Title

A New Study on the Migration of the Cao Xiaoqing 曹孝慶 Family in Jiangxi 

Author

Huang, Yi-long 

Genre

Article  

Pages

715-758

Download

PDF

Language

Chinese  

Key words

Cao曹 Studies, Cao Xueqin曹雪芹, Cao Xiaoqing曹孝慶, Cao Bin曹彬 , Cao Duanli曹端禮

Abstract

      The ancestry of the novelist Cao Xueqin 曹雪芹 has been in constant debate. Although some scholars accept Cao Xiaoqing 曹孝慶 of the late Southern Song as Cao Xueqin's ancestor, there has yet to be an agreement on Xiaoqing's regional origin and his ancestral lineage. Some genealogy records show Xiaoqing as the son of Cao Shi 曹實, a fifth-generation descendant of Cao Bin 曹彬 from Lingshou in the Song Dynasty. Other records point to Xiaoqing as a grandnephew of Cao Yinglong 曹應龍, the thirteenth-generation descendant of Cao Duanli 曹端禮 from Yuzhang in the Tang Dynasty. However, after checking many available historical records on Cao Bin, Cao Shi, Cao Yinglong and Cao Xiaoqing, we have found that these three Cao families seem to have no direct blood relation. This study makes use of several new digital databases to search over 4 billion words of ancient Chinese textual material in an attempt to clarify the identities of these personages in order to elucidate key points in the Cao family genealogy.
    I have also found from the gazetteer of Hukou in Jiangxi that Xiaoqing was among the jinshi 進士 degree holders from that county, allowing us to trace that family’s migration from Nanling, Anhui to Pengze, Jiangxi; then to Duchang, Jiangxi; and finally to Hukou, Jiangxi, where they remained in the area around Boyang Lake. In fact, the previous confusion was caused because other Cao families of Wuyang and Jinxian claimed to be descendants of Xiaoqing in order to connect themselves to a more eminent lineage.