07.04.08
Posted in Local Customs, Travel Log (Asia) at 4:08 pm by Benjamin Ross
Nestled down a winding, hilly, single-track road in southern Hebei, the Village of the Yu’s （于家村）feels as if it were located on an entirely different planet than glitzy Beijing, less than 200 miles away. Out here days are long and life is slow. Locals reside in houses comprised entirely of stone, and built during the late Ming and early Qing Dynasty. Little has changed since those times in the Village of the Yu’s, and even today the only automobile one sees is the bus which comes every two hours to transport villagers to the neighboring town of Jingxing.
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| The 清凉阁, or “fragrant pavilion,” representative of the Yu Village’s architectural style |
The Village of the Yu’s derives its name from its original progenitor 于谦之(yu2 qian1 zhi1), who migrated to the area 500 years ago. Along with his five sons, he founded the village which was to become the Village of the Yu’s. Per Chinese tradition, the sons of the Yu Village would marry and remain within the village in order to take care of their parents in old age. The daughters, on the other hand, would be married off to families in other villages. Thus, even today, 90% of Yu Village’s 1600 inhabitants still carry the surname Yu.
What makes the Yu Village unique however, is that it is in possession of the longest-known continuously updated Chinese family tree. Using the family tree, every resident of the Village of the Yu’s can trace their roots back to one of Old Lord Yu’s five sons. The family tree currently lapses over 26 generations, and takes up five floor-to-ceiling canvases, one for each son. The canvases are hung on three walls of a rectangular building, specifically constructed as its enclosure.
Like many of such villages in China today, the Village of the Yu’s is almost completely void of people in their 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s. “They’ve all gone to Shijiazhuang to work. There are many more opportunities there. There’s nothing to do here except farm,” one villager told me. Even middle school and high school-aged children are rarely seen, as the better schools are all located in Jinxing, where many students board. This leaves a population mainly of the elderly and children, with the working adults only returning during the Spring Festival. It also serves to preserve the lifestyle and character of a village which still feels like China from back in the day. Regardless, I would imagine Old Lord Yu would be quite proud today to see his village and his progeny still subsisting of off the land he originally settled. The following are some of the pictures I took during my day in the Village of the Yu’s. Enjoy.
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| Most of the Yu Village is constructed out of humble stone houses such as these. |
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| On the outskirts of the village are stretches of lush farmland, growing crops such as corn, rice, and 红薯 (red potatoes?). |
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| The small building in which the family tree is housed. Currently it is under renovation, and the tree is on display in a building next door. |
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| The following shots are all taken from inside the building which houses the family tree. In the center is the portrait of the late, great, Old Lord Yu. |
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| It was his five sons from which all of the Yu Villagers descended. |
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| The family tree was broken into five large canvas sections. Each for one of the Yu sons. |
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| At the top of each canvas was an ornate border depicting various scenes. |
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| Below the border the canvas was broken into small cells. Each horizontal row demarked one generation. |
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| In each individual cell was the name of one individual. |
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| Here’s a closeup of one of the border scenes. |
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| …and another |
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| The family tree was remarkably well-kept considering its age. I didn’t ask specifically, but I have a feeling that although the record is likely 26 generations old, the physical document may have been reproduced at several points throughout history. |
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| more scenes from the family tree |
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Tora
said,
July 5, 2008 at 2:53 am
That is really neat, I can’t believe that they have the family tree for 26 generations of Yu’s. How did you end up finding this place? I imagine the people were quite welcoming.
Oh and I believe that 红薯 means sweet potato.
Bill
said,
July 5, 2008 at 7:14 am
26 generation is not very long. May be 26 generation all in one village. Confucius’ descendants have family trees 90+ generations. And that’s only counting from Confucius. Confucius himself probably have a family tree a few dozen senior generations.
Benjamin Ross
said,
July 5, 2008 at 8:53 am
@Tora
I wish I had a sexier story about how I found the Yu Village, but the reality of the matter is that it’s in the Lonely Planet. The locals have sort of made it into a tourist attraction of late. However, none of my Chinese friends in Beijing, and none of the randoms I met in Hebei had heard of it, so I’m guessing it hasn’t really caught on yet.
As for the identity of the 红薯…Down south we would always call sweet potatoes 地瓜. This of course, doesn’t necessarily mean that 红薯 isn’t sweet potato either, as there is quite a bit of regional overlap when it comes to the naming of vegetables in China.
@Bill
I guess I should have elaborated a little more on the significance of the 26 generations. The reason the family tree in Yu Village is so unique is that it has been meticulously kept down to 26 generations, so that every single descendant is included. I should have gotten a bigger picture of the whole thing, because as it gets lower and lower down, there are more and more names. The people there had told me it was the longest-running completely intact Chinese family tree. Then again, that doesn’t necessarily mean there isn’t another one in another province which is longer. So you could be right as well.
Jiang
said,
July 5, 2008 at 11:31 am
I was wondering if Lord Yu was a corrupt officer although his portrait looks kind. I checked the internet who is 于谦之(yu2 qian1 zhi1). But all the articles are about a person named于谦, not于谦之。 Considering 之 in ancient Chinese（古文or文言文） means 的, I’m quite sure you made a mistake.
于谦(yu2 qian1) was the Defence Minister of the Ming dynasty. He is best known for saving China when the Zhengtong Emperor fought the Mongol leader Esen Tayisi in 1449 and was taken prisoner. The Mongol armies came within 80 km of the capital Beijing, but Yu took control of the army and managed to repel the assault and the Jingtai Emperor was installed as ruler of China. After the Zhengtong Emperor regained the throne, Yu was slandered as a traitor and executed, but his rank was restored posthumously. He is considered by many to be a Chinese hero. (From Wikipedia)
His poetry《石灰吟》is quite well-known.千锤万击出深山，烈火焚烧若等闲。 粉骨碎身全不怕，要留清白在人间。
His family fled to that remote area after is death. Also, I found a message about a small temple in honor of him in Beijing. The address is 东城区西裱褙胡同23号，“于忠肃公祠”。
By the way, your blog 小本的博客 is can be called 小本之博客。But it’s really odd. 之 is quite old Chinese and 博客 is modern.
Benjamin Ross
said,
July 6, 2008 at 3:06 am
Jiang-
Thanks for the correction, and I would think you may be right. As you said, 之 is the ancient Chinese form of 的, so it is entirely possible I misread it when taking my notes. None of the inscriptions were in English, so I had to rely on Chinese to piece the story together. The interesting thing is though, there really wasn’t much information on Mr. Yu himself in the Yu Village. I would think that if there is that much info on wikipedia, they would have more info in the actual village he founded, but you never know. I might have to go check this out in Beijing to see if this is in fact the same Mr. Yu. Thanks for your research and insight.
Tex
said,
July 6, 2008 at 10:33 am
Ben, it’s an amazing opportunity, even if it is in the lonely planet how many 白人 get to do stuff that like?
Ji Village News
said,
July 6, 2008 at 10:34 am
Excellent write-up, Ben. I am from a village like this one, only mine is called the Ji Village. Therefore I am 100% rural Chinese stock, and proud of it
Our village tablet stone was partially destroyed during Cultural Revolution, but villagers came together last year and re-established the stone. Our village just finished working on our 家谱, so far we traced back 17 generations.
Yes, 之 means 的, especially common before 新文化运动. However, it is not unheard of that it is used as a character in one’s name. One of the lead figures in 新文化运动, 胡适, is also known as 胡适之.
In this particular case, I don’t think there is a mix up here. 于谦 the patriot was originally from 浙江钱塘, according to 百度百科. As Jiang correctly pointed out, that poem is fairly well known. I believe it was in my Chinese text book (couldn’t remember if it was middle or high school) during my day. Had 于谦 the patriot been the person who founded the village, I am sure the villagers would have made a big deal out of it.
Yes, 红薯 is indeed sweet potato, one of staple plants in northern China. We farmed sweet potato when I was little. In my hometown, after harvest, we would cut the sweet potato into slices, dry the slices and store them for winter. It is also a popular pig feed. If you are still there, check with the villagers. I wouldn’t be surprised if they use it in a similar way.
Your description of able-bodied villagers go to cities for work is also quite accurate. In fact, those are the major source of migrant workers. When I visited my village in 2003 and 2007, it was obvious that mostly only the old and the young are home. Personally, I think the rapid urbanization and lives of migrant works are fascinating topics.
Benjamin Ross
said,
July 6, 2008 at 2:19 pm
@Ji Village News
Thanks for clearing this all up. If 于谦 was from Zhejiang, then this is definitely a different guy. As for the sweet potato, I guess this must just be a regional linguistic difference. I asked an old lady who was showing them to me whether they were the same as 地瓜 and she said no. But then again definitions of which vegetable is which seem to be quite fluid throughout different regions. And by the way, she would not let me leave without packing my bag full of those dried sweet potato slices you mentioned. They are quite hard though. I had to suck on one for about fifteen minutes before it was finally soft enough to bite into.
T.
said,
July 7, 2008 at 8:48 am
Hong Shu/Di Gwa – It’s not that odd to have two different names – hell, in English they’re sweet potatoes and yams
Yu Qian
said,
July 8, 2008 at 11:28 am
I was from Zhejiang. That’s correct. But it doesn’t mean that village is not related to me. I have something to show you. Check this out:
http://www.cctv.com/special/1088/5/91376.html I think it’s authoritative because it’s from cctv.com although I don’t like CCTV at all. There is a picture of 清凉阁 exactly the same as the photo of “fragrant pavilion” in your blog. CCTV says my grandson founded this village(当年于谦的次子门长孙于有道夫妇逃难至此,在深山之中繁衍生息,白手起家建村,明清建筑完好无损。)
The other two sources are not quit authoritative, just for reference.
http://www.59766.cn/spic_remark_31397.htm There is a portrait of me exactly the same as the photo you’ve taken.
http://www.lvye.info/modules/article/view.article.php/c50/5228 There are some pictures about a village named于家村 founded by my grandson. But it seem like another 于家村because the pictures are not like yours except a picture of the ancient hall (祠堂). It also mention of a清凉阁, located in the east of the village. So, maybe there are two 于家村. Or maybe you just visited east part of the village.
Anyway, I’m very happy that you visit my village although I am still not quite sure if the villagers are my progeny because they didn’t mentioned of me at all when you were there.
quirkyBeijing » Blog Archive » quirkyBeijing reads: finding the gently offbeat in a decidedly uncute city
said,
July 10, 2008 at 12:27 pm
[...] – In the village of the Yu Family, at Ben Ross’ blog. [...]
I am the 20th generation
said,
November 2, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Ben,
I found your blog by accident and read this old posting about the Yu Family Stone Villiage (and all the writings about who the founder of this village is). Now, I can tell you that the Yu village you visited was definitely founded by one of the grandsons of Yu Qian 于谦 and they were from Zhejiang. The quote “当年于谦的次子门长孙于有道夫妇逃难至此,在深山之中繁衍生息,白手起家建村,明清建筑完好无损” is absolutely true.
The reason? I am the 20th generation of Yu Qian’s descendents. I lived in the village with my grandma when I was a child and moved to the city to be with my parent later on. I just went back to the village this summer for my father’s funeral (he grew up in the village but lived most of his adult life in the city). We still own a big yard in the village, which is about 500 years old and is one of the best preserved yards there.
There used to be a lot of recordings (such as sculptures, texts on grave stones, etc.) about Yu Qian and how his descendents moved to the village. My father told me that there was actually a stone statue of Yu Qian at the entrance of the village. However, those things were destroyed by Red Guards during the culture revolation. Most of the memorial stuff you see there today were re-built in recent years.
I do have a copy of our family tree book. It has recorded the names of every male descendent and their wives. I also have relatives living in the village. If you have any questions about the Yu village, please let me know. I will try my best to answer.