HUI WANG | The Chinese University of Hong Kong (original) (raw)

Papers by HUI WANG

China Nonprofit Review, 2024

Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, folk charitable organizations, primarily represented as charit... more Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, folk charitable organizations, primarily represented as charity societies and halls, have played a crucial role in providing effective charitable relief. These institutions supplemented the government’s social welfare responsibilities, thereby contributing significantly to maintaining social order. Against the backdrop of evolving state-society dynamics, the emergence of Chaoshan charity halls, blending charitable endeavors with religious beliefs, gave rise to parallel trajectories domestically and internationally. This laid the foundation for a transnational network of Chaoshan charity halls. However, prevailing research often disregards the formative process influenced by local governments’ crackdown on reactionary secret societies, dismissing the worship of the Saint Dafeng as feudal superstition. Consequently, this dismissal led to a decline in benevolent hall activities. Hence, utilizing historical records and field trips to chart the transnational development of Chaoshan charity halls is crucial, focusing on stages such as inception, expansion, overseas propagation, crises, stagnation, and revival. This article revealed that charity halls exhibited significant attributes in charity, grassroots involvement, religiosity, and transnational connections within the sphere of social relief. In the evolving interplay between society and the state, this study suggests an aspiration to establish a constructive interactive relationship between them. These findings hold considerable significance for understanding the evolution of modern Chinese charitable endeavors and welfare organizations.
明清以降，以善会善堂为主要形态的民间慈善组织实施有效的慈善救济，与政府的社会福利职责形成功能互补，稳定社会秩序。在国家与社会强弱关系变化中，慈善与宗教信仰并重的潮汕善堂形成海内外并行的两条轨迹，构建了跨国的潮人善堂网络，但是目前多数研究忽略了形塑过程中地方政府取缔反动会道门活动，并将大峰祖师信仰视为封建迷信致使善堂活动沉寂的环节。因此，本文运用史料与田野调查梳理潮人善堂海内外并行的跨国网络形塑过程，关注形塑过程中发端、普及、海外流传、危机、沉寂及复兴等环节。研究发现，在社会救济公共领域，善堂通过应对危机的经验积累和海外华侨华人与侨乡联系的变化，呈现出显著的慈善性、民间性、宗教性与跨国性特征; 在社会与国家互补对立的动态演变中，社会与国家最终寻求建立一种良性的积极互动关系，这对研究中国近代慈善事业与福利组织发展有重要的启示意义。

WANG HUI, 2024

Empire Competition: Southeast Asia as A Site of Imperial Contestation, 2022

In order to survive and thrive, social organizations in occupied territories rely on the consent ... more In order to survive and thrive, social organizations in occupied territories rely on the consent and support of the ruling authorities. The establishment of Teochew charity halls in Singapore is part of the story of global Chinese migration. The development and growth of charity halls required the Teochew elites to step up and lead in both peaceful and wartimes. When the five charity halls came together to form the Blue Cross in wartime Singapore, they were adaptive enough to work with a hostile military state. The charity halls were useful to the Japanese for helping to stabilize key functions in society (providing for the dead, being a liaison to the Chinese community, providing food aid, etc.). In this process, it was extremely important for social elites to play an active role in community affairs. Organizing social organizations and activities that were recognized by the military could protect their public image, social and economic interests, and political status. The appearance of cooperation with the Japanese authorities turned out to be an effective protection for the local diaspora.

INDIAN JOURNAL OF ASIAN AFFAIRS, 2021

After the mid-nineteenth century, the opening of more trading ports along the coast of China acce... more After the mid-nineteenth century, the opening of more trading ports along the coast of China accelerated the wave of Chinese migration to Southeast Asia. Chinese migrants maintained close transnational ties with their hometowns through sending overseas remittances, performing rituals of ancestor worship, and practicing festival traditions. Among them, the circulation of photographs has received less attention within the scholarship of overseas Chinese history. This article examines the role of photographs among migrant families, contributing to the debates around transnationalism and Chinese Diaspora. It explores the question of how ordinary Chinese migrants, as non-state actors, practiced “emotional transnationalism” in a time of rapid change. The circulation of both family and personal photos, along with that of letters, information, and resources, reinforced the transnational ties of Chinese diasporas, exerting a long-lasting impact than financial transactions on the recipients. In particular, the circulation of photos not only showed a strong sense of loyalty to the migrants’ ancestral hometowns but also shaped the notion of identity and belonging of overseas Chinese in cross-cultural contexts.

THE THAMMASAT JOURNAL OF HISTORY , 2019

The interaction between immigrants and their hometowns embodies the circulation of capital and go... more The interaction between immigrants and their hometowns embodies the circulation of capital and goods, the emotional communication, and the connections in religious culture as well. In South China, the characteristics of the emigrant community gradually emerged and were consolidated with the rise and fall of different port after the mid-19th century. Since then, a large number of overseas immigrants, especially those who migrated to Southeast Asia, maintained close contact with their hometowns in South China. In 1949, after the victory of the Chinese Communist Party, the society of the emigrant community in South China, such as in Chaozhou area, experienced a different social transformation from the past, specifically the transformation of traditional culture. The linkage mechanism between immigrants and their hometowns also changed accordingly. After the reform and opening up in the 1980s, communist China adopted a proactive diplomatic policy toward overseas Chinese. In the local emigrant community, the activity of visiting the ancestral villages became more and more frequently with the donation to construct the infrastructure of those emigrant communities. It cannot be ignored that overseas Chinese had also reconstructed the cultural tradition that had been interrupted for more than 30 years. Taking Hougou village as an example, this article will explore the factors affecting the process of reviving tradition by overseas Chinese.

Social Transformations in Chinese Societies, 2018

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the Chaozhou-speaking communities in northeast Guangd... more The purpose of this paper is to explore how the Chaozhou-speaking communities in northeast Guangdong Province dealt with new barriers of border control during the 1950s, and how they circumvented these institutional obstacles to leave China for Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. The emigration process was reshaped by new social and political forces in Maoist China. How did the Chaoshan people apply for the travel permit to leave China? How did they enter the hosting countries? How did the emigration experience influence the identity formation of Chaoshan Chinese in the 1950s?