Echoes from the Sino-Burmese borderlands : untold stories of overland Chinese migrants during the Cold War / Wen-Chin Chang.
| Author/creator | Chang, Wen-Chin, 1964- author. |
| Format | Book |
| Publication | Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Asia Center, 2025. |
| Description | xvi, 4 unnumbered pages, 385 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), maps ; 24 cm. |
| Subjects |
| Series | Harvard East Asian monograph series ; Harvard East Asian monographs ; 480. |
| Contents | Introduction -- Part I. Political Trajectories. Sense of Loss: In Search of Principal Yang (1915-1987) -- Scent of Freedom: Chen Dashu (1943-2019) -- Sense of Repentance: Ma Dage (1950s-) -- Undying Moth: Wang Dage (1950-) -- Women Warriors: Pan Dajie (1954-), Her Mother and Grandmother -- Part II. Economic and Socio-cultural Trajectories. The Mule Transport Commissioned by the Burmese Authorities -- The Cross-Border Trade between Kachin State and Yunnan -- The Cross-Border Trade between Shan State and Yunnan -- Pursuit of Chinese Education -- Conclusion. |
| Abstract | "Grounded in extensive fieldwork and archival research, this ethnography explores the clandestine travel of primarily Yunnanese Chinese migrants via the Sino-Burmese borderlands during the Cold War. Wen-Chin Chang probes their political, economic, and sociocultural trajectories, including their engagement in Taiwan's espionage in Burma, the military operations of the Communist Party of Burma, mule transport for the Burmese authorities, underground cross-border trade, and the pursuit of a Chinese education. Through the lens of existential anthropology, Chang illustrates how these migrants' lived experiences intersected with the volatile situation in the frontier areas where many ethnic groups and political entities co-existed. Although subjected to state and non-state violence, these individuals demonstrated their resilience, political liminality, economic adroitness, and skillfulness in networking as they moved across borders in search of a better life. In contrast to conventional historical narratives often focused on global politics and ideological confrontations, Chang's examination of these migrants' overlooked stories offers a compelling and nuanced Cold War history of the Sino-Burmese borderlands, where exclusion pushed people to seek out change and adversity was met with creative adaptation."-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 347-377) and index. |
| Issued in other form | Online version: Chang, Wen-Chin, 1964- Echoes from the Sino-Burmese borderlands Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Asia Center, 2025 9780674302563 |
| LCCN | 2025030270 |
| ISBN | 9780674302556 |
| ISBN | 9780674302549 (hardcover) |
| ISBN | 0674302540 |
| ISBN | 0674302559 |
| ISBN | (epub) |