Sze Yup 四邑 people

For a long long time, I have been telling people I am a Cantonese though as a child, I was told by my mom that I am actually a Sze Yup. In Singapore, we understand the major dialects such as Cantonese, Hokkien and Teochew easier. Sze Yup is a dialect within Cantonese yet sound very different. I only know a handful words which I learnt from my late paternal grandma.

Recently I have decided to find out where I, or rather my forefathers came from. And I have started to find out a little more of Sze Yup.

My mom once told me that my great grandfather used to be a Chinese county official, probably a small position. The family then moved to Singapore where my grandfather was born. They were pretty well-to-do and my grandfather actually had a English name - Henry and attended English school. I also recalled as a child, I always have to write his name on the offerings in the Chinese Seventh month. Unfortunately, he was addicted to gambling and the family became very poor and all they got left was a large zinc roof house in Kampung Bugis. I do not remember anything about that house since I was just a baby. The only memory I had about Kampung Bugis was that I attempted to catch guppies next to the Kallang Gasworks when I was in primary school.

My first attempt on the research led me to a few pages on wikipedia. I won't know if it is all accurate but it is a good start.


Sze Yup, Sze Yap or Seiyap (Chinese characters: 四邑; Cantonese Yale: Sei3 yap1) are the four counties of Sun Wui, Toi Shan, Hoi Ping and Yan Ping in the Pearl River Delta, in southern Kwangtung Province, China. Today these are four of the five county-level cities of the Si Yi prefecture administered from the city of Jiangmen. The other county-level Si Yi city is Heshan.

The area gave rise to the Sze Yup dialects (四邑片), which are distinct from Standard Cantonese (廣東話).

In the 19th century, many people from these counties emigrated to Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, Australasia, North America and South America. The Punti-Hakka Clan Wars also erupted in these counties at this time.

Sze Yup people speak Toisanese, a dialect of the Cantonese language. Although Toisanese and Standard Cantonese speakers are both Cantonese, their dialects are almost mutually unintelligible. Therefore Sze Yup emigrants have kept their identity, even among other Cantonese emigrants.

There are more comprehensive articles on Sze Yup in Chinese. Another related article from Chinese website says that the first Chinese that left for overseas are mainly the Sze Yup people, which also explain the unusual architecture and cultures of the area . Sze Yup actually meant 'Four Counties'. It is described as a dialect based largely on Cantonese but heavily influenced by Min (Hokkien) and Hakka.

Today, most Sze Yup lived in the States and Australia. In Sydney, there is even a famous Sze Yup Temple.















The search also discover a website where are the Zhong clans found. There are five villages in Toishan, an area where my ancestors supposedly came from. The site is compiled in 1963 by Control Unit Consular Section of the American Consulate General, Hong Kong.

A friend just asked me why is there a need to do so. I replied that in order to know the world around you, you have to first find out who you are and where you come from.