ABSTRACT
The end of the Cold War and the opening up of China had made it possible to do transnational multi-site research. Whereas the study of qiaoxiang inevitably deals with the roles of Chinese from outside China, most studies actually focus on particular sites in China without doing much research on the “overseas” Chinese who are actors in the link with qiaoxiang, although Kuah (2000) may be considered an exception. This chapter describes Ye-surnamed Chinese Malaysians whose ancestral homeland is in Nan’an County in Fujian, and more specifically in the village of Shetan in Shishan Township. Their links with and contribution to their ancestral homeland are examined. The chapter seeks to show the role of kin and the nature of the links with qiaoxiang ties. In particular, the nature of the Malaysian Ye communities comprising China-born and localborn people is described.
