Cross-Disciplinary Networks of Minnan Baosheng Folk Activities and the Construction of Chinese Emotional Communities

Abstract

Baosheng folk activities originated from the medical ethics and legendary deeds of Wu Dao, a renowned Minnan physician in the Northern Song Dynasty. During the Southern Song, the cultural activity centres of Qingjiao and Baijiao served as primary sources, and Minnan immigrants from the Minnan region during the Ming and Qing dynasties spread to Southeast Asia, forming a cross-disciplinary cultural network connected by "transmission—exchange—root-seeking". This article investigates how this folk activity continues to function under conditions of geographical isolation and social change today in three ways: historical dissemination, network structure, and emotional practice, evolving from the spiritual support system of the early immigrants into a significant carrier of contemporary Chinese people's emotional communities. Mechanisms such as social activities, cultural festivals, parades, and sharing of traditional Chinese medicine culture effectively activate collective memory, strengthen root-line identity, and promote deep ethnic emotional bonds. In the context of integrated development in Chinese communities, Baosheng folk activities can maintain the cultural inheritance of the same origin and also offer sustainable folk avenues for people-to-people exchange.