In 1987 my Aunties Soo-Yin and Pingeleen made a remarkable journey back to China to the ancestral village of the Jue Joe Clan , Sanjiang. It was here in 1902 that Jue Joe returned to China and married Leong Shee and fathered San Tong and San You . It was here that he built a two story house made of brick. Jue Joe left the village to return to America in 1906 and my grandfather , San Tong , continued living in the house until he emigrated with his mother and brother to America in 1918 . The house still stands and is home to cousins ,members of our Clan.
My grandfather , San Tong , very much wanted to join his daughters in on this journey but was very ill and could not make the trip . In this video excerpt of a over 1 hr video that Soo Yin and Pingeleen made , my Aunties meet the relatives and take a tour of Jue Joe's house in the Sanjiang village. At the end of the video , Soo-Yin and Pingeleen present the recorded voice of my grandfather , San Tong who explains why he cannot be there, and asks the cousins to accept his daughters as his representatives. San Tong felt the heavy burden of responsibility for these cousins in China and was heartbroken that he could not do more for them in the wake of the lawsuit .
Many thanks to Auntie Soo-Yin and Auntie Pingeleen for making the wonderful video of their trip , and many thanks to Dad for converting the VHS tape to Dvd format so I could capture it for the blog !
direct you tube link :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GblVev8C658
At our ancestral home in Sanjiang (Sum Gong), Cousin Moe had been waiting for San Tong's arrival. His son, the young lad wearing a yellow/blue jacket in the video, was getting married and Moe wanted San Tong to take the seat of honor as patriarch of the Jue clan. Collapsing 2 days before his journey San Tong was too ill to make the trip. So Pingileen and I made a 24 hour turn-around flight. In Hong Kong Auntie Pingileen bought a TV set and tape recorder for Cousin Moe's family. For us in California she bought a video cam to film Moe's family and Jue Joe's family compound, and a still camera, too. She carried an envelope for Moe: San Tong gave to Moe's family his last Social Security check of $300. And Pingileen also gave to Moe our Brother Jack's recording of San Tong's message to Moe: How in 1937 he had tried to bring Moe to California but could not. How he had not forgotten the family, and although he could not be present for Moe's son's wedding, he would sip a cup of tea with them in spirit. Also, he asked Moe to show us around the family compound of 4 houses (Jue Joe built a home for each of his brothers and himself--all arranged in a compound). Upon hearing San Tong's voice Moe's mother wept a little because she remembered meeting San Tong and Leong Shee in 1937. She was present at the marriage of San Tong and Yee Lai Ping, along with Cousin Mansui. In 1937 Moe's mother was newly married to Ah Fook, who was San Tong's first cousin and son of Jue Yao, the youngest brother of Jue Joe. Jue Yao had remained all his life at the ancestral home. Cousin Moe, a history teacher at Sanjiang's high school, which was built by Jue kinsmen who became successful abroad, told us how he and his family had to eat bark stripped from Jue Joe's 4 lichee trees in order to survive after the civil war ended. His mother had almost sold his younger brother, but, instead, she sent his sister to the town of Xinhui to make it on her own. Before entering Jue Joe's house where San Tong was born Moe lit firecrackers to scare evil spirits away. He did the same after Auntie Pingileen and I left the abode. We had lunch with the family, and before leaving, we took soil and seed's from San Tong's front yard to bring to him in California. He was pleased to hold the soil and seeds in his hands, and when he died shortly afterward, Brother Guy placed them in a "leeshee" envelope that was buried with him. Auntie Soo-Yin.
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