Connotations of ancestral home: An exploration of place attachment by multiple generations of Chinese diaspora

Abstract

This paper explores the connotations of ancestral home by investigating how multiple generations of Chinese migrants sustain their place attachment to China. Based on 50 in‐depth interviews with Chinese migrants from the first to the sixth generation, we unpacked the meanings of ancestral home from the “place,” “person,” and “process” dimensions and identified 3 types of connections: personally attached to ancestral home, cognitively connected to a generic China and the Chinese culture, and spiritually connected to a symbolic China. Factors were identified in each type of place attachment in illustrating how Chinese diaspora members sustain their ancestral home connections. The personally attached group ground their attachment in strongly valued personal involvement with the physical and social ties. They are more sensitive to migration background, social relationships, and home return mobility. The cognitively connected group, in contrast, is more aware of the influence of their own families and the Chinese communities and embed their connections in understandings, knowledge, and Chinese cultural practices. The spiritually connected group maintain their connection through collective memories, sense of pride and appreciation for family ancestry, and interests in personal past. The findings suggest that the meanings of ancestral home are diverse and dynamic, reflecting both individual and family's migration history, personal experiences, cultural exposures, social relationships, and mobility. This study offers empirical insights into diaspora members' experiences of engaging with their place of origin and contributes to the understanding of place attachment by integrating a generational view.

An Exploration of the Relationships between Nostalgia, Involvement, and Behavioral Intention in Diaspora Tourism

“…Second, two types of nostalgia in the context of diaspora tourism were identified: experience-based and identity-based. Consistent with previous studies [34,35], this study found that nostalgia can stem not only from the direct experience of a place but also as a consequence of hearing others' stories and memories of these places [47]. Experience-based nostalgia stems from direct contact with people, places, and experiences or things that are related to the homeland or homeland environments, such as facilities, equipment, and atmosphere.…”

“…Most of the current studies on diaspora tourism are based on the place attachment theory. For example, Li and Chan [35] explored the multiple generations of overseas Chinese place attachment to China and how they sustained the attachment. Huang and Chen [34] examined the motivation of diaspora tourism and explored the impact of place attachment on travel motivation and intention.…”

“…Most cross-border tourism studies treat China as a source country for outbound tourism, not as a destination for overseas Chinese returning home. The current Chinese diaspora tourism studies mainly investigate the return travel by Chinese immigrants in North America [34][35][36]. Li and McKercher explored the relationship between place attachment and home return travel [19].…”

Towards a conceptual framework for diaspora tourism

“…Level of acculturation is also interrelated to sense of place and place attachment that experienced by the diasporas (Mazumdar & Mazumdar, 2009). Both are dynamic concepts influenced by such antecedent factors as the individual's perception of his or her cultural identity prior to the return trip, motives to return, resultant experiences and how strong they feel their personal, group and spiritual ties are to their ancestral place (Li & Chan, 2018).…”

Guanxi or weak ties? Exploring Chinese diaspora tourists’ engagements in social capital building

“…However, the increasing number of Chinese migrant associations and the complex structure of the current Chinese migrant community challenge migrants' social relationships building when they return. Such complexity results in different motives for return and different extents of emotional interaction and trust achieved by diaspora tourists (Zhou, 2017;Zhou & Liu, 2016;Li & Chan, 2018). The younger generation has become the backbone of the Chinese migrant community and actively engages in building extensive social networks through their home return travel (Scenario 3), while the older generations who migrated from the 1940s to the 1970s are facing transformation of migrant communities (Zhou & Liu, 2016).…”