ENCOUNTERING ECHOES: ECHOING ENCOUNTER



Following Rolf Hughes’ notion of exposition (2015) as the act of creating a field of encounter, this inaugural issue reframes exposition as a space of echoing—a resonance between the seen and unseen, the said and unsaid. To encounter is to come up against what resists assimilation—an idea, a material, a history, a theory, or another being. To echo is to let that encounter reverberate and transform. Between encountering and echoing lies an ethics of care, speculation, and reciprocity—a willingness to stay with what is incomplete, uncertain, or even misread.



In line with the Arts of the contact zone (Pratt 1991), encounters are never neutral; they unfold in zones of tension, translation, and transformation. Similarly, Studio Note treats encounter and echo as creative and critical forces that shape our practices, pedagogies, and therefore our identities. 



We invite contributions that explore encountering and echoing as speculative and performative acts of research. 


Studio Note Journal Nº 1 

 
Editors-in-Chief | Alphabetic Order:

Niloofar Amini
Gareth Jones
Jorge Valdovinos
Laura Yuile 


Associate Editors | Alphabetic Order:

Eman AlHabashneh 
Francesca Brunetti 
Ruehl Muller
Mohammed Ali Sharieff
Raynal Somiah
Yvan Tina
Zihong Yue


Typeset in: 
Editorial Team

Copy Editing: 
Editorial Team

Proof Reading: 
Editorial Team

Design: 
Editorial Team
Published by:
University for the Creative Arts | ICI

Publication location: 
Farnham, Surrey, UK
Xiamen, Fujian Province, China

Online publication date: 
Summer 2026 

ISSN: 2978-8080 (Print)
E-ISSN: 2978-8099 (Online)



studionote@uca.ac.uk
www.studionotejournal.org

            

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Brief Overview of the Relationship Between Education and Entrepreneurialism In South Fujian In China
Zihong YUE - zihong.yue@uca.ac.uk
Practitioners of creative higher education from international backgrounds often observe a strong industry orientation in local aspirations across China and tend to dismiss it as a superficial imperative borrowed from the industries that lacks genuine academic consideration. This Note On examines the culture of entrepreneurialism1 in South Fujian, exploring how clan systems and education have fostered its development (Fig.1). It begins with Fulin Village—the ancestral home of a significant number of successful overseas Chinese entrepreneurs. Through an analysis of documents such as the Draft Charter of the Jinjiang Xu Clan Self-Governance Association, the study highlights the traditional role of education in sustaining clan-based entrepreneurialism. In doing so, it reveals the rich cultural conditions that underpin this local orientation and demonstrates how China today remains committed to this trait.
     Fulin Village, as a centuries-old breeding place for the overseas Chinese communities,2 has a history that epitomizes the broader narrative of Southern Fujian.3 Every facet of Fulin evokes a poignant mix of hardship and inspiration from the Nanyang (emigration to Southeast-Asia) chapter of its past. The endeavors of these emigrants had a dual impact. Their entrepreneurial ventures contributed significantly to the economies of the South-Eastern Asian region. Simultaneously, a deep-rooted connection to their homeland and a drive for self-reinvention motivated them to channel wealth and knowledge back, modernizing their native towns.

Figure 1. Fujian Province, China.
 I
A Tradition of Entrepreneurship
‘Dare to Fight Brings Victory (爱拼才会赢)’, a South Fujian song of the 1980s brilliantly captured the local entrepreneurial character. Fulin Village alone produced industrial magnate Xu Xunqin (approx.1850-1870) of the Philippines, Tobacco King Xu Jingpie (approx. 1930s - 1990s), and Timber King Xu Youchao (1885-1962) (Jinjiang Fulin overseas Chinese Museum, 2023), etc. All of whom contributed significantly to the industrialization of the Philippines and accumulated considerable personal wealth ( Hong, 2021). This entrepreneurial exodus was in fact born of survival necessity; with scarce arable land and limited resources in Southern Fujian, subsistence farming of traditional China could not support the growing population (Skinner, 1976). Meanwhile, the neighboring South-East Asian regions from the 16th to the mid 20th century were transformed by Western colonial expansion into a vital trade and resource center (Scott, 2009), but seizing the potential opportunities as an emigrant required a bold and tenacious spirit.
     This became the underlying character of the overseas Chinese culture that emerged over the 19th and 20th centuries (Wang, 1999). Even to this day, Long Hu County alone has had a permanent resident population of around 100,500 (Jinjiang Statistics 2022, excl. migrant workers), but its overseas population approximated between 120,000 to 150,000. The near 1:1 ratio demonstrated the significance of the latter. As an old local saying goes “10 households, 9 overseas (十户九侨).  The Overseas Chinese Museum in Fulin Village houses the Draft Charter of the Jinjiang Xu Clan Self-Governance Association, whose Article II clearly stated its purposes:
To foster harmony within the clan

To promote cooperation with other surnames

To advance education among the clan and revitalize enterprises within the clan

The insertion of entrepreneurship4 into the core activities of clan self -governance was very much a mainstream phenomenon in South Fujian.
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Clan-Embedded Incubation It would be mistaken to consider the clan culture merely about ancestral worship and the tracing of bloodlines (Faure, 2007). In fact, the kinship network served a highly practical function as an ‘incubator’ for entrepreneurship (Kuhn, 2009). Entrepreneurs within the clan connected, collaborated, complemented, and learnt from each other, gaining access to markets and resources, controlling supply chains, and were often financed by senior clan members (Kuhn, 2009). When individual success became inseparable from clan solidarity, it became both a cultural obligation and a logical imperative to give back after achieving success (Harper, 2023) — renovating ancestral halls, funding schools, supporting relatives, and funding new ventures. This explained why many wealthy Southern Fujian entrepreneurs exhibited a remarkable spirit of philanthropy, contributing to their hometown's development while expanding their commercial enterprises (Li, 2005). This was especially true of the overseas Chinese, as sustaining this clan-based incubational mechanism was crucial for winning a fine reputation, as well as ensuring the continued growth and prosperity of their own enterprises5 (Harper, 2023).

III
Education Favoring Practice It is noteworthy also that in the draft charter, education comes before enterprise, and the phrasing clearly frames promoting education and revitalizing enterprises as an integrated whole, almost suggesting a logical relationship where the former results in the latter. Indeed, investment in education has been a major focus for overseas Chinese philanthropic actions (Chen, 1938). Many of them believed that China’s then weakness stemmed from underdeveloped industries, which in turn was rooted in educational backwardness. The May Fourth movement further intensified this thinking, binding educational and industrial revitalization with an urgency to save the nation (Zhou, 1999). Perhaps the most renowned South Fujian Overseas Chinese entrepreneur was Tan Kah Kee, the founder of Xiamen University and Jimei Campus City. Throughout the early and mid 1900s when he undertook his massive philanthropic projects, his guiding philosophy strongly emphasized the principle of ‘applying practical learning to strengthen industries’(Liu, 2025). This stood in sharp contrast to elite Western institutions such as Harvard, aligning more closely with the ‘entrepreneurial university’ model seen in places like MIT but preceded it by nearly 70 years (Eskowitz, 2003).
     Looking further back, the view of education among overseas Chinese was equally shaped by the enduring influence of Chinese cultural traditions. Key historical scholars such as Zhu Xi, who spent over 60 years in Fujian teaching and writing, establishing the Fujian School as a leading school of Confucian thought in China, rejected ‘unrooted theorizing’ (Shi and Ren, 1998). He advocated ‘investigating principles to extend knowledge and applying them through practical action’, steering Fujian scholarship toward rational practices (Shi and Ren, 1998). His ideas later influenced Yan Fu’s (1854 – 1921) critique of the rigid ‘eight-legged essay’ imperial exam system (Huang, 1998). Yan Fu’s advocacy for practical learning, as well as Tan Kah Kee’s integration of industry and education, both owe much to Zhu Xi’s thoughts (Liu, 2025). In 2023, Fujian ranked fourth nationwide in total education expenditure. Notably, the province led the country in vocational education investment, further reflecting its pragmatic orientation. In an exclusive television interview following his 2025 appointment as president of the newly established Fujian Fuyao University of Technology and Science (FYUST) in Fuzhou, Professor Wang Shuguo made the following widely noted remark:


In the past, people equated innovation with inventions, patents and academic papers, yet these only represent a partial component of innovation. An innovation is incomplete if it cannot be implemented to generate market value. Only when it is launched into the marketplace and creates genuine market demand can innovation deliver its true value.

This strong statement from a prominent public figure articulates a distinctly Chinese position, one in which innovation is judged by the tangible market value it produces. This stands in contrast to a common Western perspective, where innovation may be appreciated for its intrinsic intellectual and scientific merit. Indeed, the very establishment of FYUST was centered on incubating scientific and technological knowledge into future industries. A growing number of such universities are being founded across China, with curricula guided by the principle of translating creativity into market value. This value orientation remains consistent with Fujian's historical education–industry relationship, and its continuation into the present day signals its enduring influence on modern China. While modernisation has brought changes that have affected this traditional model, it is evident that China today remains committed to a practice-led educational paradigm—one in which the validation of educational outcomes depends, partially if not fully, on the production of tangible market results. This orientation is unlikely to disappear. Rather, it is international practitioners of creative education who need to re-examine the contexts in which they practice and to innovate in ways that allow for meaningful integration.





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Entrepreneurialism refers to the spirit, attitude, and thinking of the entrepreneur.
Overseas Chinese broadly refers to Chinese emigrants and their descendants settled abroad. This article focuses specifically on emigrants from South Fujian between the 18th and mid‑20th centuries—a period marked by imperial decline, domestic turmoil, and foreign encroachment. Despite the instability at home, these emigrants demonstrated a striking tendency to channel wealth, knowledge, and resources back to their native communities, actively contributing to China’s early modernization.
 South Fujian refers to the region of Fujian Province that consists of the three municipalities of Quanzhou, Xiamen, and Zhangzhou. Jinjiang, as this article mentions, is a township of Quanzhou. The South Fujian culture or Minnan culture normally refers to the coastal settlements of these municipalities and not so much to the mountain settlements. 
 Entrepreneurship refers to the skills and actions of the entrepreneur.
 Enterprise refers to the entity that the entrepreneur creates, which has a business model to sustain its revenue while also having social and political impact. 

- Chen, D. (1938) Emigrant communities in South China. Shanghai: The Commercial Press.

- Faure, D. (2007) Emperor and ancestor: State and lineage in South China. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
- Harper, M.T. (2023) ‘Philanthropic action of the Chinese diaspora: Family, ancestry, identity, social norms.’ Available at: https://www.international.ucla.edu/apc/article/262328 .

- Hong, G. (2021) Fulin memories. Jinjiang: Jinjiang Municipal Authority.
- Kuhn, P.A. (2009) Chinese among others: Emigration in modern times. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

- Li, M.H. (2005) Fujian qiaoxiang survey: Qiaoxiang identity, qiaoxiang networks, and qiaoxiang culture. Xiamen: Xiamen University Press.
- Liu, Z.Y. (2025) Space as method: A pattern language of Tan Kah Kee’s hometown. Shanghai: Shanghai Culture Press.
- Scott, J.C. (2009) The art of not being governed: An anarchist history of upland Southeast Asia. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
- Shi, B.L. and Ren, Q. (1998) Fujian province records: History of education. Fang Zhi Publishers.
- Skinner, G.W. (1976) ‘Mobility strategies in late imperial China: A regional systems analysis’, in Skinner, G.W. (ed.) Regional analysis: Economic systems. New York: Academic Press.
- Wang, G. (1999) China and Southeast Asia: Myths, threats, and culture. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing / Singapore University Press.
- Zhou, C.Z. (1999) The history of May Fourth Movement. Yue Lu: Yue Lu Academy Press.

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