ENGENDERING CHINESE MIGRATION HISTORY: "LEFT-BEHIND WIVES OF THE NANYANG MIGRANTS" IN QUANZHOU BEFORE AND AFTER THE PACIFIC WAR

Abstract

This study seeks to discover a history of Chinese wives who were left-behind in male-dominated migration from south China to Southeast Asia (the Nanyang) through a close examination of the a??left-behind wives of the Nanyang migrantsa?? (fankeshen c????????) in Quanzhou before and after the Pacific War from a gendered perspective. It focuses on the womena??s socio-economic and political experiences in the migration process, highlighting their autonomy, resourcefulness and wisdom in handling the challenges they faced after their husbands migrated, and investigating the changes within gender roles and relationships. The study finds that the fankeshen were important participants in, and contributors to, Chinese migration history. Male migration had inevitably affected them and the impact was multi-layered and complex. Although their lives were greatly affected by migration, they were active agents of their own history, allowing them to be one of the outstanding groups of women in Chinese history.