Memory Reconstruction and Cultural Identity: A Study on the Formation Mechanism of Cultural Nostalgia among Descendants of Chinese Immigrants in the Philippines

As a special group in a cross-cultural context, the cultural nostalgia of descend-ants of Chinese immigrants in the Philippines is not a simple replication of their ancestral culture, but a dynamic cultural construction achieved through memory reconstruction in a discrete context. Based on theories of ethnic iden-tity, cultural adaptation, and collective memory, this study uses in-depth inter-views and case studies to conduct an empirical study of 60 descendants of Chi-nese immigrants in Manila and Cebu, Philippines, revealing the formation mechanism of their cultural nostalgia. The study finds that: the intergeneration-al transmission of discrete memories constitutes the historical genes of nostal-gia; the ritualistic reconstruction of cultural practices builds the expressive car-riers of nostalgia; identity games in cross-cultural interactions generate the emotional dynamics of nostalgia; and the memory activation of digital media expands the presentation dimensions of nostalgia. At the core of this mecha-nism, descendants of immigrants construct a cultural identity within the cultur-al field of their adopted country that combines the characteristics of their an-cestral home with local adaptation through memory selection, reorganization, and meaning-assignment, providing a new perspective for understanding the cultural continuity of overseas Chinese communities.