Rebuilding The Ancestral Village

This work illustrates the relationship between one group of Singaporean Chinese and their ancestral village in Fujian, China. It explores the reasons why the Singaporean Chinese continue to maintain ties with their ancestral village and how they reproduce Chinese culture through ancestor worship and religion in the ancestral village. In some cases, the Singaporeans feel morally obliged to assist in village reconstruction and infrastructure developments such as new roads, bridges, schools and hospitals. Others help with small-scale industrial and retail activities. Meanwhile, officials and villagers in the ancestral home utilize various strategies to encourage the Singaporeans to revisit their ancestral village, sustain heritage ties, and help enhance the moral economy. This ethnographic study examines two geographically distinct groups of Chinese coming together to re-establish their lineage and identity through cultural and economic activities

This title was first published in 2000: This is a discussion of the relationship between one group of Singapore Chinese and their ancestral village in Fujian in China. It explores the various reasons why the Singapore Chinese continue to want to maintain ties with their ancestral village and how they go about reproducing Chinese culture (in the form of ancestor worship and religion) in the village milieu in China. It further explores the reasons why the Singapore Chinese feel morally obliged to assist their ancestral village in village reconstruction (providing financial contributions to infrastructure development such as the buildings of roads, bridges, schools, hospitals) and to help with small scale industrial and retail activities. Related to this is how the village cadres and teenagers, through various strategies, managed to encourage the Singapore Chinese to revisit their ancestral village and help with village reconstruction, thereby creating a moral economy. The main argument here concerns the desire of the Singapore Chinese to maintain a cultural identity and lineage continuity with their ancestral home. Ethnographically, this anthropological study examines two groups of Chinese separated by historical and geographical space, and their coming together to re-establish their cultural identity through various cultural and economic activities. At the theoretical level, it seeks to add a new dimension to the study of Chinese transnationalism and diaspora studies.

This title was first published in 2000: This is a discussion of the relationship between one group of Singapore Chinese and their ancestral village in Fujian in China. It explores the various reasons why the Singapore Chinese continue to want to maintain ties with their ancestral village and how they go about reproducing Chinese culture (in the form of ancestor worship and religion) in the village milieu in China. It further explores the reasons why the Singapore Chinese feel morally obliged to assist their ancestral village in village reconstruction (providing financial contributions to infrastructure development such as the buildings of roads, bridges, schools, hospitals) and to help with small scale industrial and retail activities. Related to this is how the village cadres and teenagers, through various strategies, managed to encourage the Singapore Chinese to revisit their ancestral village and help with village reconstruction, thereby creating a moral economy. The main argument here concerns the desire of the Singapore Chinese to maintain a cultural identity and lineage continuity with their ancestral home. Ethnographically, this anthropological study examines two groups of Chinese separated by historical and geographical space, and their coming together to re-establish their cultural identity through various cultural and economic activities. At the theoretical level, it seeks to add a new dimension to the study of Chinese transnationalism and diaspora studies.

Originally published in 2000, this second edition was first published in 2010. This is a discussion of the relationship between one group of Singapore Chinese and their ancestral village in Fujian in China. It explores the various reasons why the Singapore Chinese continue to want to maintain ties with their ancestral village and how they go about reproducing Chinese culture (in the form of ancestor worship and religion) in the village milieu in China. It further explores the reasons why the Singapore Chinese feel morally obliged to assist their ancestral village in village reconstruction (providing financial contributions to infrastructure development such as the buildings of roads, bridges, schools, hospitals) and to help with small scale industrial and retail activities. Related to this is how the village cadres and teenagers, through various strategies, managed to encourage the Singapore Chinese to revisit their ancestral village and help with village reconstruction, thereby creating a moral economy. The main argument here concerns the desire of the Singapore Chinese to maintain a cultural identity and lineage continuity with their ancestral home. Ethnographically, this anthropological study examines two groups of Chinese separated by historical and geographical space, and their coming together to re-establish their cultural identity through various cultural and economic activities. At the theoretical level, it seeks to add a new dimension to the study of Chinese transnationalism and diaspora studies.

Kuah explores the centrality of ancestors and ancestor worship of the Chinese in the Diaspora Chinese and China universes. Building on the original work and book on “Rebuilding the Ancestral Village: Singaporeans in China”, this book goes beyond the premise of remaking the ancestral home. Ancestor worship and the ancestors, together with selected cultural practices, constitute an important aspect of the broad Chinese culture shared by these two groups of Chinese and leads to the making of a collaborative cultural basin. This book takes the audience on an ancestor worship journey to uncover the complexity of ancestors and ancestral souls crossing transnational spaces, their choices of ancestral soul homes, the significance of the lineage ancestral house and the engagement of women through food offering contesting patriarchy. It also explores the increasing role of the Mainland Chinese state in appropriating ancestor and ancestor worship as a cultural icon and during the Qingming festival as a socio-moral capital and cultural bridge to foster closer ties with the Diaspora Chinese in its attempt to bring them into its “Chinese civilizational polity”. The book also takes the audience on a photographic journey to visually experience the various rituals and the vibrancy of the ritual performances conducted during the different stage from pre-communal to communal ancestor worship. An essential read for scholars of Chinese society and religion, Chinese migration and diaspora studies.

Kuah explores the centrality of ancestors and ancestor worship of the Chinese in the Diaspora Chinese and China universes. Building on the original work and book on "Rebuilding the Ancestral Village: Singaporeans in China", this book goes beyond the premise of remaking the ancestral home. Ancestor worship and the ancestors, together with selected cultural practices, constitute an important aspect of the broad Chinese culture shared by these two groups of Chinese and leads to the making of a collaborative cultural basin. This book takes the audience on an ancestor worship journey to uncover the complexity of ancestors and ancestral souls crossing transnational spaces, their choices of ancestral soul homes, the significance of the lineage ancestral house and the engagement of women through food offering contesting patriarchy. It also explores the increasing role of the Mainland Chinese state in appropriating ancestor and ancestor worship as a cultural icon and during the Qingming festival as a socio-moral capital and cultural bridge to foster closer ties with the Diaspora Chinese in its attempt to bring them into its "Chinese civilizational polity". The book also takes the audience on a photographic journey to visually experience the various rituals and the vibrancy of the ritual performances conducted during the different stage from pre-communal to communal ancestor worship. An essential read for scholars of Chinese society and religion, Chinese migration and diaspora studies.

"the book is of greatest benefit to students of quantum mechanics who want to learn more than solely computational recipes and predictive tools of the theory, and, in this sense, the book really fills a gap in the literature".Mathematical Reviews, 1999