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March 8th， 2002 was a big day when a panel of experts commissioned by the China National Bureau of Archives published a list of 48 state-grade precious pieces of historical documents， including the Genealogy of the Mao Clan of Qingyang Village. With the list publicized， Qingyang， a previously little known village at the foot of picturesque Jianglang Mountain in southern Zhejiang， became famed overnight. The village became a hot word in the national and provincial media.

The discovery of the genealogy went back to 1999 when the director of the city’s bureau of archives came to see me.He said that the descendents of the Mao clan in the village of Qingyang were going to sell its ancient 66-volume genealogy for 3，000 yuan to the Mao clan in Lanxi， a city in central Zhejiang. I did not have the slightest idea of the value of the genealogy， but it occurred to me that there was no reason for these volumes to leave the city since they had been kept here for such a long time. I suggested the bureau buy them all. As the bureau was in a financial bind at that time， I recommended finding a businessman to finance the purchase. I made a call and the purchase was done. A donation ceremony was held to mark the day when the city bureau of archives received the gift volumes.

Then studies of the genealogy soon showed surprises. In April 2000， Zheng Heng’an published his study on the family roots of Mao Zedong， the man who changed China in the 20th century. Zheng’s study showed that the genealogy of Mao Zedong can trace back to Quzhou. The genealogy of the Mao clan in Qingyang Village says that the village was where the Mao family in today’s Stone Gate Town， Jiangshan City first settled down and then branched out.

Professor Mao Zhaoxi， then a member of the standing committee of the NPR， came to visit Jiangshan on April 20， 2001. The first thing I said when I saw him was that he had come to seek his ancestral roots. He said yes. He recalled that his grandpa had taken him to the Mao Memorial Temple at Stone Gate Town in Fenghua， a small city in Ningbo， a port city in eastern Zhejiang. Mao Zhaoxi was only 11 years old then. The grandfather said that all the people surnamed Mao in Fenghua came from Stone Gate of Jiangshan and that the grandson should visit the ancestral village one day when he grew up. Mao Zhaoxi remembered wondering why the words stone gate were pronounced with a strange accent， totally different from that in Ningbo dialect. The grandpa said the two characters were pronounced in the Jiangshan dialect. Mao Zhaoxi and I went to Stone Gate and then learned that all the Mao people in the town had their roots in Qingyang Village.

Qingyang is in Stone Gate Town， 25 kilometers out of Jiangshan City. The Jianglang Mountain， a tourist attraction， is nearby. The name of the town comes from a cliff near a cascading waterfall in the mountain. The cliff stands more than 20 meters in height and it looks like a closed gateway to a mysterious world behind the cliff.

All the 100-plus families in the village share the surname Mao. A warm-hearted villager guided us to Qingyang Pagoda and the tomb of Mao Qingyang， the first ancestor in the village. The Mao clan in Qingyang received a grant from the emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and settled down in the village of Qingyang. In history， the village produced three ministers and 80 metropolitan graduates， successful scholars in the highest imperial examinations in feudal China.

The 73-year-old Mao Zhaoxi， a blood relative of Mao Fumei， the first wife of Chiang Kai-shek， commentedthat it had just occurred to him that the whole history of the Republic of China had something to do with the village， implying to Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek were somewhat related.

Taking a panoramic view from the pagoda， we saw the village nestled gracefully against the wooded mountain and its walls and tiled roofs suggested no luxury and historical arrogance. A friend of mine once comments that the village suggests nobility but presents no material fortune.

On September 14， 2004， 18 descendents of the Mao family from over all the country gathered in Jiangshan. After a visit to the village and the Jianglang Mountain， we had dinner. A Mao descendent from Hunan Province explained that all the boys of the Mao families in Hunan were required to memorize a secret verse and that the verse mentioned Jianglang Mountain. He continued that his grandfather told him that this secret verse would connect you with those who shared your ancestral roots. The man said that the Jianglang Mountain was a fond impression he had kept since childhood without knowing that the mountain does exist in the world. He was totally amazed.

On December 7， 2006， a ceremony was held in Shaoshan Village (Mao Zedong was born in that village)， Hunan Province to recognize that the clan in the village had come from Qingyang Village in Jiangshan， Zhejiang Province. At the ceremony， the village handed a copy of the genealogy of the Mao Clan in Shaoshan to a representative from Qingyang Village. On December 26 (Mao Zedong’s birthday)， 2006， the Mao clan in Jiangshan held a big ceremony in Qingyang to welcome back a lost branch to the ancestral roots.

On April 28， 2008， the village， after a 23-million face-lifting project， was opened to tourists again. The memorial of Mao Zishui， a master of Chinese classics， was officially launched. The memorial has inscriptions from leaders from Taiwan.#8194;□