The Consanguinity of the Ancestors of Mawei-MazuI

“Long time no see, how have you been?” On November27, Chen Shanmao, the 79-year-old former principal of Mazu High School, and Chen Guanggang, the former village party secretary of Laotuan Village, Jinsha Management Zone, Langqi Town, met each other, and they started their family conversation in Fuzhou dialect. During this trip, Chen Shanmao took 45 Mazu villagers to Jinsha to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Chen Ancestral Hall.

Chen Shanmao (second from left) returns home with Mazu folks.

Photographed by reporter Tang Weiqiang

Since the Song Dynasty, the Chen family moved from Henan to Fujian, lived and multiplied along the MinjiangRiver. One of them lived in Langqi, Fuzhou, and even far, some crossed the strait and moved to Mazu and Taiwan Province. More than 120 years ago, Chen Changshun, Chen Shanmao’s great grandfather, moved to Mazu 

This time, when he returned to Jinsha, Chen Shanmaowent to the well of his hometown to have a look. “When I was a child, I played here.” Chen Shanmao said that in the late 1940s, his mother often took him to and from Mazu-Mawei to visit relatives and friends.

Chen Guang’s grandfather, who was also a native Jinsha, often ran between two places at the same time, taking out tea and cloth from Fuzhou and bringing back sugar from Taiwan Province.

In 1949, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait fell into a state of long-term military confrontation, with no contact and no news. Chen Shanmao, who is only 4 years old, couldn’t understand why he can’t play in Langqi, his hometown on the other side, while Chen Guang’s grandfather, who was left in Mazu, secretly thought that his son with lung disease had no family to rely on in Langqi, and they would never see each other.

On New Year’s Day in 1979, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) published “Message to Compatriots in Taiwan”, and the ice between two sides of the strait quietly melted. However, at that time, Taiwan Province was still in a state of “martial law” and the Mazu area was still under strict control.

Chen Shanmao’s father, Chen Shigui, was homesick and ventured across the sea to meet Langqi’s sister on a fishing boat. “As soon as they met, they hugged and cried.” Chen Shanmao recalled that his father also raised $20000 to support the lives of relatives and friends in the mainland of China.

At that time, people on both sides of the strait began to have sporadic exchanges through Hong Kong and the United States. Chen Guang’s grandfather learned from his relatives living in the United States that his son not only did not, but also had many family members.“Grandfather was happy and annoyed when he learned the news, and blamed himself for not making more money for his son.” Chen Guang said.

In October 1987, the Taiwan Province authorities announced the opening of Taiwan Province people to visit relatives in the mainland. That year, Chen Guang’s grandfather, who was 70 years old, couldn’t hold back his homesickness any longer and went back to his ancestral home in Langqi. He lived for eight years until he died of illness.

Chen Shanmao’s father, Chen Shigui, was not so lucky. In 1988, the Taiwane certificate had been completed, but he was ill in bed for a long time because of a stroke. Chen’s aunt in Langqi died soon after. The two brother and sister said goodbye on the boat and never saw each other again.

In order to realize his father’s wish, in 1988, Chen Shanmao returned to Mawei Langqi and climbed to Baiyun Mountain to look at Mazu Islands, only 18 nautical miles took him nearly 40 years.

In order to let more people remember the way back to their hometown, more than 30 years ago, Chen Shanmaotook the Chen genealogy sent back from his hometown and went door-to-door to collect clan information in Mazu. Eight years ago, he and Laotuan Village jointly initiated the revision of the new genealogy, which was completed last year.

Chen Shanmao was deeply moved when he returned to Jinsha to attend the inauguration ceremony of Chen’s ancestral hall. “All the people present are a family.” He said that if the Chen people scattered on both sides of the strait are incorporated into the same genealogy, the relations will be clear and the new generation of this family will no longer be “out of touch.”

Today, Chen Shanmao’s son has also inherited this emotional bond, frequently traveled to and from the two sides of the strait, and bought a house in Fuzhou to continue this cross-strait affection. (Fuzhou Daily reporter Tang Weiqiang)