วารสาร ประวัติศาสตร์ ธรรมศาสตร์ THE THAMMASAT JOURNAL OF HISTORY Reviving Tradition: The Returning Activities of overseas Chinese in South China in the 1980s-90s Wang Hui Lecturer, School of Marxism Hebei University of Technology Email: [email protected] ได้รับบทความเมื่อวันที่ 28 พฤศจิกายน 2561; แก้ไขปรับปรุงเมื่อวัน ที่ 18 พฤศจิกายน 2562; อนุมัติให้ตีพิมพ์เมื่อวันที่ 20 พฤศจิกายน 2562 Abstract The interaction between immigrants and their hometowns embodies the circulation of capital and goods, the emotional communication, and the connections in religious culture as well. In South China, the characteristics of the emigrant community gradually emerged and were consolidated with the rise and fall of different port after the mid-19th century. Since then, a large number of overseas immigrants, especially those who migrated to Southeast Asia, maintained close contact with their hometowns in South China. In 1949, after the victory of the Chinese Communist Party, the society of the emigrant community in South China, such as in Chaozhou area, experienced a different social transformation from the past, specifically the transformation of traditional culture. The linkage mechanism between immigrants and their hometowns also changed accordingly. After the reform and opening up in the 1980s, communist China adopted a proactive diplomatic policy 130 toward overseas Chinese. In the local emigrant community, the activity of visiting the ancestral villages became more and more frequently with the donation to construct the infrastructure of those emigrant communities. It cannot be ignored that overseas Chinese had also reconstructed the cultural tradition that had been interrupted for more than 30 years. Taking Hougou village as an example, this article will explore the factors affecting the process of reviving tradition by overseas Chinese. Keywords: overseas Chinese, South China, emigrant communities, language education, traditional rituals 131 1. Intro On the 22nd day of the third lunar month in 1985, the overseas visit group of Hougou Village Association from Thailand arrived in Chenghai county with 144 members. The group planned to worship Tianhou, the goddess, on the following day, which was the birthday of Tianhou. The visiting activities that happened the next day caused a great sensation in the local town. Not only did they worship the goddess Tianhou piously at the Tianhou temple, but also they visited the new building of Hougou Village committee and the waterworks, both of which were built with the help of donations from overseas immigrants from Thailand. Four years later, in 1989, almost the same visit group revisited the village and donated money to rebuild the largest temple in the village——Tenglong Ancient Temple. The tradition of deity parades in Hougou village gradually revived after the ancient temple was repaired.1 1 Wang Hui, and Xu Xiu-ying, Shantou Ancient Villages: Hou- gou Village (Guangzhou: Guangdong people’s Publishing House, 2018), 68-75. 132 The Returning Activities of overseas Chinese in South China. Wang Hui In general, in the 1980s, the overseas Chinese from Thailand returned to visit their hometowns frequently, and donated to construct several important infrastructures in their ancestral villages, such as repairing roads, built schools, and improving the welfare of the elderly, which significantly uplifted the material standards of living in these emigrant communities. Moreover, with the further development of reform and opening-up policy in China, various religious activities and traditional cultural rituals had been revived and spread throughout the whole coun- try.2 In the emigrant communities, along with the frequent visiting activities and donations of the overseas Chinese, the cultural living standards of the villagers had been grad- ually built up. In other words, the frequent interaction be- tween overseas Chinese and their hometowns had a great impact on the material and spiritual-cultural life of the vil- lagers in the 1980s. A large number of overseas donations had the most practical significance in improving the life quality of the villagers. On the other hand, the transna- tional interaction gradually affected the cultural traditions and customs of the emigrant communities through the re- 2 Kenneth Dean, Taoist ritual and popular cults of Southeast China (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2014); Helen F Siu, Agents and Victims in South China: Accomplices in Rural Revolution (Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1989). 133 วารสารประวัติศาสตร์ ธรรมศาสตร์ ปีที่ 6 ฉบับที่ 2 (กรกฎาคม-ธันวาคม 2562) construction of temples and practice rituals. Why did the overseas Chinese rebuild the temples in their hometowns? What was the impact on reviving the rural tradition? 2. The Immigration Process Chaozhou area is located in the east of Guangdong province and the south of Fujian province.3 It has been known as the tail of Guangdong province and the corner of the state due to its unparalleled geographical location. Hougou Village is located in the southeast of Chenghai county, 32 km from the Shantou port, which was opened as a treaty port in 1860. As early as the Ming Dynasty, people from the Chaozhou area maintained close ties with Southeast Asia through the Zhanglin port. With the conve- nient conditions of Nanxi water transport, Hougou villag- ers successfully reached Zhanglin port via the downstream of Han River or through the land. At the end of the 19th century, Shantou port replaced Zhanglin port, which was 3 Historically, this area was mainly under the jurisdiction of Chaozhou Prefecture, including eight counties, Haiyang, Jieyang, Chaoyang, Chenghai, Puning, Huilai, Raoping, and Fengshun. Nowa- days, it contains three cities, Chaozhou, Shantou, Jieyang. Hougou village, from the perspective of modern administrative division, is located in Shantou city. 134 The Returning Activities of overseas Chinese in South China. Wang Hui gradually abandoned due to sedimentation.4 The opening Shantou as a treaty port in 1860 strengthened the connection between Chaozhou Prefec- ture and the maritime world, and further consolidated the formation of Chaozhou emigrant communities. Migrants from the Chaozhou area, such as Hougou village, were rel- atively easy to reach the Shantou Port throughout the wa- terway and then ventured to the Southeast Asian countries to seek better opportunities in the late 19th century and the early of 20th century.5 The transformation and development of the lineage structure of the village had much to do with the migration process at the same time. 4 For more information about Zhanglin port, see Zhang Ying qiu, ‘Zhanglin gangkou yu hongtou chuan’ [Zhanglin Port and the Red- head Junks], Shantou Wenshi [Documents and History of Shantou], 8 (1990): 205–15; The Institute of Asian Studies (IAS), Taiguo Chaozhou- ren jiqi Guxiang Chaoshan Diqu——Diyiqi Zhanglingang (1767-1850) [Teochiu Chinese in Thailand and in the Native Land at Chaoshan] ชาว จีนแต้จิ๋วในประเทศไทยและในภูมิล�าเนาเดิมที่เฉาซัน สมัยที่หนึ่ง ท่าเรือจางหลิน 2310-2393, (Asian Institute of Chulalongkorn University, 1991). 5 Yen Ching-hwang, “Chaozhou people and fujian people in the early singapore: a comparative study of power structure and power relationship among overseas chinese,” The International Journal of Diasporic Chinese Studies 2, no.1 (2010): 21-50. 135 วารสารประวัติศาสตร์ ธรรมศาสตร์ ปีที่ 6 ฉบับที่ 2 (กรกฎาคม-ธันวาคม 2562) Map 1 The location of Hougou Village 136 The Returning Activities of overseas Chinese in South China. Wang Hui Map 2 Temples and Rivers 137 วารสารประวัติศาสตร์ ธรรมศาสตร์ ปีที่ 6 ฉบับที่ 2 (กรกฎาคม-ธันวาคม 2562) In the flow of funds, goods, and personnel, the ocean closely linked the Chaozhou area with Siam, which was one of the most popular destinations of Chaozhou immi- grants. Before the Depression happened in the 1930s, the number of Chinese entering Thailand was always higher than that of those leaving Thailand. According to Purcell’s statistics, the number of Chaozhou people living in Siam in 1955 was 1,297,000, accounting for 56% of the Chinese population at the time.6 In the case of Hougou Village, there was no specific data to show how many villagers went abroad, how many of them chose to go to Thailand, or how many of them returned home from overseas. However, from the histor- ical narratives of the villagers, people experienced high mobility through the sea world in several distinct periods. First, as mentioned above, Zhanglin port facilitated the overseas adventure of Hougou villagers since the Ming dynasty. The evidence from the oral interviews showed that Hougou villagers kept a long tradition of worshiping Tianhou before and after landing. Second, after the 1860s, Zhanglin Port was replaced by the newly opened Shantou Port due to sedimentation and other problems. A growing 6 Purcell, Victor, and Alice Li, The Chinese in Southeast Asia (London: Oxford University Press, 1965), 82. 138 The Returning Activities of overseas Chinese in South China. Wang Hui Chart 1 Linage structure of Hougou village 139 วารสารประวัติศาสตร์ ธรรมศาสตร์ ปีที่ 6 ฉบับที่ 2 (กรกฎาคม-ธันวาคม 2562) number of Chaozhou people migrated from Shantou Port. Also benefited from the tributary system of the Han River, Hougou villagers reached Shantou port via the inland river network. One result of the frequent contact with the maritime world emerged in Hougou village was that two branches of Hougou lineage——South branch and West branch——developed into the most powerful two branches with the strongest rural economic