From Family Correspondence to the Mechanisms of Transnational Networking: The Wu Family’s Remittance Letters in Taishan, Guangdong, 1898–1946

Haijuan Huang; Guangming Gao

doi:10.71204/7wq50w81

Authors

Haijuan Huang Wuyi University Author
Guangming Gao Wuyi University Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.71204/7wq50w81

Keywords:

Qiaopi and Yinxin, Remittance Letters, Transnational Networks, Chinese Migration, Taishan

Abstract

Drawing on 482 remittance letters and related documents of the Wu family of Taishan, Guangdong, preserved in the Guangdong Museum of Revolutionary History, this article examines the operation of a transnational family network between 1898 and 1946. Rather than treating qiaopi and yinxin primarily as records of remittances, family sentiment, or individual migration experiences, the study reads them as evidence of the recurring practices through which cross-border connections were organized and sustained. The analysis focuses on three interrelated dimensions: the operation of remittance channels linking the United States, Hong Kong, and Taishan; migration strategies developed under the restrictions of Chinese exclusion; and the succession of key intermediaries whose absence could disrupt the network. The findings show that the durability of the Wu family network depended not on kinship alone, but on the routinization of verification, accounting, brokerage, and role succession. Receipts and account reconciliation made remittance transactions traceable and helped produce transactional trust; family and commercial intermediaries mobilized information, funds, and documentary resources to facilitate migration; and the replacement of key agents enabled network functions to continue across generations. By shifting attention from the existence of transnational ties to the practices through which they were reproduced over time, this study offers a microhistorical perspective on the operation and resilience of Chinese migrant family networks in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

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