自18世紀起，中國人開始大量往海外遷移，尋找商機和生計，他們帶著原鄉的文化，漂洋過海到異地，從宗族的庇護到與同鄉互助的見證，他們建立會館、學校和廟宇。他們移植原鄉的文化和風俗習慣，根據農曆的日期慶祝節日，緬懷祖先、慰藉心靈。隨著客死異鄉的族群增加，他們建立自己族群隸屬的墓地，依照原鄉的風俗儀式安葬。墓地朝向原鄉，墓碑上注明籍貫來源地，作為後人慎終追遠的憑據。華人緬懷原鄉與國土認同的拉鋸，大量地記載於當地的華文文學文本中。因此，本文將根據馬來西亞華人詩人吳岸有關文化追思的詩篇，審視馬來西亞華人在建國初期，「國」與「族」之間的倫理抉擇1與身份認同。

Wu An was born on July 24, 1937 in Kuching, Sarawak. He was the third generation Chinese in Malaysia. A well-known poet, Wu was the winner of the fourth Malaysian Chinese Literature Prize. Born during the Second World War, he strived through the period of colonialism, participated in the strife for the independence, and experienced bitter imprisonment. Wu’s literature was embedded with a strong sense of nationalism and realism. With high political fervor, Wu produced many distinguished poetry throughout his lifetime. In 2012, he published anthology of his own work, entitled Fading Smile. It was a significant collection of his writings since 1953. Based on poetries compiled in Fading Smile, this article analyzes the tension and concurrence between Wu An’s patriotic consciousness and ethnic identity, examining the ethical choices between his “nationality” and “ethnicity”.