The tale begins ten years ago, with field research. It will go on forever.

In 1980, Professor Yin Chang-yi of Fu Jen University was collecting materials for Records of Hsinchuang. It was known from existing records that a Chang family had been pioneers in the Hsinchuang area at the time of the K'anghsi Emperor of the Ching Dynasty. Yin and his students began field research in Hsinchuang, hoping to find old land contracts through families named Chang.

For 65-year-old forester Chang Ch'eng-ho, keeping the records had nothing to do with owning considerable tracts of land. "My ancestors were wealthy, with much land, but that's past. But my ancestors came to Hsinchuang to open the frontier; their descendants should know of their hard work." He says that for the descendants, there is more to be proud of in their ancestors' bitter pioneering than in their wealth.

Chang Ch'eng-ho is a seventh generation descendant of the house of Chang Fang-kao, who was the eldest son of Chang Shih-hsiang. He brought Yin Chang-yi to the story's main character, Chang Fu-lu.

Now over 70, Fu-lu is a sixth generation descendant of Chang Fang-ta, fourth son of Chang Shih-hsiang. As a child, he also heard of his ancestors' wealth, but after land re-surveying under the Japanese, and because his ancestors were opium addicts, all that was left was an old house. Even the house changed hands; but fortunately it was bought back for safekeeping by a relative. When the business of Chang Fu-lu and his brothers succeeded, the house was reacquired.

Chang Fu-lu feels heavily the responsibility of inheriting from the past and leaving for the future. In 1976 he began to buy up land around the house and established a foundation, planning to turn the dilapidated structure into a "Chang Fang-ta Memorial Hall."

By 1980 the work on the house finished smoothly. The only thing missing was the family records to trace the lineage.

Although he and Chang Ch'eng-ho had an old set of records on hand, it only described briefly their single line, and even the descendants of the brothers of their grand-father were not recorded, not to mention those of Fang-kao, Fang-shen, Fang-yuan, and Fang-ta from six generations back. It was more than 200 years (1765) since the last correcting of the record, and in between had come the chaos of the late Ching era, Japanese occupation. . . . Family members were dispersed everywhere. Chang Fu-lu didn't know where to start.

Enter Yin Chang-yi. Together they began their arduous journey.

If a family is a tree, then Chang Fu-lu was just a leaf on a branch of a branch of a branch. He had to find a few other leaves, and from the relative data find his way to the main branch, and draw the branch as accurately as possible to complete the family tree.

Two years of field research yielded no less than 20 sets of family records. The most important was the "Historical Records of the Chang Family of Chien-hu," discovered by Tsai Yuan-chieh, a lecturer in history at the National Taiwan Normal University. These records borrowed from the record series of the four sons of Chang Shih-hsiang: Fang-kao, Fang-shen, Fang-yuan, Fang-ta. By bringing together the records, the main branch became visible. Through contacts with Fu-lu, relatives whose families had not met for two hundred years began to come together. Some had long known each other—but didn't know they were related!

In the process of seeking the roots, even young family members joined in. Chang Hsi-ch'in, 49, who lives in Huwei, is a ninth generation descendant of Fang-yuan. He noted that on tomb-sweeping day, some people would come to the family tomb to pay respects. Yin Chang-yi made up a family chart, with a contact number, and put it before the grave, hoping visitors would contact him. They even asked a craftsman who carved headstones about any with the words "Chien-hu" on them, and traced them no matter what the distance.

As the number of family members grew, they thought they might as well retrace the route of their ancestors. They followed the irrigation ditches built hundreds of years ago, looked for names carved in Confucian temples, and thought about the great family house at the site of the newly reconstructed one.

Two hundred and eighty years ago, Chang Shih-hsiang intrepidly came to Taiwan, not only changing his life but also giving the Chang family new development. He himself was a hsiu-ts'ai (successful local examination candidate) and the family produced six chu-jen (successful provincial examination candidates) from the 25th to the 35th years of the reign of the Ch'ien-lung Emperor.

The Chang family rented land south of the Chuoshui River from aborigines, and Fang-kao and Fang-ta set off north to pioneer in what is now known as the Yunlin Plain. Their descendants followed their water works, which still carry clean water after hundreds of years of dredging and renovation. Last year over a million NT dollars were spent to renovate the Ta-you works. It so happens that the man in charge of the work is also part of the family tree!

The combination of scholarship and pioneering made the Chang family wealthy. It is hard to imagine their courage and foresight. Chang Ch'ing-shun, who runs his own concrete processing plant, says as he looks over the lush rice fields, "I'm most glad that my ancestors were intelligent, and chose this good place to open irrigation."

Today, descendants of Chang Shih-hsiang are in Yunlin, Taipei, Changhua, and across the world. When Chang Fu-lu finished the updating of the records in 1983, nearly 300 Changs congregated in Taipei, held a dinner, and paid their respects at the completed Chang Fang-ta Memorial Hall. Chang descendants crowded in front of the 8.5-meter chart, happily trying to figure out their relationship to each other.

When they left the fete, those living abroad took a family chart along to their new homes, pioneers like their ancestor Chang Shih-hsiang. But this is not the dispersal of the family—it is the extension of the Chien-hu Changs to all lands.

And through family members in the Philippines, descendants of relatives who had gone back to the mainland at the end of the Ching dynasty were contacted. When the government opened up family visits to the mainland, Chang Fu-lu took his wife and his newly revised family tree to "Chien-hu" (now Huchung Village). Family records there were burned in the Cultural Revolution. When Fu-lu's relatives saw his family record, they couldn't help hugging and crying warmly.

At the end of the family records there is a blank survey form. This is because they haven't by any means found all the relatives, and family members keep producing new generations. Chang Fu-lu hopes that future generations will carry on.

[Picture Caption]

The long family genealogical chart is like a river of life, pulsating in the hands of Chang Fu-lu.(photo by Lily Huang)

Over the turbulent years, scarred memorial tablets and "stone locks" (used for body-building) still loyally tell the stories of the past.

The older generation of Changs proudly tell all comers, "Our ancestor was a successful candidate in the provincial military exam s, and could lift a 150-catty stone lock with one hand."

Old and yellowed land contracts tell the story of the Chang family irrigation enterprise. (photo by Lily Huang)

The "Teh-fu House" located in Huwei is the only old residence of the Chang family left.

A silver spoon and ivory chopsticks stand as symbols of the wealth of the past.

Looking out over the gurgling waterworks and boundary-less fields, descendants of the Chang family cannot help but recall their ancestors' pioneering diligence.

Over the turbulent years, scarred memorial tablets and "stone locks" （used for body-building） still loyally tell the stories of the past.

Over the turbulent years, scarred memorial tablets and "stone locks" （used for body-building） still loyally tell the stories of the past.

The older generation of Changs proudly tell all comers, "Our ancestor was a successful candidate in the provincial military exam s, and could lift a 150-catty stone lock with one hand.".

The "Teh-fu House" located in Huwei is the only old residence of the Chang family left.

Old and yellowed land contracts tell the story of the Chang family irrigation enterprise. （photo by Lily Huang）