I was born in an overseas Chinese family in Indonesia in 1941. I saw my friend from the same hometown, the writer Yang Jinyuan, after "The Lawsuit" (movie "Assembly") and the novel "Breakout" were adapted into film and television works, he created another I feel very cordial and happy for such a work that reflects the arduous entrepreneurial history of the older generation of Chinese and overseas Chinese who went to Nanyang.Historically, many Fujianese traveled to Southeast Asia long before the Opium Wars to make a living in Malacca, Singapore, Indonesia and other places.The Chinese nation is a farming nation.The biggest characteristic of the farming nation is that they like to stick to one-third of an acre of land, and they are willing to live a peaceful life where men farm and women weave.The change of dynasties in China was mostly accompanied by peasant uprisings, ethnic disputes, and power cleansing after the change of dynasties. Some ordinary people who could not bear the war and the former nobles who lost their power emigrated overseas one after another.Due to the geographical adjacency, Southeast Asia has become a place of migration and refuge for Chinese immigrants.In addition, changing the fate of individuals or families is another important reason for Chinese people to go to Nanyang. Among them are those who cannot stay in their hometown and those who are full of hope for the future.

The geographical concept of Nanyang has a very wide range, including the Philippines, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Malaysia and other places.At the beginning of the 20th century, Nanyang was under the colonial rule of Britain, the Netherlands and other countries. The industrialization process in Europe also affected the economic development of Southeast Asian colonies.In the process of accelerated development in these areas, the demand for labor is very large.In order to attract Chinese laborers, Southeast Asian countries successively launched a series of preferential policies.For example, the largest state in the Federation of Malaysia - Sarawak's Raja (King) issued a special announcement: to give immigrants enough free land for planting, and the government provides temporary housing for resettlers; free rice and salt for one year; Transportation, the establishment of a police station to protect the safety of the Chinese, the Chinese can live permanently in Sarawak, etc.Such a policy has a strong appeal to China's internally displaced and unemployed people who have lost their land.It was at this time that many people, with their wives and children, or alone, traveled across the ocean to Nanyang. My father was one of them.

The Chinese laborers worked hard to start a business, or worked or did business, or engaged in agriculture, which has been passed down from generation to generation, and has greatly promoted the economic prosperity of the area where they are located.People at the time described it like this: "Their operations range from huge rubber companies, banks, and restaurants to small street stalls and hawkers. Naturally, most of them are small and medium-sized stores, and there are also many giants with tens of millions of capital. . ” However, because China was a weak country at that time, even in foreign countries, the economic status was second to none, and the overseas Chinese were always bullied.From countless personal encounters, they deeply felt that China's politics must be reformed, and they passionately hoped to revitalize China.The sense of belonging and responsibility of the nation also makes them pay close attention to the fate of the motherland while getting rich overseas.

During the Eight-Year Anti-Japanese War, there were frontal battlefields and battlefields behind enemy lines. It should be said that there was also an "overseas battlefield."This battlefield was opened up by overseas Chinese from all over the world, and its scope is even wider.It was not like the previous two battlefields, where it fought hand-to-hand with the Japanese army. However, the struggle was also extremely fierce, and it was an important force that cannot be ignored in the War of Resistance Against Japan.The vast majority of overseas Chinese have successively invested in this anti-Japanese and national salvation movement. It is China's national consciousness and cultural background that link them with the destiny of the motherland.They are always concerned about the situation of their hometown and country. The Anti-Japanese War has aroused their inherent concept of motherland and patriotic enthusiasm. They are running for China's independence and freedom and contributing their own strength. Three or more overseas Chinese from Southeast Asia returned to China and transported anti-Japanese and national salvation materials on the Yunnan-Myanmar international transportation line; The moving deeds of Yu's bankruptcy are very common in the local area.

The director of Jimei Middle School, who I studied in junior high school, is a famous patriotic overseas Chinese, Mr. Tan Kah Kee, who is a well-known overseas Chinese leader in Nanyang.His grandparents were refugees who fled from Henan to Jimei Village in Fujian at the end of the Song Dynasty. His father, Chen Rusong, went to Singapore to make a living with his bare hands. Although he was engaged in industry and commerce later, the economy was very difficult in his later years.Mr. Tan Kah Kee is well aware of the suffering of overseas Chinese, and his economic career has also been squeezed out by foreign monopoly capital.He witnessed the corruption of the Qing government and felt the serious national crisis, so he resolutely joined the Chinese Revolutionary League, supported Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary movement and advocated the establishment of schools to save the country; , Become a glorious banner of overseas Chinese patriotism.

Today, the footsteps of Chinese people have spread all over the world.The largest group of overseas Chinese is the Southeast Asian Chinese.Most of them are descendants of the pioneers who overcame difficulties in Nanyang hundreds of years ago.In my childhood, I only knew that my motherland was called "Tangshan". Later, after returning to China, I realized that "Tangshan" was China.Now, backed by the rising China, a new generation of Chinese is continuing to write a new Nanyang story.