Sino-Western Yangtze River Family Stories
Church Mission Archives Hoh/Hao (郝) Siblings from Macheng, Hubei, c.1908. Source: Swedish National Archives, Stockholm, Svenska Missionsförbundet, Missionskyrkan, Personarkiv, Hedmark, Ellen, Fotografier. Every year, I present at Henry Tom’s Chinese Genealogy Conference about ways to use non-Chinese sources to research Chinese family history. The next conference will be in San Francisco on February 15 – […]
My Chinese family has deep roots at Ginling College, dating almost since its inception. First as students and then as faculty, women on both sides of my family – my grandfather’s side – the Shih family 石 and my grandmother’s side the Qian family 錢 – have been influenced by this remarkable women’s college.
The earliest account of western influence among my Chinese family is that of my great grandfather Shih Tsi-kai 石紫階. Missionary Sven Tonnquist of Mission Covenant Church of Sweden (MCCS) met him in 1899 as a Chinese language instructor in Wuchang. Over time, Shih became the mission’s first Chinese pastor at their church in Hwangchow, ordained […]