The Teochew Store Blog / family

The social life of a Teochew centres around his/her extended family. This is something many of us living in big modern cities can be unused to.

One of our greatest fears is to be "ambushed" by a group of uncles or aunts whom we have not seen for a while, and being caught tongue-tied not remembering how to address them. But fret not. Getting the correct address for almost any relative can be real simple (yes!!!), if we keep by these ten basic rules....

By anecdotal accounts Teochew women are highly desired in China as ideal marriage partners. They are reputed for being gentle in character, imbued with strong family values and capable in managing the household. This is statistically supported by divorce rate of around 2 percent in Swatow in recent years, which is lower than most parts of the country and certainly a mere fraction of figures in Western societies. But what shapes the fine Teochew woman? Insights into letters written over a half a century ago by the Teochew husbands working abroad to home are instructive.

时逢冬至，毕业寻工作未果的阿浩回到家乡，父亲仍对阿浩高考报读摄影专业心存芥蒂，想要在家乡开照相馆的想法遭到父亲的反对。朋友相聚也显生分。母亲的碎语唠叨，父亲的隐忍关爱，阿浩在归家与离家间惆怅迷惘。短短数日，阿浩游走故乡，每个人都在用自己的方式诠释着生活的滋味，阿浩终在浓浓的山水人情中体会到了父亲多年来默默无闻的甘苦。离家那日，父亲送阿浩去车站，阿浩望着父亲渐渐远去的背影，思绪再次萦绕心头…

Since The Teochew Store was formed, we have received numerous requests for help from fellow Gaginangs to locate their ancestral village. Depending on the leads provided, we were able to assist many, but for others it is more difficult because some places have been renamed or now fall behind a different boundary line, other communities are unlisted on maps or the internet, or even when a place is found, there remains uncertainty if its residents have the same surname.

Fortunately the Shantou University (STU) Library has built a khieu-phue database (僑批數據庫) allowing keyword search for meta-data of some 70,000 pieces of khieu-phue (or "migrants letters", which were correspondences sent together with money remittances by Teochews living in Southeast Asia to their homes in Teochew), receipts and return letters. The site URL is  http://app.lib.stu.edu.cn/qiaopi/index.aspx.

"... the true value of the Teochew Letters can only be unlocked by the people they are addressed to. Individually, every set of letters tell the stories and struggles of a family in a moment of history. But put together, all of them express the purpose and meaning of life to every common man - to seek the betterment of life for the ones who love us, and to pass this dream to the children after us."

No storefront, but only a handcart, two gas cylinders, eight wooden tables and some plastic chairs. That’s all  they have to earn a living.

The owner of all these “treasures” is an old couple, 60-year-old Chen Shilong, and his 56-year-old wife Zheng Zhu. They sell rice noodles at a road intersection, opposite the Zhongshan Park in Jinping District in Shantou.

The couple came to Shantou with their children 20 years ago from the countryside of Jieyang...

Ever thought that you will be able to travel back to the 1940s to experience the village life in Teochew your parents or grandparents left behind? Or fancied reading a novel written in Teochew? These are now possible, thanks to the Teochew Culture Club (潮汕文化協進會). Since earlier this year the group formed by enthusiasts of the Teochew language in Hong Kong has been producing a series of audio-readings of 《作田人瑣事》 (“Trivia Tales of the Peasants”), a novel written by a Teochew, about Teochew and uniquely in Teochew.

A film about a man discovering the inner secrets in father's heart as his old watch repair shop faces eviction. Language: Teochew, with Chinese and English subtitles

For some of us, childhood came with the blessing of having grandma singing us to sleep with one or two soothing tunes in Teochew. But even if you were not so fortunate, you'd probably still have come across on social media an all-time favourite Teochew lullaby "Ong ah ong, ong kin kong" (唪啊唪 唪金公).

You have not? Don't worry, there are several versions circulating on YouTube to make sure you don't miss out..

“Yeo Bhue Eng"《杨梅英》is a film about the life of a former Teochew opera adolescent actress who performed by the same name (real name Ang Hui Eng 洪惠英). Sold to an opera troupe at the age of 7, she became famous by 15 and was married to a man she loved five years later. However when she was 37, her husband became a victim of the Cultural Revolution and she was left to bring up their five children alone.

A story centred on the understanding, communications, contradictons and love between the father and son of an ordinary Teochew family. 
公益微电影《父仔》，主要讲述一个普通家庭中父亲与­儿子之间的理解、沟通、矛盾、亲情等一系列问题。影片对白以潮语和普通话为主。

I was born in Teochew (Chaozhou city). My paternal grandfather and grandmother died early. Ever since my first awareness of things around me, my parents never stopped emphasising in my education at home to “always be filial”...

我出生在潮州，爷爷奶奶早逝，从自己初晓世事起，在家里接受教育过程中，父母不断地嘱咐自己“要行孝”，因为“百善孝为先”。

This is a story written specially in traditional Teochew text and read in Teochew by Ben Choi from Hong Kong.

An article by Elizabeth Koh, a gaginang from Singapore: 

From as far back as I can recall, before I could speak or understand the dialect, my childhood was one filled with the sounds and syntax of Teochew. My lullaby was a pentatonic Teochew tune sang by my maternal grandmother...

Tea Language《茶语》, a song of a Teochew working abroad reminiscing about family conversations at home. 

Ah Ma 阿嬷, a song for one of the most important persons in many of our lives.