Deng Clan Genealogy


"A man's life begins with his ancestors and is continued in his descendants".
Han Suyin THE CRIPPLED TREE.

"A family without a genealogy is like a country without a history"
Traditional Chinese saying

Our roots are very long and old. They are complicated and sometimes entangled too.
This is the origin of the surname Deng

The First Generation

The 22nd King of the Shang Dynasty(1783BC to 1135BC) was Wu3 Ding (reigned 1324BC to 1275BC). He delegated his uncle Män Jì, also known as Dé Yáng , to administer a district called Dèng (present day Dèng town in Nán Yáng district in Henan province). King Wu3 Ding also bestowed him the title Hòu (Marquis) and surnamed him Dèng. He was known as Dèng Hòu which was a hereditary title during those times. Man Jì had a son named Cháo who inherited the title Hòu, and of course, the surname Dèng.

The Sixth Generation

The 6th generation ancestor was Zhong who inherited the title Hòu. King Chóu (reigned 1154BC to 1135BC) the last King of the Yin Dynasty (in 1388BC Shang Dynasty moved it capital to Yin present day An Yang2 city in Henan province. It was called Yin Dynasty ever since) was cruel and wicked. My ancestor Zhong shifted his loyalty to Ji Fa the leader of the Zhou people. Eventually Ji Fa destroyed the Yin Dynasty in 1134BC and founded the Zhou Dynasty (1134BC to 250BC) and titled himself King Wu3 the Tiàn Zi3 (Son of Heaven). King Wu3 rewarded Zhong, Hòu (Marquis) same as the Yin one.

The Nineteenth Generation.

It was during the reign of King Huan (reigned 719BC to 697BC) the 14th King of the Zhou Dynasty. My ancestor named Wu3 Lí inherited the title Hòu. In the 8th year of King Huan's reign in 712BC State of Dèng formed an alliance with the States of Zhèng and Cài against the Chu3 . Chu3 tribe were the descendants of the Miáo clan. They lived in the area between Yangtze River and the Hàn Shui3 River (present day Zi Gui district in Hubei province). Later they moved to Dan Yáng (present day Zhi Jiang district in Hubei province). They expanded acrossed the Hàn Shui3 River to Huái Shui3 River in the east. They conquered and annexed several vassal States of the Zhou Court.

In 704BC its leader named Mie Xiong proclaimed the formation of a new Kingdom to be called Chu3. He titled himself the King of Chu3. His actions infuriated the centre authority of the Zhou Court. As far as the Zhou Court was concerned there was only one Kingdom and one King in the land. The two Kingdoms were in antagonism. King Huan summoned troops from the vassal States including the State of Dèng; attempting to crush the Chu3. Battles were fought and the allied armies lost. Even though the Chu3 had won the day it did not expand further north as it had exhausted its own resources. About 15 years later when it had recovered Chu3 started to expand by conquering and annexing other States.

The Twenty Second Generation

Míng Yuan inherited the title. The time was during the reign of King Xi (reigned 681BC to 677BC) the 16th King of the Zhou Dynasty. In the 4th year of his reign in 678BC, the crown prince of the State of Chu3 with his army were on their way to attack the State of Shen. They passed through the State of Déng. Míng Yuan's uncle (mother's younger brother) advised him to kill the crown of Chu3 saying that this particular crown prince would destroy Dèng later. He was right. After it had conquered the State of Shen the Chu3 returned home the same way through Dèng. While they were in Dèng the Chu3 destroyed the Dèng and annexed it. The ruler of Dèng should have listened to his uncle. This was the end of the State of Dèng, and the title Hòu was abolished.

The Twenty Sixth Generation.

His name was Kan3 . King Jing3 (reigned 544BC to 520BC) the 24th King of the Zhou Dynasty (1134BC to 250BC) appointed my ancestor Kan3 as Cì Shi3 (an administrator of a prefecture) to Xú Zhou (present day Xú Zhou city in Jiangsu province). The position was not inheritable.

The Thirtieth Generation.

His name was Jian . During the Zhou Dynasty (the name of which King was not mentioned). Jian was appointed as a Xiàn Lìng (district officer) of Jìn Yáng.

The Thirty Second Generation.

His name was An Gúo . During the Zhou Dynasty An Gúo was appointed as Chéng Zai3 (Lord Mayor) of Nán Yáng city (present day Nán Yáng city in Henan province. Nán Yáng city was originally the State of Shen).

The Thirty Fourth Generation.

His name was Cang . During the Zhou Dynasty Cang was appointed as Zhòu Mù (State Governor) of Zhì Lì Zhou (present day Hebei province. Beijing is in Hebei province).

The Thirty Fifth Generation.

His name was Míng . Míng lived at Long3 Shi in Hebei province. He was a moral philosopher, a philanthropist and a hermit.

The Thirty Sixth Generation.

His name was Wén Zhòng . He was a Xiàn Lìng (district officer) of Hé Dong district (present day east of the Yellow River in Shanxi province). He settled down there permanently.
END OF THE ZHOU DYNASTY.

Subsequent Generations

My 47th generation ancestor Deng Yu was a renowned general in the Eastern Han period (25AD to 220 AD) and there is a biography of him in 16th scroll of Eastern Han Canon of History. According to our genealogy, he had 3 wives and 13 sons, and lived to the age of 57. Throughout the genealogy, only sons are listed as descendants. However, a daughter by the name of Sui of my 48th generation ancestor Deng Xun (also called Pingshu) is mentioned as having married the Emperor Xiaohe (4th Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty), and becoming Empress. My 54th generation ancestor Deng Ai has a biography in the 28th scroll of the Three Kingdoms Canon of History. My 74th generation ancestor, Deng Jingshan has a biography in the second scroll of the Early Tang Dynasty Canon of History. Correlating with Western dates, my 87th ancestor, Deng Xunwu , lived around 1100 AD in the Song Dynasty.

Migration southwards must have been a continual process, as in the 93rd generation, it mentions that my ancestor, Zhizhai , begins the Eastern Guangdong (Yuedong) branch of the family line. Various southern Chinese provinces are mentioned in the next few generations as places where my ancestors lived including Cháo Zhou (Chiu chow) and Jiaying Zhou. In the 96th generation, my ancestor, Wenfu , is mentioned as living in Changle during the Ming Dynasty (1440 AD). In the 101st generation, there is the first mention of the town of Boluo in Huizhou (Fui Chew), where my ancestors settled and stopped their tradition of migrating and wandering in search of a homeland.

The Present Century

My grandfather Deng Zhi Man (113th Generation from Man Ji) left his village of Lengshuikeng (Langsuihang in Hakka pronounciation), near Boluo in Huizhou , Guangdong Province, in 1908 as a 14 year old, having been orphaned by the famine and turmoil of the times. He was taken by his paternal uncle to the then British colony of North Borneo (present day Malaysian state of Sabah), where he studied in a missionary school. He learnt English and after leaving school, he worked as a clerk in the Colonial Office, in the town of Jesselton (present day Kota Kinabalu). After retiring, he returned for the first and last time to visit his ancestral village in China in 1937. It was then that he made a copy of the genealogy from the ancestral temple in his village, which we possess today.

We are fortunate as ancestral temples and genealogical records were largely destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, and very few records like this remain in China. My father has done a lot of work to preserve the record and piece together details of the genealogy as well as the links with his father’s village. Now, I have computerised the record using a chinese wordprocessor and desktop publisher which I would be happy to share with any interested parties.

Summary

Chinese surname No.180 Dèng.
Dèng means : a Chinese family surname.
The surname Dèng is about 3250 years old and originated in an area called Nán Yáng Prefecture, named by the Qin Dynasty (221BC to 207BC).
Nán means : south
Yáng means : the sun; bright; clear; masculine; positive.
The present day location of Nán Yáng Prefecture is in Nán Yáng district in Hénán province, China.

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First 36 generations translated by CHUNG Yoon-Ngan

Maintained by Dr Francis THIEN

115th Generation Descendant of Deng Man Ji

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