Abstract: Nanyang Prose Collection (1952) edited by Han Meng is an important anthology prior to the publication of the great series of Malaysian Chinese literature. The collection of essays in Nanyang Prose Collection reflects the era strongly influenced by the war and life, and it's well described as the “portrait of a turbulent era”. The ways Nanyang communicates with the motherland (China), the inheritance of realism thinking, the ideology under the influence of the left-wing thoughts, as well as the writing techniques, all in all provide us with a glimpse to restore and understand that era. Nanyang is referred as the foreign territory outside China. Whether a Chinese was born in China or Malaya, his or her motherland is still China; those who moved towards the Nanyang (South Pacific) will still get their ways back to Tangshan, and no matter how far they were traveling to the south, the final destination is to return to the north. Though the desire of passers to return home might not be fulfilled, their hearts will always be together with the motherland (China), which is a fact well illustrated via essays in the Nanyang Prose Collection. Essays written outside and inside China have given us invaluable immigration notes about the turbulent age.

Key words: Southeast Asia, Malaysian Chinese literature, immigration history, Nanyang, prose