Commemorating the ancestors and opening up the future - the Chinese ancestors laid the foundation for the commemorative tombstone

Commemorating the ancestors and opening up the future - the Chinese ancestors commemorating the tombstone laying the foundation (Phoenix Chinese Welfare Association) More than 20 years ago, the archeology of ASU University...

(Phoenix Chinese Welfare Association) More than 20 years ago, the archaeological scholar K. J. of ASU University. Schroeder discovered a tombstone in Chinese at the Historical Memorial Cemetery in downtown Phoenix. He tried to find the descendants of the person buried there, so as to promote the glorious history of the Chinese pioneering the province. Mr. Tang Xiaoxian, who was the first principal of the Tempe Chinese School at the time, helped in the search. He published news in Chinese newspapers and periodicals, hoping that local Chinese would provide clues, and did a lot of work. However, because the name of the deceased was translated into English with the local pronunciation, it would be difficult to investigate without being familiar with the Cantonese dialect. So many years later, the descendants of the buried people are still not found. Therefore, in the historical archives of the cemetery, there remains an unsolved "mystery of the tombstone."

In order to solve this mystery, Zhang Zhaohong, chairman of the Chinese Welfare Association, has been collecting information for many years and has visited the cemetery many times to conduct investigations. The Chinese tombstone on the Chinese cemetery only reads: "Grave of Deng Xiangyuan, a resident of Kaiping Tower Village." The word "Deng" is written very powerfully. The word "yuan" is also very distinctive. If you take the word "yuan" apart and look at it, it reminds people that the Chinese ancestors took a handful of "soil" from their hometown in order to make a living, took heavy steps, boarded a "ship" with no return, and came to this place known as "Golden Mountain". This is not only a name, but also a reality. My hometown is thousands of miles away! The deceased seemed to have forgotten the years and their relatives, and finally died in a foreign land. His grave no longer exists, the tombstones are scattered all over the place, and even the date of his birth and death has not been left. But the saddest thing is that time has forgotten him, and his close relatives have also forgotten him. He could not return to his hometown, and eventually became a lonely ghost, existing lonely and desolately in this wilderness cemetery for more than a hundred years! Although some tribesmen came to pay homage to him in the early days, as his relatives passed away, no one has visited the cemetery for many years. Zhang Zhaohong began to search for information about Kaiping Tower Village on the Internet, but he could only find a postal code! The past was like smoke, and when I was almost in despair, an old overseas Chinese in Kaiping enthusiastically provided clues. After unremitting efforts to excavate, the connotation of the word "yuan" was finally found in the Deng family tree, and the life experience of the owner of the tombstone was finally revealed. It has been found that the only tombstone and text on the Chinese cemetery are the earliest cultural relics left by the Chinese ancestors in Phoenix City. The Deng Xiangyuan family found has made positive contributions in the history of Alberta in terms of politics, economy, military and law.

The United States has been a country for more than 200 years, and relics from a century ago are as precious as cultural relics discovered in China from a thousand years ago! In this historical memorial cemetery, the first fifty Chinese ancestors who came to Phoenix City were buried. Some of their skeletons have been exhumed by their early relatives and transported back to China, and some have been moved to other cemeteries. What remains are the bones of twenty-three unidentified pioneers who are still buried here. At present, except for the genealogy of the seven generations before and after the owner of the tombstone, Deng Xiangyuan, who has been identified, only the English names of the remaining tombstones and incomplete information are left behind. In order to commemorate the contribution of the Chinese ancestors in Phoenix to the historical development of the province, and to allow the souls of those whose descendants cannot be found in the cemetery to rest in peace so that they can receive condolences and worship from the Chinese in the future, in 2014, it was initiated by Mr. Yu Wenjin, a senior overseas Chinese leader, and the "Chinese Ancestors Memorial Tombstone" was built with donations from the Phoenix Chinese Welfare Association. This plan has received great attention and strong support from the leadership of "Ancestors and Military Historical Memorial Cemetery" and "Greenwood Cemetery". Due to the complicated procedures involved in building tombstones, after years of operation and waiting, the "Chinese Ancestors Memorial Tombstone" was finally shipped back to Phoenix from China. (The tombstone was lost once in transit).

On September 16, 2015, the Chinese community in Alberta held a groundbreaking ceremony for the tombstone. Representatives from the Greater Phoenix Overseas Chinese Federation, Phoenix Chinese Welfare Association, Deng Gaomi Office, Deng Xinping Veterans Association, Fei Niyu Style Hall, Fei Nie Chinese Seniors Association and other groups, as well as representatives from the Ancestors and Military Memorial Cemetery and staff from Greenwood Cemetery, attended the groundbreaking ceremony. At present, the "Chinese Ancestors Memorial Tombstone" has been erected on the Chinese cemetery in the memorial cemetery, and the Chinese community in Phoenix City will prepare to hold a public memorial at a selected date.

("Tombstone Mystery": http://www.paaca.us/new_page_144.htm)