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Early History of Wong Chong Yao (Duck Hin) appears to begin around 2318 B. C. The Chinese character for the clan surname Wang (Wong) is
The clan's tree line was documented until the Chinese Cultural Revolution carried out its four goals of be ridding China of the four olds: old ideas, old culture, old customs and old habits.
The Chinese Red Guards destroyed the family records that were kept in schools and in temples throughout China.
Today, searching for one's family roots in China can be difficult if contact with the clan in China has not been maintained over the years. Ship records, census records, newspaper archives, and oral history are the only tools that are now available for family tree research.
Historically, our ancestry dates back to the Emperor Shun (2318 B.C.) who was a descendant of Shi Huang-Ti, the first emperor of China. Shi Huang-Ti is known as the “Yellow Emperor” of ancient China.
An article by Tien-sou Chan titled HISTORY OF OUR CLAN, states that during the Chow Dynasty (1027-256 B. C.) Mon-Kung, a descendant of Emperor Shun, was given the principality of Chen as a reward. This principality was south of the Yellow River. Mon-Kung adopted the clan surname, Chen. Years later, Mon-Kung was awarded the title of Hu-Kung translated is Woo (Wu), and thereby became one of the clan names. The following surnames also became part of the clan names: Yao, Yu, Tien, Sze-Tu, Chao, Sun, Llsieh, Loke, Fan, Wang (Wong) and Che. is the Chinese character for the clan surname Wang (Wong)
Mon-Kung was the 34th descendant of the Emperor Shun. Yuen-Tu-Tu was the 45th descendant of the Emperor of Shun. Yuen Tu-Tu was a vizier ( a high executive or officer of various Muslim countries, especially for the Ottoman Empire) of the principality of Chen. The descendants of Yuen-TuTu chose the Yuen surname in place of the Chen surname sometime during 1256-221 B. C.
In spite of their
regal ancestry, the Wong descendants who emigrated from China to
seek work in the Sandalwood
Islands lived in a small and
poor village called Pun Sa (Poon Sar or Bun Sa) on the southern coast
of China just north of the former Portuguese colony of Macao. Seeking
to improve their economic status in life, some members of the Wong clan
left Pun Sa Village hoping to seek their fortune in Hawaii and return
to China as wealthy men. Among the villagers there were five brothers,
Wong Hin Hoy, Wong Hin Chiu, Wong, Hin Tai, Won, Hin Chow, and Wong
Hin Fo. The sons of Wong Hin Tai, Wong Hin Chow and Wong Hin Tai
left China to seek their fortune in Hawaii during the late 1800’s.
During the late 1800’s Wong Hin Tai’s third and fourth
sons came to Hawaii to work as laborers on the rice plantations
and sugar plantations. Wong Hin Tai is the father of Wong Aloiau (Aloy
Yau) of the book He was a Ram by Violet Lai. Wong Hin
Tai’s son, Wong Aloiau, migrated to Honolulu and eventually moved
to the island of Kauai where he built his business and raised his family.
He died in 1919.
Wong Hin Hoy’s son, Wong Kwai was a major procurer of Chinese laborers for the Hawaiian monarch King David Kalakaua. Wong Kwai was born in 1838 in Pun Sa village, See Dai Doo, Chungshan District of Kwantung Province. He came to Hawaii in 1854 from San Francisco, California at the age of seventeen. He became an affluent rice planter in the Kingdom of Hawaii and an influential member of Queen Liliuokalani’s court.
Wong Hin Chow may be the father of Wong Chong Yao (Duck Hin). It is believed that Wong Chong Yao was one of four brothers born in Canton, China (Cheongshan district, Kwangtung Province. The name of the eldest brother is not known, but his two sons Wong Kwan Hoon and Kwan Fai did leave China to work in Hawaii. And his great grandson is former Hawaii State Senator Francis Wong, Jr.
Wong Chong Yao (1852-1926) was born in 1852 in Cheongshan district, Province
of Kwangtung, China. He arrived in Hawaii on April 2, 1881 on
USS Lydia, possibly to work on the island of Kauai. Using his brother,
Wong, Chong
Lun’s record, Wong Chong Yao left China to find work in
Hawaii. Before leaving China, Wong Chong Yao married Ching Shee*
in 1880.
Ching Shee was born in Tin Bin district
of Kwangtung Province, China Canton, China). Ching Shee’s
brother paid for her passage to Hawaii.
Ching Shee arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1887.
Wong Chong Lun (1854 – February 1, 1919) Chong Lun was a native of Cheongshan district, Province of Kwangtung, China. Wong Chong Lun married Ching Shee in China. Ching Shee was born in Tin Bin District of Kwangtung Province, China in 1870. While living in Hawaii, Wong Chong Lun raised a family. Wong Chong Lun and Shee Ching lived on Nuuanu Street (Avenue) between King and Hotel Streets (Chinatown, Honolulu). He came to Hawaii in 1874; he eventually owned a restaurant on Alakea Street in Hawaii. He sold it and went back to China with his wife Ching Shee in 1918 where he died.
