Gifts to the Sad Country: Essays on the Chinese Diaspora [Hardcover]

This book is a study of an ethnic-Chinese family in Malaysia as it struggled with the upheavals in China during the Land Reform (1945-1953) and the Great Leap Forward (1958-1962). Based on fieldwork in Malaysia and in a village in Dabu County, Southern China, it tells a story of a family whose existence straddled two nations, two political systems. Emigration is shown to be both a positive experience and a source of despair. The study redefines the conventional narrative about the Chinese diaspora as economically driven and politically expedient; mobility, personal freedom and transnational journeying were a part of their cultural history. The book highlights the fact that Chinese homeland, even under communist rule, offered the people a means of identification under difficult circumstances. During the time of radical reform, the diaspora adapted themselves to the conditions in the homeland, and for some China remained a place of longing and emotional attachment.

1. Moving Story.- 2. Revolution Comes to Zhang Chun Village.- 3. The Postman.- 4. Grandfathers Two Households.- 5. Things That Bind.- 6. My Sisters Grave.- 7. Homebound.- 8. Revolutionary Romance.- 9. Soft Trauma.

“Gifts to the Sad Country is a pioneering work in dealing with the complexities of historical narratives. The autobiographical style of writing makes it an engaging and personalised account. … this book provides an in-depth analysis of Chinese diaspora with particular emphasis on lived experiences.” (Chandni Sengupta, Diaspora Studies, Vol. 18 (3), July, 2025)

Souchou Yao is a writer and a former staff member of the Department of Anthropology, the University of Sydney, Australia. Among his publications are Singapore: The State and the culture of excess (2007), The Malayan Emergency: Essays on l³,