The Teochew Store Blog

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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Temporary Suspension of Online Orders (updated)

Due to in-country "stay home" restrictions and disruptions of regular international courier services, we regret to announce a temporary suspension of orders for all our books and other items. 

However if you are looking to pick up speaking Teochew or discover a bit of our fascinating culture and history during lockdown, do check out our collection of free-for-download books in English and Chinese from our free digital products page, or visit The Teochew Store blog where we share many originall articles and the creative works of fellow Teochews.

Don't miss out also our YouTube channel that collects many trendy Teochew songs and Teochew language short films!

Stay Healthy. Stay Happy. Stay Home.

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Teochew Short Film: Uncle Goose Waits for A Phone Call 潮州話短片: 《斷捨離》

Uncle Goose has been waiting. He has lived long enough - 75 years - to understand that patience is always rewarded. Whatever it takes to be in time for his best friend’s phone call. A promise is a promise. Mahjong is mahjong. "Uncle Goose Waits For A Phone Call" stars veteran actor Chen Shucheng in this short film about cherishing and being positive.
A short film produced in Singapore with subtitles in English and Chinese.
鵝伯(陳澍城飾)為了等一通老朋友的電話竟然硬守在家不肯出門!

本片風趣幽默,天馬行空,是一部關於等待的故事。希望大家看了《斷捨離》,對待生活灑脫樂觀,活在當下,且行且珍惜。

注:本片所有對白均為潮州話。
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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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Teochew Short Film: New Resident 《新民》

65 year old Mdm Tan lives alone in Sin Ming. One day, the local authorities came to catch the free-ranging chickens in a bid to curb their population. Shocked, Mdm Tan decides to do something radical: to catch as many chickens as she can and put inside her flat to save them temporarily. A short film produced in Singapore with subtitles in English and Chinese.
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Support New Teochew Language Project - Teochew Conversations

Our Gaginang friends from the US who created the popular English-Teochew WhatTCSay app  (to download: Android version / iOs version) is launching a new project, Teochew Conversations 

Teochew Conversations is a new video series featuring everyday conversation on a variety of topics in Teochew.

The videos are promised to be professionally produced, fun, interesting, and will help all interested in learning Teochew.

Do consider contributing to the Teochew Conversations Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. 27 days to go! Click on link here to Kickstarter site.

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The Teochew Store recommends: An Introduction to the History and Culture of the Teochews in Singapore

An Introduction to the History and Culture of the Teochews in Singapore - a rare English language book on Teochew culture. Available for purchase on Amazon.

"Penned in three sections covering a wide range of topics from history and architecture to customs and the performing arts, the 164-page book published by World Scientific is one of the few of its kind in English." - The Straits Times

A review of the book can be read here.

 
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Teochew Chinese New Year Short Film: I Can Speak 《过年了我想说》

Teochew Chinese New Year short film: I can speak 潮语新年短片《过年了我想说》

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The First Teochews in Singapore: Part 3 - The First Captain China & Oldest Temple in Singapore

In this concluding part of  "The First Teochews in Singapore" series, we find out about the leader of Singapore's pioneer Chinese settlers, whom the Singapore government later appointed as the settlement's first Captain China, as well as the historical links of Wak Hai Cheng Bio (粵海清廟, a.k.a. Yueh Hai Ching Temple) - the oldest Teochew (possibly Chinese) temple here - to two temples in Riau (Bintan) and Bangkok's Chinatown. 

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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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Origins of the Teochew People - Archaeological Evidences (Part 4): The Question of Where From?

The fourth and last instalment of our "Origins of the Teochew People - Archaeological Evidences" explores the question of where did the prehistoric people in Teochew came from? And we turn to geography to help us find an answer.

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Origins of the Teochew People - Archaeological Evidences (Part 3): The Early Teochew Culture Trilogy

Circumstances compelled a break in our Origins of the Teochew People series. But we return this week to share on more exciting discoveries on two Late Neolithic Cultures, and what they tell us!
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Teochew Documentary: Teo-yor Flute Music《潮阳笛套》

A documentary introducing our beautiful ancient Teo-yor/Chaoyang Flute Music《潮阳笛套》. Commentary in Mandarin with interviews in Teochew (Teo-yor dialect) and English subtitles.

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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 Nursery Rhymes Non-stop - 潮州童謠唱不停

This video, produced by a popular radio show of Shantou Radio & Television (STRTV, 汕頭電視台), strings together nearly 40 Teochew nursery rhymes.

Many of the nursery rhymes were written back in the times of an agricultural society and may be unfamiliar even to daddy or mummy. However, they could well be happy childhood memories of Ah Gong and Ah Ma, so more good reasons for big family-get-togethers.

Videos of individual nursery rhymes can be found on our The Teochew Store YouTube playlist, which can be found here.
Videos of individual nursery rhymes will also be uploaded on our The Teochew Store Facebook page, which can be found here. So look out for them! 
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Teochew Movie "Proud of Me" to open in China on 24 August 2018 潮州電影《爸,我一定行的》即將在八月二十四日中國全國上映

There are currently no plans for the movie to be screened overseas, so make sure you support it if you happen to be in China!
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Be Surprised - We Teochews Can Sing, and Beautifully So.

As an overseas Teochew, you probably have at least one, or two, or more favourite Cantonese or Mandarin pop song that grew up with you. And sometimes as the familiar tunes play themselves in your mind, you wonder, why can't we have the same in Teochew? 

The Teochew songs that we had always been exposed to, apart from Teochew opera ones that we may appreciate but cannot understand, were folk ballads that can be cringeworthy, if not downright weird.

Thankfully, things are not all that bad. You see, we Teochews are not only good humoured, our language is rhythmic, we are creative, adaptable and we can sing too.

Click "read more" for a selection of Teochew songs that you'd fall in love with.

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Teochew Movie "Proud of Me" Theme Song: "Father Have You Eaten?" 潮州電影《爸,我一定行的》主题曲: 老父您食未

Performer 演唱:黃澤森
Lyrics 作詞:楊育挺
Music 作曲:李奕瀚
Click Read More for Full Lyrics (Teochew/Chinese and English)
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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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Origins of the Teochew People - Archaeological Evidences (Part 2): Our Ancient Ties with the Hokkiens

“All these turned on its head, the theory that the Teochew region was an isolated and sparsely populated backwater before supposed mass migrations from the Central Plain towards the end of the Song dynasty (960–1279).

At the same time, it should not be lost that the geographical limits of the Fubin Culture from some 3,000 years ago conforms neatly with the territory of native speakers of Teochew and Hokkien – two closely-related vernaculars, if not two branches of a same.”

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Top 100 Surnames in Teochew (updated 10 June 2018)

Update:amendments made to reflect the correct pronunciations of the following surnames - 韋, 顏, 史, 藍, 戴, 方, 倪, as well as additions of other surnames 單/单, 區/区, 查 and 費/费. Special thanks to our reader Lee Kheng Nguan for his contributions.

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Origins of the Teochew People - Archaeological Evidences (Part 1): Traces of Teochew's Oldest Inhabitants

"China has 5,000 years of history" must be a refrain thoroughly familiar to every one of us. However, archaeological discoveries since the 1920s of thousands of Neolithic (New Stone Age) sites in China prove irrefutably that the country was not only peopled as far back as ten thousand years before present, but also across several regions.  Click to read more about the earliest archaeological finds in our Teochew homeland.
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Teochew Song: My Dearest Mother 潮州歌曲:親愛媽媽

For the very special person in our lives

For full lyrics, click Read more

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Where do the Teochew people come from? Teochew, or the Yellow River?

Where do the Teochew people come from? The Teochew region in southern China is the obvious answer.

Yet if one is to run a search on the Internet, he or she would find a string of references stating that our ancestors came hundreds of years ago from the Central Plains in the Yellow River reaches, thousands of miles away.

Click "Read more" to begin our journey of discovery

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Teochew Reggae Music (潮州雷鬼歌曲): 夢想家 Dream-maker

Teochew music reaches a new level of COOL

Click Read More for full lyrics
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So You Think Teochews Can't Dance?

Several cultures have folk dances that are world-renowned, such as the Maori Haka war dance, the Filipino Tinikling bamboo dance, the Irish stepdance and the Cossack Hopak dance. Famous for our food and business acumen, we Teochews are not immediately recognised for our dance moves? Can we dance?
A resounding yes! And we have more than one...
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Teochew Chinese New Year Song: "Home to Spend the New Year" 潮州-新年歌: 《回家過年》

The Chinese New Year is round the corner. Will you be with the most important people around you?
Performer 演唱: 阿貳
Lyrics 作詞:嫩草、阿貳
Music 作曲:阿貳
Click Read More for full lyrics.
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