Introduction: ‘Financial Capillaries’ in Digital Archives In the modern financial landscape of Xiamen, if foreign banks were the massive main arteries, the Qiaopi Bureaus (Minxin Bureaus) distributed along Zhaoma Road, Dayuan Road, and the Bund were the financial capillaries that penetrated every village in Southern Fujian. The year 1931 marked the historical peak of the Qiaopi industry in Xiamen. According to the Xiamen Finance Records, there were as many as [196 registered bureaus] that year. This number represents a vast transnational credit network. Without any modern electronic payment methods, these bureaus relied on a single promise—‘money arrives with the letter, not a penny less’—to bring back a total of approximately [580 million USD] in foreign exchange between 1905 and 1949. For modern root-seekers, a red bureau stamp on an old family letter is often the key to unlocking their ancestors’ Nanyang footprints. ...

Introduction: The Scent of Lineage Across the Seas In the bustling streets of Singapore’s Chinatown or the clan jetties of Penang, a familiar scent wafts through the air during the Qingming Festival and the Hungry Ghost Festival. It is the smell of burning joss paper (paper foil), a cultural anchor for millions of overseas Chinese. While younger generations may view these gold and silver papers merely as ritual offerings, digital records from Chinese gazetteers point to a specific origin for this craft: the ancient town of Shima in Longhai. ...

Introduction: The Capillaries Behind the ‘Great Men’ In traditional narratives of overseas Chinese history, the massive donations of patriotic leaders like Tan Kah Kee often occupy center stage. However, examining the digital archives of the Xiamen Finance Chronicles and Longhai County Chronicles reveals a more vast and resilient financial ecosystem: an informal network composed of millions of ordinary migrants, thousands of mobile couriers known as ‘Shuike’ (water guests), and ‘Minxin Bureaus’ (Qiaopi Bureaus) scattered throughout urban and rural areas. ...

Introduction: The Historical Logic of ‘Birds of Two Wings’ In the historiography of cross-strait relations, the saying ‘Xiamen is Taiwan, and Taiwan is Xiamen’ is more than a folk proverb; it is a description of a genuine economic and geopolitical reality. As early as 1684, following the Qing Dynasty’s pacification of Taiwan, Xiamen and Taiwan’s Lukermen were designated as the sole legal ports for cross-strait trade, initiating a century-long ‘single-port crossing’ regime. This system rapidly transformed Xiamen from a military outpost into the primary trade hub for Fujian and the Southeast coast. ...

Introduction: The ‘Nanyang Bloodline’ of Urban Utilities In Xiamen’s journey toward modernization, the 1920s served as a critical pivot point. During this era, Xiamen transformed from a traditional consumption-based port into a modern industrial city. The driving force behind this metamorphosis was not colonial charity but the ‘capital reflux’ of Southern Fujianese overseas Chinese. Statistics show that overseas Chinese capital accounted for a staggering [80% to 90%] of Xiamen’s national industry during this time. Public utilities—electricity, water, and telecommunications—were almost entirely funded by overseas Chinese. While the names of Huang Yizhu and Tan Kah Kee are legendary, there was a vast group of small and medium industrialists, the ‘Nanyang Gods of Wealth,’ who stood behind these million-dollar ventures but have since faded into historical obscurity. ...

Introduction: Beyond the Grand Narrative of ‘The Flag of Overseas Chinese’ When discussing the modernization and industrialization of Xiamen, the name of Mr. Tan Kah Kee stands like a monument, representing the pinnacle of ‘Overseas Chinese Patriotism.’ However, leafing through the Xiamen Local Chronicles and Xiamen Communications Chronicles, one discovers a vast group of ‘Nanyang Gods of Wealth’—small and medium-scale industrialists—hidden beneath his radiant shadow. Historical records state that from the late Qing Dynasty to 1949, overseas Chinese founded [2668 enterprises] in Xiamen, with a total investment equivalent to [87.48 million RMB]. A staggering figure reveals that overseas Chinese capital accounted for [80% to 90%] of Xiamen’s national industry. These returnees brought not just cash, but the technology and organizational order that changed the fate of an island. This article moves past simplified history books to seek the true colors of modern industrialization. ...

Introduction: “Two Wings of a Bird” Across the Strait In the geographic context of Southern Fujian, the relationship between Xiamen and Taiwan is often described as the “two wings of a bird”—as the saying goes, “Xiamen is Taiwan, and Taiwan is Xiamen”. This close connection is not a modern invention but is deeply rooted in centuries of maritime administrative evolution, military confrontation, and population migration. From Zheng Chenggong using Xiamen as a base to recover Taiwan, to the Qing Dynasty’s legal designation of Xiamen as the sole port for crossing to Taiwan, to modern Xiamen being the most concentrated area for Taiwanese investment, this sea has witnessed a transformation from a “military outpost” to a “grain lifeline,” and finally to an “economic co-prosperity circle”. ...

Introduction: The Leap from a Fishing Village to a Modern Metropolis Xiamen, once an isolated island known as Jiahe Islet, saw its major turning point with the opening of the treaty port in 1843. However, looking through the lens of digital local chronicles, Xiamen’s rapid metamorphosis from a consumption-based traditional port to a modern city was primarily driven by the massive capital reflux of “remittances” from overseas Chinese, rather than just the influx of foreign firms. ...

Fujian Botanicals and Epidemic Defense: Reconstructing Medical Geography and Social Relief from Bamin Tongzhi Background: Botanical Atlas in Digital Chronicles The Bamin Tongzhi, compiled by Huang Zhongzhao during the Ming Dynasty, is the first comprehensive provincial chronicle of Fujian. Its content is profound and extensive, especially in the [Local Products] section of the [Economy] volumes, which meticulously records Fujian’s rich biological resources. Fujian’s geography, characterized by “negative mountains and bordering the sea,” provides an ideal habitat for various Chinese medicinal herbs. ...

Foundation of Egret Island: The [Eight Major Projects] and the Rise of Industrial Giants in Early Xiamen SEZ Background: “Catch-up” Construction Beyond the Frontline Before the establishment of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in 1980, Xiamen had long been a “coastal defense frontline,” resulting in decades of stagnant urban development. Fragile infrastructure created severe bottlenecks for economic takeoff: a lack of 10,000-ton class berths at the port, a 34-year interruption in aviation, reliance on manual crank-style telephones, and chronic shortages of water and power. ...