Gifts to the Sad Country: Essays on the Chinese Diaspora

Yao, Souchou

This book is a study of an ethnic-Chinese family in Malaysia as it struggled with the upheavals in China during the Land Reform (1945-1953) and the Great Leap Forward (1958-1962). Based on fieldwork in Malaysia and in a village in Dabu County, Southern China, it tells a story of a family whose existence straddled two nations, two political systems. Emigration is shown to be both a positive experience and a source of despair. The study redefines the conventional narrative about the Chinese diaspora as economically driven and politically expedient; mobility, personal freedom and transnational journeying were a part of their cultural history. The book highlights the fact that Chinese homeland, even under communist rule, offered the people a means of identification under difficult circumstances. During the time of radical reform, the diaspora adapted themselves to the conditions in the homeland, and for some China remained a place of longing and emotional attachment.

Details

Published by: Palgrave Macmillan

Publication Date: 2025-03-24

Format: Paperback

ISBN-13: 9789819716005

DOI: 10.1007/978-981-97-1598-5

Dimensions: 210cm x148cm

Pages: 161