What is Chaoshan? Fresh and lively!

This is a place your tongue knows better than your brain

Beef hot pot, raw marinated, Gongfu tea

…

Before the geographical concept of "Chaoshan" was known to people

(Collection of Chaoshan cuisine, drawn by @阿土/星球研究院, photographers @小强先森&张向良&刘艳辉&大叔&丁俊豪&李艺爽&方文奇)

▼

However, after satisfying the "appetite"

How much do you know about Chaoshan?

At the southern tip of China, the easternmost part of Guangdong

Chaozhou, Shantou and Jieyang

It constitutes what people usually call "Chaoshan"

A group of low-key wealthy businessmen came out of here

The myth of wealth transcends time and continues to this day

(List of some Chaoshan-born wealthy people, drawn by @阿土/星球研究院, picture source @视觉中国&wikimedia commons)

▼

The wanderers from here recreate a "Chaozhou" overseas

13 million overseas hipsters, 2 million hipsters from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan

Across time and space, tenaciously preserving cultural traditions

A lasting resonance with the homeland

(Malaysia, the Johor Ancient Temple Centennial Parade hosted by Teochew people, photographer @Malaysia Huang Xiuxiang)

▼

When we lament that thousands of cities look the same

I found that Chaoshan people don’t seem to care about what the outside world thinks.

Worship gods, ancestors and speak Chao dialect

Drinking tea, watching plays, weddings and funerals, all in their own way

(Jieyang Qiaolin Fireworks Dragon, commonly known as "burning dragon", photographer @丁俊豪)

▼

Located in the corner of mountains and sea

People in a foreign country

Thinking of the Ancestors

Fresh and unique

Why is Chaoshan so special?

01 Own world

You can hardly see Chaoshan in history books

China's political center has long been located in the north

Chaoshan is far away from the emperor, and the vast ocean is to the south

Therefore, the struggle for supremacy has nothing to do with it, and the change of dynasties is too far away for it.

And the next level

Chaoshan is equally remote compared to the provincial capital Guangzhou.

Guangdong is unique among the southeastern coastal provinces in that it is long and narrow.

Chaoshan is the easternmost part of Guangdong

More than 400 kilometers away from Guangzhou

Approximately equivalent to Beijing to Hohhot

(Sketch of the location and topography of Chaoshan area, drawn by @Gao Liqian/Planet Research Institute)

▼

What makes this distance seem even more remote is the Lotus Mountain Range.

It starts from the mountainous area in eastern Guangdong in the north

Cutting diagonally to the southwest, extending to the coast

Create mountains over 1,000 meters high

This long and tall diagonal line

Become a barrier separating Chaoshan and the Pearl River Delta

The closed geographical pattern of Chaoshan

(Please watch in horizontal screen, Tongguzhang of Lianhua Mountain Range, photographer @陈泽鑫)

▼

The End of the End

The Edge of the Edge

Under the overlap of double edges

Chaoshan has its own world

Between the Mountains

Hanjiang River, Rongjiang River, Lianjiang River

The three rivers each created an alluvial plain

Collectively known as the "Chaoshan Plain"

Leave room for the birth of civilization here

(Please view Hanjiang River in horizontal mode, the largest river in Chaoshan, photographer @林文强)

▼

The Tropic of Cancer passes through Chaoshan

More than half of the area is south of the Tropic of Cancer

Rain and heat occur at the same time, with sufficient heat

The monsoon brings abundant rainfall to the southeast of the Lotus Mountains

thus

Chaoshan's background color is highly saturated

There is greenery all year round here

The trees are green and moist all year round.

(Shantou Nan'ao Forest Park, photographer @白成哲)

▼

Clear sea blue

Long and winding coastline

The tides circulate here

(Coast of Nan'ao Island, Shantou, photographer @赵高翔)

▼

Extreme orange red

Popular flowers and trees for trendy people

When the flowers bloom, they will never restrain

Kapok , huge and deep red

(Kapok flowers by the Han River in Chaozhou, photographer @张向良)

▼

Firecracker flower, a patch of orange and yellow

(Firecracker flower, photographer @杨虎)

▼

Against the colorful background, everything is alive and kicking

Marine life swims freely in the vast ocean

(Chaozhou marine fish, image source: Visual China)

▼

In ancient China, the southeastern coast was a late starter

Chaoshan is located at the provincial border, especially at the edge.

Aboriginal people may be singing in the mountains

Women wearing brightly embroidered clothing

Or start making boats and make a living by fishing

(The She ethnic group in Fenghuang Mountain, Chaozhou, is the indigenous inhabitant of Chaoshan. The She ethnic group does not have its own writing system, but is good at weaving and embroidery. The picture shows the restored Chaozhou She ethnic group Phoenix costume, picture source @香聚粤修研究院)

▼

The imperial court occasionally cast a glance at Chaoshan, but only briefly.

In 591 AD, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty named this place "Chaozhou" after the "reciprocating tides".

The name "Chaozhou" has a history of more than one thousand years.

For a long time, " Chaozhou " has always been

This is what we now call the Chaoshan area.

But naming is just naming.

Chaozhou is still considered a barbarian land in the eyes of the Central Plains.

The poet Han Yu more than 200 years later

When I knew I was going to be exiled to Chaozhou, I was determined to die.

(In 819 AD, Han Yu was demoted to Chaozhou for speaking out and admonishing others. On the way, he wrote "Left to Languan to Show My Nephew Sun Xiang")

▼

A letter was submitted to the emperor in the morning, and he was demoted to Chaoyang, a distance of eight thousand miles away, in the evening.

If you want to eliminate the evils for the wise emperor, you are willing to cherish your remaining years!

Where is my home when clouds cross the Qinling Mountains? My horse cannot move forward when snow blocks the Lan Pass.

I know you have come from afar with a purpose, so please collect my bones from the poisonous river.

Arriving in Chaozhou

Han Yu may have enjoyed the earliest raw pickled

He saw a table full of strange-shaped, half-cooked seafood.

I just felt the stench and was sweating profusely.

(Chaozhou pickled crab, photographer @丁俊豪)

▼

At that time, crocodiles were rampant in the river

Han Yu led his men to throw pigs and sheep into the river

Write "Crocodile Article" to persuade crocodiles to leave

(Excerpt from Han Yu's "Crocodile Essay", the Chinese Han Yu Crocodile Art Restoration Map was authorized by Liu Jun of Hefei University of Technology, and the map was made by @阿土/Planet Research Institute)

▼

In just eight months in Chaozhou

Although Han Yu failed to bring about fundamental changes

But he established state schools, liberated slaves, and encouraged people to farm and sericulture.

The image of a diligent and tolerant scholar

The Central Plains civilization left an excellent impression on Chaozhou

(In order to commemorate Han Yu, Chaozhou people renamed the mother river Hanjiang, renamed the mountain Han Yu climbed Hanshan, and established the Han Wengong Temple. Photographer @丁俊豪)

▼

This is the prelude of Central Plains music played in Chaozhou

But this remote and colorful seaside land

Still waiting for someone to actually settle here

02 Rebuilding the World

Wars in the Central Plains led to the migration of the Han people to the south

To avoid the war in the north, they moved further south.

From Central Plains to Jiangnan, from Jiangnan to Fujian

Because the land is narrow and the population is dense, we have to cross the river again and again.

Fujian immigrants eventually settled in Chaoshan

(Sketch of the migration of Han people from the Central Plains to Chaoshan. "Chaozhou" in the picture refers to the present Chaoshan area. Map by @Gao Liqian/Planet Research Institute)

▼

The Civilization Process of Chaozhou

The Song Dynasty as a watershed

The development came quickly, completely and comprehensively.

It almost completely shapes the appearance of this place.

Similar to most areas of civilization

Dam construction, plain reclamation, post road construction

(Tea terraces in Fenghuang Mountain, Chaozhou, photographer @林文强)

▼

Industry boom

Adapting to local conditions, Chaozhou people boiled seawater for salt

The scene of "morning smoke from thousands of stoves boiling white snow" appeared along the coast

(Taiwan Tainan Jingzijiao Tile Pan Salt Field, for illustration only, image source @Visual China)

▼

Business boom

Merchant ships are loaded with ceramics from Bijia Mountain on the east bank of the Han River

Bijia Mountain is rich in kaolin, the raw material for ceramics.

As a result, there are many kiln factories at the foot of the mountain, which is known as the " Village of 100 Kilns ".

Millions of porcelains are produced each year and exported to Japan and Southeast Asia.

(The picture shows a partial view of the Y10 kiln at the Bijiashan Chaozhou Kiln Site. The dragon kiln is nearly 94 meters long. Photographer: @Xuanduguan)

▼

The beautiful Chaozhou city was built on the banks of the Han River

This is the political, economic and cultural center of Chaoshan for thousands of years.

(The important landscape axis of Chaozhou Ancient City, "One Bridge, One Building, One Street", namely Guangji Bridge-Guangji Building-Paifang Street, photographer @张向良)

▼

Guangji Bridge built over Han River

From Song Dynasty to Ming Dynasty, it has been continuously improved

People built beautiful pavilions on the bridge.

Merchant ships travel under the bridge, connecting the river and the sea via the Han River

(Guangji Bridge is a spiritual landmark for trendy people at home and abroad, photographer @洪杰生)

▼

The spirit of learning is particularly strong

Students passed through the Jinxian Gate and entered the Imperial Palace.

Studying hard day and night for fame

(The Jieyang Xuegong is located in the ancient city of Jieyang. It is the largest and best-preserved Confucian temple in Lingnan. Photographer: @余尧)

▼

Students are admitted

They can be ranked among the nobles, and the best among them

You can also erect a memorial archway on the main street of the city.

The 1.6-kilometer-long Fucheng Street had 43 memorial archways at its peak.

On average, there is a memorial arch every 35 meters.

(Chaozhou Ancient City Archway Street, photographer @丁俊豪)

▼

People live in clans

The building is closed to the outside and open to the inside

The clans form a group of buildings and hug each other, gaining a sense of security in such a space

(Residential complex in Guiyu Town, Chaoyang District, Shantou, photographer @陈冲)

▼

When immigrants from afar

After transforming this wild place into a livable land

Deep in my heart, memories of my homeland and migration are evoked

The further away from home, the more I miss my hometown.

The more you travel, the more you realize the value of family power

Ancestors of Chaoshan people

In this new home

Start a grand and lasting nostalgia for ancestors

Immigrants who settled in Chaoshan since the Song Dynasty

Most of them came from Fujian, and they were the ethnic group that settled down after the Central Plains immigrants moved south.

The Fujian immigrants wrote on the door plaque :

"Yingchuan Branch" (Chen surname, originated from present-day Henan)

"Lanling nobles" (Xiao surname, originated from present-day Shandong)

"Xihe Branch" (Lin surname, originated from present-day Henan)

Show that they are not natives, but a family from the Central Plains

(Door plaque in Quanzhou, Fujian. The Lin surname originated from the ancient Xihe River (now in Junxian and Huaxian counties of Henan Province), and was called the "Xihe Branch". Image source: @Quanzhou Image)

▼

When they immigrated to Chaoshan

The couplets in the ancestral hall would have words like

"Putian family reputation is far-reaching, Longxi family tradition is long-lasting"

Tracing the family's history from the Central Plains to Fujian

The saying "Chaoshan people are the ancestors of Fujian"

Still passed down from generation to generation

(Chaoshan Ancestral Hall, photographer @何柯斌)

▼

Immigrants proudly preserve their own language

Ancient Chinese from the Central Plains is layered on top of the Chaoshan dialect

Chaoshan dialect is therefore called the " living fossil of ancient Chinese"

The etiquette of life is also quite ancient

When boys and girls are fifteen years old

Wear red clothes and red clogs

Farewell to the guardian deity at the foot of the bed - the god of parents-in-law

Remove the hair on your face

Symbolizes growing up

(The face-pulling custom in the Chaoshan coming-of-age ceremony, also known as "opening the face", is shown in the picture by the face-pulling woman, photographer @沈绵钺)

▼

The Chaoshan ethnic group was born in turmoil and migration

Perhaps because he has seen through the changes of dynasties and the uncertainties of the times

They believe more in the power of family and inner faith.

The passionate and heroic Yingge dance

Often takes the lead in the procession

The movements are wide and open, and the lead dancer holds a little dragon in his hand.

Or it may be derived from the remains of the Nuo culture of the pre-Qin period.

The worship of snakes in the ancient Minyue culture

(Ying Gewu, photographer @城市穿越客)

▼

Mazu, the sea goddess from Putian, Fujian

It has become the spiritual sustenance of Chaoshan people when they go out to sea

Respected as "Queen of Heaven" and "Concubine of Heaven"

(Mazu procession in Xilu Town, Shantou, photographer @潮珊阿龍)

▼

Local belief in the " Three Mountain Kings "

It comes from the legend of three mountains taking on human form.

Or it may have originated from the worship of mountain gods before the Central Plains people entered

(The so-called "Three Mountains" refers to the three high mountains to the west of Hepo Market in Lintian Town, Jieyang County, Chaozhou Prefecture (now Hepo Town, Jiexi County), named Mingshan, Jinshan and Dushan. The Three Mountain Kings are widely worshipped in Chaoshan and are in charge of life and death in Chaoshan. Photographer @沈绵钺)

▼

The divine world is a reflection of the human world

Gods from different periods and regions coexist harmoniously in Chaoshan

Create a colorful world of gods that is highly integrated with the secular world

(Please view some of the Chaoshan gods in landscape mode, drawn by @阿土/星球研究院)

▼

They each have their own duties and come from different time and space

A sky full of gods and ancestors

Reflecting the bustling world of Chaoshan

(Night view of Chaozhou Ancient City, photographer @张向良)

▼

Wang Shixing, a geographer in the Ming Dynasty, sighed after visiting this place:

Chaozhou is so prosperous now, but it is different from the past

(Wang Shixing, "Guangzhi Yi, Volume 4, The Provinces in the South")

▼

"Today's tide is different from the past. The streets are prosperous, the men and women are prosperous, and the clothes, horses, and music are no less than those of the upper countries."

But under the blooming flowers

The troubles of the prosperous times are showing their claws

03 Survival in the Sea

Ming Dynasty

The maritime ban policy was implemented during the Ming and Qing dynasties and lasted for hundreds of years.

Directly hit the livelihoods of the people along the Chaoshan coast

Compared with the closed isolation from the Central Plains inland

Chaoshan opens itself to the sea

It is located at the intersection of the east-west route

Directly east to Japan and North Korea

To the west, you can sail to the South Seas

A large number of people make their living from the sea

(Distribution of Chaozhou's foreign trade ports in the Ming Dynasty, drawn by @Gao Liqian/Planet Research Institute)

▼

Land bans cannot stop the ocean's waves

Chaoshan, which is used to finding its own way out, is even more unwilling to accept its fate.

Moreover, the stricter the maritime ban , the higher the profits.

(Longqing, Chaoyang County Chronicles, Volume 2, County Affairs Records)

▼

"The people of Chaozhou openly built large ships and traveled through various tribes.

Set sail, return with a full load, with treasures overflowing the streets"

Therefore, in different groups and at different stages

Chaoshan people interact closely and intensely with the ocean

A thrilling legend of suffering and wealth

There are thieves who go to sea to make a living

Japanese pirates attacked the southeast coast during the Ming Dynasty

Chaozhou Prefecture is the eastern gate of Guangdong and was deeply affected.

The maritime ban policy caused some low-income people in coastal areas to lose their livelihoods.

Some refugees went to sea to become pirates, or colluded with Japanese pirates, or joined forces with mountain bandits.

Chaozhou Prefecture became Guangdong's "den of thieves"

Nan'ao Island is only 10 kilometers away from the Chaoshan coast.

It is located at the strategic point of Fujian and Guangdong, and is an important node for coastal shipping.

The geographical location is extremely important, isolated overseas

It has become a pirate's paradise and a smuggler's paradise.

(Please view Nan'ao Island in horizontal mode. Nan'ao Island was an important port for East Asian international trade in the Ming Dynasty. It appeared in the records of Portuguese merchants under the name "Lamao". Photographer: @余尧)

▼

There are profit-seeking sea merchants

The official market is closed, but the private market continues

The maritime ban policy was sometimes loose and sometimes strict

Businessmen find gaps in the rules

Occasionally, armed confrontations occurred with the government

Zhanglin Port, located at the confluence of the Han River and the sea, is rising

At its peak, it had more than 100 ocean-going fleets.

The red, white, green and blue boats of each province complement each other

The red-headed boat representing Guangdong is particularly eye-catching.

The Chaozhou business community thus entered the historical stage and spread across the north and south.

(During the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods of the Qing Dynasty, Zhanglin Port entered its heyday. "The Prosperity of Zhanglin in the Qing Dynasty" (partial) by Wu Huaping, a retired teacher at Subei Middle School in Chenghai District, Shantou City, and drawn by @Atu/Planetary Research Institute)

▼

There are oppressed civilians

The looting of Japanese pirates along the coast

The people were forced to build forts for self-defense and live in clans.

Large and small "village" appeared in Chaoshan villages

So-called

"Every village has its own stronghold, with high walls and thick fences, everywhere."

(Daoyunlou in Raoping, Chaozhou, is a representative of Chaoshan Tulou and the largest castle-style octagonal Tulou in China. Photographer: Chen Chong)

▼

Civilians can be forced to become bandits

Pirates can make money doing business

Merchants are armed with pirates

Three identities are unclear and constantly changing.

Stirring up the Chaoshan coast

(The full name of Nan'ao General Military Mansion is "Fujian-Guangdong Nan'ao General Military Mansion". It is the only general military mansion on an island in the country and a historical witness to the Chaoshan coastal defense in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Photographer @丁俊豪)

▼

In the late Qing Dynasty

The long-standing practice of building strongholds for self-protection has put local governance in a difficult position

There are constant conflicts between clans, and Chaozhou is known as the "hometown of armed fights"

People at that time commented that "Chaozhou customs are the worst among Cantonese people"

In 1812, the population of Chaozhou Prefecture was 2.21 million

Nearly four times as much as a century and a half ago

The population boom has exposed long-standing constraints on the land:

There is too little arable land

No land to cultivate, no work to do

Natural disasters, man-made disasters, the law of the jungle

There was no other choice but to go to Siam (now Thailand)

More lower-class Chaoshan people are pushed further into the ocean

The Chaoshan people began to "go abroad" and this was known as " going to Southeast Asia"

(The three-piece set is said to be a market basket, a bath towel, and a sweet cake. Map by @阿土/星球研究院, image source @颐陶轩潮舟窑博物馆)

▼

Southeast Asia and America, which are developing at the moment, need labor

A large number of Chaoshan people were sold overseas as "piglets"

Or they are forced to take the initiative to make a living

Or being seduced, blackmailed, kidnapped

Set foot on foreign land

(Chinese workers building railroads in America in 1877, map by @阿土/Planetary Research Institute, image source @wikimedia commons)

▼

Population and land

Refugees and the Rich

Crisis and Turnaround

Under many contradictions

Chaoshan and the ocean form a strong tension

Stimulating the clan ties of huddling together for warmth under the ban

It also made the people of this land determined to cross the ocean

(People living on the sea along the Chaoshan coast, photographer @丁俊豪)

▼

The ocean makes this small world unstable

Chaoshan is undergoing tremendous changes, and the people of Chaoshan are working hard

A bigger "Chaoshan"

But it will be formed through the ocean

04 Hometown and Foreign Land

China was isolated from the outside world for a century

Still can't lock the huge waves from the sea

In 1856, the British and French forces launched the Second Opium War

The Qing government was defeated and signed an unequal treaty

Chaozhou (Shantou), Qiongzhou, Taiwan

10 places became foreign trade ports

Shantou , a land of sand ridges

Located at the mouth of Hanjiang River, Rongjiang River and Lianjiang River

It replaced the increasingly silted Zhanglin Port

It also took on the mission of being the economic center of Chaozhou City.

Chaoshan

Finally embrace the ocean completely

(Relative positions of Chaozhou and Shantou, map by @Gao Liqian/Planet Research Institute)

▼

On January 1, 1860 , Shantou opened its trade with the United States as scheduled

The "Chao Customs" was established on Mayu Island in Shantou Port

At this point, Shantou was officially opened as a port

(The radial road network of Shantou’s old city was formed after the port was opened. Photographer @HatterWei)

▼

1906

Chaoshan Railway completed and opened to traffic

Connecting the trading port of Shantou and Chaozhou

This is China's first commercial railway

The name "Chaoshan" is accompanied by 42 kilometers of railway

Since then, it has been widely used among the people

The century-old commercial port was once glorious

(Shantou Small Park, Photographer @李艺爽)

▼

1933

Shantou Port’s cargo throughput accounts for 8.76% of the country’s coastal ports’ cargo throughput

It ranks third in the country after Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Become an international seaport on China's southeast coast

Merchant ships travel between Shantou, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore

The international trade circle of Shantou, Hong Kong, Siam and Rattan is woven together

The Chaozhou business community

The Chaozhou business community was built on geographical and blood ties

A well-connected and strong network

Rapidly build a trade network

Even though the British have significant political and capital advantages in Hong Kong

Can't intervene

(In the early days, Teochew merchants sold local specialties from the north and south in Hong Kong, and were called "North-South Merchants". The picture shows Bonham Strand West where the North-South Merchants gathered. Photographer: He Qianjun)

▼

The wealth that Chaoshan merchants quickly accumulated abroad

Externalized into the exquisite residential buildings, ancestral halls and temples in my hometown

Chen Cihong (hóng), a leader among the northern and southern merchants

The business is spread all over Southeast Asia, and the wealth is in Southeast Asia

Chaoshan proverb: "No one is richer than a benefactor"

The construction of Chen Cihong's former residence took nearly half a century

Covering an area of ​​25,400 square meters, with 506 rooms

Exquisite and gorgeous, blending Chinese and Western styles

Known as "the first overseas Chinese residence in Lingnan"

(Former Residence of Chen Cihong, Photographer @阿誠的白日梦)

▼

As if there is only the ultimate luxury and magnificence

Only then can we soothe the hardships of surviving in the raging sea

Overseas Chinese tycoons return home in glory

Building a house often costs money

Even invited two groups of craftsmen to "compete in art"‍

Therefore, the craftsmen also "involve" to the extreme

Wood carving needs multiple levels of hollowing out

Intricately carved gold

(The gilded wood carvings at the Huanggong Temple in Jilue, Chaozhou, are the epitome of Chaozhou wood carvings. Photographer: @阿誠的白日梦)

▼

Stone carving should be exquisite

Lifelike

(The stone carvings in Chaozhou Congxi Temple show "scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans", photographer @杨虎)

▼

The roof should also be full of flowers

Competition of beauty

(Please watch in horizontal mode. Inlaid porcelain is made of cut porcelain pieces and is a characteristic architectural decoration in the Chaoshan area of ​​southern Fujian. Photographer: @万诱引力)

▼

Chaoshan architecture is a review of Chaozhou craftsmen

The Chaozhou craftsmen

The products of mountains and seas, opera art, and Nanyang customs

Integrated into Chaoshan architecture

Reach the pinnacle, the ultimate in excellence

Delivering a fashionable and extremely complex aesthetic answer

(The roof of the Chaozhou Qinglong Ancient Temple, with inlaid porcelain showing scenes from traditional Chinese opera stories, photographer @阿誠的白日梦)

▼

Chaoshan people call people who go to Southeast Asia to make a living "Fanke"

For most ordinary customers

Maybe you can't afford to spend a fortune on a mansion.

But no matter what, I have to send money in the letter I send home.

This is the "Qiaopi"

1934 was the peak period of the development of the overseas Chinese remittance industry

On average, more than 180,000 overseas Chinese letters are sent back from Southeast Asia every month.

Villages in Chaoshan that rely on overseas Chinese remittances for survival

Countless families are eagerly waiting for this

The " pijiao " that specializes in delivering overseas remittances brings peace and money

(Qiaopi, map by @Atu/Planet Research Institute, photographer @Zou Xiaodong)

▼

While giving back to their hometown, Chaozhou overseas Chinese also build up Chaozhou society overseas.

They went into business and politics and became overseas Chinese leaders.

Taking root in Southeast Asia

The Teochew Associations have formed a huge network of overseas Teochew people

(Han Jiang Family Temple in Penang, Malaysia (Penang Teochew Association), photographer @阿誠的白日梦)

▼

Standing at the Shantou Port at that time

You may see

The young man is about to cross the border with his bag

The foreign tourists got off the ship and returned home in glory

The postman was preparing to deliver the overseas remittances from Nanyang

Busy air routes

Emerging cities

The bustling pier

A bigger " Chaoshan " is finally formed

05 Looking Back

Chaoshan

Civilized by immigration in turmoil

It was also formed by the wanderers who traveled far away from home.

Chaoshan has experienced a long period of wilderness

No one cares, it grows freely

Chaoshan was once at the forefront of reform

Standing at the forefront, full of joy

(In 1980, Shantou became a special economic zone. The picture shows the Shantou city and the Luoshi Bridge. Photographer: @王佩)

▼

But the historical stage has its own generals and ministers.

Prosperity is often like a passing cloud

Besides, people are always on the move.

Since 1991

Shantou, Jieyang, Chaozhou

The three cities have been "separated" for more than 30 years

Chaoshan people

A new round of departure has already begun

The small land still cannot accommodate more people

Facing the increasingly powerful economic siphoning of the Pearl River Delta

The Chaoshan people are not immune either.

(A new generation of Chaoshan people went to the Pearl River Delta to work hard. The picture shows the high-speed rail passing through Chaoshan houses. Photographer @卢明浪)

▼

Eternal change is not centered

What is Chaoshan?

It is the vigorous vitality to stand out and make a fortune.

There should also be celebrations with loud gongs and drums, and thanksgiving to the gods.

(Centipede Dance at Ximen, Chenghai, Shantou, has been passed down for a hundred years, photographer @城市穿梭客)

▼

It is a cultural tradition that is stubbornly adhered to.

Chaoshan women remember the rules of the eight festivals of the year

Busy all day, year after year

(The Pearl Lady is traveling in a lotus carriage in Qingshan Village, Xilu Town, Shantou. People move tables and take seats to prepare to worship the Pearl Lady. Photographer: @城市穿梭客)

▼

Leave your hometown but never forget your way home, go through hardships but never forget your ancestors

The more I leave, the more I look back

Travel across mountains and rivers to take root, and travel across oceans to live a colorful life

The harder it is, the more brilliant it will be

(The God of War jumping over the fire in Hengshan Village, Jiedong District, Jieyang City, photographer @潮珊阿龍)

▼

No matter where you are

Chaoshan people have the same Chaoshan

All things have spirits, and gods and ghosts are unpredictable

Gods all over the sky, ancestors' blessing

Chaoshan, a corner of mountains and sea

Crossing mountains and seas, achieving Chaoshan

So fresh and alive

So unique

(Lobster dance during the Ximen Parade in Chenghai, Shantou, photographer @城市穿梭客)

▼

This article was created by

Written by : Yue Fan

Image : Zhang Zhaohai & Qin Nan

Design : A Tu

Map : Gao Liqian

Reviewer : Xia Ya & Zhou Tianxiu & Zheng Yi

Cover Photographer: Fu Haiyan

Audit Expert

Huang Xiaojian, Director of the China Overseas Chinese Culture (Chaoshan) Research Center

Chen Ye, lecturer at South China Normal University

Special thanks to:

Lin Lunlun, deputy director of Chaozhou Culture Research Institute of Jinan University

Liu Jun, professor at Hefei University of Technology

Chaoshan dialect audio provided by: Lin Chaohong, professor of Chaozhou Normal Branch of Hanshan Normal University and national Mandarin proficiency tester

【References】

[1] Huang Ting. A Brief History of China and Chaoshan in the Ocean. Beijing: Sanlian Bookstore, 2017, 09

[2] Li Jiancheng. Chaoshan Rural Geography. Guangzhou: Jinan University Press, 2016, 01

[3] Ge Jianxiong. History of Chinese Immigration, Volume 2. Fuzhou: Fujian People's Publishing House, 1997, 07

[4] Xie Chongguang. Population and cultural output from southern Fujian to Chaoshan and the Hokkienization of Chaoshan[C]//World (Macau) Minnan Cultural Exchange Association. Collection of papers on the contemporaneity and worldliness of Minnan culture. Straits Literature and Art Publishing House, 2014: 192-200.

[5] Chen Xianwu, ed. Chaozhou Panorama: Archway Street. Beijing: Writers Publishing House, 2015.

[6] Chen Haizhong. From the interests of the people to national power: On the Chaoshan Railway Disturbance of 1904-1909[J]. Pacific Journal, 2008(10):85-94.