply I believe you do not wish to set these places to be your hometown, nor you want to trace back and practice your roots anymore.

The choice is ultimately up to you, i see some ktards already given you advice on tracing your root and general Chinese traditions.

In the future, you may choose the liberal approach : just say the place you settled down as hometown, and labeled yourself as "Msian/Asian chinese" from now on no need to mention any dialect / root since you speak English.
This is commonly practiced by alot of modern chinese [Bananas/ABC] nowadays who either lost their roots / family contact from China, or just wish move forward by setting root on themselves instead.

This post has been edited by stinger: Apr 11 2025, 09:15 AM

Yeah I agree with the patriarchal nature of the clan definition. This is kinda important as the family name in English alphabets will be written based on the dialect pronunciation. Would be kinda rojak if the family name is in hokkien while the given name is something else eg mandarin.

Hometown thing I don't really bother. I just refer to my own hometown as PJ and my dad's as somewhere else. Apparently some of my relatives went to Caina to visit the ancestral hometown as well.

Actually, a simple topic like this can bring out a lot of good points for discussion. Maybe I have something to add to ponder.

During the time of crisis/war of the modern days, ever think about what kind of people in the society have the highest privilege to flee their home country/be sent away by their family for survival? Logically, the class of people that will come out in our mind will be :

a) resourceful family

b) highly connected

c) have certain skills or knowledge

Just look at how the resourceful family is sending their kids overseas. It is a repeated pattern here. Very likely some of the things will come up in our minds. If the similar kind of thinking is brought backward to the era where our ancestors were fleeing China during the civil wars, turmoil, & Japanese occupation? Will the one fleeing China back at the time fulfill such criteria of the modern day ?

a) resourceful family ?

b) highly connected ?

c) Have certain skills or knowledge?

Logically, I believe the same criteria will come into our minds logically. If such a hypothesis is correct, then those 1st generation who could afford to flee China in the olden days, your ancestors lineage, were "someone" back there in China. The reason such records went missing was because during wartime, the quality of life (in China & Malaya) dropped to the lowest level. It is normal for humans/living beings to prioritize survival & food during a crisis (wartime). The surviving generation no longer has the luxury of time to pass down the intended root lineage information—Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. After a generation or the passing of the 1st generation, the information was buried together in the grave. The minority who are able to preserve information about their lineage, their current generation will be surprised to find out who their ancestors were.

See, maybe this will trigger some interest to find out your ancestor's lineage history way back in China. For those who are interested, there is code embedded in the Chinese name, especially in the 1st & 2nd generations.

The 1st character of our Chinese surname is fixed. It is the family name.

The 2nd character of our Chinese name is fixed—it signifies the generation of the descendant.

The 3rd character of our Chinese name is the given name—this one varies.

If you want to trace the missing root, trace the 1st & 2nd characters of your 1st-generation & 2nd-generation Chinese names. If you can do that, the chances for you to do tracking are much easier. If you don't know their Chinese name, it is stated on their tombstone/burial place.

To TS & other participants here. Another item for you all to ponder since it is much related topic.

The Ship of Theseus.

The paradox is a philosophical thought experiment that explores the concept of identity over time. It poses the question: if all the parts of an object are replaced gradually, is the resulting object still the same as the original? In the case of the ship, if all the wooden planks are replaced with new ones, is the final ship still the ship of Theseus?

Elaboration:
The paradox is rooted in the idea that identity is tied to both physical constituents and a sense of continuity over time. If the ship is considered to be the sum of its parts, then the new ship would be different from the original since it doesn't share any of the same parts. However, if identity is more about a continuous existence or purpose, then the new ship could still be considered the ship of Theseus, even though it has no original parts.

Different Interpretations and Potential Solutions:
The original ship is no longer the same:
This view emphasizes the importance of the individual parts in defining the object's identity. Once all the original parts are replaced, the object is considered to be a new entity.

The new ship is still the same:
This view focuses on the continuity of the object's identity over time. The ship retains its identity even if all its parts are replaced, as long as it maintains the same structure, purpose, and overall function.

Both ships are the same, but in different ways:
Some propose that both the original ship and the new ship are the same, but in different ways. The original ship is the ship with the original parts, while the new ship is the same ship with new parts.

A third ship:
This is the most nuanced interpretation, which suggests that the ship with the original parts, the ship with the new parts, and a ship made from the old parts could all be considered the ship of Theseus

You find any analogy on the Ship vs yourself (person). See if this will change your way of thinking.

This is 祖籍。Family origin from older times.

Is relevant in bloodline but relationship wise, those who moved out are no longer close to each other unless everyone is wealthy, you know what i mean.

if my father is born in China and I am born in Malaysia, my hometown is China?

it depends on when the question is asked and how it's phrased. if someone you're not familiar with asks “你是什么人？你是哪里人？” (what are you? where do you from?), “乡下在哪里？” (where is your hometown?), or “老家在哪里？” (where is your ancestral home?), which are the most common ways to ask among chinese, they’re usually referring to your ancestral origin, not your place of birth. if your answer is johor, they will most likely nod politely and then ask, "so are you cantonese, or hakka? hakka from which part (of china)? that's usually how the conversation goes.

in chinese culture, the expected answer is often where your family originally came from in china. usually the province and town or district, like guangzhou meixian, or guangxi guilin. so even if you were born in malaysia, your "hometown" in this case would still be considered the place in china where your father (or ancestors) came from. this also depends on the context. if you're discussing chinese new year and going back to visit your parents, and someone asks, 'where is your hometown?', they’re clearly not referring to your ancestral origin.

if they want to know your actual "hometown" like where you were born or raised, they would ask “你父母住哪里？” (where do your parents live?) or “你以前跟父母住哪里？” (where did you live with your parents?). this kind of question would be more similar to how malay people ask “kampung dekat mana?” referring to your actual living or growing-up place, not your ancestral roots.

you might ask, what if my parents used to live in johor but now live in perak? so if someone asks me, "where do your parents live?", how would they know my parents aren't originally from perak? in this case, we would naturally assume they’re asking about our "hometown" in the local sense. we’d answer, "my parents are living with me now in perak. they used to live in johor." it’s just how local chinese tend to express this kind of thing.

This post has been edited by incognitroll: Apr 11 2025, 03:18 PM

an interesting thought came to mind. let’s picture this:

you migrated to the US, got married, and started a family there. one day, while out with your family, you bump into a fellow malaysian. the person turns to your 20-year-old son and casually asks in english, “hey, where’s your hometown?”

your son replies, “brooklyn, NY.”

now pause and think, how would that make you feel?

is it wrong? not really. he was born and raised there. but still… something about that answer hits differently.

now imagine the question was phrased another way:

“do you know about your hometown?” or
“did your dad ever tell you about your hometown?”

that small change reveals something deeper. a connection to roots, to stories, to identity.

maybe then, you’ll begin to understand how we feel about the word “hometown.” it’s more than just a place. it’s a part of who we are.

Family’s hometown is Johor. Your settled down home is your new generations’ hometown after your parents passing


You are descendants of Hokkien speaking Cantonese. It’s like Chinese American r descendants of China but speak English

that is the answer I'm expecting. NY.
there is no point chasing the root, like which Neanderthal I'm from.

that's expected from someone coming from the EU. we don't study in dutch here. i've never seen a single sign in dutch in my whole life, and i've never even heard anyone speak it.

on the other hand, chinese roots run deep. it's part of the local culture. schools, universities, shops, tv, radio and almost every aspect of daily life reflects chinese influence, and at the heart of chinese culture is a deep respect for heritage and the importance of tracing one's roots.

just my 2 cents, 2nd word might not be the generation name as i observe from my cousin, mostly after my generation does not follow anymore. adding on, my generation name is 2nd word, somehow my family tree switch generation name from 2nd word to 3rd word, and next generation from 3rd word to 2nd word and so on.

Usually follow father side, i'm half chinese btw and since my father spoke cantonese to me ever since so i consider myself as cantonese. For your case, you may you're hokkien descendants and from Perak since your're born and raised there.

~

About Zupus (Family Tree Books)

A zupu (族谱) or jiapu (家谱) is a clan’s genealogy book or pedigree. It is a privately compiled document written by the clan for the clan. Zupus were both keepsakes for future generations and a way to honor a clan’s ancestors. Zupus come in all shapes and sizes, from multi-volume collections to tattered sheets of paper stapled together. While their contents may vary, they typically include family trees going back several hundred or even thousands of years, an outline of the origins of the clan and its movements until settlement in the latest place of residence, descriptions of the success of prominent ancestors, clan rules and guidelines, and generation poems.

~

By the Chinese naming system, the 2nd character is the generational name. That is in the record and was predetermined thousands years ago. The system never changes; only the adaptation by the current descendant has changed.

That's why I mentioned, usually the 1st & 2nd descendants here, they were still adhering to the original Chinese naming system. To trace your family lineage, the best thing is to trace the 1st & 2nd generation names. If the 2nd generation is no longer following, hence trace the 1st generation.

About the decision to follow the jiapu (家谱), I'll agree that a lot of 2nd generation & 3rd generation thereafter no longer have the intention to trace the root or follow the naming system anymore. I'm one of those no longer following the jiapu (家谱), yet I'm in possession of a copy of my ancestry jiapu (家谱) recording the lineage way back till the 魯国 era. For the record, a lot of the jiapu (家谱) have been destroyed and burned during the China Cultural Revolution movement.

Now I'm thinking whether to change my children's 2nd character name to follow the family generation name according to jiapu (家谱) in case they cross paths with their relatives in the future, so they may be able to identify them.

As someone who grew up in the Klang Valley, it's kinda annoying when you get asked if you balik kampung or not during festive seasons..

When you're younger and grandparents still around, you might say you go back to your dad's hometown lah (Chinese culture no need debate where you spend CNY eve, unlike Raya). FWIW, I consider Klang Valley my hometown la; no whats, ifs, or buts. I went to school here, etc lah. What's there to ah chi ah chor about?

Post-grandparents, you're like "this is my kampung lah; choi ah?" LOL

To me wouldn't make a difference where you are from.

Because to a PRC, if you can't speak mandarin or their dialect as well as they can.

they will treat you as though as you are not one of their own.