The ebb tide of Nanyang in the late Qing Dynasty: an unforgettable history of blood and tears

The sea ban policy was implemented in the early Qing dynasty, and it became more serious after Kanggan. No outsiders were allowed to enter, and Qing people were not allowed to go abroad. After the Opium War, although five trading ports were opened, ordinary people still could not leave the country. But at this time, most of the Qing people lived in poverty and had to venture abroad to find opportunities for survival. The sea ban policy of Qing dynasty could not hinder people's desire for survival. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty was forced to sign various unequal treaties, including allowing the west to recruit Chinese workers in the southeast coast, because the applicants had to sign a contract called "Contract Chinese Workers", commonly known as "selling piglets" and "doing coolies". As a result, "Lower Southeast Asia" has entered a new period, which can be roughly divided into two stages: the first stage, from the 1960s to the early 20th century, there appeared a wave of overseas immigrants with Chinese workers as the main body, that is, the coolie trade stage. /kloc-in the 1960s, after the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Hong Bing Uprising in Guangdong and Guangxi, and the struggle between Guangdong natives, the southeast region was devastated. With the discovery of gold mines in America and the economic development of plantations in Southeast Asia, countries have set up conscription offices one after another, which has attracted the attention of people in Fujian and Guangdong who have suffered from war. Foreign companies and CCBA lure the poor to the pig house by hiring "guest leaders" (small pig heads) and signing contracts to exchange their wages after going abroad for overseas travel expenses. At that time, there was even a phenomenon of plundering and selling Chinese workers by means of deception and kidnapping. In the past few decades, there were about 2 million China laborers going to Southeast Asia alone, mainly concentrated in plantations in Indo-China Peninsula and mines in Indonesian countries. The contract Chinese workers were treated inhumanely by the "pig house" and shipowners, which triggered the resistance of Chinese workers and the questioning of public opinion from all walks of life. Under internal and external pressure, various colonial countries have successively promulgated laws and regulations to improve the situation of Chinese workers. 19 12, the Republic of China temporarily issued a decree prohibiting the sale of "piglets" to protect overseas Chinese, and the coolie trade ended. During this period, some China people also went to Southeast Asia as free laborers to engage in commercial, handicraft and agricultural activities. The second stage, from the early 20th century to1early 1950s, was the peak of "going to South Asia". At the beginning of the 20th century, China was at war, while Southeast Asia was supported by the colonial sovereign state. In addition to traditional plantations and mining, emerging industries such as railways, shipping, finance and manufacturing have also achieved unprecedented development and are in urgent need of skilled workers. During the period of 1922- 1939, more than 5 million immigrants left Xiamen and other ports. After the Japanese invaded Southeast Asia, they suppressed the Chinese society and a large number of Chinese moved back to China. After World War II, the number of China people who emigrated to Southeast Asia decreased greatly. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the immigration tide of "Lower Nanyang" which lasted for hundreds of years basically stopped. "Going to South Asia" began in the middle of the Ming Dynasty and came to an abrupt end in A.D. 1950, which lasted for nearly 300 years. As the saying goes, "Where there is the sea, there are people from China." At present, the total number of overseas Chinese is 35 million, of which 80% are distributed in Southeast Asia, among which Indonesian Chinese have the largest number, about 6 million; Malaysia is second, about 5 million; The only country with a majority of Chinese is Singapore, accounting for more than 75% of the total population.