CHP-150-The History of the Hakka People

CHP-150-The Hakka’s

In this milestone 150th CHP episode Laszlo shines a light on the Hakka people and where they fit in Chinese history. There are no shortages of authoritative sources that all disagree as to their origins ands when the Hakka’s migrated from where to where. Legends and stereotypes surrounded this sub-group of Chinese. But one thing is for sure they have carved an indelible spot in worldwide Chinese culture. More than 80 million Hakka’s call this solar system their home. Fifty minutes hardly offers a comprehensive look at any culture, let alone 客家文化. In this episode Laszlo offers a general overview. As always there is plenty of reading you can do and videos you can watch that give you a more satisfying meal than this episode can.

Terms from this Episode

Hakka people 客家人 Translates to “Guest People”

Gan 赣 Abbreviation for Jiangxi Province

Gan River 赣江 Main river in Jiangxi

Ganzhou 赣州 City in Jiangxi

Sima Yan 司马炎 Founded Jin Dynasty. Temple name Jin Wudi

Cao Wei 曹魏 Northern of the Three Kingdoms

Shu 蜀汉 The western of the Three Kingdoms

Wu 东吴 The eastern of the Three Kingdoms

Jin Dynasty 晋朝 Founded by Jin Wudi

The Han 汉朝 The Han Dynasty

Jin Wudi 晋武帝 Jin Dynasty founder

Luoyang 洛阳 Ancient capital city in China history

Emperor Min 晋愍帝 Last Western Jin emperor

Huizong 徽宗 Last emperor of the Northern Song

Wuhu 五胡 The Five Barbarian Tribes

Xiōngnú 匈奴 One of the Five Barbarian Tribes

Jié 羯One of the Five Barbarian Tribes

Xianbei 鲜卑 One of the Five Barbarian Tribes

Dī 氐 One of the Five Barbarian Tribes

Qiāng 羌 One of the Five Barbarian Tribes

Zhao 赵 Surname of the Song Dynasty emperors

Jiankang 建康 Ancient name of Nanjing

Nanjing 南京 City in Jiangsu, means Southern capital

Liu Yu 刘裕 Founder of the Liu Song (also known as 刘宋武帝)

Liu Song 刘宋 First of the Southern Kingdoms

Nanbei Chao 南北朝 The Southern and Northern Kingdoms period

Shibi Village 石壁村 Place in Fujian where the Hakka’s first settled

Yan’an 延安 City in Shaanxi, where the Long March concluded

Zudi 祖地 Ancestral land

Ninghua County 宁化县 County in Fujian

Tingzhou 汀洲 Another place not far from Shibi where the Hakka’s first assembled

Changting 长汀 Present day name for Tingzhou

Luo Xianglin 罗祥林 Hakka historian

Kejia Yanjiu Daoliu 客家研究导流 Luo Xianglin’s 1933 book “An Introduction to the Study of the Hakka’s,”

Huang Chao Uprising 黄巢之乱 Uprising in the late Tang from 881 to 884

Zhao Kuangyin 赵匡胤 Founder of the Song Dynasty

Kaifeng 开封 Capital of the Northern Song

Lin’an 临安 Capital of Southern Song (present day Hangzhou)

Zheng Chenggong 郑成功 Taiwan hero, better known as Koxinga

Kangxi emperor 康熙 Long reigning early Qing Dynasty emperor

Qian Hai Ling 遷海令The Great Clearance, or coastal evacuation

Bendi 本地 Also known as the Punt in Cantonese, means Native

Chaozhou 潮州City in Guangdong, above Shantou. The people are known as Teochew

Shantou 汕头 Coastal city in Guangdong adjacent to Chaozhou

Chaoshan 潮汕 Abbreviation for Chaozhou-Shantou

Jieyang 揭阳 Predominantly Hakka city just west of Chaozhou and Shantou.

Yue 粤 Abbreviation for Guangdong

Kejia ren 客家人 A Hakka Person

Meizhou 梅州 City in northeast Guangdong

Biaozhun 标准 a standard

Meixian 梅县 Mei County

Yanju Ji 盐焗鸡 Salt Baked Chicken

Niang Doufu 酿豆腐 The most famous Hakka dish

Tu Kè Xièdòu 土客械斗 The Punti-Hakka Clan Wars from1855 and 1867

Taishan 台山 City known as Toi San.

Qingchao Monian 清朝末年 The final years of the Qing dynasty

Min 闽 Fujian people, also an abbreviation of Fujian

Hong Xiuquan 洪秀全 Responsible for the Taiping Rebellion

Xiang 湘 Abbreviation of Hunan

Han Su-yin 韩素音 Born in Xinyang, Henan, home of Xinyang Maojian tea. Han Su Yin was the pen name of author Elizabeth Comber

Hsieh T’ing-yu Historian who wrote The Origin and Migrations of the Hakkas (1929)

Nàxī 纳西 Ethnic minority group around Lijiang in Yunnan

Tulou 土楼 The circular and square Hakka compounds

Hui 回 The character “to return”.

Yongding County 永定县 County in southern Fujian near Guangdong border

Weilong Wu 围龙屋 Distinctive single level concentric U-shaped structures

Kejia shange 客家山歌 Hakka mountain folk songs

Leicha 擂茶 Hakka pounded tea

Famous Hakka

Deng Xiaoping 邓小平

Yang Shangkun 杨尚昆

Lee Kwan Yew 李光耀

Zhu De 朱德

Ye Jianying 叶剑英

Su Yu 粟裕

Chen Yi 陈毅

Hua Guofeng 华国锋

Hu Yaobang 胡耀邦

Guo Moruo 郭沫若

Liu Bocheng 刘伯承(maybe)

Nie Rongzhen 聂荣臻 (maybe)

Zhang Guotao 张国焘

Ouyang Xiu 欧阳修

Aw Boon Haw 胡文虎

Aw Boon Par 胡文豹

Chow Yun-fat 周润发

Lee Denghui 李登辉

Charlie Soong 宋嘉树

Song Ailing 宋爱玲

Song Qingling宋庆龄

Song Meiling 宋美龄

T.V. Soong 宋子文

Henan Xinyang Maojian tea 河南信阳毛尖茶

Láoshan 崂山

谢谢温老师！

Jemimah Steinfeld: Little Emperors and Material Girls: Youth and Sex in Modern China

Mary Erbaugh.“The Secret History of the Hakkas: The Chinese revolution as a Hakka Enterprise”

University of Pittsburgh Professor and Director of their Asian Studies Center Nicole Constable: Guest People: Hakka Identity in China and Abroad



