Chinese diaspora / Overseas Chinese
Date Published
Chinese Australian history within the context of the Chinese diaspora.
The Chinese diaspora or the Overseas Chinese are conceptualisations that describe the large number of people originating in China who have not only migrated to many parts of the world but who have maintained a sense of "Chineseness" over generations and/or maintained a variety of links with their places of origin. The peoples of the two provinces of Guangdong and Fujian have been prominent in this diaspora.
"Diaspora studies have revealed much about the movements of Chinese people, but in focusing on a minority who were merchants or directly involved in commercial networks, they have often failed to consider wider contexts. Those who returned without establishing businesses or families in the destinations are generally neglected, while merchants, settlers, and the destination-born dominate in studies of the Chinese diaspora. Often the impression given is that the Chinese diaspora was seemingly part of a master plan to set up a trans-Pacific or global mar- keting and networking structure. In reality, the diaspora was simply one result of the overall movement and a qiaoxiang perspective provides a context within which to understand the Chinese diaspora that is so often absent."
Michael Williams, Returning Home with Glory, HKU Press, 2019, p.34
