Search Results (26)

This study investigates the value identification and assessment of architectural heritage in Fujian Overseas Chinese New Village. As representative 20th-century settlements of returned overseas Chinese, these villages demonstrate distinctive architectural integration of Southeast Asian and Minnan architectural traditions while preserving historical memories of diasporic communities, though systematic evaluation remains lacking. An innovative multidimensional assessment framework combining qualitative and quantitative approaches was developed, with spatial analysis and value evaluation conducted on 247 representative structures employing Kernel Density Estimation (KDE), Delphi method, and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Three primary findings emerged: (1) Spatial distribution patterns revealed core-periphery clustering characteristics, with Xiamen and Zhangzhou forming high-density cores (23.5% concentration ratio) showing KDE values of 4.138–4.976, reflecting historical migration networks and policy-driven site selection logic. (2) Heritage values were categorized into seven dimensions, with historical significance (0.2904), artistic merit (0.1602), and functional utility (0.1638) identified as primary value drivers. (3) A four-tier evaluation system quantified heritage significance through weighted indices, demonstrating 53.89% dominance of intrinsic value components, with historical and cultural factors contributing 29.04% and 18.52% respectively. Assessment outcomes indicated 23.5% of structures scoring above 80 points, particularly highlighting Xiamen’s comprehensive preservation value. This research advances traditional conservation paradigms through its pioneering “value identification–quantitative assessment–conservation and utilization” closed-loop model, providing methodological innovation applicable to similar Overseas Chinese communities. The developed framework fills critical research gaps in the systematic evaluation of Southern Min diaspora architecture while establishing quantitative parameters for decision-making synergy between cultural preservation and urban–rural development. By transcending conventional single-dimensional approaches, this study offers replicable analytical tools for differentiated conservation strategies and policy formulation. Full article

The Chinese Christian community occupies an essential position in the pluralistic religious landscape of modern Singapore, which is known as a multicultural and multiracial immigrant society. Despite being a minority compared with Buddhists and Taoists in Singapore, the historical formation and contemporary existence of the Chinese Christian community in Singapore not only embodies religious diversity, but also contributes significantly to Singapore’s social development. This paper zooms into the founding and evolution of the Jubilee Church to see how Chinese Christians contributed to the revolutionary cause, took part in the anti-opium movement, and advanced educational activities in Singapore. Particularly, by establishing the Singapore Reading Room, participating in the founding of the Anti-Opium Society and the Chinese Kindergarten, the Jubilee Church played an important role in Singapore’s history, contributing to the modernization of Singapore in terms of advancing ideas, improving social order, and promoting education. We aim to shed light on how Chinese Christians were engaged in social activities, taking up significant roles in the transformation of the Chinese diaspora in Singapore. More importantly, we argue that these varied social engagements significantly impacted the development of Christianity. Through a detailed historical case study on the Jubilee Church, this paper proposes that social functions and religious evangelization are mutually constitutive, thus complicating our understanding of the entangled relationship among Chinese diaspora, Christianity, and motherland China. Full article

This research explores the profound impact of digital media on the lives of Chinese immigrants in Ikebukuro Chinatown. It illustrates how the Internet and digital platforms have transformed their economic, social, and identity landscapes. Employing qualitative methods such as surveys and interviews, this study underscores the pivotal role of social media in creating expansive networks. These networks facilitate ethnic entrepreneurship and enhance cultural visibility, contributing to the deterritorialization of traditional community confines. This empowerment enables the Chinese diaspora in Ikebukuro to cultivate a rich, interconnected social tapestry that extends beyond geographic limitations. The findings underscore the central role of digital media mediatization processes in redefining immigrant experiences. Additionally, they promote deeper, more dynamic integration within the host society’s multicultural environment. This transformative shift emphasizes the emergence of a more fluid, networked form of community and identity among immigrants. It challenges conventional enclave models and offers new perspectives on diaspora engagement in the digital age. Full article

The global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 required risk communications to mitigate the virus’ spread. However, social media not only conveyed health information to minimize the contagion, but also distracted from the threat by linking it to an externalized ‘other’—primarily those appearing to be of Chinese descent. This disinformation caused the attribution of blame to Chinese people worldwide. In Canada’s Greater Toronto Area, Chinese individuals reported widespread public stigma that compounded their risk of contagion; to the degree that it was driven by cognitive dissonance, it generated experiences of social and cultural vulnerability. In this paper, we draw on the aforementioned study’s findings to explain how the risk perception and threat appraisal of Chinese diaspora individuals were impacted by different cognitive dissonance pathways. These findings explore how storytelling is a viable intervention with which to target and mitigate cognitive dissonance. Indeed, the mechanisms of cognitive dissonance can modify risk perception and mitigate social and cultural vulnerability, thereby averting potential long-term negative consequences for one’s mental health and well-being. We hope our guidance, training educators to target pathways of cognitive dissonance by drawing on storytelling (with humour), can assist them to better convey information in ways that are more inclusive during public health emergencies. Full article

During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, immigrants were among the most socially vulnerable in Western countries. The Chinese diaspora in Canada were one such group due to the widespread cultural stigma surrounding their purported greater susceptibility to transmit and become infected by COVID-19. This paper aims to understand the social vulnerability of the Chinese diaspora in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada, during the first wave of COVID-19 from an explanation of their risk perception and threat appraisal of risk communication. We conducted secondary data analysis of 36 interviews using critical realism. The participants self-identified as being of Chinese descent. The results were used to develop a model of how social vulnerability occurred. In brief, cognitive dissonance was discovered to generate conflicts of one’s cultural identity, shaped by social structures of (i) stigma of contagion, (ii) ethnic stigma, and (iii) public sentiment, and mediated by participants’ threat appraisal and (iv) self-reliance. We assert that risk communicators need to consider their audiences’ diverse socialization in crafting messages to modify behaviors, create a sense of responsibility, and mitigate public health threats. A lack of awareness of one’s cognitive dissonance driven by cultural vulnerability may heighten their social vulnerability and prevent them from taking action to protect themself from high-risk events. Full article

Since the late 1990s, Chinese internet publishing has seen a surge in literary production in terms of danmei, which are webnovels that share many of the features of Anglophone fanfiction. Thanks in part to recent live-action adaptations, there has been an influx of new Western and Chinese diaspora readers of danmei. Juxtaposing these bodies of literature in English in particular enables us to examine the complexities of how danmei are newly circulating in the Anglophone world and have become available themselves for transformative work, as readers also write fanfiction based on danmei. This paper offers a comparative reading of the following three such texts, which explore trauma recovery through the arc of romance: Tianya Ke, a danmei novel by Priest; Notebook No. 6 by magdaliny, a novella-length piece of fanfiction based on Marvel characters; and orange_crushed’s Strays, a fanfiction based on the live-action drama that was, in turn, based on Tianya Ke. The space described by Lotman’s semiosphere offers an additional model in which these texts reflect on one another; furthermore, along the porous digital border between fanfiction, danmei in translation, and fan novels based on danmei, readers and writers negotiate and vex contemporary culture. Full article

The Seven Sisters Festival (also known as Qixi Festival) is especially important to Cantonese women, with differences in syncretic religious practices and beliefs between marriage resistance and nonresistance regions. Despite being forerunners in the wave of women’s migration since the 19th century, developments in ritualistic practices and sisterhood structures of these Cantonese women after their migration remain largely unexplored. This article investigates the formation of Milky Way associations, liturgical sororities for organizing festival celebrations and worship of the Seven Sisters, and its influence on the social and religious lives of Cantonese women in Singapore. Through highlighting the coexistence of different belief systems, shifts in interest from China as the center of sociocultural origin to post-war/post-independence Singapore in the periphery, as well as negotiations with space, this article shows that Cantonese women have been active agents in reorganizing themselves, interacting within and outside of their communities, and engaging in heritage meaning-making. By compiling a non-exhaustive list of over 100 Milky Way associations in Singapore in the 1930–1940s, this article spotlights the magnitude and significance of the Seven Sisters Festival, which has disappeared since the 1970s with little material trace. Full article

The study of the architectural heritage of the Chinese diaspora has an important role and significance in China’s historical and cultural background in the preservation of cultural data, the restoration of images, and in the analysis of human social and ideological conditions. The images from the architectural heritage of the Chinese diaspora usually include frescos, decorative patterns, chandelier base patterns, various architectural styles and other major types of architecture. Images of the architectural heritage of the Chinese diaspora in Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province, China are the research object of this study. A total of 5073 images of diaspora Chinese buildings in 64 villages and 16 towns were collected. In view of the fact that different types of image vary greatly in features while there are only small differences among the features of the same type of image, this study uses the depth learning method to design the Convolutional Neural Network Attention Retrieval Framework (CNNAR Framework). This approach can be divided into two stages. In the first stage, the transfer learning method is used to classify the image in question by transferring the trained parameters of the Paris500K datasets image source network to the target network for training, and thus the classified image is obtained. The advantage of this method is that it narrows the retrieval range of the target image. In the second stage, the fusion attention mechanism is used to extract the features of the images that have been classified, and the distance between similar images of the same type is reduced by loss of contrast. When we retrieve images, we can use the features extracted in the second stage to measure the similarities among them and return the retrieval results. The results show that the classification accuracy of the proposed method reaches 98.3% in the heritage image datasets of the JMI Chinese diaspora architectures. The mean Average Precision (mAP) of the proposed algorithm can reach 76.6%, which is better than several mainstream model algorithms. At the same time, the image results retrieved by the algorithm in this paper are very similar to those of the query image. In addition, the CNNAR retrieval framework proposed in this paper achieves accuracies of 71.8% and 72.5% on the public data sets Paris500K and Corel5K, respectively, which can be greatly generalized and can, therefore, also be effectively applied to other topics datasets. The JMI architectural heritage image database constructed in this study, which is rich in cultural connotations of diaspora Chinese homeland life, can provide strong and reliable data support for the follow-up study of the zeitgeist of the culture reflected in architecture and the integration of Chinese and Western aesthetics. At the same time, through the rapid identification, classification, and retrieval of precious architectural images stored in the database, similar target images can be retrieved reasonably and accurately; then, accurate techniques can be provided to restore old and damaged products of an architectural heritage. Full article

In Japan, Chinese female white-collar workers have emerged as a rapidly growing social group. Unlike traditional female migrants, high-skilled women exhibit more autonomy and strategy in their interactions with mainstream society. Traditional immigrant theories do not apply to their patterns of social adaptation. The paper draws on qualitative research with 38 Chinese female white-collar workers working in Tokyo after graduating from Japanese colleges. It illustrates their performance and strategies in adapting to Japanese society and explores how their decision-making process is shaped. The findings show that they exhibit a selective adaptation: They self-identify as “permanent sojourners”—they are eclectic, but inclined to maintain a cultural cognition ordered around their homeland culture, and they have multiple contacts across ethnic groups and reserve cultural differences in social interactions. Furthermore, this mode of adaptation results from the interaction of three factors: individual rational choice, the mutual pressure of the in-group and the out-group, and the national policies and historical issues between China and Japan. This paper argues that the migration patterns of different migrant groups should be interpreted in light of the subjectivity of migrants, taking into account their initiative, human capital, gender, and ethnicity. This study enriches the study of international female migration and adds to the practical research on social adaptation patterns among immigrants. Full article

In recent decades, there has been a dynamic growth of Chinese outbound tourism to the Central and Eastern European region, and Hungary has been one of the most visited countries. This increase in demand is linked, in part, to the important Chinese diaspora in Hungary whose members play the role of hosts in VFR travel. This paper aims to explore the social relations—guanxi—within the Chinese diaspora living in Budapest and its influence on VFR travels back and forth China. Results of the survey with 202 Chinese immigrants reveal the strong nexus between migration and VFR travel. The Chinese hosts who have been living in the country for two decades behave differently in their guanxi compared to those who have settled in Budapest recently. The article provides several practical contributions to local destination management organizations and tourism service providers to successfully reach Chinese hosts, such as providing commissions, coupons, and getting discounts. Full article

This study examines the temple networks of the 19th-century Chinese community leader See Boon Tiong （薛文仲） in Singapore and Malacca in order to cognize his rising influence in both places. In the early years of his career in Singapore, See Boon Tiong expanded his social networks by founding the Keng Teck Whay （庆德会）, as well as through his active involvement in the affairs of Chinese temples. In 1848, the Keng Teck Whay, represented by See Boon Tiong, precipitated the establishment of the Cheng Wah Keong Temple （清华宫） in Malacca and the organization of the “Wangchuan” （王船） Ceremony, thereby consolidating See’s leadership in the local Chinese community. This also provides insights into the process of the reconstitution of power by the Malaccan Chinese merchants in their hometown after forging social networks in Singapore. In the 1850s, See’s influence, exerted through these networks, further penetrated Cheng Hoon Teng Temple （青云亭）in Malacca, outstripping the authority and influence of Tengzhu （亭主） Tan Kim Seng （陈金声）, and engendered the dominance of the Hokkien Zhangzhou （漳州） group to which he belonged. The biography of See Boon Tiong is a microcosm of the strategies which ethnic Chinese leaders in Southeast Asia in the 19th Century deployed to amalgamate and cement their power and influence in society. This also exemplifies the interplay and inseparability between the leadership of the Chinese communities in Singapore and Malacca, and highlights the influential role and agency of these power networks behind the temples in transforming the power structure of the Chinese community in that era. Full article

Using the Lung Kong Association as a case study, this article explores the cultural and socio-religious significance of the clan association in overseas Chinese societies. It argues that the Chinese diaspora has continually endeavored to utilize Confucian resources, via the clan association, to construct a “moral community” for the facilitation of their internal solidarity and external identity. Full article

Diaspora tourism has become a significant market niche under globalization, but diaspora tourism to China has been less studied. This paper explores the relationships between nostalgia, involvement, and behavioral intention in diaspora tourism of the Chinese diaspora. By investigating 303 overseas Chinese, we use quantitative methodologies to measure the nostalgia of the Chinese diaspora and identify three segments of Chinese diasporic tourists based on their nostalgia: extremely nostalgic, nostalgic, and moderately nostalgic. Demographic features of each segment and attitude toward home-return travel are depicted. The findings suggest that the level of nostalgia has influences on the perception of home-return travel for the diaspora. For the strongly nostalgic groups, home-return travel is an important way to build and express their identity. For the moderately nostalgic group, home-return travel is regarded as a pleasure-driven activity. This study extends the theoretical understanding of diaspora nostalgia and also has practical implications for the marketing and construction of destinations. Full article

Using the Nanyang Confucian Association (NCA) as a case study, this paper explores the multi-faceted processes through which a segment of Singapore’s Chinese community constructs its self-identity based on an understanding of Confucianism that dismisses its religious attributes while underscoring the ethnic and cultural dimensions. Tracing the history of the association since its formation in 1914, the paper hopes to contribute to recent overseas Chinese studies on the rethinking of the notion of the Chinese diaspora within the context of the formation, circulation, and contest of a global Chinese identity by asking the following questions: Does identifying with the Confucian tradition necessarily require one to acknowledge their connection with China? Would a self-proclaimed Confucian be perceived as someone who looks to China for ethnic and cultural affiliation and thus appears less local? The authors argue that, while still acknowledging the spatial–temporal centrality of China as the origin of Confucianism and Chinese civilization, leaders of the NCA clearly intended to simultaneously position the NCA at the center of global Confucian activism. What emerges from the processes initiated by the NCA in constructing its identity is a complex overlay of history, geography, and culture that gives rise to a vision of multiple centers. Full article

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints emerged within the Mauritian landscape in the early 1980s after the arrival of foreign missionary work. With a population of Indian, African, Chinese, French heritage, and other mixed ethnicities, Mauritius celebrates multiculturalism, with many calling it the “rainbow nation”. Religiously, Hinduism dominates the scene on the island, followed by Christianity (with Catholicism as the majority); the small remainder of the population observes Islam or Buddhism. Although Mauritian society equally embraces people from these ethnic groups, it also has historically marginalized communities who represent a “hybrid” of the mentioned demographic groups. This article, based on ethnographic research, explores the experiences of Mauritian Latter-day Saints as they navigate the challenges and implications of membership in Mormonism. Specifically, it focuses on how US-based Mormonism has come to embrace the cultural heritage of people from the various diaspora and how Mauritian Latter-day Saints perceive their own belonging and space-making within an American born religion. This case study presents how the local and intersecting adaptations of language, race, and local leadership within a cosmopolitan society such as Mauritius have led to the partial hybridization of the Church into the hegemony of ethnic communities within Mauritian Latter-day Saint practices. These merging of cultures and world views prompts both positive and challenging religious experiences for Mauritian Church members. This article illustrates the implications and pressures of the Church trying to globalize its faith base while adapting its traditionally Anglocentric approaches to religious practices to multiracial, multicultural cosmopolitan communities such as Mauritius. Full article