Xiayang Yeo Pioneers in SEA
Since when did Xiayang Yeo‘s first start taking to the seas? Nobody knows for sure. Here are three narrations we took from clan histories that offer actual earlier dates and names backing up their stories:
- “When Taiwan was reunified by the Qing Government in the 2nd Year of Kang Xi (1683 A.D.) it was said that there were 3,000 military personnel sailing with their families in nine ships to avoid persecution. They braved the stormy Straits of Taiwan and the South China Sea to arrive at Southeast Asian waters, with three reaching Luzon of the Philippines, one landing in Siam, three in Java and Two in Malacca… ‘Yang Fukang of XiaYang, HaiCheng was one of them.’ ” — The Story of Hokkien Gongsi, Penang, Chapter 3, Page 6
- “Since the time our fore-father Teik Kheng became the prosperous man of the village of Ha Yong, his descendants have for many generations come over the sea to trade in Rangoon. In course of years they have multiplied and being of one clan they have mostly lived in the same locality. In the year of Kak Ying, the 4th year of the reign of Emperor Hsien Feng of the Ching (Qing) Dynasty (1854 A.D.), our clansmen of Rangoon raised a fund and founded the Society of Sit Teik Tong…” — The Sit Teik Tong, Otherwise Known as Sie Thow Kong See, Rangoon, Memorial Tablet.
- In the reign of Jia Qing (1796-1820,A.D.), there were Yeohs of Seong Yao Seah like Yeoh Boon Cheng, Yeoh Boon Hean and Yeoh Tua Teah who had already migrated to Penang. As the Yeohs congregated to form an overseash community they decided to reais funds to establish a Soo Tee Tong in the Pengkalan area, known as Batu Maung today. This was a meeting place of all the Yeohs…Yeoh It Chiam and Yeoh It Chan of Har Yang were at the helm of its management and procurement activities in the name of Sye Thow Kong. ” — The Story of Hokkien Gongsi, Penang, Chapter 3, Page 71
- Professor Qian Jiang, a scholar of overseas Chinese studies in Hong Kong, has also documented the following. “In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, members of the five surnames of Haicheng Sandu were known to be active in Malacca. Today, the Qingyun Pavilion there hangs the “XinJiang Qiu Ruo Hui” and plaques and couplets sent by ShiTang Xie Xi Ming, XiaYang Yang Yin and others, in the eras of Emperors Qianlong and Jiaqing.
- Yeoh Guan Huah, a Singapore citizen from Penang, possesses a genealogy book of his branch of the Xiayang Yeo clan from the the fifth to the twenty-first generation. It recorded that the fourteenth Yeoh In Tong, born in the 39th year of Kangxi and died in the fifth year of Qianlong, was buried in an un-specified place abroad while both his two sons lived in Taiwan. This supported the earlier narrations that Xiayang Yeos were already venturing overseas during the Kangxi reign. The book also recorded that, the 17th-Generation-Yeoh Zhaohao’s eldest son Wenlai (1839-1903) was buried in Penang, the second son Wenzhuan (1844-1909) was buried in Rangoon, and another 17th-Generation-Yeoh Zhaoshun’s second son Wenzhuan (1848-1909) was buried in Moulmein. Furthermore, Jushan (1863-?), the second son of the 18th- Generation-Yang Wending, took a wife in Rangoon, ran a business and became a Committee Member of the General Chinese Trade Affairs Association – the former Chinese Chamber of Commerce. These are all evidence that there had been frequent movements of the Xiayang Yeo families between Penang and Rangoon during that period.
We started by digging out the life story of Yeo Cheow Kaw, and successively discovered the footprints of his clan members and collected them along the way. From scattered lime-lights to pieced-through life stories, several of them complemented with family trees, personal information nodes are being documented in this devoted space. With consolidated knowledge about this once very resilient family bloodline, we hope to broaden further its network connections globally.
It is important to note that the clan surname started with 楊 as the Hanzi character, has been Romanized into various forms in different lands and in different times. From Singapore Yeo to Penang Yeoh, to Hong Kong Yeung, and (back) to China Yang, we have also tracked down to Indonesia Haryono and Njiokiktjien, and Myanmar Wynn. There are many, many more.