During the Song and Yuan dynasties, with the prosperity of the Maritime Silk Road and the progress of navigation technology, the ancient Chinese gradually began to go overseas. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He's campaign to go to the West organized by the Ming Empire made the Chinese stride towards the sea. Unfortunately, because the Ming Dynasty later implemented the maritime ban policy, Zheng He's campaign to the West came to an abrupt end, and the Chinese took the initiative to abandon the sea.
In 1492, the Spanish navigator Christopher Columbus led three ships to the Caribbean Sea, and since then the world has entered the Age of Discovery, and the West has begun to become the protagonist of the world stage, and in the mid-to-late 16th century, the tentacles of colonization have been extended to the South Seas (now Southeast Asia). At the same time, due to the superposition of political corruption, frequent natural disasters, constant wars, and the entry of the Manchu Qing Dynasty into the customs in the late Ming Dynasty, a large number of Han people on the southeast coast fled to Nanyang for refuge, setting off the first small upsurge of Chinese emigration overseas.
The Chinese at that time mastered technology no less than that of the West, and at the beginning of the tight organization, they quickly gained a foothold in Nanyang and even established a regime (Republic of Lanfang). The arrival of a large number of Chinese also caused fear among the imperialist countries of Spain and the Netherlands that colonized the South Seas, and they began to suppress and even ** overseas Chinese. In 1662, the national hero Zheng Chenggong recovered Taiwan, which was occupied by the Dutch, and in the same year, Spain rampantly attacked the Chinese in Manila. When Zheng Chenggong heard the news, he was furious and planned to organize an expeditionary force to attack Manila as punishment. Just when Spain was in a panic, Zheng Chenggong died of illness, and his plan to attack Manila was aborted.
It can be seen that the history of overseas Chinese immigration at that time was also a history of blood and tears, and the Chinese in a difficult environment, with their own diligence and intelligence, opened up a rich homeland in Nanyang.
In the late 19th century, because of the invasion of the Western powers and the decay and decline of the Qing Dynasty, the population growth, the southeast coastal provinces of Guangdong, Fujian and other provinces, once again set off the climax of "going to the South Seas", this round of immigration to the South Seas is also the largest one, according to incomplete statistics, the total number of more than 10 million of these Chinese came to the South Seas, hard work, hard work, and soon gained a foothold in the South Seas. These immigrants who went to Nanyang are the poorest in China, but their hearts are still full of yearning for China, although they are in Nanyang, their hearts always belong to China.
In the great cause of the revolutionary party to overthrow the Qing court in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, the immigrants who went to Nanyang generously donated money to support the revolutionary party, so that the revolutionary party had sufficient funds and military resources, and made a major contribution to the overthrow of the Qing court. Mr. Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the revolution, once spoke highly of the contributions of overseas Chinese, calling them "the mother of revolution".
During the Anti-Japanese War, overseas Chinese, especially Nanyang Chinese, destroyed their families to support the Anti-Japanese War, such as the famous Mr. Tan Kah Kee is a typical representative. At that time, there was a shortage of car drivers in the country, so the Nanyang Chinese spontaneously organized the "Nanyang Machinery Troupe" to support the anti-Japanese war, among which martyrs for the country abounded. In particular, at that time, China was extremely short of pilots, and many high-quality Nanyang Chinese joined the Chinese Air Force in large numbers, adding fresh blood to the weak Chinese Air Force.
After hundreds of years of development, the Chinese have become a major force in Nanyang. According to incomplete statistics, about 10 million of Indonesia's 200 million people are Chinese. Malaysia has a population of 25 million and about 6 million Chinese. Thailand has a population of 65 million, of which about 20 million are Chinese, accounting for nearly one-thirdSingapore has a population of 5 million, of which about 75% are Chinese, making it the country with the highest proportion of overseas Chinese in the total population of the host country.It is precisely because of these huge Chinese groups that Southeast Asia has become the "back garden" of China.