Half a month ago, my second uncle, who had been paralyzed in bed for a long time, suddenly passed away. My father took us home in a hurry to attend the funeral. All the young and old in the village came to pay their respects. The fourth brother Zengping and his sister Lingxia (the second uncle's daughter) were heartbroken. I looked at my deceased second uncle sadly, thinking about what he was like when he was alive, with mixed feelings in my heart.
The second uncle was loyal and honest to others all his life, but he worked hard but fell seriously ill and was bedridden for a year. Before his death, he suffered too much and was so skinny when he passed away, which is very sad!
Everyone in the village, young and old, came to pay their respects. My family and I were busy from day to night. During the break, the eldest brother (the uncle's son) talked about his grandfather's life and often mentioned the old story that his ancestor's surname was Sheep. Hearing this, I was extremely surprised. I remembered that the deeds of the Yang surname were occasionally mentioned in books, and I also vaguely knew that there was a famous person in history Yang Hu . I never expected that he was my ancestor!
I complained to my eldest brother for not telling me earlier, and he said, I thought you knew!
I don’t know, I only know that my family’s surname is Yang. Now I suddenly heard that my ancestor’s original surname was Yang, and I felt a little short-circuited in my mind...
I gradually recalled some old things, and remembered that I often heard it when I was a child. Grandma (who passed away at the age of 94) said that our family’s surname was different from Yang in other families in the village, but why it was different, she could not explain clearly. When my uncle was still alive, he also talked about this topic with me. He said that he once worked in Yiyang County, Luoyang, and he had been looking for relatives for many years, but because of the age, there was no result in the end. But no one, whether it was my grandma or my uncle, accurately stated that my ancestor’s surname was originally Sheep. This made me, who was not familiar with the world, confused for many years!
Our village (Baizhuang Village, Mimiao Town, Ruzhou City, Pingdingshan City, Henan Province) is not big and has a small population. However, there are three surnames: Yang, Zhang, and Jing, and the other surnames Zheng, Hu, Wang, and Guo are smaller. Although the village is small, the villagers are united and have a strong human touch. Every time I go back to my hometown to visit relatives, the old and young men meet and chat, and the feeling of being inseparable from their homeland always makes people feel extremely warm.
I began to speculate that my grandfather might have changed his surname from Yang to Yang because he was worried about being bullied by a wealthy family. However, my father told me that my grandfather fled from Yiyang County, Luoyang to beg for food and came to Baizhuang due to poverty, but my grandfather 8 He lost his father at the age of 10, and the old woman took her grandfather with her. The orphans and widowed mothers lived here. The difficulty was unimaginable. Fortunately, the old lady knew a lot about medicine and was especially good at treating children. She saved many diseases that seemed untreatable at the time. The villagers were so grateful that they all wanted to adopt the grandmother as their godmother for their children! In addition, in that special era, when composition was still very important, my grandfather, as a steward, helped many "landowners" change their composition and avoid disaster. Among them, the big family with the surname Yang discussed with Grandpa that since they both had the surname "yang", they might as well become one family and take care of each other. The names follow the grandfather's Dian Cai, namely Dian Chao, Dian Yin, etc., and the surname follows the Yang surname (there are too few people with the surname Yang, and there is only one grandpa). In this way, our family name accidentally changed to , and it should have been changed to Yang.
In recent days, my heart has been concerned about the surname - the moment I found out that my ancestor's surname was Yang, I had an idea in my mind to find my ancestors and find my ancestors in my own way! I told everyone my thoughts, and my family members all said that after more than a hundred years, the possibility of finding it was too small, and the significance was not great.But I stubbornly believe that if a person doesn’t even care about where his ancestors come from, how can he talk about being patriotic and loving his family? If we can't find our relatives and don't understand our ancestors, then where will our souls rest?
With this belief, I published a lot of news on Douyin, Toutiao, and WeChat public platforms about finding the Yang family members, and I used my classmates and friends in Luoyang to help find the Luoyang family members with the surname Yang family. , and at the same time, I learned about the Yang culture through various methods, and gained some understanding of the important figures and major events of my ancestors. It turned out that my ancestors were so outstanding that they made us descendants excited and proud of them!
Thanks to the powerful network, I quickly searched for Mr. Yang Wengao’s WeChat account. Under his guidance, I got to know Mr. Yang Yuguang from Pingdingshan , and then we established a Yang clan. The Yangshe and Yuguang clansmen drew me into the national clan group, and step by step I entered the big family of the Yang clan. I called the neighbors in my hometown to help send me photos of my grandparents and my family. Looking at the severely damaged family hall, I felt the weight of my burden even more. The second aunt is dull by nature, but she has preserved the most important thing for a big family, which is sad! I bought a blank master (family hall) online and planned to ask a calligrapher to carefully transcribe the family tree so that future generations would not forget their ancestors.
After understanding the reason why my grandfather changed his surname, I gradually felt relieved. Special events in special times, future generations cannot imagine the scene at that time. Moreover, my family was not forced by circumstances. On the contrary, it was because of the gratitude of the villagers, which gave me some peace of mind despite being unjust!
These days, I am moved by this special emotional atmosphere every moment. Every time I talk about my life experience and origins with others, I choke up several times and cannot control myself. I also immediately contacted the Yuguang clan in Pingdingshan. This was the first clan clan with the surname of Sheep that I met. We were very happy when we met and had a great conversation! When talking about the establishment and development of the Yangshi Culture Research Association, I feel full of hope.
Yes! My mood, as the group leader Youqing said, is like a lost child who suddenly found his way home. Excitement, excitement, and happiness are mixed with sadness. From knowing who my ancestors are to now being able to communicate with What a joy it is to have so many clan members chatting in the WeChat group! It's like a person who has never drunk alcohol before drinks a lot of fine wine all at once, and is completely drunk!
The journey to find the past life will definitely be a long one, but since I have so many lovely and respectable clan members as my companions, I believe that my heart will not be lonely.
Some people say that life is meaningless. It is our thoughts that give life different meanings. Then let the process of finding my ancestors become the most important meaning in my life.
My name is Yang Changjian, my heart is like jade and my ambition is like stone. Let us work hard together on the road to find my relatives!
