Abstract: Due to the impact of political and cultural contexts, Chinese textbooks in Singaporean secondary school experienced a long and tortuous process of localization. In the early British colonial era and the Japanese occupation of Singapore, almost all Chinese textbooks in Singapore were imported from China and entitled guowen. From the end of World War II to 1979, with dramatic changes in China and Malaya, textbooks were primarily used to promote the consciousness of localization under the concept of Malayalization. Correspondingly, the publication of Chinese textbooks tended to be autonomous and their titles changed to zhongwen, yuwen or huawen. From 1979 to date, in response to the impact and challenges of the new education system, the Singaporean Ministry of Education has compiled several sets of Chinese textbooks according to language proficiency. Meanwhile, literary textbooks highlighted localization and globalization. In Singapore where ethnic Chinese dominates, an investigation of the evolution of Chinese textbooks not only reveals the localization of Singaporean Chinese education, but also the spread and change of Chinese in Southeast Asia.

Key words: guowen, zhongwen, huawen, Singapore, Chinese Textbooks, localization