China’s Xiamen University professor Zhuang Jinghui (莊景輝) on Wednesday last week attended Taisi Township’s (台西) Tracing the Origins of Haikou event during qiansui (千歲) celebrations to recount the ancestry of the Ting (丁) family.
Haikou is a Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese) word for “coastal.”
Zhuang said the Ting family originated from China’s Chendai Township in Fujian Province and that the family is descended from Arabs.
Ting family records in Chendai show that the family are descendants of Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar al-Bukhari, who moved to China and settled in Chendai near the end of the Yuan Dynasty, more than 700 years ago, Zhuang said, adding that the Ting family in Taisi Township descended from Ting Su (丁蘇), who moved to Taiwan about 200 years ago during Qing Dynasty Emperor Qianlong’s (乾隆) reign.
The family said that their Chinese surname is derived from “al-Din,” their ancestor’s name.
Taisi Township representative Ting Shun-yi (丁順益) said knowledge of the family’s origins was not well-known.
Ting and several other family members discovered their Arabian ancestry when Ting visited Chendai Township to make a copy of ancestral records, Zhuang said.
Zhuang said that as the Ting family in Taiwan is no longer Muslim, they were not aware of their ancestry.
Taisi Junior High school foundation president Ting Chung-cheng (丁重誠), host of the qiansui celebrations, said the foundation has hosted local cultural events in the hope that people might come to know more about themselves and their ancestry.
Restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to be included in the Michelin Guide’s review for the first time this year, alongside existing entries from Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, the France-based culinary publication said yesterday. This year’s edition of the Michelin Guide Taiwan is to be unveiled on Aug. 19 in Taipei. In addition to the coveted star ratings, Michelin Taiwan would announce its “Bib Gourmand” selections — a distinction awarded to establishments offering high-quality food at moderate prices — on Aug. 12. This year’s Bib Gourmand list would also feature restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu
A firefighter yesterday died after falling into New Taipei City's Xindian River when a rescue dinghy capsized during a search mission for a man who was later found dead. The New Taipei City Fire Department said that it received a report at 4:12pm that a 50-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), had fallen into the river. A 32-year-old firefighter, surnamed Wu (吳), was among the rescuers deployed to look for Chen, the fire department said, adding that he and five other rescue personnel were in the dinghy when it capsized. Wu had no vital signs after being pulled from the water to the
Organizing one national referendum and 26 recall elections targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators could cost NT$1.62 billion (US$55.38 million), the Central Election Commission said yesterday. The cost of each recall vote ranges from NT$16 million to NT$20 million, while that of a national referendum is NT$1.1 billion, the commission said. Based on the higher estimate of NT$20 million per recall vote, if all 26 confirmed recall votes against KMT legislators are taken into consideration, along with the national referendum on restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, the total could be as much as NT$1.62 billion, it said. The commission previously announced
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s remarks that the organization’s cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners must be deepened to deter potential threats from China and Russia. Rutte on Wednesday in Berlin met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO. He told a post-meeting news conference that China is rapidly building up its armed forces, and the number of vessels in its navy outnumbers those of the US Navy. “They will have another 100 ships sailing by 2030. They now have 1,000 nuclear warheads,” Rutte said, adding that such
RSS