Lucille Chia

This project considers the impact on Fujian in southeastern China of trade with and migration to the Spanish Philippines (sixteenth-eighteenth centuries). Earlier studies have examined the Sino-Philippine trade and the role of the Chinese in Philippine history but have not considered how this instance of the "Chinese diaspora" has affected the region from which the migration originated. Using sources mainly in Chinese and Spanish, this study examines both the local history of southern Fujian and this region's role in the early modern world economy. Patterns of Fujianese migration and sojourning in China and abroad, provide insight into the dynamics of migration and the nature of transnational ethnic identities.