The Qiaopi Trade and Transnational Networks in the Chinese Diaspora

Originating in the 1820s and used for 150 years thereafter, qiaopi is the name given in Chinese to letters written home by Chinese emigrants to accompany remittances. Their key function was to preserve family ties. Although such correspondence focused principally on the provision of economic support, the qiaopi also touched on cultural, political, educational, and gender themes. This book therefore seeks to examine the qiaopi from two interconnected perspectives. One views qiaopi from a political and institutional angle, the other from a financial and social angle. Bringing together the extensive research of a group of international scholars, this multi-authored volume sheds light on the larger significance of the qiaopi for modern China. Taking an empirical, evidence-driven approach, the contributors employ a wide range of primary sources in both Chinese and English and relate their findings to scholarship in both the Chinese-speaking world and in non-Chinese interdisciplinary fields. In so doing, this book helps to bridge the gap between Chinese- and English-speaking researchers in the field of qiaopi studies. As one of the first books in English on the qiaopi trade and its significance, this book will appeal to students and scholars of Chinese history and Chinese migration, as well in Migration Studies and Diaspora Studies more generally.

Introduction:The Qiaopi Trade and Transnational Networks in the Chinese Diaspora, Gregor Benton, Hong Liu, Huimei Zhang 1. Entangled Loyalties: Qiaopi, Chinese Community Structures, and the State in Southeast Asia, Els van Dongen 2. Qiaopi and Politics in Modern China and the Chinese Diaspora, Gregor Benton, Hong Liu, Huimei Zhang 3. Migration and Home Remittances in the Financial Market Connecting Southeast Asia and South China, Takeshi Hamashita 4. Serving the National Interest: The Qiaopi Industry, the Chinese Post Office, and the Transnational Practices of the State, 1937–1945, Lane J. Harris 5. The Evolution of the Qiaopi Trade: A Case Study of the Tianyi firm, Junying Jia 6. The Operating Modes of the Qiaopi Trade and Impact on the qiaopiju:A Case Study of the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), Bozi Liu 7. Sex Scandals, Gold Mountain Guests' Wives, and Female Roles in the Siyi Qiaoxiang: A Study of the Family Letters of Overseas Chinese in the Republican Era, Jin Liu 8. Jinxin: The Remittance Trade and Enterprising Chinese Australians, 1850–1916, Mei-fen Kuo

Gregor Benton is Emeritus Professor of History at Cardiff University, UK. Hong Liu is Tan Kah Kee Endowed Professor of Asian Studies and Chair of the School of Social Sciences at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Huimei Zhang is the Research Fellow at Nanyang Centre for Public Administration and Centre for Chinese Language and Culture, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.