The Teochew Store Blog / Swatow

Teochew through the eyes of its visitors: Adele M. Fielde's "Woman in China"

8th March is International Women’s Day. On this special day, we share Adele M. Fielde’s insightful observations, as an American Baptist Christian missionary, on the lives of women in Teochew 145 years ago. It is to the sacrifices of many of these women whom we owe what we have today.

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Denis Do: Creating a bridge for all Teochew communities in the world

The Forest of Miss Tang (陳小姐的森林) is a 40-minute Teochew language animation film produced in France. It tells the story of a Teochew family over six generations in Swatow, China, asking the question, to leave or to stay? The Forest of Miss Tang is the first Teochew language film to be produced in the West. It was broadcast on ARTE channel in Europe on 10 June 2023 and it has since been screened in a number of film festivals around the world.

The Teochew Store managed to speak with the film's director Denis Do, a Paris-born Teochew, to find out more about his feelings towards the Teochew identity and the creation of his film.

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Remembering the 1922 Swatow Typhoon 百年善纪——纪念潮汕八二风灾100周年

Watch 《百年善纪——纪念潮汕八二风灾100周年》, a four-part documentary produced by Shantou Television to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1922 Swatow Typhoon. 

Commentary in Mandarin, with interviews in Teochew and Chinese subtitles.

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Swatow Typhoon of 1922

“When the tidal wave came, the most vulnerable died tragically: some parents who carried several children were forced to let go the daughters to save themselves from drowning. Some mothers carried the babies with them and floated in the water, but the husbands took away the babies in order to save their wives. Some elderly parents could not swim and their sons did not abandon them, and they were all drowned. Some parents could not hold too many children together and they griped the children’s hair and little arms, but when they reached the high grounds, the younger ones had already died. Some elderly parents did not want to burden their adult children and they drowned themselves in order to save the family line. There were couples tied themselves together with strings but they were drowned. After the disaster, some people could not bear the deaths of their loved ones and they committed suicide.”

~ Chen Yuan (陳沅), magistrate of Jaopeng county

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Wa Si Teochew Kia – My First 120 Teochew Expressions: Kickstarter Campaign Update 5

《我是潮州囝——精选一百二十潮语词语》早教图卡的筹款活动将在2022年8月15日结束,请大家继续支持我们实现目标,助力潮州话在家中的复兴! 请点击这里,了解这个项目。

Our Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for Wa Si Teochew Kia—My First 120 Teochew Expressions multimedia flashcards runs till 15th August 2022. Continue to lend us your support today to reach our goal and fulfill our dream of Restoring Teochew to Our Families.  Please click here to learn more about our project.                         

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Ah Ma's Hair Bun 阿嫲的头鬃

Did your Ah-ma wear a hair bun like the grandmother character in our Wa Si Teochew Kia—My First 120 Teochew Expressions flashcards?

你记忆中的阿嫲是不是梳着《我是潮州囝——精选一百二十潮语词语》早教图卡中的“亞媽”(潮语:奶奶)一样的发髻?

Until about a couple of generations ago, all married Teochew women did so as a sign of their marital status. Learn more about this tradition that is at least 800 years old!

大约两代人以前,这种发髻是已婚潮州女子的标志和象征。请一起来发现这至少流行了八百多年的潮州“拍鬃”传统!

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Old Book on the Shelf: Elementary Lessons in the Swatow Dialect with a Vocabulary referring to Dr Douglas' Dictionary of the Amoy Vernacular

This book is a rare find, and a very useful one too.

Elementary Lessons in the Swatow Dialect [i.e. Teochew] is an unpublished reprint of Herbert Allen Giles’ Handbook of the Swatow Dialect, done by “J.C.G.” for private use in Swatow in 1881.

The book mainly teaches English speakers how to speak essential Teochew simple phrases and sentences.

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Old Book on the Shelf: Primary Lessons in Swatow Grammar (Colloquial)

A PDF copy of Primary Lessons in Swatow Grammar (Colloquial) is now available for free download on our online store.

Primary Lessons in Swatow Grammar was published by American Baptist missionary Rev William Ashmore in Swatow in 1884, despite suffering partial loss of sight for a prolonged period because of ophthalmia. He accomplished this with the assistance of Rev. William Duffus of the English Presbyterian Mission, who had charge of a small press. 

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Teochews in America

Today's Teochew presence in the United States was largely established after a wave of migration in the 1970s and 1980s. However, do you know that historical shipping records show that about 40,000 coolies were shipped from Swatow to the country between 1852 to 1858, and some of them might have formed their own fishing settlements on the West Coast? Learn about this and various stories of success achieved by the Teochews in America in this documentary produced by Shantou Television 22 years ago. 

二十世紀七、八十年代的一波移民潮形成了今日的美國潮人社群。其實船運記錄顯示,在一八五二年和一八五八年之間有大概四萬民“豬仔”從汕頭港被運到美國,而且他們有可能在美國西岸形成了自己的漁村。定居美國的潮人如何在這片大陸上成功立足?請看看這部由汕頭電視台在2000年攝製的記錄片,《美國潮人》。

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Canada - An Unlikely Teochew Gathering Point

Escaping Cambodia with five children in the 1970s, a Teochew couple were cruelly separated on the Thailand border. Yet they were miraculously reunited in Canada five years later and after much hard work, eventually came to own a supermarket. Notwithstanding its great distance from Asia, Canada is a gathering point for Teochews who resettled from Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong and China. Let’s watch this video where several of them share their stories and aspirations.

一對潮州夫妻在上世紀七十年代離開柬埔寨逃往泰國,在邊境走散,不知生死。五年後,他們奇蹟地在加拿大團聚。為了生活,他們刻苦耐勞,最終成功經營自己的超市。在離亞洲數千里的加拿大是許多來自越南、柬埔寨、香港和中國潮人移民的集中地。在這片土地上,他們與我們一起分享自己的故事和夢想。

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11 Maps of Teochew region dated 1949

The following 11 maps of the Teochew region and its counties are taken from the covers from the Volume Four issues of Teochew Home News (《潮州鄉訊》) magazine that were published between February and August 1949.

Map of all counties in Teochew 潮州各縣圖

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Basic Teochew Vocabulary Flashcard Video Series (Part III)

Here’s the third and final group of our flashcard videos for English speakers. Teochew audio taken from 汕頭話音檔》 ("Archive of the Swatow vernacular").

We wish to hear from you if you find such a learning method (video flashcard with picture + English/Chinese text + English/Teochew audio) useful. Do give us your feedback in the YouTube video comments. 

The Teochew Store has newly opened a Telegram channel. Subscribe to get our latest updates: https://t.me/theteochewstore
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Basic Teochew Vocabulary Flashcard Video Series (Part II)

Here’s the second group of our flashcard videos for English speakers. Teochew audio taken from 汕頭話音檔》 ("Archive of the Swatow vernacular").


We wish to hear from you if you find such a learning method (video flashcard with picture + English/Chinese text + English/Teochew audio) useful. Do give us your feedback in the YouTube video comments. 

The Teochew Store has newly opened a Telegram channel. Subscribe to get our latest updates: https://t.me/theteochewstore
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Basic Teochew Vocabulary Flashcard Video Series

The Teochew Store has produced a series of flashcard videos for English speakers to pick up some basic Teochew vocabulary. The Teochew audio is taken from a late 1990s source 《汕頭話音檔》 ("Archive of the Swatow vernacular").

There is a total of 15 videos, 5 of which have been uploaded on our YouTube channel (shown below). The other videos will be uploaded progressively over the next two weeks.

We wish to hear from you if you find such a learning method (video flashcard with picture + English/Chinese text + English/Teochew audio) useful. Do give us your feedback in the YouTube video comments. 🙂

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Teochew Vernacular Expressions 潮州方言”土話“

Teochew is a language full of rich expressions. How many of the Teochew vernacular terms (土話) in this video do you know?

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Learn Diosua Ue with Juyee 和如意學潮汕話

A fellow Teochew in the UK is running a blog, Learn Diosua Ue with Juyee 和如意學潮汕話, since 2013 to help English speakers learn and appreciate our mother tongue. Her name, you guessed it, is Juyee 如意.

Juyee's blog is at learnteochewwithjuyee.blogspot.com

Juyee grew up speaking English and picked up Teochew, both speaking, reading, writing only as an adult. The Teochew Store recently spoke with her to find out more about her blog and her personal experiences in becoming fluent in our language, a formidable task for many of us!

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Let's Test Your Teochew (6) 來!來!考考你的潮州話 (六)

How did you fare in the previous rounds? This is the 6th and final challenge!



 

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Let's Test Your Teochew (5) 來!來!考考你的潮州話 (五)

Are you getting better at this?

 

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International Women's Day: "My Teochew Mother" 我的潮汕妈妈 short film

Today is International Women's Day. This film featuring a day in the life of a devoted Teochew mother is dedicated to all the wondrous women in our big family. (dialogue in Teochew with Chinese subtitles). 💗
今天是三八國際婦女節。潮州姿娘歷來賢良淑德,勤儉持家,謹以此片獻給特別的你們。
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1987 Teochew Musical Movie - Sounds of Teochew 《潮人鄉音》

Have you ever watched a Teochew musical movie? Check out this rare classic that showcases a variety of Teochew art forms, including cross talk (相聲), bamboo clapper singing (竹板歌), Teochew classical music (潮州音樂), Teochew opera (潮劇),  Teochew narrative songbooks (潮州歌冊), ballads (歌謠), etc.

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Teochew for English Speakers – a Grandfather’s Effort to Pass on Our Language Heritage

Meet Mr Tan Peng Boon, a 78-year-old grandfather in Singapore. He is a Teochew and nine years ago he created a website with the goal of enabling English-speakers to pick up the Teochew language. Remarkably, the retiree took upon himself to learn how to build a website in order to realise this.

The Teochew Store recently spoke with Mr Tan to find out the story behind his passion to keep alive his Teochew heritage and his “Teochew for English Speakers” website.

“Teochew for English Speakers” can be accessed from http://gateways.sg/~TeochewEnglish/index.asp.

Video of Mr. Tan's grandsons doing a lively recitation of Teochew nursery rhyme “A Pear Tree on the Hilltop”):

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5 Teochew Songs to Start Your Day 五首開啟新一天的潮語歌

How about kicking off the first week of the New Year with 5 Teochew songs to start your day? 😃

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Teochew Home News - A Publication of Our Own

Goh Yee Siang (吳以湘) was born in 1912 in Nio-ior village, Sou-uang town, Thenghai County (澄海縣蘇灣都蓮陽鄉) (now Nio-zie town, Thenghai district, Swatow city [汕頭市澄海區蓮上鎮]). He was the editor-in-chief of a well-known publication Teochew Home News (潮州鄉訊) that was founded in Singapore in the late 1940s.
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吳以湘與《潮州鄉訊》

吳以湘,一九一二年出生於澄海縣蘇灣都蓮陽鄉(今屬汕頭市澄海區蓮上鎮),為上世紀四十年代末創刊於新加坡的一份著名刊物《潮州鄉訊》的主編。

生長在「五四運動」時期的吳以湘,在「新文化運動」的熏陶下,少年時期就已經喜愛閱讀書報,對文學有濃厚的興趣也奠下深厚的文史根基。他南來新加坡後,曾到中正中學總校當老師教導國文(即華文)和史地等科目。吳以湘秉着一種讓僑胞通過家鄉事物,維繫鄉情的熱忱,用課餘時間辦起《潮州鄉訊》雙週刊。一九四七年八月,由他領導的編委會在新加坡小坡美芝路一七三號成立了「馬來亞潮州鄉訊社」,並交由當年的南洋印刷社承印,以每冊叻幣四角錢的售價,在南洋各埠的書局以及報社出售。
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New Teochew self-learning course: Spoken Dioziu 潮州話口語 (audio with English and written Teochew subtitles)

Spoken Diozu 《潮州話口語》is a step up from our popular Conversational Teochew In A Month 《潮州話一月通》 self-learning course. The audio and subtitles (in English and Teochew) materials are adapted from the original publication of the same title (1989) edited by 林伦伦 and 黄章恺.

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Brief Review – Primary Lessons in Swatow Grammar (Colloquial)

 
Read our brief review on Primary Lessons in Swatow Grammar (Colloquial), a Teochew grammar guide published in Swatow in 1884 by an American Baptist missionary. Rev. William Ashmore. Out of print for many decades, Primary Lessons in Swatow Grammar (Colloquial) is now selling on Lulu.com.
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The First Teochews in Singapore: Part 2 - Proof of Teochew Settlement in Singapore Before Raffles

2019 is officially the bicentennial year of Singapore. In part two of "The First Teochews in Singapore", we look into the evidences proving a Teochew oral tradition identifying a group of Chinese settled in Singapore before British establishment, as Teochew sojourners from Siam (Thailand), and how an old map of Singapore rediscovered in Scotland pinpoints where they lived by the Singapore River.

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The First Teochews in Singapore: Part 1 - An Old Teochew Account on the 1819 Founding of Singapore

2019 is officially the bicentennial year of Singapore, a former British colony and today one of Asia's wealthiest cities.

The island-state is also home to the second largest Teochew overseas diaspora, after Thailand, and up till the mid-20th century a critical node on a trading and migratory network that connected the principal Teochew port of Swatow with key trading centres such as Hong Kong, Saigon and Bangkok. Teochews from Singapore were responsible for the early economic development of Johor, Malaysia's southernmost state whose capital Johor Bahru was once known as "Little Swatow". 

What has long been forgotten is that more than half a century ago, the Teochews in Singapore held to an oral tradition claiming that their forerunners were settled in Singapore before Sir Stamford Raffles, the Englishman hailed as Singapore's modern founder, even arrived. If true, this assertion will demand a change in the written history of Singapore.

Starting from this week, The Teochew Store will publish in three parts an in-depth research that sheds light into what this oral tradition says and seeks to verify its authenticity and accuracy.

 

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Teochew Flood Disaster 2018 - Watch Gaginang Spirit in Action

As the result of torrential rains on 29 and 30 August, extensive areas in the Teochew region were afflicted by floods. In some worst hit parts in Teoyor (潮陽 ) and Pholeng (普寧) districts, water-levels reached up to 2 metres and entire towns and villages were covered under water. Watch the Gaginang spirit in action as communities across Teochew mobilised themselves wasted no time to step forward selflessly evacuate and provide relief to tens of thousands of families trapped by the deluge. Teochew nang, Gaginang!

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Teochew Movie "Proud of Me" publicity video 潮州電影《爸,我一定行的》預告片

The first made-in-Teochew movie to be screened soon nationwide in China in recent times. Video uploaded for entertainment purpose.

潮州電影《爸,我一定行的》將要在中國全國上映。史無前例​​!

 

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