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Chinese Surnames Surname Archive

The Guo (郭) Surname: From Zhou Dynasty Nobility to the Wuyi Diaspora

The Guo (郭) Surname: From Zhou Dynasty Nobility to the Wuyi Diaspora The Guo (郭) surname carries one of the longest continuously documented lineages in Chinese history — three thousand years from the Zhou dynasty’s founding brothers to the diaspora communities of the Wuyi (四邑) region (trace your own surname origins with our Surname Compass).…
July 28, 20260Comments

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A historic Taishanese mansion reflecting in a pond at sunset in Zili Village, Kaiping — part of the Kaiping Diaolou and Villages UNESCO World Heritage Site, built with funds sent through the qiaopi remittance system.
diaspora History and Culture Primary Sources

What Is Qiaopi? A Beginner’s Guide to Chinese Remittance Letters

Between 1850 and 1950, millions of Chinese emigrants sent home letters unlike any correspondence in human history. Each one was simultaneously a love letter, a bank transfer, a household budget, and a legal document — all folded into a single piece of paper. These were qiaopi (侨批, qiáopī), the "overseas Chinese correspondence-remittances" that sustained an…
July 22, 20260Comments

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An open Chinese clan genealogy book from the World Digital Library collection, representing the centuries-old tradition of recording every male birth, marriage, and migration across generations — the foundation of diaspora roots research.
Chinese Surnames Surname Archive

The Zhao (赵) Surname: 3,100 Years from Imperial China to the Wuyi Diaspora

Every Chinese person who has ever learned to read has memorized the same four characters: 赵钱孙李 — Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li. These are the opening words of the Hundred Family Surnames (百家姓, Bǎijiāxìng), the most famous roster of Chinese names in history, compiled during the Song Dynasty (宋朝, Sòng Cháo, 960-1279 CE). For a millennium,…
July 14, 20260Comments

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Migration History Museums

Inside the Taishan Overseas Chinese Museum: What 150 Years of Qiaopi Letters Reveal About Love and Distance

Between 1840 and 1949, the Wuyi region sent over two million people overseas — and for a century, the only thread connecting them to home was paper. The qiaopi (侨批, qiáopī) — remittance letter — doubled as financial transaction and intimate family document: a few silver dollars folded inside a few sentences. Money and love…
July 4, 20260Comments

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