China News Service, Guangzhou, September 14th. Question: Where does the confidence of Chaoshan culture to "break out of the circle" come from?
——Interview with Chen Pingyuan, first-level professor of philosophy and social sciences at Peking University
China News Service reporter Sun Qiuxia
With the movie "A Love Letter to Grandma" becoming popular across the country, Chaoshan culture has once again become the focus of public attention. Nowadays, Chaozhou cuisine and Gongfu tea have both "out of the circle" and become a life attitude that can be learned; Yingge and dance are taking the lead, leaping from rural temple fairs to the mobile phone screens of hundreds of millions of people... Since 1993, when Jao Tsung-i, a master of traditional Chinese culture, initiated the establishment of "Chaozhou Studies", Chaoshan culture is moving from the desks of scholars to the hearts of the public.
Where does the confidence for Chaoshan culture to “break out of the circle” come from? Recently, Chen Pingyuan, a first-level professor of philosophy and social sciences at Peking University, brought his new book "Into Grandma's Chaoshan" to the 2026 Southland Book Festival. He gave an in-depth interpretation in an interview with China News Service's "East-West Question".
On February 21, 2025, in Chaozhou, Guangdong, the 2025 Chaozhou Qinglong Temple Fair Intangible Cultural Heritage Parade was held, and the Women's English Singing Troupe performed on Archway Street. Photo by China News Service reporter Chen Chuhong
The interview transcript is summarized as follows:
Reporter from China News Service: After the movie "A Love Letter to Grandma" was released, Chaoshan culture attracted national attention. Where do you think the confidence for Chaoshan culture to "break out of the circle" came from?
Chen Pingyuan: I don’t think Chaoshan culture will “break out of the circle” ten years in advance, because the research on “Chaozhou studies” has not yet reached that level, and the dissemination of Chaoshan culture is not that wide. In the past ten years, from food, folk customs, culture to academics, we have come step by step, not overnight.
Only when society faces transformation can everyone understand another leisurely lifestyle, and Chaoshan will be considered a good place. If everyone had worked hard, Chaoshan would not have attracted so much attention. Many people come to Chaoshan not to appreciate the splendid construction here, but to understand the local lifestyle.
Drinking Gongfu tea and chatting on the street, leisurely tasting Chaozhou delicacies, this kind of fireworks is not found in many big cities. This is the "out of the circle" of Chaoshan culture caused by social and cultural transformation.
China News Service reporter: What roles do academic research, literary and artistic creation, and mass communication play in Chaoshan culture's "exiting the circle"?
Chen Pingyuan: Thirty years of research on Chaozhou studies were "out of the circle" through a movie. Without thirty years of Chaozhou studies, Qiao Pi and dialects would not have been so widely disseminated. In recent years, Chaoshan culture such as British singing and dancing and Ying Laoye have also spread widely among the people. This is the result of joint promotion by the academic community and Chaoshan people.
After the movie "A Love Letter to Grandma" was released, everyone felt close to it because the movie and trend studies share the history and memory of a group of people, including the joys, sorrows, and joys. Movies have cinematic expressions, and works have focus points. They complement and help each other.
In the past, Chaoshan was mainly famous for business, but Chaoshan people are not only good at business, but also good at reading. The movie has pushed all aspects of Chaoshan to unprecedented heights. A small place "at the end of the province and at the corner of the country" suddenly attracted the attention and appreciation of audiences across the country. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will never be seen again if missed. Therefore, we must seize this opportunity to let people across the country know the good side of Chaoshan and increase our visibility and self-confidence as much as possible. This movie helped us a lot.
China News Service reporter: In Chaoshan culture, what kind of emotional weight and cultural significance does "grandma" carry? Why can this seemingly ordinary image transcend the boundaries of dialects and regions and hit the hearts of hundreds of millions of viewers?
Chen Pingyuan: I think grandma occupies a special position in Chaoshan family structure. In the past, in many Chaoshan families, the men went out to work hard, went to Nanyang, and sent money back to support their families. The overseas Chinese approval sent back is always sent to the grandpa or grandma in the family. Grandma is usually the spiritual pillar that supports the family. This is a unique structure of Chaoshan families, so grandma plays an important role in Chaoshan families.
Another problem is that the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren is usually relatively harmonious, and grandma has a very good relationship with her grandchildren and granddaughters. We all recall our childhood memories. At that time, our parents were busy working and our grandparents spent more time with us, so it is easier for our grandpa and grandma to bring back our childhood memories.
The movie "A Love Letter to Grandma" made "Grandma" famous all over the world. "Grandma" is a cultural symbol that represents Chaoshan women and the warmth between grandparents and grandchildren in the family.
On August 27, 2026, in Guangzhou, Guangdong, at the 2026 Southern Book Festival, the special exhibition of movie props "A Love Letter to Grandma" attracted visitors to take photos. Photo by China News Service reporter Chen Chuhong
Reporter from China News Service: In your opinion, what irreplaceable significance does the credit tradition of "unity of bank and credit" carried by Qiaopi have for understanding the spiritual background of Chaoshan people?
Chen Pingyuan: The "Qiao Pi Archives" have become a "World Memory Heritage", not only in Chaoshan, but also in many places such as Meizhou, Jiangmen and southern Fujian. It is a special way for people from Guangdong and Fujian provinces to give back to their hometown and express their emotions after they went to Nanyang in a certain era.
In modern China, after leaving their hometown, people from Shandong traveled to Guandong, people from Shanxi took the west entrance, and people from Guangdong and Fujian went to Nanyang. The three different immigration routes are also three different ways of struggle. They have their own ways of expression. Nowadays, many people can sing "Walking to the West Exit", and such songs are also an important way to convey their emotions.
Overseas Chinese batches were formed due to the special transnational needs, forming a way of integrating banks and trusts. This preserved material form can be an important way for us to understand that period of business history, emotional history and foreign trade history.
China News Service reporter: Why have you paid so much attention to Chaoshan culture in recent years? In June this year, "Into Grandma's Chaoshan" co-edited by you and Lin Lunlun and Huang Ting, two scholars from Chaoshan, was published. Compared with the previously published "Chaoshan Culture Reader", what changes have been made in the focus of this book?
Chen Pingyuan: More than 40 years ago, when I went to study at Peking University from Sun Yat-sen University, I spent most of my time not doing research on Chaoshan culture. Ten years ago, I thought that more things should be done for my hometown, so I invited Lin Lunlun and Huang Ting to co-edit the "Chaoshan Culture Reader", which was mainly aimed at primary and secondary school students.
We hope that "Into Grandma's Chaoshan" will become a work for the whole country and even the world, so we have abandoned the teaching content and added two major categories, namely overseas Chinese criticism and short essays, and other parts have also been revised. In addition, we also inserted image data and took relevant photos specifically for this purpose. This is a reading book for the public across the country. The entire structure, style and style of the book have undergone great changes.
Reporter from China News Service: Chaoshan culture has been "out of the circle" one after another, setting off a "Chaoshan culture craze". In what direction do you think the next “tide studies” research should go?
Chen Pingyuan: After the movie "A Love Letter to Grandma" came out, it promoted the development of cultural tourism in Chaoshan. The three cities in Chaoshan, namely Chaozhou, Shantou and Jieyang, established a tourism alliance. Their slogan is "Love and justice, fireworks in Chaoshan". In addition to being "emotional and righteous", there are a series of topics that need to be discussed in the study of Chaoshan culture, not only the Chaoshan shown in the movie.
Last year we published the ten-volume "Integration of Chaozhou Studies", which brought together 20 experts and compiled a summary of papers on "Chaoology" research over more than 100 years. From thirty years of intensive research on "Chaozhou Studies" to a film that allows people across the country to understand Chaoshan culture, we need to discuss how the spiritual and cultural construction of Chaoshan people should develop next. This year or next we will further discuss the century-old Chaozhou studies. (End)
Interviewee profile:
On August 27, Chen Pingyuan, a first-level professor of philosophy and social sciences at Peking University, appeared at the 2026 Southern Book Festival with his new book "Into Grandma's Chaoshan". Photo by China News Service reporter Chen Chuhong
Chen Pingyuan, a native of Chaozhou, Guangdong, is a first-level professor of philosophy and social sciences at Peking University and a librarian of the Central Research Institute of Literature and History. He is mainly engaged in research on the history of modern Chinese literature, academic history, education history, and urban culture. He has published more than 40 works including "The Transformation of Narrative Mode in Chinese Novels", "The Dream of Literati and Chivalrous Persons Through the Ages", and "The Establishment of Modern Chinese Academics". In the past ten years, he has paid attention to Chaoshan culture and served as the first dean of the Chaozhou Culture Research Institute of Jinan University. In addition to writing "Hometown of Chaozhou", he also co-edited "Chaoshan Culture Reader", "Into Grandma's Chaoshan", "Integration of Chaozhou Studies", "Talking about Chaozhou Cuisine", "Three Talks about Chaoshan Culture" and other works.
