During the Yongle and Xuande years of the Ming Dynasty, in order to promote the country's prestige and show China's prosperity to overseas countries, and to attract coastal Western countries to become vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He led his fleet to the Western Ocean seven times.

This move strengthened the relationship between China and foreign countries during the Ming Dynasty. On the other hand, it spread overseas the more advanced culture at that time. The most far-reaching influence was the control of the Malacca Strait.

Zheng He's fleet stayed in the Strait of Malacca many times, developing what was originally a small fishing village into a powerful country, and opening up an important cargo transshipment station and southern sea route for China and the world.

It was with the development of this sea route that the Hokkien and Chaoshan people located near Quanzhou, the "largest port in the East", began to cross the ocean along this route. Over the years, it gradually became a scale.

In the process of trade, some Chinese people intermarried with the local Malays and multiplied and multiplied.

Their descendants can be regarded as the earliest batch of mixed-race descendants in history.

A popular film and television drama about Nyonya mentioned these people. One of the most eye-catching questions is who are the "Nyonya" in Singapore in the Strait of Malacca mentioned in the drama, and are they related to our country?

What origin?

In fact, this is related to the female group among the above-mentioned mixed-race descendants.

Women of mixed race are called "Nonya".

"Nyonya" originates from the Chinese Minnan dialect "Niang Niang".

Later, "Nyonya" was specifically referred to as women who were the mixed descendants of Chinese and people from Singapore and Malaysia.

So what are the characteristics of "Nyonya" and "Nyonya culture"?

In fact, the name of this TV series is "Little Nyonya", which tells the story of the descendants of Chinese and local people in Singapore and Malaysia, that is, the Baba and Nyonya.

"Baba" is a male group of mixed-race descendants. Literally, "mountain" represents the aboriginal "mountain people" in Singapore and Malaysia. "He" means separation, and Baba is the Chinese after the separation from the locals.

Mixed race boy.

Since these people were born in the Strait of Malacca during Zheng He's voyages to the West, only those who immigrated to these areas during or before the Ming Dynasty can be called these two titles, while mixed-race children born here after the Ming Dynasty cannot be called

So called.

This is because these people have formed their own inner strength and culture over a long period of time. Although many of them are not only influenced by the culture of the country where they settled, but also received Western education, they still insist on building ancestral halls and observing filial piety.

, attaches great importance to rules, and has great respect for his own cultural traditions. Even if he lives in a multicultural environment, he can still make perfect with practice and enjoy it.

In contrast, those who came here later had been there for too short a period of time and had no cultural accumulation and were unable to integrate into this group.

First of all, the characteristics of the first culture are reflected in the local language. So far, the Nyonya people have lived and multiplied near Malay for hundreds of years. Over this time, they have separated their own language from the local language and formed a new language.

A unique language, namely Baba.

This kind of language is similar to dialects, and the composition will differ in different local regions. Some will contain different amounts of local languages, not only Malay, but also Thai and so on.

This separation of different languages ??is the collision between cultures.

In terms of food, just like the various cooking methods of Nyonya food shown in "Little Nyonya", Nyonya people have invented unique food that is famous in Southeast Asia. This is a unique food in the local Nyonya culture.

habit.

The cooking methods of Nyonya cuisine include both the taste characteristics of Southeast Asia and cooking techniques from China. The clever separation of the two forms the special flavor of Nyonya cuisine. The traditional Chinese food ingredients are processed with a wide variety of Malay spices.

Finally, it becomes a delicacy with all kinds of taste, color, fragrance and aroma.

This kind of food culture is very popular among them. Almost every Nyonya born and raised must learn this aspect of cooking when they are young, so that they can be considered a qualified bride when they get married.

In addition, in the drama "Little Nyonya", no matter who the protagonist is, he has an enviable pair of skillful hands.

Nyonya can embroider wallets, accessories, shoes, etc., and the traces of Chinese culture left in the local area can be seen from the patterns on their embroidery, such as peonies and phoenixes.

Finally, in terms of clothing, kebaya is the clothing worn by Nyonya.

The slim and elegant Kebaya can highlight the graceful bodies of women and show their beauty.

The ancestors of the Baba and Nyonya are all Chinese, and they have the same blood as the Chinese.

Unfortunately, Baba Nyonya is now very rare in Malay areas.

In the past, Chinese tourists could only experience their unique culture from the Baba and Nyonya Folk Culture Village and related museums, and imagine their glory when they became rich and led the Malay regional customs.

But what is worth looking forward to is that more Peranakans who have experienced cultural loss and wandering can finally understand their cultural roots through this move.