2026-09-15

Xia Nanyang - Wikipedia

Xia Nanyang - Wikipedia

Xia Nanyang

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Xia Nanyang
Native name下南洋
DurationLate Qing Dynasty to early Republic of China period
Location
  • China, Southeast Asia
Also known asGuofang (Chinese: 過番, Traveling to a foreign land)
TypeLarge-scale Chinese emigration
CauseCivil wars, foreign aggression and poverty

The term Xia Nanyang (Chinese: 下南洋; pinyin: Xià Nányáng; lit. 'going down to the Southern Ocean'), also known as "Guofan" (过番), refers to a century-long large-scale migration of Chinese people to Southeast Asia from the mid-19th century in late Qing Dynasty to the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. This bitter migration was mainly due to wars and poverty. As soon as settling down in the foreign land, the new immigrants mostly started sending Qiaopis (letters with money) to support their families in China.[1][2][3][4][5]

History

Han Dynasty

The history of Chinese migration to Southeast Asia can be traced back to the Han Dynasty (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD). According to the Ming Dynasty's Yongle Encyclopedia, "The Jin Shu Di Dao Ji states that Zhu Wu County belonged to Rinan Commandery. It was 200 li from the commandery. The people of the northern county were unable to bear the hardship during the Han Dynasty. The two-thousand-stone official requested that Qudugan be established as the capital." (Qudugan is present-day Terengganu, a state in Malaysia.)[6][7][8]

Ming Dynasty

During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty (1402 to 1424), Zheng He's seven voyages to the Western Ocean included passing through the Malacca Sultanate and the Aceh Sultanate. Later, some sailors and Ming Dynasty merchants intermarried with the locals and eventually settled there. They were collectively known as "Baba Nyonya" or "Straits Chinese".[9][10][7]

Late Qing Dynasty

The late Qing Dynasty was a period of large-scale migration of Han Chinese to Southeast Asia (called "Nanyang" in China.[5]). The Treaty of Beijing between China and Britain made in 1860 stipulated that "Chinese people are allowed to go abroad to work." Later, due to famine and limited farming land in Fujian and Guangdong provinces, many people went to Southeast Asia to make a living. Most of those who survived the long journey then became "contract laborers," colloquially called "coolies" or "piglets".[9][10] According to their contracts with the smugglers, the laborers spent the first three years of their work "paying back debts" to the smugglers, with most of their wages.[1] Their fates various: some returned to China; some died due to the hard working and living conditions; and some stayed.[4][8]

Early Years of the Republic of China

In 1912, after the establishment of the Republic of China, the Provisional Government issued the "Order Prohibiting the Buying and Selling of People".[11] This ended the practice of selling piglets in China. In 1916 (the 5th year of the Republic of China), Malaya and its British colonies were the first to abolish the indentured labor system. This marked the end of the piglet system.[8]

The period from 1926 (Republic of China Year 15) to 1937 (Republic of China Year 26) marked the second large-scale migration to Southeast Asia. This migration was caused by warlordism civil wars and natural disasters across China. Later, Japan seized the opportunity to invade and occupy China, ultimately resulting in a second large-scale migration.[8]

After the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949, in the 1950s, the growing Chinese sense of returning to their roots, coupled with a gradually stabilizing situation in China, brought an end to the century-long large-scale migration to Southeast Asia.[8]

Nanyang

Nanyang
The states to the south of China around the South China Sea are regarded as part of Nanyang
Chinese南洋
Transcriptions

"Nanyang" (Chinese: 南洋; pinyin: Nányáng; lit. 'Southern Ocean') is the Chinese term for the warmer and fertile geographical region along the southern coastal regions of China and beyond, otherwise known as the 'South Sea' or Southeast Asia.[12] The term came into common usage in self-reference to the large ethnic Chinese migrant population in Southeast Asia, and is contrasted with Xiyang (Chinese: 西洋; pinyin: xī yáng; lit. 'Western Ocean'), which refers to the Western world, and Dongyang (simplified Chinese: 东洋; traditional Chinese: 東洋; pinyin: dōng yáng; lit. 'Eastern Ocean'), which refers to Japan. The Chinese press regularly uses the term to refer to the region stretching from Yunnan Province to Singapore (north to south) and from Myanmar (Burma) to Vietnam (west to east); in addition, the term also refers to Brunei, East Malaysia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia and the Philippines in the region it encompasses.[12]

Qiaopi

Qiaopi letters

“Qiaopi”, or “Fanpi”, consisted of a letter and money sent by overseas Chinese to their families back in China.[13] Remittance or money is sent together with a letter in a single envelope.[14] Hence, Qiaopi is also called "Yinxin" (银信; yín xìn; 'money letters').[15][16]

On certain occasions such as a notice of death, a qiaopi may simply be a letter without any money attached. In such a case the qiaopi would be referred to as "baixin (a letter without money)". Only in exceedingly rare occasions would a baixin contain some money.[17]

In 2012, qiaopi was added to the Asia-Pacific Memory of the World Register. And in 2013, it was added to the International Memory of the World Register.[16][15]

Other information

The people in southern Fujian Province and eastern Guangdong Province refer to Xia Nanyang as "Guo Fan", literally "going to a foreign land". And the immigrants are called "Guo Fan ke" or "Fanke", where "ke" means "guest".[2]

At present, there are about 700 million people living in Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and other countries. Among them about 40 millions (5.71%) are Chinese.[7]

Singapore is the only country with a majority of its population being Chinese (2 million, or over 75 percent, of the national population of 3 million). Ethnic Chinese Malaysians make up approximately 22.1% of the country's population, numbering roughly 6.9 to 7.4 million people. In Indonesia 5 to 6 million or 3 percent. In Thailand, 5 to 6 million; in the Philippines, 600,000; in Cambodia, 300,000; in Laos, 25,000; in Vietnam, 2 million Chinese. Most Chinese in Southeast Asia live in the cities. [4][8]

Xia Nanyang, Chuang Guandong and Zou Xikou are the three large-scale population migrations of China since the Qing Dynasty, among which only Xia Nanyang is international.[18]

See also

References

  1.  "下南洋：血泪铸就的移民史诗 (Migration to Southeast Asia: An Epic of Blood and Tears)". Xinmin Weekly (in Chinese). 2026-06-09.
  2.  "从侨批看华侨"下南洋"之路 (A Look at the Journey of Overseas Chinese to Southeast Asia Through Qiaopis)" (in Chinese). Chinaqw (中国侨网). March 10, 2017. Archived from the original on 2023-10-03. Retrieved 2017-03-10.
  3.  Terence Chong (2024-01-09). Leo Suryadinata and Benjamin Loh (ed.). "2 - Contemporary Chinese Immigration into Mainland Southeast Asia". Cambridge University Press.
  4.  "Chinese in Southeast Asia". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
  5.  "下南洋：海外移民的辛酸历程 (Xia Nanyang: The Bitter Journey of Overseas Immigrants)" (in Chinese). Phoenix News. 2013-04-17.
  6.  "Page:Yongle Encyclopedia 11140.pdf/14". Wikisource. 2006.
  7.  "Chinese diasporas in Southeast Asia have endured for centuries". UCLA Center for Chinese Studies. February 12, 2026.
  8.  Liu Ping (2014-03-10). ""下南洋"：晚清中国人走向世界的艰辛历史 ("Going Down to Southeast Asia": The Arduous History of Late Qing Dynasty Chinese People's Journey to the World". Beijing Daily (in Chinese). Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
  9.  Sun Hesheng. "華族下南洋 (Chinese People Going to Southeast Asia)" (in Chinese). Oriental Daily News. Archived from the original on 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  10.  "Chinese labour migration to Southeast Asia". The ASEAN Post. 14 December 2018.
  11.  "大總統令內務部禁止買賣人口文 (Order Prohibiting the Buying and Selling of People)" (in Chinese). Wikisource. 1912.
  12.  Lintner, Bertil (22 December 1994). "Enter the Dragon". Far Eastern Economic Review. 23.
  13.  Benton & Liu (2018), p. 3.
  14.  Benton & Liu (2018), p. 6.
  15.  "Qiaopi and Yinxin Correspondence and Remittance Documents from Overseas Chinese". United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. 2017-02-16. Archived from the original on 2017-02-16. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  16.  "Qiaopi and Yinxin: Correspondence and Remittance Documents from Overseas (2012)". www.mowcapunesco.org. Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific. 2014-11-04. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  17.  Benton & Liu (2018), p. 7.
  18.  Yang Manman (2012). ""下南洋": 漂洋过海，落地生根 ("Xia Nanyang": Crossing Oceans and Taking Root)". Natural History (in Chinese).

Bibliography

  • Benton, Gregor; Liu, Hong (2018). Dear China: Emigrant Letters and Remittances, 1820–1980. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-29841-5.
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