The fragrant flavor of coconut milk blooms in a sweet fish broth base and a rich hint of spicy and sour curry, complemented by orange-red curry soup and white rice noodles, a bowl of Nanyang cuisine called Laksa. The Nyonya version of Laksa instant noodles was ranked 3rd in the top ten instant noodles by the American instant noodle master "The Ramen Rater", while the Singapore Laksa instant noodles ranked first in the world for four consecutive years from 2016.
Laksa is actually a Nyonya-style Nanyang dish. In many classic Nyonya dishes, you can see not only the traditional Chinese peppercorns, star anise, and cinnamon, but also the spices of Baan Lan leaf from Southeast Asia and cumin fennel, yellow ginger powder, curry leaf, and Baan pan-fry.
When Zheng He traveled to the West through Malacca, some of his entourage stayed in the area and intermarried with the local Malays or other ethnic groups. The male offspring they give birth to are called "Baba Baba" and the female offspring are called "Nyonya", also known as "Peranakan" or "Straits Chinese", and the concentration area is mainly concentrated in Malacca, Penang and Singapore in Malaysia.
Although they are far from China, they have inherited a lot of the cultural traditions of the Chinese nation, pay attention to filial piety, pay attention to the orderly growth and childhood, and have Chinese characteristics in culture and religion. At the same time, they incorporated the Malay language, clothing and eating habits into their daily lives.
They speak a mixed language that combines the Chinese Fujian dialect with Malay. Its Nyonya costumes, Nyonya dishes (coconut milk rice, uda), and Nyonya desserts are the product of cultural fusion. For example, Nyonya clothing, which is a variant of the women's clothing pants of Hanfu and the shoes worn are slippers, which can best show the cultural integration of Chinese and Malaysia, and use light yarn, which is very suitable for tropical areas.
According to Qiu Yuanping, director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, in 2014, the latest number of overseas Chinese and ethnic Chinese on the mainland has reached more than 60 million, distributed in 198 countries and regions in the world.
In general, more than 70% of overseas Chinese live in Southeast Asian countries, accounting for about 35-40 million people, mainly distributed in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Myanmar, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia.
Read the picture: Scale map of Chinese in Southeast Asia.
Reflections: The main driving force behind the migration of Chinese to Southeast Asia.
In the historical period from the end of the Ming Dynasty and the end of the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, domestic wars were constant. The situation in Fujian and Guangdong is turbulent, and there are many people and few lands. In order to maintain their family life, the people in the Fujian and Guangdong regions went to Nanyang one after another to earn a living. According to a 1935 survey of the reasons for the displacement of displaced people, 69.95% of the people went abroad due to "economic oppression".
The Southeast Asia under the colonial rule of the British and the Netherlands is in the process of accelerating development, and the demand for labor is very large. In order to attract Chinese workers, the Nanyang countries have successively introduced a series of preferential policies, such as Sarawak, the largest state in Malaysia, which issued a special notice during the reign of The White Rats (meaning King) II: to give immigrants enough free land to plant, and the government to provide temporary housing to resettle immigrants; Free supply of rice and table salt for one year; Provide transportation means, establish police stations to protect the safety of Chinese, and Chinese people can live permanently. Such policies have a strong appeal to China's internally displaced, landless displaced people.
After a large number of Chinese poured into Southeast Asia, they had a huge impact on local production, life and economic construction. On the one hand, many Chinese engage in business activities in their diaspora countries, are responsible for managing overseas trade, acquiring local souvenirs, and selling goods from the country, thus forming a commercial network that communicates China's trade with overseas. The Siamese royal family once said, "If there is no overseas Chinese, the court cannot do anything."
On the other hand, there are also a considerable number of Chinese engaged in handicrafts, bakers, tailors, shoemakers, goldsmiths, silversmiths, carvers, locksmiths, painters, plasterers, weavers, almost everything. The number of overseas Chinese engaged in agriculture, horticulture and fishing is also large, and they also play an active role in the daily life of the local society.
Southeast Asian industry and mining have always been important. In Kalimantan, Indonesia, the Chinese are the sole operators of local gold mines. The number of miners was at its peak at more than 90,000, and the annual production of gold ore was generally more than one million ounces. Before the 19th century, tin mines in Malaysia were also almost entirely developed by overseas Chinese. It is precisely because of the hard work of overseas Chinese that Malaysia's tin production has accounted for more than half of the world's total tin production for a long time.
The Chinese of "going to Nanyang" has thus become the main force in local economic development. Their diligence and hard work have changed the economic backwardness of the host country. Even the British Governor-General of the Straits Settlements, Swee Tin Ham, acknowledged that the prosperity of the Malay Peninsula was "caused by overseas Chinese." "The maintenance of the Malay states depends exclusively on the tax revenue of tin ore... Tin mining workers, the first to promote overseas Chinese. As a result of their efforts, half of the world's tin is supplied by the peninsula. Their talents and labor have shaped the Malay Peninsula today. "The gratitude of the Malay government and its people to such a diligent, hard-working and law-abiding overseas Chinese cannot be expressed in words."
While the Chinese have changed the economic situation of their host countries, many people have also completely changed their own and their families' destinies. The Chinese in Southeast Asia have successively appeared hundreds of millionaires and millionaires, and their political status has become higher and higher.
The "Lower South Sea" also had a profound impact on the outflow area. In Ge Jianxiong et al.'s "A Concise History of Chinese Immigration", there is a simple calculation: in the ninety years from 1840 to 1930, the average number of displaced people exported by Fujian and Guangdong provinces was more than 100,000 per year, which was enough to offset the annual natural growth, alleviate local population pressure, and at least weaken the social oscillations caused by it.
Through hard work, Huagong has accumulated a large amount of capital overseas. They invested funds in modern Chinese industry and commerce, and promoted the transformation of Chinese society. For example, China's first machine reeling factory, Jichanglong Reeling Factory, was founded by overseas Chinese businessman Chen Qiyuan. China's first national match factory, Qiaoming Match Factory, was founded by Overseas Chinese Merchant Wei Province Xuan. According to statistics, from 1862 to 1949, the number of overseas Chinese investment enterprises in Guangdong, Fujian and Shanghai provinces and cities alone reached 25,510.
Reading table: Ranking of the number of overseas Chinese at the beginning of this century.
Reflections: The reasons why chinese have moved to these areas in addition to Southeast Asia.
The United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand ranked high. Early migration has been linked to the need for labor in the United States to build railroads, and recent migration has been largely due to the economic attractiveness of developed countries.
Other destinations are related to the "gold rush and mineral fever" in countries around the world at the end of the Qing Dynasty, such as Peru, South Africa, Brazil, etc.
From the perspective of human history, in addition to the migration of nomadic peoples, the spread of agricultural technology and the spread of civilization have led to a large number of population migrations. After the Industrial Revolution, due to the development of industrialization and urbanization, population migration continued. In addition to economic problems, political, cultural, religious and other issues are also important driving forces for population migration.
Of course, the most basic driving force is the pursuit of beauty by human beings.