Finding Your Roots

(chiming) -

Narrator

We've been able to take Ming Tsai back to China with his paternal grandparents who fled the Communist Revolution. To go back further in time, we turn to a very rare document. When Ming's grandfather left China, there was one object he took with him. A book tracing the family's genealogy, back to the year 891 A.D. It's a treasure in Tsai family, but unfortunately for Ming, the book is simply oral history, set down by his ancestors. There's been no way to know if it's true, until now. (calming flute music) We sent researchers to China to try to confirm the Tsai genealogy. It was a long shot. The Communists had ordered that all genealogical records be destroyed in an effort to break down family structures. This was, in fact, a fundamental part of the cultural revolution. But in some cases, stone carved tablets, known as steles, have survived. Before Communism, the Chinese landscape was dotted with hundreds of thousands of these steles. In Ming's hometown, only one remains standing. Our researcher kept asking around, and someone told her that of all of the family shrines that had existed before the cultural revolution, there was only one that remained standing. Can you imagine that? I mean, of all these thousands. That's crazy. Just one. Could you please turn the page? Can you read the transcribed name take from the stele? Tsai Ying. You know who Tsai Ying is? It's the same last name. Tsai Ying is your 36th great grandfather. You're kidding me. The one shrine that shrine that survived is your family shrine. Come on. That's it, baby. I just got goosebumps. Wow, that's crazy. That's unbelievable. That is unbelievable. -

Narrator

The stele confirmed Ming's family history to the letter. It documented his ancestry back to 891 A.D. and beyond. That is your family stele that miraculously survived. And what the odds, Ming? I just, I'm so proud. That's amazing.