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.

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.

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.

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.

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.