Overseas Chinese Return to Dawang cover

Overseas Chinese Return to Dawang

Rating 3.4
Word count
170K words
Chapters
35
ISBN
9787214278265

Tags

Summary

Situated on the west bank of the Pearl River and at the core of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Dawang Overseas Chinese Farm was established in 1978 by the Party and the state to receive and resettle returned overseas Chinese from Vietnam. With the spring tide of reform and opening up, Dawang Overseas Chinese Farm developed from the "Liubo grassy marsh" into a national-level high-tech zone with a concentration of high-tech industries and the core platform of the West River advanced manufacturing corridor that Zhaoqing City is striving to build. The book's author team conducted in-depth interviews with people who witnessed each key historical period of Dawang and extensively collected and organized materials, recording this historical episode in which the vast numbers of returned overseas Chinese and their families in Dawang, under the leadership of the Party and the state, created and enjoyed a happy life. Through the historical changes of Dawang Farm, the book reflects the great process of reform and opening up and the historic achievements of the Party and the state's overseas Chinese affairs work, thereby influencing and inspiring overseas Chinese at home and abroad to orient their hearts toward the motherland and bind their roots and souls closely to the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Editor's review

This book uses Dawang Overseas Chinese Farm on the west bank of the Pearl River as a lens, examining the resettlement of Vietnamese returnees, the farm's pioneering efforts, and its post-reform industrial transformation within a single historical thread. Drawing on interviews with participants and collected materials, the author team sets macro-level overseas Chinese policy against the fate of individual families, producing a documentary narrative that is both historically valuable and readable. Readers can see how the "Liubo grassy marsh" gradually developed into a high-tech industrial cluster and can also sense the concrete experience of returnees rebuilding their lives with the support of Party and state policies. The narrative does not merely list achievements; it uses personal experience to reconstruct the choices and adaptations of a turning point in the times. It is suitable for readers interested in overseas Chinese history, the history of reform and opening up, and regional development as specialized reading. For overseas Chinese affairs workers, local history researchers, and students in related fields, the book can also serve as a reference for understanding returnee resettlement and local governance.

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • Readers interested in overseas Chinese history and the evolution of overseas Chinese policy
  • Scholars studying the history of reform and opening up and local development experience
  • Practitioners in overseas Chinese federations, united front work, or local governance
  • General readers interested in regional change in the Greater Bay Area and farm transformation

Not a good fit for

  • Academic researchers expecting a purely theoretical analytical framework
  • Readers who prefer fiction or fast-paced narratives
  • Readers who only want to skim conclusions and are unwilling to read interview material

Reading tips

  1. Begin with the table of contents and timeline to grasp the key milestones of the farm's establishment, reform transformation, and high-tech zone development.
  2. Read the returnee family interviews alongside the background of overseas Chinese policy, noting how individual experience echoes institutional change.
  3. Extend the reading with materials on Greater Bay Area development to understand changes in Dawang's regional role.
  4. Take notes on people and events as you read to help organize the multi-subject, multi-stage historical narrative.

About the publisher

Jiangsu People's Publishing House China · Founded in 1953

Jiangsu People's Publishing House is known for works in history, literature and the social sciences. Judging from its catalog, it focuses on modern Chinese history, classical literary appreciation and scholarly research. Representative titles include historical works such as Kuomintang-Communist Cooperation and the National Revolution, 1924–1927 and A Record of Combat on the Front Lines of China's War of Resistance Against Japan, literary and visual documents such as Sun Wen's Illustrated Complete Dream of the Red Chamber, and scholarly collections such as Chen Yinke's Collected Works of Hanliu Hall. Translations such as The Dust Bowl and Anti-Intellectualism in American Life reflect an interest in overseas social and cultural studies. Its authors include historians Wang Qisheng, Huang Yuzhang and Guo Rugui, as well as figures associated with classical literature such as Cao Xueqin and Sun Wen. Common categories include history, literary appreciation, essays and miscellaneous writings, and social-science and cultural titles, showing a balance between historical scholarship and literature and between academic and popular publishing. Because public information is limited, this overview is based only on the books in the catalog.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 序言 草塘新城一须臾 侨归大旺新时代
  3. 第一章 峥嵘岁月 归侨往事已如烟
  4. 李文健:苦尽甘来,安居乐业
  5. 黄世坚:千帆历尽,心系侨乡
  6. 黄葵山:敢闯敢干,心系侨乡发展
  7. 曾俊贤:知识分子的漫漫归国路
  8. 凌月远:医术精湛,回馈社会
  9. 陈永成:吃苦干实事,冲锋第一线
  10. 第二章 热血青春 农场奋斗建家园
  11. 苏春定:用奋斗书写人生
  12. 何福新:历经艰辛,方得好滋味
  13. 崔达芳:越南归侨的大旺扎根梦
  14. 陈永芳:做全省第一个归侨警察
  15. 项光南:劳动光荣,奉献最美
  16. 苏维兰:挫折中总是充满了希望
  17. 黄色裕:尽显农民本色
  18. 林树南:落叶归根,发挥所长,建设大旺
  19. 冯学寿:将兴趣化作职业,返乡创业铸辉煌
  20. 第三章 高新蝶变 多彩大旺新生活
  21. 陆帮胜:扎根基层,服务侨胞
  22. 龙志雄:自立自强新女性
  23. 廖明友:参政议政,不负期待
  24. 李棠:躬耕于大旺的教育工作者
  25. 黄德明:发挥所长,传承文化
  26. 苏维保:多重身份,坚守初心
  27. 苏春福:凝聚侨心,服务归侨
  28. 张守福:从归难侨到人大代表
  29. 第四章 身心安处 他乡已然成故乡
  30. 刘汉祥:奋斗辛苦半生,不忘奉献社会
  31. 黄永:叶落大旺,心安处是吾家
  32. 黎李保:笑看人生浮沉事
  33. 区伯芹:心系归侨,为侨服务二十载
  34. 李志华:心系群众,一心为民
  35. 庞金生:由拼搏者变服务者,建设家乡

FAQ

Does this book mainly describe the overseas Chinese farm or the high-tech zone?
They are successive stages of the same historical thread. The book begins with the establishment of Dawang Overseas Chinese Farm and the resettlement of returned overseas Chinese, then extends to the farm's post-reform transformation into a high-tech industrial cluster. Its focus is on presenting this process of change and the overseas Chinese affairs work and local development logic behind it.
Can readers without a background in overseas Chinese history understand it?
Yes. The book uses interviews with participants and specific family experiences as its narrative thread and provides necessary context on policy, so general readers can follow the personal stories to understand Dawang's historical changes. Those who wish to grasp the policy context more deeply may supplement with relevant background materials.
Is it suitable as a reference for local history or overseas Chinese affairs research?
It is suitable as a case reference. Based on interviews with participants and collected materials, the book presents the concrete process of Dawang Overseas Chinese Farm's development from resettling returned overseas Chinese to industrial transformation, and can provide empirical material for research on local history, overseas Chinese history, and overseas Chinese affairs work. Readers should still combine it with other sources for comprehensive judgment.

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About the author

刘义强 Author

Public information about Liu Yiqiang is currently limited, and details such as his birthplace, dates of birth and death, and educational background have not been clearly recorded. Judging from the holdings in the library, he has two works, Qiaoxing Haiyan and Qiaogui Dawang, both centered on the theme of qiaoxiang, or overseas Chinese hometowns, and both can be classified as historical reading and social science. The character qiao in the titles suggests an interest in overseas Chinese migration, social change in qiaoxiang communities, and the ties between emigrants and their hometowns. His writing tends to take specific localities as case studies, using historical sources and local contexts to present the historical memory and present situation of qiaoxiang. The similar themes of the two works indicate sustained attention and accumulation in this field. Owing to the lack of further verifiable information, his writing style and scholarly influence are difficult to assess fully, and readers may learn more about his narrative approach and use of sources by consulting the books themselves.

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