Minnan-Diaspora

Chen Yuanguang and the Founding of Zhangzhou Geographic Connections From Zhangzhou’s urban center, traveling southwest about 15 kilometers to Punan Town in Xiangcheng District—this is where the northern and western tributaries of the Jiulong River converge, and where Chen Yuanguang originally established Zhangzhou’s first administrative seat in 686 CE. Today’s Zhangzhou has expanded into a major Minnan hub, but Chen Yuanguang’s legacy—the Chen Gong Canal (also called “Guangang”), his military garrison at “Yingtou,” the “General Mountain” where his family lived for generations—all these physical traces still remain scattered throughout Xiangcheng District. ...

Introduction: The Seeds of Zayton Blown Across the Sea In the long annals of Quanzhou, beyond the silhouettes of trading sails, the most moving elements are the footprints of its people. Quanzhou is not only the starting point of the “Maritime Silk Road” but also the spiritual home for tens of millions of overseas Minnan people. Opening the Quanzhou Overseas Chinese Gazette and successive editions of the Quanzhou Prefecture Gazette, one discovers that these local records are essentially a symphony of life concerning “departure” and “return”. From the “private trade” of the Wanli era to the “crossing to Taiwan” in the Qianlong period, and the large-scale “descent to the Southern Seas” (Nanyang) in the modern era, the migration history of Quanzhou people constitutes the underlying code for the development of Chinese societies in Southeast Asia and globally. ...