Chaoshan

Chaoshan
潮汕地区
Map of Guangdong with Chaoshan and Shanwei represented in beige on the right
Map of Guangdong with Chaoshan and Shanwei represented in beige on the right
Country China
ProvinceGuangdong
Major cities
Government
 • Governor of GuangdongWang Weizhong
Area
 • Metro
10,415 km2 (4,021 sq mi)
Population
 • Metro
13,937,897
 • Metro density1,300/km2 (3,500/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+8 (CST)
LanguageMin (Chaoshan)

Chaoshan or Teoswa (Chinese: 潮汕; pinyin: Cháoshàn; Cantonese Yale: Chìusaan; peng'im: Dio5suan1 [ti̯o˥˥꜖꜖.sũ̯ã˧˧]) is a cultural-linguistic region in the east of Guangdong, China. It is the origin of the Min Nan Chaoshan dialect (潮汕话). The region, also known as Chiushan in Cantonese, consists of the cities Chaozhou, Jieyang and Shantou. It differs linguistically from the rest of Guangdong province, which was historically dominated by Yue speakers, Hakka, and Leizhou Min speakers.[1] However, Mandarin has recently[when?] become the dominant language in the region.[citation needed] It is historically important as the ancestral homeland of many citizens of other countries of Chinese descent, including Viets, Thais, Cambodians, Singaporeans, Malaysians, and Indonesians.

Chao Shan people are mainly spread over Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and Hainan; they have emigrated and established communities in Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, France, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Indonesia, and other countries and coastal areas.[2] The Teochew Letters, which have been admitted into the Asia/Pacific Regional Memory of the World (MOW) Register, were family correspondence and remittance sent by Teochew immigrants in Southeast Asia to their families living in Chaoshan.

  1. ^ James Stuart Olson (1998). An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of China. Greenwood Press. p. 42. ISBN 0-313-28853-4.
  2. ^ "Teochew People". Asia Cultural Travel. 22 January 2020.