Chinese Among Others: A History of Modern Chinese Migration

With a sweeping historical vision and grand narrative, Chinese Among Others: The History of Chinese Migration in the Modern Era places five hundred years of Chinese migration around the world within the broader framework of the changing world order of the same period. The result is a compelling account that offers profound insights.

More importantly, building on its vivid panorama of five centuries of global Chinese migration, Professor Kong convincingly argues that the history of overseas Chinese is an integral part of Chinese history and an indispensable component of its study. In doing so, the book takes the study of overseas Chinese to a new level.

From colonial rulers to subjugated subjects, from ruling groups wielding power in newly independent nation-states to intellectual elites brimming with nationalist fervor, and from imperious tycoons to ordinary people struggling to support their families, the relationships between “Chinese” and the surrounding “others” have been complex and intertwined.

As outsiders, overseas Chinese have had to understand and get to know the “other” in order to live alongside them. The latter, in turn, have constantly scrutinized these newcomers from afar: Are they new friends with whom they can coexist peacefully and pursue common development, or are they a suspicious alien presence? Do they bring new benefits and opportunities, or are they potential troublemakers, perhaps even sworn enemies? Over the course of centuries, migrants and local people have been “others” to one another. They have shared understanding and mutual dependence, but also faced competition and conflict.

In Chinese Among Others: The History of Chinese Migration in the Modern Era, Professor Kong once again demonstrates the social-psychological method of analysis he skillfully employed in Soulstealers, examining in detail the “others” among whom Chinese migrants have lived.