As one of the four ancient civilizations in the world, China has always had a strong influence in the world. In today's society, whether it is some Western countries such as the United States and Europe, or developing regions such as Africa, we can see The Chinese with a concentration of Asians, and China's unique culture has also influenced the way of life of other countries.
But if you want to say that the region is most deeply influenced by Chinese culture, it must be the southeast Asian countries, some of which not only retain most of China's traditional festivals, but even use Chinese today. It can be said that these countries are culturally in line with us in some ways.
At the foot of a mountain range in northern Thailand, there lives a group of people who have no Chinese nationality, but always insist that they are Chinese, not only using Chinese characters, but also living habits exactly like authentic Chinese.
It also begins during the Liberation War.
Desperate remnants of the Kuomintang
After the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Communist Party and the Kuomintang held peace talks on the subsequent state issue and signed the famous "Double Tenth Agreement.", and it is not impossible to achieve a peaceful transition. However, the Kuomintang under chiang kai-shek could not let go of its hostility to the Communists, and eventually blatantly tore up the agreement and launched an offensive against the Communist army.
At the beginning, the Kuomintang troops were numerous and well-equipped, and firmly occupied an advantage on the battlefield, but as the struggle progressed, the decay and incompetence of the Kuomintang leadership were gradually exposed, and the Nationalist army was gradually defeated.
In the end, after the three major battles of the Liaoshen Campaign, the Pingjin Campaign, and the Huaihai Campaign, the Communists basically laid the pattern of victory in the Liberation War, and finally launched the Battle of Crossing the River, which completely defeated the Kuomintang army.
Chiang Kai-shek led a part of the remnants of the Kuomintang to retreat to the island of Taiwan, relying on the strait to shrink one side, which has become a historical problem that has not been completely resolved so far.
However, some of the defeated Kuomintang soldiers failed to withdraw to Taiwan in time, and they were not willing to surrender, so they had to find another way and fled to southeast Asian countries, including the famous Kuomintang 93rd Division.
At that time, Tang Yao, deputy commander-in-chief of the Yunnan Army, felt that he still had the strength to fight a battle, and led his 8th Army, 26th Army and other units to fight the PLA several times, but all of them ended in a fiasco, not only the main force of the army was wiped out, but even the commander was captured by the PLA.
The remaining remnants of the Dian army had to be reduced to pieces and retreated to the territory of Burma at that time. The largest of these Remnants of the Nationalists was the remnants of the 93rd Division of the 26th Army, which were gradually organized in Burma at the call of the generals of the 93rd Division
By the end, it had reached as many as three thousand.
Although the Nationalist army was defeated in the battle against the Chinese People's Liberation Army, in the small countries of southeast Asia, the defeated soldiers were enough to go sideways. Neither the quality of the soldiers nor the weapons and equipment can be compared with the armies of these small countries.
As a result, these people were stationed on the border between Myanmar and China's Yunnan, working as bodyguards and poppy farmers as a livelihood.
The desire to return to Taiwan was always fruitless
At that time, most of the Chinese mainland were firmly in the hands of our army, and the remnants of the Kuomintang who had withdrawn to Burma had lost contact with Chiang Kai-shek for a time.
After the situation stabilized slightly, these troops tried to contact Chiang Kai-shek, who was far away in Taiwan, hoping that Chiang Kai-shek would find a way to "transport" them back to Taiwan.
However, Chiang Kai-shek, who had just been defeated and retreated in the War of Liberation, still had the naïve delusion of counterattacking the mainland, and he told these remnants to stay in the local area, hoping to one day counterattack the mainland and attack Taiwan on both sides.
Although this is nothing more than wishful thinking, these Kuomintang troops entrenched on China's southwestern border have repeatedly attacked Yunnan Province and other places in our country in history, and even if they are beaten by our army's border guards, they still bring a lot of trouble.
Later, Chiang Kai-shek finally understood the reality, and the remnants of the 93rd Division in Burma were also left behind, and the dream of these people to return to Taiwan was finally shattered.
Eventually settled in Thailand, always seeing himself as a Chinese
At that time, the Kuomintang general Li Mi led these troops to make waves in Burma, and the Burmese government army had encircled and suppressed them many times, but they could not help these remnants of the army.
Because these troops do not have legal identities, in order to survive, some of them go to work as black workers, some escort goods for others, and some even grow poppies, marijuana, etc., and they have never been able to live a normal life.
With the passage of time, these soldiers gradually grew old, many of them died of illness in the local area, and their combat effectiveness was not as good as before. So they had to ask the Burmese government for a place to stay.
However, the condition is not to renounce Chinese nationality
Because no matter how long you leave China,
These veterans have always seen themselves as Chinese.
The Burmese government hated the Nationalist forces to the bone and ignored their requests, so they turned to Thailand for help.
Eventually, under the arrangements of the Thai government, the men eventually settled in the foothills of a mountain in Thailand, the famous Golden Triangle of Southeast Asia.
now
The soldiers of the 93rd Division married and had children locally
According to incomplete statistics, the descendants of these Kuomintang troops have reached
More than half a million people, but of these, more than two hundred thousand people still do not acquire citizenship.
Although they were born in Thailand, they always regarded themselves as Chinese, spoke Chinese, and maintained the traditional habits of Chinese.
When the Spring Festival comes, they will also write the Spring Festival and make dumplings.
But their Spring League has only four eye-catching big characters:
"Return my citizenship"
Up to now, these people have lived a normal life in the local area, and they are also developing tourism in the local area, introducing the combat deeds of their fathers, attracting many domestic and foreign tourists, and the living standards have gradually improved.
These people have been exiled abroad because of the war, but they have never forgotten the fundamentals, and although they have been unable to obtain Chinese nationality, their prayer to return to the roots of the fallen leaves cannot help but make people cry.
brief summary:
The remnants of the 93rd Division had a very different fate from those of the Kuomintang troops in Taiwan, and they were doing whatever it took to survive, from a group of homeless people in exile to settling down in the local area after experiencing difficulties. The Kuomintang troops in Taiwan, on the other hand, lived a life of food and clothing by smuggling large amounts of gold and wealth from the Chinese mainland.