A people from N China who settled in S China in the 12th13th-c, but remained unassimilated. During the 18th19th-c they were involved in feuds over land. Hakka impoverishment contributed to the Taiping Rebellion (185064). Many migrated to other areas, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.
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Hakka 客家 |
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|---|---|---|
| Total population | estimated 90 - 100 million worldwide | |
| Regions with significant populations | Jiangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, India | |
| Language | Hakka + language(s) of their country of residence | |
| Religion | Predominantly Confucianism, Taoism, Mahayana Buddhism, Traditional Chinese religion. border-collapse: collapse;"> | |
| Hakka | ||
| Chinese: | 客家 | |
| Mandarin | ||
| Hanyu Pinyin: | kèjiā | |
| Hakka | romanization: | hag2 ga24 |
| Literal meaning: | guest families | |
The Hakka are Han Chinese people whose ancestors are said to have originated in the Henan and Shanxi provinces of northern China over 1,700 years ago. In a series of migrations, the Hakka settled in Guangdong, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces in southern China, and then they went overseas to various Chinese enclaves throughout the world. The Hakka have had a significant influence on the course of Chinese and Overseas Chinese history: they particularly have been a source of revolutionary and political leaders. Conflict between the two groups grew, and it is thought that "Hakka" was a term of derision used by the Punti aimed at the newcomers.
Over time, the term "Hakka" was adopted by the newcomers to refer to themselves. However, because the term also covers Hakka language-speakers, and because the Han Chinese registered as Guest Families who migrated at the time may not have been Hakka language-speakers, and because of intermarriages among Hakka and Punti members, identification as Hakka was largely a matter of self-selection. Through studies of both Cantonese and Hakka genealogies, some Hakka and Punti people with the same surnames claim the same ancestors, although their descendants strongly identify with one group to the exclusion of the other.
The Hakka ancestors are thus but one group amongst many who migrated southwards. Hakka people now are found in the southern Chinese provinces, chiefly in Guangdong, south-western Fujian, southern Jiangxi, southern Hunan, Guangxi, southern Guizhou, south-eastern Sichuan, and on Hainan and Taiwan islands. The Hakka dialects across these various provinces differ phonologically, but the Meixian (Meizhou) dialect of Hakka is considered the archetypal spoken form of the language.
Although they frequently are distinctive in culture and language from the surrounding population, the Hakka are not considered a separate ethnic group by the Chinese people: they are seen as part of the majority Han Chinese. Indigenous settlers thought that the Hakka were not Chinese at all; but due to common ancestry, as traced in clan genealogies, Hakka descendants have been shown to be as Chinese as their neighbours. In fact, the Hakka are no more non-Han than are any other southern Han populations. Therefore they do not directly document Hakka migrations. This finding is consistent with the migrations experienced during the history of the Hakka, from the north to the south of China. Even though this study is not a direct study of Hakka ancestry using DNA data, it does show that all modern southern Chinese have non-Han genotypes, due to a history of intermarriage with indigenous aboriginal peoples in the places in which they came to settle.
Social and cultural influences
With limited prospects in agriculture, Hakka men have turned -- more often than have other Chinese -- toward careers in the military or public service.
Hakka society was dependent on the working abilities of women, who had to take up a larger share of the farming work while the men were studying or at war.
Due to their agrarian lifestyle, the Hakka have a unique architecture based on defense and communal living (See Hakka architecture), and a hearty savory cuisine based on preserved and fried and stewed items (See Hakka cuisine).
Hakkas in China
Hakkas in Guangdong
The Hakkas who live in Guangdong comprise about 60% of the total Hakka population. Worldwide, over 95% of the overseas-descended Hakkas came from this Guangdong region, usually from Huizhou: the Hakkas there live mostly in the eastern part of the province, particularly in the so-called Xing-Mei (Xingning-Meixian) area. Unlike their kin in Fujian, the Hakkas in the Xingning and Meixian area developed a non-fortress-like unique architectural style, most notably the weilongwu (Chinese: 圍龍屋, wéilóngwū) and sijiaolou (Chinese: 四角樓, sìjǐaolóu).
Hakkas in Fujian
The Hakkas who settled in the mountainous region of south-western Fujian province, developed a unique form of architectural building known as tu lou (土樓), literally meaning earthen structures.
(see Hakka architecture)
Hakkas in Taiwan
In Taiwan, Hakka people comprise about 15% of the population and are descended largely from Guangdong: they form the third largest population group on the island. Many Hakka moved to lands high up in the hills or remote mountains to escape political persecution. Many of the Hakka people continue to live in these hilly locations of Taiwan.
Taiwan's Hakka are concentrated in Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County, Miaoli County, and around Jhongli in Taoyuan County, and Meinong in Kaohsiung County, and in Pingtong County, with smaller presences in Hualian and Taitung County. In recent decades many Hakka have moved to the largest metropolitan areas, including Taipei and Kaohsiung.
Hakkas in Hong Kong
The Hakkas in Hong Kong are concentrated in the villages and small towns in the New Territories. For instance, the Hakka people actually speak a more standard Cantonese than the Punti, who talk with a thick accent. Also, the Hakka women never bound their feet, unlike the traditional Chinese.
Hakkas worldwide
The Hakkas have emigrated to many regions worldwide, notably, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand.
Hakka people also emigrated to Australia, Brunei, Canada, the United States, and to many countries in Europe, including Great Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Hakka people also are found in South Africa and Mauritius, on the islands of the Caribbean (Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and in Central and South America, particularly in Panama. Most expatriate Hakka in Great Britain have ties to Hong Kong, many emigrated when Hong Kong still was a British colony. There once was a sizable Hakka community in Calcutta, but most there have migrated to Canada, the United States, Australia, or Taiwan.
Hakkas in Indonesia
Hakka people in Indonesia are found primarily in cities in Western Kalimantan (Borneo), such as Pontianak, Singkawang, and towns along the Kapuas River. (It is said that the first migrants wore Qing-style ponytails.) Hakka also are found on the Indonesian islands of Bangka and Belitung.
Hakkas on the island of Bangka have a very interesting accents scheme, said to be heavily influenced by the Malay native language. The Hakka spoken by the islanders has such a different intonation that their spoken language is hardly intelligible to Hakkas from other regions.
Hakkas in East Timor
There was a relatively large and vibrant Hakka community in East Timor before the Indonesian invasion in 1975. As no Asian country was willing to accept them as residents, or grant political asylum to displaced Hakka and other Timorese, they were forced to live as stateless persons for a time.
Prominent Hakkas
The Hakka have had a significant influence, disproportionate to their small total numbers, on the course of Chinese and Overseas Chinese history, particularly as a source of revolutionary and political leaders.
Hakka were active in the Taiping Rebellion, led by the failed Qing scholar Hong Xiuquan who claimed he was the younger brother of Jesus, and they led a movement which formed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (Taiping Tian Guo).
This continues to be true in modern Chinese history, in which some of the most prominent Chinese leaders have been Hakkas. In the 1980s-90s, the political leaders of all three Chinese-led countries were simultaneously Hakkas: the People's Republic of China's Deng Xiaoping, the Republic of China's Lee Teng-hui and Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew.
In addition, Deng Xiaoping and Lee Kuan Yew, both Hakkas, are two of the four Chinese named as "the 20th Century's 20 Most Influential Asians" by Time magazine. Hua County, Guangdong), Heavenly King Feng Yunshan, South King Yang Xiuqing, East King Shi Dakai (Guiping, Guangxi), Wing King Li Xiucheng (Teng County, Guangxi), Loyal King Chen Yucheng, Ying King Hong Rengan, Premier and Shield King Republic of China (China) Chen Jiongming, (1878-1933; Meixian, Guangdong), famous People's Republic of China leader and general Zeng Qinghong (1939-, Ji'an, Jiangxi), present Vice-President, People's Republic of China Ye Xuanping (Meixian, Guangdong), former governor, Guangdong Province, China Xie Fei, former governor, Guangdong Province, China Huang Huahua, present governor, Guangdong Province, China Republic of China (Taiwan) Lee Teng-hui (1923-), Former KMT President of Taiwan Yeh Chu-lan (1949-; born in Taiwan), presently acting mayor of Kaoshiong, Republic of China Hsu Hsin-liang (1941-), a leading opposition politician in Taiwan and a co-founder and former chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party Overseas Low Lan Pak (1738-1778, Meixian, Guangdong), founded the Hakka republic of Lanfang (present Western Kalimantan, now part of Indonesia), 1777-1884 Yap Ah Loy (1837-1885, Huiyang, Guangdong), founder of Kuala Lumpur (present capital of Malaysia) Arthur Raymond Chung (1916-), first President of the Republic of Guyana, 1970-80 Lee Kuan Yew (1923-; Xinyang, Henan), famous author of books on modern China Luo Xianglin (Xingning, Guangdong), the most renowned scholar on Hakka culture and language
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