The Historical Evolution of Overseas Chinese

The migration of China people can be traced back to ancient times more than 2,000 years ago.

As early as the Qin and Han Dynasties, China had the "Silk Road" leading to the western regions. Ships sailed to Japan, and some of them lived in other places. Only in the Tang Dynasty, more China people settled abroad, which can be regarded as the beginning of the history of overseas Chinese. Throughout 1300 years, the history of China people emigrating overseas can be roughly divided into four periods:

In the first period, from the Tang Dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty (6 18- 1270), overseas Chinese gradually appeared. During this period, China's feudal commodity economy was quite developed, but Southeast Asia was still relatively backward, so many Chinese businessmen went to Southeast Asia to engage in trade. Some of them settled down locally and became the first generation of overseas Chinese. Most of the overseas Chinese in this period lived in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and other countries in Southeast Asia today, with a population of about 65,438+10,000.

The second period, from Yuan Dynasty to the middle of Qing Dynasty (127 1- 1840), was a period when overseas Chinese went abroad in large numbers and their social and economic foundation in the host country was gradually established. During this period, the opening of the maritime ban in Ming Dynasty promoted the further development of overseas trade. Some parts of Southeast Asia have become colonies or trade relay places of western countries, and are in urgent need of cheap labor and handicrafts from China, thus attracting more Chinese businessmen and bankrupt farmers, fishermen and craftsmen to go abroad. In addition, Zheng He, the eunuch of the Ming Dynasty, led a fleet of more than 20,000 people to visit more than 30 countries and regions in Asia and Africa, which enhanced the friendship between China and Asian and African countries and created better conditions for China people to go abroad for business and immigration. During this period, from Japan and Korea in the east, to the east coast of India in the west, to the upper reaches of Irrawaddy River in Myanmar in the north, and to Indonesia in the south, overseas Chinese can be seen almost everywhere, with a population of over 6,543,800.

The third period, from the Opium War to the eve of liberation (184 1- 1949). It is the climax of large-scale immigration of overseas Chinese. During this period, the number, scale, distribution and experience of overseas Chinese going abroad were unprecedented. The reason is nothing more than domestic and foreign. At home, because of political darkness, constant wars and economic bankruptcy, people are in dire straits and are eager to find a way out. In foreign countries, there is an urgent need for a large number of cheap labor because of the crazy economic plunder and development of imperialism to the colonies. As a result, batches of "contract Chinese laborers" (commonly known as "piglets") were sold abroad, which became the main way for China immigrants in this period. This kind of trafficking started at the end of 18. 65438+ reached its climax in mid-2009 and began to decline in the early 20th century. In the past 65,438+000 years, about 7 million people in China were trafficked all over the world, thus laying the foundation for overseas Chinese to spread all over the world today. The number of overseas Chinese in this period has reached120,000.

The fourth period, from the establishment of 1949 People's Republic of China (PRC) to the 1990s. During this period, the history of overseas Chinese going abroad in large numbers basically ended. However, due to the economic differences between the East and the West and the adjustment of immigration policies in the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries, many China people still emigrate by reuniting with their relatives and studying abroad. Many residents of Taiwan Province Province, Hongkong and Macau have also emigrated. During this period, with the economic development and natural population growth of overseas Chinese, the number of overseas Chinese also increased sharply, with an estimated 30 million. 90% of them have been naturalized, and there are only about 3 million overseas Chinese. Overseas Chinese are widely distributed in five continents 160 countries and regions, and most of them come from China's embassies and consulates abroad, overseas Chinese affairs departments and overseas Chinese communities. From all aspects, the total population of overseas Chinese at the beginning of 2 1 century was about 39.758 million, of which about 2 million people moved out of the mainland in the past 20 years. Except for a few inland countries and remote island areas, there are traces of China people all over the world.

From the distribution of continents, there are 2 1.25 million people in Asia, accounting for 83.7%; 2.45 million people in the United States, accounting for 9.9%; Europe has 6.5438+0.25 million people, accounting for 4.9%; 320,000 people in Oceania, accounting for1.2%; 90,000 people in Africa, accounting for 0.3%.

In terms of countries and regions, 85.5% of overseas Chinese are concentrated in Southeast Asia, with 6,543,805,740 people in Indonesia (6 million), Thailand (4.65 million) and Malaysia (5.09 million) alone, accounting for more than 60% of the total number of overseas Chinese in the world. There are Brunei, Laos, North Korea, South Korea, Nepal, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Mauritius, Reunion, Madagascar, South Africa, Mexico, Panama, Guatemala, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, Peru and Argentina. There are 26 countries and regions with overseas Chinese 1000- 10000. There are 100 overseas Chinese living in 29 countries and regions. The above *** 104 countries and regions. The total number of overseas Chinese in more than 50 other countries and regions does not exceed 2,000, ranging from dozens to 35.

According to the origin of overseas Chinese, Guangdong nationality accounts for 54%, Fujian nationality accounts for 25%, Hainan nationality accounts for 6%, and other provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions account for 15% (mainly Taiwan Province, Guangxi, Shandong, Xinjiang and Yunnan). In Southeast Asia, the ratio of Guangdong, Fujian and other provinces and cities is 5: 3: 2; Outside Asia, Cantonese accounts for the vast majority. If divided by dialects, people who use five dialects: Minnan (Quanzhou), Guangfu (Guangzhou), Chaozhou, Mindong (Fuzhou) and Hakka. About 80% of the total number of overseas Chinese. More than 5 million people use the first three dialects, and about 3 million people use the last two dialects.

Soon after the founding of New China, everything flourished, and many overseas Chinese were proud of being from China, fearing that they would be branded as "forgetting the motherland" because they joined foreign nationality. But on April 27th, 1955, Zhou Enlai threw a cold water on local overseas Chinese when he met them in Jakarta. He said: "If there are millions of foreign nationals in our country and they are also dual nationals, can our government handle affairs well?" Always pushing yourself and others. "But in order to dispel the concerns of overseas Chinese, he stressed:" If you choose another nationality, friends are still friends, brothers are still brothers. He even said many times that this is a kind of blood relationship. "When you become a local citizen, you will go back to China, just like a married daughter." He always "welcomes you back to your family." "

The early days of the founding of New China coincided with the Cold War. The nationality and treatment of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia make the diplomatic relations between China and local countries tense and difficult. At the same time, "dual nationality" was the "evidence" that the Western camp accused overseas Chinese of being the "fifth column". This is also one of the main reasons why Southeast Asian countries doubt the loyalty of overseas Chinese. Obviously, if the new China fails to properly solve the overseas Chinese problem in time, it will not only be detrimental to the development of relations between China and these countries, but also fail to protect the safety and legitimate rights and interests of overseas Chinese in the host countries.

In this case, the government of China made a decision:

One is to give up nationality based on descent for many years;

2. Encourage overseas Chinese to become citizens of the host country, but it must be voluntary;

3. Disapproving dual nationality.

So the word "China people" began to appear. condition

Overseas Chinese are widely distributed in five continents1more than 60 countries and regions. There are no accurate and scientific statistics on the number of overseas Chinese.