Things Did Not Work Out That Way

Historians generally deal with results, but it is useful to remember that such results are not necessarily proof of intentions. Once the gap between intention and result is acknowledged, it becomes necessary to take into account the changing circumstances of people’s lives. Here it is argued that nation-state perspectives, in focusing only on circumstances within prescribed locations, fail to do this adequately for people whose lives take place in a range of locations. In such perspectives, for example, the focus on settlement in a nation-state and factors such as restrictive immigration laws can be interpreted only in terms of their effect upon such settlement. A qiaoxiang perspective provides a broader context and therefore a broader range of circumstances through which to understand the choices and opportunities the huaqiao had and made.

Returning Home with Glory

Remittances, letters, qiaokan, visits, and the sending of bones have been discussed in the Chapter 5, as were the organizations and practices that facilitated these. In this chapter is examined the less tangible, often psychological aspects, such as the motivations that lay behind the tangible elements. Underpinning the remittances and stores, the families in the qiaoxiang, and the years of effort in the destinations was the necessity to earn an income. The nature of these incomes, what these incomes meant to those in the qiaoxiang, and the jobs that secured these incomes are discussed. Considerations of income are incomplete, however, without also considering what was done with the money and why. The second part of this chapter will therefore discuss the role of prestige and social status in the establishment and maintenance of the qiaoxiang links.

You Have Been Loyal Wah Kiu

The huaqiao are often seen as loyal to the Chinese motherland, but for many in the qiaoxiang loyalty had a narrower focus. Despite this, not everyone who moved between the Pearl River Delta and the Pacific Ports in the generations after 1849 had been “loyal wah kiu” (huaqiao), and it has not been the purpose of this study to argue they were. It has been argued, however, that a concept such as “loyal wah kiu” and the history of the movement of people from the Pearl River Delta over the period are best understood within the context of the qiaoxiang connections. It has also been argued that a nation-state perspective and the conceptions and assumptions that have been characterized as “border-guard views” have failed to understand the significance of the “loyal wah kiu” and the role played by the qiaoxiang links. By interpreting the history of the overseas Chinese, the huaqiao, through the perspective of their places of origin, the qiaoxiang, it is hoped that a successful attempt has been made by this study to improve this understanding.

He Would Have to Send Money

In this chapter is discussed the mechanisms and the motives through which life in a qiaoxiang such as Long Du was influenced by the qiaoxiang connections and how developments arose that resulted in some never returning to their “big house”. The motivations for establishing and maintaining these links will be examined. Here is investigated the mechanisms, or those tangible elements, which ensured that money, information, and people were constantly transferred between the qiaoxiang and the Pacific Ports. Sending money, being kept informed on family and qiaoxiang affairs, regular visits, and even ensuring that one’s bones returned after death were all part of the qiaoxiang links. These connections were sustained through the establishment of associations in the destinations, as well as through services provided by stores and businesses. How these elements were established, maintained, and evolved over distance, time, and generations, and how their development helped to sustain the qiaoxiang links is investigated here. The presence of the family in the qiaoxiang was central to the evolution of these mechanisms. Those in the qiaoxiang did not remain passive in this interaction and, through their letters and more formally through the qiaokan, made efforts to keep the huaqiao connected and supportive.

The Border-Guard View

This chapter discusses in detail that much of the histories of the Chinese overseas have been based on what can be called “border-guard views”. That is to say, they are founded on assumptions of one-way entry, migration, settlement, and assimilation. Such views neglect, it is argued here, not only those who returned to their qiaoxiang, but those who never left, and those who had the capacity to make choices between the two. A review of the many histories of the overseas Chinese is provided and their theoretical foundations discussed. This is followed by a look at the development of an alternative to such perspectives usually centered on the nation-state, an alternative labeled here a “qiaoxiang perspective”.

Because in the Tang Mountains We Have a Big House

This chapter is a comprehensive look at a specific qiaoxiang—the Zhongshan County district of Long Du—to create a case study illustrating the role of the qiaoxiang in the links with the Pacific destinations. Here it is argued that support for and intention to return to the qiaoxiang were the basic motivating factors in the links between the Pearl River Delta qiaoxiang and the Pacific Ports in the years after 1849. The history of the qiaoxiang links is not only a history of movement outside the qiaoxiang but a history of efforts to survive, return to, retire in, and improve the qiaoxiang. The huaqiao’s efforts were aimed at using the wealth and resources they could obtain in the destinations to improve the position of themselves, their families, and possibly their clans and villages, in the qiaoxiang. This was an aim that not all fulfilled but this does not mean it did not exist.

Wading 10,000 Li

This chapter provides an historical overview of the movement of people from the Pearl River Delta as they sought their fortunes around the Pacific for generations over the 19th and 20th centuries. Who were these people who choose to wade “10,000 li”? How many did so and where did they go? As a start in answering these questions the movement as a whole and the position of the Pearl River Delta counties and the three Pacific Ports within it are described. In particular the significance of the establishment of Hong Kong is discussed. A listing of the major characteristics of the movement and a chronology of the qiaoxiang links also helps to provide a background to developments in the qiaoxiang and the reaction of the societies of the Pacific Ports to the movement as a whole. Final return to the qiaoxiang was their intention on setting out, if not always the achievement. This, it is argued, is the broad context within which the qiaoxiang links are best understood.

Anglo-Saxonizing Machines

This chapter argues that an assumption of the “refractory” nature of the huaqiao in the white-settler nations of the Pacific continues to be a strong element in the literature based on nation-state perspectives. The prime factor in the limitations of nation-state research is just that—that it is based on a single nation-state. The obvious solution to this is comparative history, but while some comparative work is presented here, the major aim of this chapter is to argue that the incorporation of a qiaoxiang perspective allows limitations based on nation-state concepts to be explored and surpassed. Ignorance of the qiaoxiang has contributed to the range of stereotypes, including a perception of “refractoriness” that the huaqiao have been subjected to in the destinations. Much research has also attempted to explain or deny the basis of these stereotypes; however, in doing so without an appreciation of the role of the qiaoxiang links, the basic assumptions of these stereotypes often remain unquestioned.

Destination Qiaoxiang

Using the 1913 huaqiao built community hall of the village of Chung Kok in Long Du, Zhongshan as an illustration, this opening chapter lays the foundation of the qiaoxiang perspective that is the theme of this work. The case study nature of this history is explained and justified. Definitions of words used from both Chinese and English are given and the timeframe of the work outlined. The range of sources employed from archives to oral history and from the villages of south China and around the Pacific are appraised. A chapter by chapter review of the work is given and it is explained how the history of the development of the huaqiao pattern and the significance of the qiaoxiang perspective will be discussed and expanded upon. In particular it is argued that diaspora and transnational concepts fail to reveal the motivations of the individual participants of history in academic imperatives for generalisation and theoretical constructs.