Kinship ties, in addition to ancestral geographical ties, are another significant factor contributing to the clustering of Engchoon people after migrating to Southeast Asia. Before leaving China, farmers in southern China were born and raised in clan societies where their ancestors had lived and farmed for generations. A “clan organization” is defined as a group connected by kinship, formed by descendants of a common ancestor. A clan can also consist of more than two individuals with the same surname but no blood relationship, who, due to living in the same area, form a clan based on mutual benefits and survival needs. For people born in clan villages, the clan society pre-existed their birth, and the individuals they usually interacted with were members of the same clan. The vast majority of the residents in these villages were “insiders” bound by blood ties. Therefore, when local security deteriorated in the early years of the Republic of China, the people of Engchoon naturally relied on their kinship ties when migrating overseas.

In the early years of the Republic of China, transportation in rural southern China was still underdeveloped. Rural residents could only travel to places within walking distance, and their living circles were limited to specific areas. Even marriage partners could only come from neighboring villages with different surnames. These social factors were one of the reasons for family clan migration. When a specific area gathered a group of people with common ties, when there are survival needs, or when their economic conditions reached a certain level, they would inevitably develop clan associations. Consequently, many Chinese dialect associations, geographical associations, and kinship associations emerged in Malaysia.

After Malaya’s independence, numerous family clan associations of Engchoon, Anxi, and southern Chinese origins were established. These community organizations, extending from their Chinese ancestral clans, were built on the foundation of descendants of common ancestors with clearly identifiable family genealogies. According to the statistical data and classification of the membership records of the Kuala Lumpur Engchoon Association, out of 878 members from 1950 to 1975, 606 could trace their clan affiliation back to their ancestral hometowns. These Engchoon people mainly came from the clans in the towns of Taicheng, Shigu, Wulijie, Dongguan, and Hushan.

Among the initiators of the Kuala Lumpur Engchoon Association, the majority were from the clans of Taicheng, Hushan, and Shigu. Chen Riqiang, Chen Yunzhen, Chen Xiuqi, Chen Xiuze, Chen Rengyin, and Chen Rengjian from the town of Taicheng, were members of Taicheng Fengshan Village Chen Clan Chen Riqiang’s given name was “Rendiao,” and he was of the same generation as Chen Rengyin and Chen Rengjian. The generation name “Reng” was followed by “Xiu,” which meant that Chen Xiuqi and Chen Xiuze were of a younger generation compared to Chen Riqiang, Chen Rengyin, and others.