MOVING MEMORIAL: Dr Tom Liang thanked all those involved with the erection of the memorial.

MORE than 60 members of the See Yup Society and local Chinese descendants travelled to the Buckland Valley recently to pay their respects to the Chinese settlers who were killed in the Buckland Valley riots in 1857.

Chinese immigrants who came to Victoria during the Gold Rush formed the See Yup Society in 1854.

The name See Yup means ‘four districts’, as the members came from four districts of the Guangdong Province.

See Yup Society president John Wong and deputy mayor Daryl Pearce unveiled the memorial, which was followed by an incense ceremony.

Victorian Chinese Memorial Foundation president, Dr Tom Liang, thanked all those who contributed to the erection of the memorial.

Following the burning of incense and paper money, so that the smoke will reach the ancestors in heaven, the ceremony ended with the lighting of firecrackers to frighten away evil spirits.

Among the offerings of incense, paper money, wine and flowers, a roast pig was also offered.