News Feature: Green Leaf’s affection for its roots—participating in memorial activities for Chinese-American martyrs (photo)

News Feature: Luye’s affection for roots—participating in memorial activities for Chinese-American martyrs (photo) (This website's news) May 26, 2014 "United States...

(This website's news) On May 26, 2014, "American Memorial Day", about twenty Chinese Americans held memorial and worship activities for their Chinese ancestors at the American Ancestors and Military Memorial Cemetery in Phoenix, USA. On that day, there were many people at the memorial cemetery, mostly Americans. This was the first collective mourning activity organized by the local Chinese community to trace their origins and express their respect and remembrance of their ancestors. It was a meaningful anniversary.

Zhang Zhaohong (left) organizer of this event. Tang Xiaoxian (right), a Chinese scholar who helped find the descendants of the tombstone twenty years ago

At 10:30 in the morning, the reporter arrived at the cemetery on time and saw Mr. Zhang Zhaohong, the organizer of this event, in the distance. In 2013, he went to the cemetery for the first time and saw this Chinese tombstone named "Deng Xiangyuan" from Kaiping Tower Village. This is the oldest Chinese tombstone discovered in Arizona so far. After a year-long search, Zhang Zhaohong found the genealogy of "Deng Xiangyuan" and his descendants. Zhang Zhaohong recorded the entire search process and published a book on the mystery of the tombstone titled "Grand View of Chinese History and Culture in Alberta". This series of articles has had a huge impact on the Chinese community.

Chinese Tombstones 140 Years Ago

This year, Zhang Zhaohong wrote. The book "Pearl of the Desert" records the development of local Chinese culture in Phoenix and is officially collected by the Library of Congress and the Arizona State University Library. This book records the contribution of Arizona Chinese to the development of the United States.

The worship site

Mr. Yu Wenjin, a senior overseas Chinese leader, came to the scene in person and sent flowers to everyone in the traditional overseas Chinese community. The traditional overseas Chinese community has a strong sense of kinship and surnames. People with the same surname or family will help each other generously. He often writes articles and organizes large and small events in the community. On that day, Yu Wenjin hosted a banquet for all the guests attending the memorial ceremony.

(left to right) Zhu Qihua. Zhu Guanjing Zhu Guanling Chen Caiping

The highlight of the day's memorial service was the family of the Chinese female sergeant Zhu Wanling who returned from the peacekeeping mission in Iraq and Afghanistan. Her father, Zhu Qihua, said that she hoped the children would know where their roots are. We are representatives of the younger generation and must not forget our roots. Zhu Guanling is still an active US soldier and is participating in Tempe police training. In a few weeks, she will officially graduate from the police academy and become a female police officer in Tempe to serve more citizens. In this memorial event, the performance of the old, middle and young generations made "American Memorial Day" of great significance. It allowed the Chinese people living overseas to unite together and find the "love between green leaves and roots".