Performing “Bifurcated Homelands”: Touring the Chinese Diasporas in Bangkok and Singapore, 1945-1960s

Abstract

From the end of the Second World War to the Cold War era, Chinese theatre troupes and performers endorsed by “bifurcated homelands” – the Republic of China (ROC) in Taipei and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in Beijing – travelled to Southeast Asia to battle for the hearts and minds of the Chinese diaspora through one potent means: dance, which has so far not garnered the attention it deserves. This article locates the performative linkages in two scenarios: (1) the Chinese Communist Party-affiliated theatre troupe Zhong Yi and its diasporic tours in Singapore and Bangkok in the immediate postwar era; (2) the experiences of the Taiwanese folk dancer Lee Shu Fen and her dancing legacy in Southeast Asia during the Cold War era. Situated in the burgeoning field of the “Chinese cultural Cold War,” this article argues for a “performative” angle that examines both the tours and the performing arts in the context of the shifting power realignment as a manifestation of Cold War geopolitics in Asia. While stressing the competing nature of the idea of “bifurcation,” this article goes further to prove the mutual influences and mirroring effects in the imaginings of Chineseness by both the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).