Research on the Overseas Chinese Shophouse Culture in Penang, Malaysia in Qing Dynasty A Case Study of Penang Island

Abstract

This paper focuses on the Shophouse Culture using the methodology of Chronicles, Bibliography and Typology applied into the time clue as the axial direction of the research as a whole. Through the case study of Shophouse in Penang Island, Malaysia, it combs the evolutionary process of the Shophouse in the way of listing the basic type style, function form and aesthetic orientation along the line of researching the Chinese southward migration history of Penang. It further expounds the historical significance and aesthetic value of blending Chinese and western and east and west and probes into the evolution, fusion and possibility of the culture in the overseas society. Keywords—Shophouse; Chinese in Qing Dynasty; Penang; culture construction