Teochew Letters (Chinese: 潮汕僑批; pinyin: Chaoshan Qiaopi) were a form of family correspondence combined with remittance, sent by Teochew immigrants in Southeast Asia (particularly Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia) as well as Hong Kong, to their families in the Teochew region (now known as Chaoshan in Mandarin), in eastern Guangdong Province, China.[1]
These letters were sent from the early 19th century till the 20th century. They were initially delivered by men known as zui-kheh (水客) literally "Water Traveller", who travelled frequently between Southeast Asia and the Teochew region for business. Towards the end of the 19th century, delivery of the Teochew Letters became a full-fledged industry, known as the Qiaopi industry (侨批业). Qiaopi agencies in Southeast Asia collected the letters and remittances from the migrant workers and sent them to their corresponding partner in Swatow. The agencies in Swatow then distributed the letters to local agencies located in the counties and villages of the Teochew region. The men employed to hand-deliver the letters and money to the families were known as phoe-kha (批脚), literally the "Feet of the Letters". The Qiaopi industry ended in 1979 when the government in China ordered its functions to be transferred to Bank of China.[1]
Family correspondence combined with remittance was not unique to the Teochews. Other groups of overseas Chinese, including the Hokkien, the Cantonese and the Hakka, also used this method to communicate with their families. The Qiaopi agencies of the different groups served only their own community circle and their services did not overlap. An estimate of 170,000 Qiaopi letters have been collected by researchers and private collectors. The majority are Teochew Letters. The Museum of Overseas Remittance Mail Relics, based in Swatow, has a collection of 120,000 Teochew Letters, consisting of both originals and copies.[2]
The Teochew Letters has immense historical value. It is an archive of the cultural and collective historical experiences of the Teochew people. Its contents reflect society at all levels, touching on international relations, national issues, and details of daily life important to families. As such, the information they contain bear intrinsic value for further research, as they are able to authenticate and supplement contemporary written history.
TeochewLetters (Chinese: 潮汕僑批; pinyin: Chaoshan Qiaopi) were a form of family correspondence combined with remittance, sent by Teochew immigrants in...
New Zealand, Indonesia, and other countries and coastal areas. The TeochewLetters, which have been admitted into the Asia/Pacific Regional Memory of...
Provincial Education Department in 1960 for transliterating Cantonese, Teochew, Hakka and Hainanese. The schemes utilized similar elements with some differences...
Cantonese, Malay, and Tamil, and sometimes other Chinese languages like Teochew, Hainanese, Hakka, Hockchew, and Mandarin. For example, pek chek means...
rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols. Teochew Romanization, also known as Swatow Church Romanization, or locally as Pe̍h-ūe-jī...
Kuih (Indonesian: kue; derived from the Hokkien and Teochew kueh – 粿) are bite-sized snack or dessert foods commonly found in Southeast Asia and China...
their ancestry to Chaoshan. This is evidenced by the prevalence of the Teochew dialect among the Chinese community in Thailand as well as other Chinese...
Hokkien is influenced to a certain degree by Teochew, and is sometimes regarded as a combined Hokkien–Teochew speech. In addition, it has many loanwords...
in Singapore: Hokkien, Teochew, and Cantonese. In accordance to the Regulation of Phonetic Transcription in Hanyu Pinyin Letters of Place Names in Minority...
after Teochew, Hakka and Hainanese. Nevertheless, within the Thai Chinese commercial sector, it serves as a common language alongside Teochew or Thai...
for the distinct Teochew variety. Foochow Romanized Kienning Colloquial Romanized Romanization (or, more generally, Roman letters) is called "rōmaji"...
and Indonesia, some also occasionally write Hokkien and/or Teochew using Latin letters via ad-hoc means using the writer's knowledge of the local mainstream...
Singapore are Hokkien (Min Nan speakers), and a lesser number Teochew. Hokkien and Teochew share many phonemes to the point that they are mutually intelligible...
goose may be served with plum sauce.[citation needed] In Teochew's Singaporean community, Teochew braised goose is a traditional dish; typical braising ingredients...
Buri; simplified Chinese: 郑昭; traditional Chinese: 鄭昭; pinyin: Zhèng Zhāo; Teochew: Dên Chao; 17 April 1734 – 7 April 1782) was the only king of the Thonburi...
function, style, and means of writing characters have evolved greatly. Unlike letters in alphabets that reflect the sounds of speech, Chinese characters generally...
South-east Asia (such as Singaporean Hokkien), but also to a degree with the Teochew variant of Southern Min spoken in Eastern Guangdong, China. It is, however...
Wenzhounese Gan Xiang Min, including Fuzhounese, Hainanese, Hokkien and Teochew Hakka Yue, including Cantonese and Taishanese The classification of Li...
English letters in advanced mathematics. In Li’s system, the first ten letters (a-j) are represented by the heavenly stems, the next twelve letters (k-v)...
would cancel postage with a stamp that gave the city of origin in Latin letters, often romanized using Giles's system. In 1896, the Customs Post was combined...
Global Information