Searching for “Jia” at both ends: dual narrative of the cultural transmission among Chinese emigrants in Southeast Asia

Overseas Chinese exhibit a unique family structure known as “two families” (两头家)—one family in the homeland and the other in a foreign land. To establish themselves in a new environment, they often form new social relationships through intermarriages. Transnational marriages give rise to multifaceted cross-cultural exchanges and dissemination. In family patterns, “two families” not only involve mixed heritage but also integrate and transmit each other’s cultural genes. In life rituals, “two graves” (两地坟) facing each other from the North to the South symbolize the distant connection between “two families”, while burning “two incense sticks” (两炷香) for the souls and Earth Gods in both places serves as a symbolic integration and expression for dispersed Chinese experiencing a state of mental and physical displacement between their homeland and adopted country. Based on anthropological fieldwork methods and a cross-cultural perspective on “intercultural communication, “the research aims to explore the dual narrative of Chinese emigrants “going barbarians” (走夷方) and building up cultural communications across nations, cultures, races, and even ethics.