The Studies on Qiaoxiang in Fujian
In the original sense, the term Qiaoxiang [QX] refers to the hometown of Chinese emigrants overseas, i.e. their birthplaces. To the descendants of emigrants born in resident countries, it means the motherland of his/her ancestors. However, not all the hometowns of Chinese emigrants can be regarded as QX. If it is to qualify as an object for social science research, the definition of QX should meet two other conditions. The first one is that the proportion of number of emigrants from this district should be taken into consideration. Ten per cent of the whole population of the district is regarded as a standard measure. The second is that the relationship between the emigrants and the district is closely maintained. Therefore, emigrants from a QX should exert considerable influence on the social-economic development of the area. Accordingly, QX study should cover two main issues: the relationships between overseas Chinese and their QX and the social and economic changes affected by this relationship.By Song Ping
Qiaoxiang in China refer mainly to Southeast coastal areas, particularly the provinces Guangdong and Fujian. According to statistics, up to 1989 the number of overseas Chinese of Fujian origin was 8,840,000, which was 34.5% of whole overseas Chinese (25,640,000) population, or 29.6 % of the whole Fujian population (29,850,000). (FDBW, 1992: 27; FJNJ, 1990:36).Qiaoxiang Studies since the 1980s
There are four observations which should be made about QX studies in Fujian: first of all there is the resumption of field studies in QX. During the 1980s, research teams of the history department of Xiamen University undertook field investigations in QX. They have compiled and published a number of reports on their research. While they did this, researchers from Fujian Huaqiao University paid attention to collecting QX family archive materials. Other related organizations such as the Overseas Chinese Affairs office also took part in the QX studies.
Secondly, a number of publications based on the research data has appeared, including 'A Selection of Materials on the Modern History of Overseas Chinese Investment in Domestic Enterprises: Fujian Volume, from late 1950s to early 1960s'; 'Fujian Archives of Overseas Chinese'; and 'Historical Materials of the Business of Overseas Chinese Postal Agencies in Quanzhou'.
Thirdly, a series of annals of overseas Chinese have been published, including 'Fujian overseas Chinese annals'; 'Xiamen overseas Chinese'; 'Quanzhou overseas Chinese'; 'Tongan overseas Chinese annals'; and 'Jinjiang overseas Chinese'.
Fourthly, a number of academic achievements have been attained in the field. For example, 296 articles on the QX topic appeared in newspapers and journals by 1996. These articles can be subdivided into the following seven categories:
1. The synthetical study and theoretical approach
A few studies focused on synthetical analysis of QX research, such as the impact of emigrants overseas on the modernization of certain Chinese cities
2. The emigrant history of QX
Qiaoxiang have emerged and developed only as a corollary of emigration. In this sense, the study of migration should be a starting point. More than 50 papers focused on Fujian emigrant history. The papers covered questions including the cause, scale, structure, distinguishing features and channels of emigrants. Most of these papers covered the period of pre 1950s.
3. Overseas Chinese and QX Politics
Overseas Chinese were involved in various political activities before 1949. This fact elicited some research attention, but few papers discussed the political relationships between overseas Chinese and their Fujian QX. This could be attributed to the fact that Fujian was not a frontline area during the political struggles such as the 1911 Revolution or the Sino-Japan War. Yet a number of achievements did merit some attention. A few papers dealt with the South Fujian Association of Small Swords which emerged about the middle of the 19th century or the 'Fujian Incident' in 1930s. They indicate that a special political relationship between overseas Chinese and their QX can not been explained by framework of nationalism.
4. Overseas Chinese and the QX economy
Foreign capital, including diaspora capital, was an important focus of the studies collected. A Thirty-five papers referred to this topic. Most of them only enumerated the facts, introduced certain statistic data, and summarized several general features. Others referred to current diaspora investments since the 1980s; the scale, component, capital source, location, method, and amount of the investment; or the investment of Southeast Asian Chinese tycoons in their Fujian QX. Viewed critically, these papers seem to devote themselves too much to pragmatism. Unsatisfactorily, the figures in these papers differed too greatly from each other.
5. Remittance of Overseas Chinese
Remittances have been a major channel linking overseas Chinese and their QX. The research on this field had already reached a considerably high level during 1930-1940. Since the 1980s, the development of the study is shown by data tapping. Taken as a whole, no new achievement has yet emerged.
6. Overseas Chinese and Public Welfare in QX
Overseas Chinese donations for the public welfare of their hometowns have a long history in QX. Most of the studies have covered the donations in the educational field. These articles can be divided into three types: (1) The individual contribution to the education in QX; (2) the matter of schools donated to a single county or village. (3) a synthetical study on OX education. Generally speaking, the third type of the study has been the most comprehensive. (
7. Overseas Chinese and Folk Customs of QX
Work on this aspect has relied basically on the observation of a static state.In the 1930a some attention was paid to the evolution of QX folk customs but nowadays the changes of the folk customs are seldom studied in academic circles.
General Comments and Prospects
Historical issues have so far occupied a considerable proportion in the studies of QX in Fujian. By contrast, contemporary issues have had only a small share in the study on the topic. The way research teams were constituted was thought to have something to do with this tendency. The majority of the researchers have shown a tendency to concentrate on emigrant history, the migrant and revolution, remittances, and biography. While this has happened, a number of fields have still remained a blank, including the dynamic connections between social organization in QX and overseas Chinese. In fact, many issues, such as ethnic Chinese family history, social associations: unions of the aged, boards of trustees and returned migrant unions, need to be studied.
'Love one's motherland and one's hometown' has been a common interpretative framework in Chinese scholarly circle. It has been widely used to explain the various activities of overseas Chinese in the political, economic and cultural fields. This has been the biggest theoretical error, submitting social science to the exigencies of political propaganda. Because this stifled theory exploration, and it restricted the choice of object and data for researchers. This was one of the main reasons why the subjects of study have been limited.
The majority of Chinese researchers have used traditional methods, i.e. the narrative historical approach. The advantage of this method is to emphasize the cause and effect as well as characteristics of the subject matter. But researchers show a marked tendency to slide off into the mode of causation via this method. This presents a rigid formula, i.e. 'cause-process-result', therefore the object was simplified and then emerged. In order to remedy this defect, we should draw the approaches of sociology, anthropology, psychology and economics into this field to improve research quality and open new insights. Nor should the importance of a comparative approach be forgotten.
:This is the edited version of a paper presented at the IIAS workshop: 'International Social Organization in the East and Southeast Asia: Qiaoxiang Ties during the Twentieth Century', 28-29 August 1997, Leiden.