Chaoshan

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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 Teochew Min (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, Hakka, Haklau and Leizhou Min speakers.^[1]

Since the beginning of “the promotion of Standard Chinese” in China in late 1990s, many children cannot speak their native languages or dialects.^[2][3] Although many Teoswa scholars made an effort to keep the language, Mandarin has slowly become the dominant language in the region.^[4][3]

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.

The Teochew people are mainly spread over Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao; they have emigrated and established communities in Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Taiwan, France, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Indonesia, and other countries and coastal areas.^[5] 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.