The Teochew Store Blog / travel
Teochew through the eyes of its visitors: A Spanish Jesuit shipwrecked in Teochew (Part 1)
Three words that strike fear in every Teochew child: pah ka-ceng 拍尻倉!
Did you know that this was once also a punishment meted out to adults in China? A Jesuit Father, Adriano de las Cortes, learned this shuddering fact, and more, when a shipwreck made him an accidental visitor to the Teochew region 400 years ago.
Deng Cueng: Telling the Story of Teochew through Documentary & Old Photos
Wild Teochew, the first ever nature-documentary on wildlife in the Teochew region was officially released in the Teochew language recently. Deng Cueng (丁銓), who hails from Teochew, China, is the documentary’s director, as well as the editor of the photographic collection Historical Photos of Teochew. The Teochew Store had the pleasure of interviewing Deng Cueng to learn about his enthusiasm in promoting the nature and culture of his homeplace and the gains he has received from it.
丁铨:用纪录片和老照片讲述潮州故事
近期,首部讲述潮州野生世界的自然纪录片《野性潮州》潮语版正式上映。来自中国潮州的丁铨是这部纪录片的导演,也是影集《旧影潮州》的编著者。潮舖特别连线丁铨先生,请他与我们分享他在推广家乡自然及人文文化中的热忱和收获。
Teochew through the eyes of its visitors: The Scholar-Officials of Song
A thousand years ago our ancestors in Teochew lived together with giants. Giants that weighed four tons, neared three metres in height, had two floppy ears, a trunk and a mammoth appetite.
An entry in the History of Song (宋史), dated 1171, reported that farmers in the Teochew prefecture had to set up pit traps in their fields after hundreds of wild elephants ate their crops. The cause of the conflict was quite imaginably the expansion of human settlements and agricultural activities into the animals’ habitats and stomping grounds. However, the elephants did not withdraw into the forests as a result. Instead, they organised themselves into herds and waited on the roads to ambush any passing cart or horse, which they encircled until the humans collected grain to feed them. To live with nature rather than conquer it was a wisdom our forefathers understood well.
Wild Teochew 《野性潮州》 - now in Teochew-language commentary
Wild Teochew 《野性潮州》 is the first video produced on the wildlife in the Teochew region. It is a collection of footage produced by a group of local nature lovers over the course of 3 years.
This amazing documentary was nominated for the Best Production award (最佳作品) in the 3rd China Wildlife Image and Video Competition in 2022 (2022第三届野生生物影像年赛) hosted by Chinese National Geography and organized by DDFW and Chinese National Geography Book Company.
Wild Teochew can now be watched in Teochew-language commentary provided by its director Deng Cueng 丁铨 (author of Historical Photos of Teochew 旧影潮州), accompanied by Chinese and English language subtitles.
The First Nature Documentary of the Teochew Region
The Teochew people are not the only ones who live in the Teochew region. Watch Wild Teochew 《野性潮州》, an extraordinary documentary on wildlife in Teochew's mountains, rivers, city, villages and sea that is directed by Deng Cueng 丁铨 (author of Historical Photos of Teochew 旧影潮州) and collects footages produced by a group of local nature lovers over the course of 3 years.
The Teochew Community in Malaysia
你知道嗎?馬來西亞檳城有條汕頭街。一起來觀賞汕頭電視台製作的紀錄片《落地生根 》,關注居住在大馬潮州二十五年前的生活。
A Documentary on Teochews in Thailand from 1997
Thailand has the largest Teochew diaspora in the world, with the size of the community estimated at 5 million in the mid-1990s. This documentary from 1997 by Shantou Television gives a glimpse of the lives of the Teochews in Thailand. (Audio in Mandarin, with some interviews in Teochew).
海外潮州人在泰国居多。根据上世纪90年代的统计,泰国的潮州社群约有五百万人。想了解潮州人在泰国过去的生活情况,请观看汕头电视台1997年制作的纪录片《佛國潮踪》。
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
1997 Publicity Video: Affection of Chaozhou 1997 年潮語宣傳片《情系潮州》 - 走向新輝煌
1997 Teochew Publicity Video: Today's Jieyang 1997年潮語宣傳片: 《今日揭陽》
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”):
Teochew Documentary: Seeing Teochew 看見潮州
Watch TV or listen to radio from Teochew on your smartphone? - Now You Can (Part 2)
Full list of Towns & Villages in Gek Yor county (circa 1958) 揭陽縣都村列表
After its conquest by the Han dynasty in 111 BCE, the Teochew region was incorporated into the map of imperial China for the first time as a county named Gek Yor (variant: Kityang, Kityall) (揭陽, in Mandarin: Jieyang). The origin of today's Gek Yor area is traceable to a county of the same name created in 1140, which along with Hai Yor (now Teo Ann) and Teo Yor formed the “Three Yor" (三陽) of the Song dynasty that is the core of the Teochew homeland.
Full list of Towns & Villages in Teo Yor county (circa 1958) 潮陽縣都村列表
Teo Yor (variant: Teoyeo, Tioyio, Teoyall) (潮陽, in Mandarin: Chaoyang), was one of historical Teochew prefecture's eight counties and its most populous. Originally formed in 413 as part of the Ngee Ann Commandery (義安郡), it is now represented by the Teo Yor and Teo Nam (潮南, Chao'nan) districts in the Swatow (汕頭, Shantou) prefectural-level city.
Full list of Towns & Villages in Teo Ann county (circa 1958) 潮安縣都村列表
Teochew Documentary: Teochew Documentary: Salute to Teochew 致敬潮汕
Teochew Documentary: Town, Country & Seaside Life Round about Swatow, Chaochowfu and Swabue (1935)
Rise of the Red Head Junks - When the Teochew Forefathers Overcame the Odds
Teochew Documentary: Teochew Opera 潮劇紀錄片
A documentary retelling the 400-year history of the Teochew Opera - the finest representation of Teochew performing arts. This production is worthwhile watching not only because of its subject, but also because it is the fruit of the personal efforts of a young Teochew, Tan Tek Meng 陳迪鳴 to keep alive a tradition close to the heart of himself and his people.
Making the Swatow famous Lao Ma Keng Rice-Dumplings 老妈宫粽球做法
The traditional Teochew rice dumpling is called the zanggiu ("dumpling ball"). It is unique as it comes in three types of taste: salty, sweet and sangpeng, that is a combination of both salty and sweet.
In Swatow there is a stall that has been selling its rice dumplings since the 1920s. Known as the Lao Ma Geng Zanggiu, after a nearby old temple, the stall is a household-name in Swatow. This week we bring to you a video showing how its rice-dumplings are made (read more for steps and list of ingredients)
Through the Eye of a Master Photographer (II) - 1949 the Historical Year of Liberation
"Jubilation" would hardly seem like the correct word to describe the mood of the masses when Mao Zedong's Red Army marched into the Teochew region in 1949. After all the Teochews are a people known above all for their business acumen and the chief port Swatow was China's shining model of capitalistic and modern progress in the 1930s.
Yet beaming jubilation was the very emotion shown on many faces captured by the camera of photographer Hang Tsi-kuang in the historical year of liberation. Gripped by intense fear for their livelihood as the value of the money in their pockets plummeted each day under the Kuomintang government, hope was all the common people looked for. In their eyes the triumphant entry of the communists was not the takeover of a peasant army, but about them becoming part of an army of peasants to change the world order
Through the Eye of a Master Photographer (I) - 15 Vivid Images of Life around the Teochew Region in 1948
Principal Resident Surname(s) in Largest Teochew Villages - a non-exhaustive list
Teochew Celebration of the Chinese New Year in Pictures【光影潮州】乡里热闹的春节
For the Teochews, the Chinese New Year is the grandest and most important festive period. All across the Teochew region, people mark the occasion with activities strongly rooted in local tradition. Through the camera lens of avid photographer Ling Shyue Miin, we bring you a series of extraordinary images capturing how villages in Teochew welcome the Year of the Monkey.
在潮州传统的节日中,春节是最热闹、最受潮州人重视的节日。作为农历一年中的第一个大节,潮州地区有着许多别具特色的民俗文化活动。2016猴年春节,资深摄影师凌学敏走访了许多潮州村庄,用相机记录下了乡村里热闹的春节。
New Direct Flight from Kuala Lumpur to Swatow Announced
Amidst the cheers of the ongoing Chinese New Year celebrations, Malaysian budget airline AirAsia has announced the launch of a four-times weekly direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Swatow. Operations of the route will commence from March 25, 2016 and is expected to boost family visitations between Teochews in Malaysia and China.
The Chaoshan Jieyang International Airport, which serves the Teochew region, is currently connected internationally to Singapore (Jetstar), Bangkok, Hong Kong and Taipei (China Southern Airlines), and domestically to a host of major cities in mainland China, including Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing.
The Bridge We Must Have All Seen - Its Stories & Photos Through the Years