Lasting until this day,Matsu culture has occupied its unique position in the long river of history with its endless vitality.The lengthy historical development of Matsu culture is accompanied by the immigration waves ...Lasting until this day,Matsu culture has occupied its unique position in the long river of history with its endless vitality.The lengthy historical development of Matsu culture is accompanied by the immigration waves of Chinese,and their awakening of awareness for modern country and ethnicity;and the 19th century is the period for Matsu believers in Nanyang to transit from a group with shared business,dialect,and geological position to an ethnicity group with shared culture identity.This article explores the dynamic transition of the boundary of Matsu believers in Nanyang Chinese society by analyzing a variety of materials,including memoirs written by missionaries of London Missionary Society who went to Nanyang for preaching in the early 19th century as well as periodicals they founded there,remains of inscriptions written in Chinese dating back from middle to late 19th century,and Nanyang newspapers and publications written in Chinese at the end of 19th century.It finds that during that process,the transition of Matsu worship is closely linked to the transition of Nanyang Chinese society and corresponds to the gradual formation of awareness of country and ethnicity among Nanyang Chinese.展开更多
文摘Lasting until this day,Matsu culture has occupied its unique position in the long river of history with its endless vitality.The lengthy historical development of Matsu culture is accompanied by the immigration waves of Chinese,and their awakening of awareness for modern country and ethnicity;and the 19th century is the period for Matsu believers in Nanyang to transit from a group with shared business,dialect,and geological position to an ethnicity group with shared culture identity.This article explores the dynamic transition of the boundary of Matsu believers in Nanyang Chinese society by analyzing a variety of materials,including memoirs written by missionaries of London Missionary Society who went to Nanyang for preaching in the early 19th century as well as periodicals they founded there,remains of inscriptions written in Chinese dating back from middle to late 19th century,and Nanyang newspapers and publications written in Chinese at the end of 19th century.It finds that during that process,the transition of Matsu worship is closely linked to the transition of Nanyang Chinese society and corresponds to the gradual formation of awareness of country and ethnicity among Nanyang Chinese.