侨批投递:独特的“海上丝绸之路”——以海峡殖民地时期新加坡批局与汕头等地的往来为例

The Delivery of Remittances from Overseas Chinese:The Unique Maritime Silk Road—— A Case Study of Contacts Between Remittance Agencies in Singapore and ShantouDuring the Straits Settlements Period

"海上丝绸之路"是指我国古代以丝绸贸易为代表的海上对外经济贸易和文化交流路线。华人海外移民史与我国对外经济文化交流史几乎是同步的。华侨在侨居地站稳脚根后,因思念故乡、赡养家人之需,由华侨民间自发创建、形成了一条海上民间信息流、金融流、货物流、劳工流、亲情流、友情流——侨批投递,是一条独特的"海上丝绸之路"。该文以海峡殖民地时期在新加坡侨居的潮、闽、广、客、琼五帮人士创立的批局与汕头等地的往来为例,论述这条独特"海上丝绸之路"的形成、生存形态,以及维持长久运营的独特经营之道。

The Maritime Silk Road refers to the maritime route in ancient China on which foreign trade and cultural exchange was conducted, deriving its name from the key commodity traded on the route. The emi?gration of Chinese largely coincided with the establishment of China’s economic and cultural connections with the outside world. Having established a foothold in their respective places of residence, many overseas Chinese subsequently grew homesick and sought to support their families back home financially. Communities of over?seas Chinese quickly founded a network for the delivery of remittances, which facilitated the flow of informa?tion, finance, goods and labor, in addition to cementing ties of friendship and kinship. This in turn gave rise to the founding of the Maritime Silk Road, which was unique in many ways. This paper will first conduct a case study of the contacts between remittance agencies founded by the Teochew, Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka and Hainanese communities of Singapore during the Straits Settlement period and their respective hometowns in China, including Shantou. This will then be followed by a discussion of the founding and existence of the Mari?time Silk Road as well as its unique mode of operations which proved crucial to its continued existence.