The Convergence of my Homes

Tammy Wong Hulbert journeys from her home on Wurundjeri country to the land of her ancestors in Siew Chek Hum village, southern China.

(A message to the reader.)

I speak from the voice of being an Australian-born Chinese female artist, fascinated by my paternal family’s long and fragmented connections between China and Australia over five generations since 1884. Responding to this long history through art and craft making using hand embroidery, textiles, installation and performance, I wanted to express the complex dimensions of ‘home’ as part of the Chinese-Australian diaspora living on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people here in Victoria.

My recent project Wong Mobile Ancestral Hall (2024) attempted to converse and grapple with this complexity through the depiction of my ancestral home of 小赤坎 (Siew Chek Hum / Xiao Chi Kan) village, Guangdong Province, China, as a mobile ancestral home. Transforming a small suitcase into ancestral architecture, I carried my ancestral home (my baggage) on my back, as part of a walking residency On Country/In Residence (October 2024) on ngurrak barring (meaning mountain path in Woi Wurrung language). This is a newly established public art and heritage walk across Mount Corhanwarrabul (aka The Dandenong Ranges). I walked with a group of local artists supported by Wurundjeri elders and knowledge holders. It is also where I call home as a resident.

As an artist trained in the applied arts, I am passionate about how crafted objects can metaphorically represent our valued journeys, memories, rituals and stories of places, people and communities. In considering my family’s long and complex migration between China and Australia, I focused my attention on the gap between our lived experience as a Chinese family in Australia and how our family was perceived under “White Australia” policy conditions (1901-mid 1970s) which viewed Chinese families, as othered, foreign and suspicious.

The original Wong Family – Jean Wong, Ah Kue, Fred Wong, Willy Wong, George Wong, Wong Sing Fu and Nellie Wong, Cobar, NSW, 1916. National Archives of Australia.

In the late nineteenth century, my Great Grandfather, 黄成福 (Wong Sing Foo /Huang Cheng Fu), decided to sail to Australia from southern China, leaving from Hong Kong to seek work. His documents show he lived in Melbourne, Sydney, Cobar and Molong. He established himself predominantly in Cobar in central NSW, on Wongaibon Country, where he was a mining labourer, mining shareholder in copper and gold, a market gardener and mobile green grocer. After 34 years, he returned to China with his wife Ah Kue and his Australian-born children, reestablishing themselves in 前山 (Qian San / Qian Shan), China, near Macau.

Reflecting on this history, I dared to ask, “Who were we before we arrived in Australia?”

Wong Sing Foo’s children later returned to Sydney. His son, Fred Wong, was known in Sydney as a Chinese community leader and humanitarian (1930s-40s). He was viewed with suspicion during the burgeoning Cold War (1947-1989) as reflected in Commonwealth Investigative Service (CIS) files found through the National Archives of Australia, mysteriously drowning in Lake Boga, Victoria (1948). Reflecting on this history, I dared to ask, “Who were we before we arrived in Australia?” Asking this question took me on a fascinating exploration to understand Chinese cultural practices of ancestral worship, leading me on a journey to find our ancestral home and consider the abstract idea of ‘belonging’ to a place.

Through conversations with friends, I became interested in the practice of 家谱  (gapu/ jiapu) family ancestral books, which document the family patriarchal line and are handed down through the males. I tried to find out if our family had a gapu, but to no avail, my Father, Allen, informed me that he had never encountered one, and if we had one, it is likely that the document was lost or destroyed. This occurred potentially during the turbulent years of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), as many of these practices had been discontinued. Being female, I speak of “belonging” as being a fraught concept, as it is not likely I would have been recorded, but I was not deterred; I kept asking questions.

During the pandemic years (2020-1), I continued to converse with my Father about our ancestral village. He had a vague recollection of my Grandfather visiting our ancestral village near our family house in Qian San when he returned in 1975, after China was closed to outsiders (1950-70s). To confirm the village name, my Father visited Fred’s grave site at Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney, as his traditional Chinese gravestone, listed the vital information I was seeking. On Fred’s gravestone, the phrase “小赤坎人” meaning “a person of Siew Check Hum” was listed. The naming of an ancestral village is a Taoist practice, evolving from the idea that one should be buried in one’s ancestral home. During the nineteenth century, it became increasingly costly and difficult to return those who had perished overseas; therefore, listing an ancestral village became a common practice, a return address for the soul.

I continued my research, learning about the Wong family’s “intergenerational naming poem”, in which Wong Sing Foo’s middle name was chosen, based on his generation. The naming poem sets guidelines for the middle name of each male generation, over a cycle of 28 generations. Wong Sing Foo’s middle name “sing” (成 / cheng) matched the poem, which confirmed our connection. Making a connection to Mr 黃 (Wong/Huang), the village manager, we organised a trip to visit Siew Chek Hum in January 2024.

From Hong Kong, we travelled to 珠海 (Zhihoi / Zhuhai), trekking out to Siew Chek Hum, about 30 km north. Nestled into the foothills of 黄杨山 (Wong Yeung / Huang Yang) Mountain, we had an incredible day exploring the town with Mr Wong, who was curious about our family, and surprised that, after so many generations, we would still be interested in our ancestral connections. We followed Mr Wong around the town centre, chatting to local people, who warmly welcomed us into their homes. Siew Chek Hum turned out to be a beautiful heritage-listed village. The town centre still contained 500-year-old rammed earth homes and intimate laneway spaces. I felt emotional as I heard the local Doumen dialect spoken for the first time and exchanged between the elderly. It didn’t sound familiar to me, even though I am a Cantonese speaker.

The most exciting part of visiting the town was touring the ancestral halls. In this Wong village, there were three Wong ancestral halls 育亭黄公祠 (Yuk Ting Wong Gung Ci / Yu Ting Huang Gong Ci), 直吾黄公祠 (Zhi Mai Wong Gung Ci / Zhi Wu Huang Gong Ci), 祠公黃亭育 (Ci Gung Wong Ting Yuk / Ci Gong Huang Ting Yu), all within walking distance of each other. Two of the halls were open to the public and were still used as social spaces, mostly by elderly people enjoying the company of their friends with a game of Mahjong. The third hall, which was under renovation, was to be refurbished to become an exhibition space honouring the local ancient Laichi trees.

These beautiful halls were once where our ancestors celebrated and cherished important social events such as weddings, births, anniversaries, birthdays and deaths of each generation. Today, many of these practices have changed, as many customs are no longer practised; younger generations find it more convenient to celebrate at larger restaurants with modern facilities. Although ancestors’ images are no longer up in the hall, the smoke of the incense burning continues to honour and connect us to those who were here before.

As an Australian with Chinese immigrant roots, I wanted to honour my Cantonese heritage by finding ways to bring together my ancestral home with my physical home in Mt Corhanwarrabul, Victoria. From one mountain to another, I achieved a metaphoric converging of two concepts of home through a performative walk, carrying my re-imagined ancestral home whilst respectfully walking on and experiencing Wurundjeri country.

About Tammy Wong Hulbert

Tammy Wong Hulbert is an artist, curator and academic at RMIT University School of Art, in the Masters of Arts (Arts Management) specialising in curating. The artwork produced from the walking residency On Country/In Residence (2024) will be part of the exhibition ngurrak-al marram-u / body of the mountain, Burrinja Gallery, May 24- 13 July, 2024, curated by Gretel Taylor, Gülsen Özer and Mandy Nicholson (Wurundjeri artist). Artists featured included Aarti Jadu, Rebecca Murray, Mandy Nicholson, Jill Orr, Gulsen Ozer, Laki Sideris, Gretel Taylor and Tammy Wong Hulbert.

Tags

ancient | Buddhism | China | G39 | Victoria