The KS xx-xx-xx dates are based on the beginning of the reign of China's boy Emperor Kwang Hsu, who reigned from 1875  to 1908. ?? The Qing Dynasty had the Empress Dowager, Cixi, who reigned from 1875 to 1908.  The boy emperor reigned from 1909 to 1911, ending with the Boxer Rebellion and Sun Yat-Sen taking power.  If we assume that 1875 was the start of Empress Cixi's rule, then KS 28-3-19 would have to mean the 28th year to approximately equal 1902, as the testimony indicates.   Thus, 28-3-19 means the 28th year, 3rd month, 19th day.   But so far I don't know the exact date the empress took power.   Reading about how she kept control was pretty fascinating; i.e. ordering a baby killed, and another poisoned ... to prevent them from taking over.   Ron
_______________
From: Sue Fawn Chung <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2002
To: Ron Chong <[email protected]>, Lucky Owyang <[email protected]>
Subject: Chinese date conversions

Remember that the months of January to mid-February may be in the previous year according to the Chinese calendar.  The immigration officials tried to be uniform in spelling the Chinese emperor's reign name, but this was not always done, so
look at the first letter and that often is the clue.

Hsien-feng 1 = 1851  (thus Hsien-feng 2 = 1852 and so forth)
T'ung-chih 1 = 1862
Kwang-shu (or hsu) 1 = 1875 (thus KS 26 = 1900)

ST 1 = 1909
CR 1 = 1912

If you don't understand the system, write back.  If you need month, day, and year accuracy, there is a conversion table which is complicated but can be done.  You have to have the Chinese dating system of the 12 heavenly branches and 10
earthly signs that complete a 60 year cycle.  If you don't understand this, don't worry.  I think what you want is the above.

Sue Fawn
_______________________

Ron,  Most of the immigrants of that era were born under the reign of the Emperor Kang-Shi of the Ching (Qing) Dynasty, hence KS.  In my Cantonese, it would be Gong-See. (Bright, Death)    In your case, it was presumably the 28th yer of the 3rd month of the of 19th day of the reign of Kang-Shi.   When Kang-Shi died, then the year reverted back the first year of the next Emperor.  There is a way to convert the time frame; otherwise the Immigration Authorities would not have been able to convert Chinese events to our Calendar.   In many instances, Chinese men had multiple wives which was legal in China of the time.  Your grandfather may have offsprings in China who are absolutely unknown to you.   If you have the time on the Internet, you could key in Ching Dynasty or Qing Dynasty to see if there are equivalent Christian dates vs the Emperors' reign (ascension and death).   Let me know if you find anything on the Internet.

The Chinese always put the most important item first, like surnames, for example.  However, I do not recall KS reigning that long.  Towards the end of any Chinese Dynasty, the caliber of the successors to the throne tended to become weaklings; hence  rebellions and overthrow of the dynasty.  Cixi was an opium addict who squandered China's wealth to deplete the military so much that when the Europeans started their encroachments, the Chinese were hopelessly defenseless.

The Boxer rebellion was a rebellion against Cixi's reign because of her lack of backbone against the Europeans.  Because the Qing Dynasty had disarmed the population, the Kung-Fu types used their bare hands to fight the government.  Cixi then enlisted the Europeans armies to defend her, to quell the rebellion.  The Boxer Rebellion was so named because the populace were using bare hands to fight against the European guns.   Our Marines were sent there to help Cixi.

  Bill Tom
_______________

I notice when converting the month, 28-12-19 would mean January 19, 1903.   Notice the conversion that immigrations used for  KS-yy-mm-dd in grandma Leong Chong's testimony:

Leong Ah Mooey, daughter, age 39, born KS 17-3-9 (April 17, 1891), at Madera.
Leong Quan Chew, son, age 35, born in KS 19-8-24, (Oct. 3, 1893), at Madera.
Leong Ah Lin, daughter, age 34, born KS 21-11-10, (December 25, 1895) at Madera, California.
Leong Ah Sam, son, age 31, born KS 23-11-18, (December 11, 1897), at Madera.
Leong Ah Bing, son, age 29, born KS 25-11-17, (Dec. 19, 1899) at Madera.
Leong Ah Look, son, age 27, born KS 28-6-22, (July 26, 1902), at Madera.

ST-1:  1909
ST-2:  1910
CR-1:  1912
CR-2:  1913
CR-3:  1914
CR-4:  1915

 Send comments or materials to Feedback