Persistence and Change in Chinese Lullabies of Thai - Chinese People in Samutprakarn Province

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Research on "The persistence and change of Chinese lullabies of Thai-Chinese people in Samutprakarn Province" aimed to: 1) study the content of Chinese lullabies and 2) discover the factors affecting the persistence and change of the Chinese lullabies of Thai-Chinese in Samutprakarn Province.

This qualitative research collected data by interviewing 17 Thai- Chinese people, using a snow-ball random sampling method and found 7 Chinese lullabies in the study site, including 1) 唪呀唪, 2) 门 脚 丛 柑, 3) 天 顶 一 只鹅, 4) 目眯眯, 5) 月光 光, 6) 火 金 蛄 and 7) 一 只鸡 仔. The messages of the lullabies were divided into 4 categories: 1) love and wishes from descent to babies, 2) nature or environment about animals, plants, and fruits, 3) emotion and feeling about sadness with dissatisfaction, and 4) ways of living, working and eating.

Nowadays, Chinese lullabies in Samutprakarn province have decreased role and value in Thai-Chinese families.  This can be explained that lullabies have not been used due to the changing of residential environment, including Chinese dialect usage, family structure, ways of living, and media and technology advancement.  The Chinese lullabies have lost its importance, remaining only the messages with social value, culture, and ways of life of the Thai-Chinese in the past.

Keywords: Persistence and Change, Chinese lullabies, and Thai - Chinese People