Irene Eng The Kibbitzer

 Beijing, circa 1962

My maternal family at birth.  I refer to them often in this blog.  (WIP .. will update ..)

From left to right –
Back row:
Mom and Dad
Jiujiu 舅舅: mom’s older brother
Xiaoyi
小姨: mom’s younger sister

Front row:
Nainai 奶奶: Yeye’s last concubine
The little thing .. Nainai lovingly dabbed it as Little Smelly, Little Dog Fart .. .. the list’s long.
Yeye 爷爷: my maternal grandfather
Popo 婆婆: my maternal grandmother

Not yet in the picture:
Jiumu 舅母: Jiujiu’s wife
Xiaoyifu 小姨父: Xiaoyi’s husband

Jiujiu said that Yeye mentioned few times that they’re from Lü (Lyu, Lv) Hou 吕后 (wife of Liu Ban 刘邦). As with any family, there are many branches after Lü Hou. The traceable generation was from Shanxi province 山西 then moved to Anhui province in 1700s.

Xiao you zhen ming jia 孝友振明嘉: It represent five generations starting from Yeye. My cousin Peng who’s born in 1969 did not take a middle name (or generation identifier) due to the Cultural Revolution – it was considered feng, zi and xiu 封 (feudalism),资 (the capitalism or the bourgeoisie) and 修 (revisionism). Peng’s son takes the 明. Hopefully his child(ren) will uses ‘Jia’ ..

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My paternal family, circa 1933, at 24 Xumo Jie in Tianjin. I have never met my paternal grandparents. And yet to meet Dabo Changfa.

From L to R back row:
Grandma’s holding Aunt Jennie 常华 – 三姑 (1933 Beijing -) and Grandpa.
Front row:
Changluan 常鸾 – 二姑 (1924 – ),
Changji (Patrick) 常胤 – 二伯 (1928 Tianjin -),
Dad (1931 Beijing -),
Changfa 常发 (其祥) 又名 岱鲁 – 大伯 (1927 -),
Changying 常英 – 大姑 (1920 Beijing -). 

Note:

The woman I addressed as Nainai in this blog was my maternal grandfather’s concubine. Popo was living alone since she moved out in 1942. To differentiate the two women – one was living with him and one married to him – the family decided to let my biologic maternal grandmother be Popo and the concubine be Nainai.  Altered grandfather to Yeye who should had been Gonggong thus making them as a pair.  

Another reason for this was the fact that my paternal grandfather has long passed away and my paternal grandmother was exiled to Taipei. In the 1960s, it was as close as deceased due to the political tension between the Taiwan Strait. It’s bit confusing I know. But that’s the way I grew up – don’t want to change a thing.

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