Chinese family histories are extraordinarily long records that can span thousands of years. If you can locate your ancestor in one of those records, you will have found your place in history. 

Record types 

Although the terms jiapu and zupu are sometimes used interchangeably by modern writers, there is a traditional distinction between them that can be useful to differentiate the scope of the records. According to Chinese genealogist Louise Skyles: 

Zongpu: A Zongpu is a clan record at the highest, broadest level. That is the record of a clan where all members share the same common ancestor. Clan members can come from many different locations and still be included in the Zongpu.

Zupu:  A Zupu is the record of a specific, distinct branch of the clan. It is a subset of the Zongpu.

Jiapu:  A Jiapu is the record of a smaller branch that has separated from one of the branches of the clan. Typically a new jiapu is begun when a family member moves his household to a new village and establishes a new branch of the family in that location. That person is referred to as the First Ancestor of that branch jiapu, and appears at the beginning of the pedigree. It is a subset of the Zupu for the main branch of the clan from which it separated.

Some Zongpu records, such as the Worldwide Gu Zongpu, contain very detailed pedigree chart for each province’s Gu clan, whereas others like the Hua Xia She Clan book are less extensive, offering  brief stories about each branch’s early ancestors.  Regardless of the level of detail, if they address the full clan in China with all its component branches, it is a Zongpu.

These documents are virtually unusable unless you can read Chinese characters (Hanzi)  and have learned the genealogical conventions of how family members and their relationships are documented in these records.  Many native Chinese speakers cannot accurately interpret the information found in jiapus and zupus.  

Fortunately there are professionals who possess all of the skills necessary to read and understand the genealogical content of these records. With their help, you can obtain usable family pedigree information from them, which you can use to build out your family tree as far back as the records will take you.