A Quest for Our Roots—Latter-day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held a sharing seminar on family history on 22 August at the Church’s Hung Shui Kiu Chapel. The seminar included genealogical displays, family history videos, and presentations by family history scholars, with the primary aim of promoting the quest for family history among local communities, as well as stressing the importance of perpetuating the family tree. During the activity, the Family History Center was open for the public to use, and staff members were on hand to assist participants with their search for their family roots. With nearly 200 people in attendance, the day was topped off by the appearance and support of Tuen Mun District Councilor, Miss Fung-yi Kong.

At the start of the activity, the Church’s Regional Family History Consultant, Brother Lau-chun Luk, captured the audience’s attention with the eternal question of whether the chicken or the egg came first. Using the activity’s headlining couplet as inspiration: “The tallest, most spectacular tree must have its roots in the ground; all the waters embracing the mountains must have their origin somewhere,” Brother Luk reiterated his opinion that it must have been the chicken that came first.

“Every living thing came about because it was conceived and born by its parents……the egg must be fertilized first before the chick can be hatched. Therefore it must be the chicken that comes first, and not the egg.” Luk explained that tracing our genealogy by searching for our roots could help us understand our life’s origins, aligning us with our ancestors, and moving us to the first and most crucial step towards establishing an eternal family.

Everyone enthusiastic about family history knows that Latter-day Saints have been heavily involved in this area. Not only has the Church set up the largest family history library in the world in Salt Lake City, Utah, it also runs more than 4,500 family history centers across the world, all open to the public for free. The Church’s genealogy efforts are not merely to help individuals trace their family history, but also to align with the Church’s teachings. Latter-day Saints believe that marriage and family can be perpetuated beyond the grave, and that it is only through being sealed in the temple that family members can be together forever. Therefore, in order to perform temple work for deceased ancestors, family history is an indispensable prelude. Once Church members have successfully discovered their deceased relatives’ names, they can then perform temple ordinances for them.

It was no surprise this activity was so successful in the local Hong Kong community, because respect for ancestors has always been part of the Chinese cultural DNA. Family history work, in all its guises, was not unfamiliar to most of the audience. Since ancient times, not only has family history recorded the ties between blood relatives, it has also provided testament to historical figures and incidents, making it an important part of our cultural heritage. In this sense, the Church’s efforts in searching for family roots is perfectly aligned with the Chinese spirit of honoring the past and searching for their origins, no matter how distant.

Brother Sakchai Tangsitphan, the high councilor over family history of the New Territory Stake, is a Thai of Chinese ethnic origin. He said, “Even though they are far away from their land of origin, Chinese-Thais pay a lot of respect to their ancestors, because they believe that everything the younger generations possess is due primarily to what previous generations have accumulated and left behind.”

However, according to Chinese culture, it is forbidden for younger generations to call their elders by their birth names, so in a lot of cases, children and grandchildren know only of the relationships between themselves and their ancestors, without knowing these ancestors’ names directly. Moreover, family history traditionally passes on through the male lineage rather than the female. This, coupled with latter generations moving away, makes genealogical tracing a daunting task. At the seminar, Tangsitphan shared the trials and successes in his quest for his family history, encouraging participants not to give up even when hitting dead ends.

“As long as you have confidence and love, surely you can move your ancestors, your clan, to help you towards finding your roots……what the scripture promises, ‘Turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents’ is indeed a joyful blessing.”

District Councilor Miss Kong, with more than 30 years of community experience, had met people from many walks of life since her election, and she agreed that it was of supreme importance to maintain precious ties between husband and wife, parent and child. Although she had not yet begun tracing her family history, she gave her full spiritual support towards the Church’s work on promoting genealogical education.

In truth, Chinese people and Latter-day Saints do not have a monopoly on the quest for family roots. PBS’s “Finding Your Roots” and TLC’s “Who Do You Think You Are?” are two examples of genealogy programing that have gained a widespread audience outside of this country. By tracing the genealogy of various celebrities, these programs have highlighted the importance and influence of family history on individuals. Television ratings were high. As we can see: “Who am I?”, and “Where do I come from?” are universal questions that cut across cultural boundaries.

President Ka-keung Yau, first counselor of the New Territory Stake said, “Sometimes people rely on others too much, pushing work on family history onto other family members. Ultimately though, getting to know your ancestors is a personal responsibility, dependent on personal efforts. Otherwise, we are mere names before them.”

As we take a panoramic view of history, it is evident that in a world where countries perish and dynasties collapse over time, it is only the family that has real historical longevity, weaving its web further and wider throughout centuries. Individual tribes are what allow the race to continue perpetuating itself. The Chinese people’s collective genealogy goes back thousands of years, and it is understandable that some people see this as an insurmountable challenge, causing them to halt before they have even begun.

Yau opined that work on family history is not as hard and challenging as many imagined. “Today we have so many technological advances—smartphones for instance are an invention that can help us dive directly into family history work in an effective way……beginning with ourselves, and onwards, onto recording our parents, grandparents, and our own children; that’s four generations already……discovering our ancestors’ stories and understanding where we came from is the most precious legacy we can leave for our next generation.”

If anyone is interested in engaging in family history work, please visit the Church’s family history website at www.familysearch.org