Richard Alvin Yeh Giving Reunion Ceremony Address

Richard Alvin Yeh Giving Reunion Ceremony Address:

Salute to our Grandpa and Grandma Yeh

By: Richard Alvin Yeh, M.C.

August 5, 2006

Today we are gathered here to salute our Grandpa and Grandma Yeh, to remember the members of their descendants who are no longer with us, to make acquaintances with our relatives, to honor Auntie Alice, Auntie Martha, and my mother Beverley and to celebrate big 10 birthdays.

Grandpa Ching Chung Yeh was born in 1880 in Song Yang, Zhejiang, China. He was a Scholar (秀才) in the Ching Dynasty who had extensive Chinese teachings in traditional Confucius writings. In 1904 he married Grandma Sui-Wen Mao Yeh of Old Town, Song Yang. Their first daughter Yueh-Di was born in December,1904 (in lunar calendar, which would be January, 1905 in Solar Calendar).

Grandpa Yeh was sent to Japan by the Emperor of Ching Dynasty. ( in Imperial Palace, known as The Forbidden City in Beijing) to study at the Waseda University (早稻田大學) in Tokyo, Japan. It was considered a great honor as few people could go abroad to study during that time.

He spent 5 years there and joined the Chinese Revolutionary Party founded by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. The Ching Dynasty was overthrown by Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Nationalists Party in 1911. Grandpa Yeh returned to China and worked in the new Chinese government for a number of years as a congressman.

Later, he taught at the Chui Zhou Middle School in his home province Zhejiang and served as it's principal for many years. Several of their children including my Dad graduated from that middle school. Grandma Yeh gave birth to 10 babies but only 7 of them grew up. All of us are the descendants of their 7 children.