The Chen Clan

Yesterday at my cousin N's wedding, an uncle from Chicago shoved something into my hands to give to my dad. It was a detailed genealogy of my dad's side of the family, the "Chen Clan". (By the way, my legal last name isn't Chen, it's something else. It's a long and interesting story how I came about my fake-legal last name.)

Anyways, reading through it, I apparently am a descendant of Emperor Shun (2300-2201 BC)! It's speculation whether or not he really is the "Adam" of all the Chens, according to this person (a distant relative of mine who compiled the whole thing). But he has evidence from documentation that he had found.

The first generation that he has listed is Chen Nan-qiao (1205-1284 AD). But going back further, it seems that there may have been a Duke in our family, and he had lost his Dukedom due to some civil strife. I may also have high ranking government officials and possibly a rebel who initiated and led a popular uprising that ultimately overthrew the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC). My ancestors seemed to have moved around China for a long period, partially due various invasions, partly due to more civil unrest.

According to this document, I'm the 28th generation "Chen". They even have hubby's name in the family tree. But whatever the story is for my ancestors, it's really cool that someone actually took the time to trace the roots of my ancestry.