Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 05-05-07 13:10
The majority of the Hakkas are living in Guangdong province
There are more Hakkas living in Guangdong province (廣東省) than all the
Hakkas in the world combine together.The counties in Guangdong province
where the Hakkas live are as follow.
The single character for Guangdong province is Yue (粵) which is also known
as Ling Nan (嶺南).
(A) Many Hakkas live in the east of Ling Nan which is also known as Ling
Dong (嶺東).
The counties of Ling Dong where the Hakkas live are:
(1) Mei Xian (梅縣), (2) Jiao Ling (蕉嶺), (3) Ping Yuan (平遠),
(4) Xing Ning (興寧), (5) Wu Hua (五華), (6) Feng Shun (豐順),
(7) Da Pu (大埔), (8) Rao Ping (饒平).
(B) Hakkas are also living in the counties of the river basin of Dong Jiang
(東江) or the East River. The counties where they live are:
(1) Lian Ping (連平), (2) He Ping (和平), (3) Xin Feng (新豐),
(4) Long Men (龍門), (5) Long Chuan (龍川), (6) He Yuan (河源),
(7) Zi Jin (紫金), (8) Hui Yang (惠陽), (9) Bo Luo (博羅),
(10) Dong Guan (東莞 my ancestral county), Bao An (寶安).
(C) From the north of Guangdong province down through the river basin of
Bei Jiang (北江) or the North River the counties where Hakkas live are:
(1) Cong Hua (從化), (2) Hua Xian (花縣), (3) Qing Yuan (清遠),
(4) Ying De (英德), (5) Weng Yuan (翁源), (6) Qu Jiang (曲江),
(7) Yue Chang (樂昌), (8) Ru Yuan (乳源), (9) Shi Xing (始興),
(10) Nan Xiong (南雄), (11) Lian Xian (連縣) (12) Lian Shan (連山).
(D) Hakkas also live in the counties in the river basin of Xi Jiang (西江
or West River): The counties where they live are:
(1) He Shan (鶴山), (2) De Qing (德慶), (3) Yun Fu (雲浮),
(4) Si Hui (四會), (5) Si Chuan (寺川).
(E) In the lower south of Guangdong province, the counties are:
(1) Chi Xi (赤溪), (2) Fang Cheng (防城), (3) He Pu (合浦),
(4) Qin Xian (欽縣).
(F) In the east of the costal regions where Hakka live are the counties
of:
(1) Hai Feng (海豐), (2) Lu Feng (陸豐).
Why is it that the majority of the Hakkas are living in Guangdong province?
To answer this question we have to go back to the Song Dynasty (宋朝 960AD
to 1279AD).
Seven generations after Zhao Kuangyin (趙匡胤), the founder of the Song
Dynasty, in 1100AD Zhao Ji (趙佶) became the 8th Emperor of the Song Dynasty.
It was during his reign that the Song Dynasty began to decline.The financial
situation of the country was in bad shape. Its administrations were in a
mess. Yet Zhao Ji continued to spend a lot of the government's resources
on his hobbies which were painting and creative arts as he was a born artist.
He also maintained a luxurious Court. In the process it further strained
the country's revenue.
During that time there lived a tribe called Nu Zhen (女真族) in the present
day northeastern part of the land in the upper basin of Song Hua Jiang (松
花江) which was part of the domain of the Liao. They had risen to power
and they rebelled against their ruler, the Liao. They established their
own Dynasty known as the Jin Dynasty (金朝 1115AD to 1234AD). In 1153AD
they moved their capital from the northeast to Yan Jing (燕京 present day
Beijing city 北京市in Hebei province 河北省).
A new Dynasty like Jin could easily defeated the Liao, Emperor Zhao Ji thought
that his army could do the same. So Zhao Ji formed an alliance with the
Jin hoping that, together, they could destroy the Liao (遼). Zhao Ji wanted
to regain the sixteen border prefectures previously lost to the Liao in
963AD.
The Jin attcked the Liao from the east and the Song from the south. The
Jin army had no trouble to overrun the eastern part of Liao. However, the
Song armies were beaten by the Liao. Knowing that the Song was weak the
Jin marched southward into the Song territory. The Song could not stop them.
In consternation, Zhao Ji abdicated in favour of his eldest son called Zhao
Huan (趙桓). But the Jin hordes continued riding south.
In 1126AD the Jin captured Kaifeng, the Song capital. The two Emperors,
Zhao Ji and his son, the newly crowned Emperor Zhao Huan, were still in
the capital. They did not escape fast enough from the blitze-kreig of the
Jin. They were captured by the Jin and became prisoners.
The numbered ninth son of Zhao Ji called Zhao Gou (趙構) continued to resist
the Jin. The following year in 1127AD Zhao Gou crowned himself the numbered
tenth Emperor of the Song Dynasty. He established his capital in the southern
city of Lin An (臨安 present day Hangzhou city 杭州市 Zhejiang province
浙江省).
Yue Fei (岳飛1103AD to 1142AD) was born in a poor farmer family. His father
died when he was very young. It was at the time that the Jin from the Northeast
were conquering the South. Yue Fei joined the Song army and rose to the
rank of a general. He was a fanatical patriot. When he was just a young
boy he loved his country dearly. His mother tatooed these four words on
his back,
"盡 忠 報 國" which meant "Loyalty and Patriotism".
He compiled a motto which was,
"還 我 河 山" which meant "Return My Country".
Yue Fei swore that he would recapture the lost territory in the North and
free the two Emperors held in captivity by the Jin. Yue Fei organized a
northern expedition army and marched northward. He recaptured a vast territory
from the Jin.
When Zhao Gou crowned himself as the Emperor he was tormented day and night
by two matters. First, Zhao Gou was afraid that his elder brother Zhao Huan
and his father Zhao Ji would be released by the Jin. He would have to give
up the throne in favour of either one of them.
The second matter was that a much adored and highly respected general might
grab the throne just like his ancestor the founder of the Dynasty Zhao Kuangyin
did 167 years ago.
General Yue Fei and his northern expedition army were winning battle after
battle. The Jin were being routed and pushed further northeast. The Emperor
of Jin was in panicked.
Down in the south Zhao Gou was also in panicked. Zhao Gou was afraid that
Yue Fei might conquer the whole of the northern territory and free the two
Emperors from the Jin.
One of Zhao Gou's ministers called Qin Kuai (秦檜) who was the representative
of the big landlords in the south. Qin Kuai was in favour of making peace
with the Jin. He advised Zhao Gou to contact the Jin and had secret peace.
Zhao Gou accepted his suggestion and appointed him as the Prime Minister.
Secret peace talks were being held with the Jin.
Meanwhile Yue Fei continued his march northward. Of course he did not know
the skulduggery of the Emperor. A big decisive battle was about to take
place at Zhu Xian Zhen (朱仙鎮) about 20 kilometers away from Kaifeng, the
former capital of Song. Yue Fei never drink in his whole life. But in this
occasion he ordered wine to be served at the dinner. He told his officers,
"We must march to Huang Long Fu (黃龍府 present day Nong An 農安 in Jilin
province 吉林省) to welcome back the two Emperors. Then we shall celebrate
and drink again".
Huang Long Fu was the city where the two Emperors were being held by the
Jin. During the feast Yue Fei composed a famous patriotic poem entitled
"Man Jiang Hong 滿江紅":
怒髮沖冠, 憑闌處, 瀟瀟雨歇.
抬望眼, 仰天長嘯, 壯懷激烈.
三十功名塵與土, 八千里路雲和月.
莫等閑, 白了少年頭, 空悲切.
靖康恥, 猶末雪. 臣子恨, 何時滅!
駕長車, 踏破賀蘭山缺.
壯志飢餐胡虜肉, 笑談渴飲匈奴血.
待從頭, 收拾舊山河, 朝天闕.
Meanwhile, the secret peace talks with the Jin were about to be concluded.
Qin Kuai, the Prime Minister, advised Zhao Gou, the Emperor, to issue edict
ordering Yue Fei to avoid the decisive battle and pull back to the South.
When Yue Fei received the first edict he ignored it thinking that it was
a hoax. But the Emperor, Zhao Gou, sent him twelve orders within one day.
He had no alternative but to obey lest he would be charged for insubordination.
Yue Fei and his northern expedition army were ordered back to the capital.
The Emperor rewarded with great honour to all the generals who took part
in the northern expedition. Yue Fei was appointed the deputy Minister of
Defence. With this appointment Yue Fei was being stripped off as the commander
of the northern expedition army.
Yue Fei was a patriot and he did not know the intrigue of the Emperor and
Qin Kuai the Prime Minister. He continued to urge the Song Court to recapture
the north and free the two Emperors. That was the last thing that Zhao Gou
wanted to do. Qin Kuai told the Emperor that Yue Fei had to be eliminated
and the Emperor agreed. Zhao Gou ordered Yue Fei and his eldest son Yue
Yun (岳雲) to be arrested on charges of conspiracy to overthrow the Song
Court. Father and son were tried for high treason. They were sentenced to
death. They were being held as criminals in an old well. Qin Kuai had them
executed secretly.
http://yn.chung.id.au/Yue.Fei.jpg
The younger son of Yue Fei called Yue Ting (岳霆) fled to Huan Mei (黃梅
present day Dong Rui county 東瑞縣 in Hubei province 湖北省). He changed
his surname
to E (鄂).
In 1195AD Zhao Kuo (趙擴) became the Emperor. Yue Fei was rehabilitated
and Zhao Kuo posthumously bestowed upon Yue Fei the title of E Wang (鄂王
or Prince of E).
Yue Fei was extolled by patriots as a symbol of national resistance to foreign
domination. The patriots hated Qui Kuai. They created a recipe called "You
Zha Kuai 油炸檜" which meant deep fried Qin Kuai in hot oil. It was a popular
cuisine specially for breakfast. Two rolls were deep fried in hot oil. The
two rolls were supposed to be Qin Kuai and his wife. They called it deep
fried "Qin Kuai and his wife".
Generations later people shortened it to, deep fried Kuai "You Zha Kuai"
because those with the surname of Qin would not like to eat the rolls that
were named after their own surname. So the surname Qin was omitted in the
recipe. Since then we have been eating deep fried Qin Kuai and his wife
for more than
eight hundred years. Yet we do not know that Kuai was the name of the Prime
Minister who had murdered Yue Fei and his son Yue Yun during the Song Dynasty.
People will continue to eat You Zha Kuai forever.
Here is a couplet:
人子宋後少名檜
After the Song Dynasty people rarely named themselves Kuai.
我到墳前愧姓秦
Standing in front of Yue's tomb, I am ashamed to have the surname Qin.
History also recorded that Qin Kuai's grandson, who was ashamed of his
grandfather's deed bravely fought and died in a battle against the Jin troops.
In 1233AD, the Song Court formed an alliance with the Mongols from the north
with the intention of destroying the Jin (金). It was agreed among them
that after the destruction of the Jin the land south of Huanghe (黃河) or
the Yellow River would be returned to the Song, whereas the Mongols would
occupy the rest of the land north of the Yellow River. In 1234AD the combined
forces of the Song and the Mongols destroyed the Jin.
However, after the extinction of the Jin, the Mongols did not honour the
agreement and did not return the land south of the Yellow River to the Song.
Instead, in 1268AD, the Mongolian army began to conquer the South.
The Hakka People, who were the strong supporters of the Song, desperately
resisted the invasion, but the Mongolian armies under the command of Genghis
Khan were too strong. The Song Court fled further south and the Hakkas went
with them. They fled from Ji Zhou (吉州 present day Ji An 吉安 city in Jiangxi
province 江西省) through Fuzhou (福州) and Quanzhou(泉州) in present day
Fujian province (福建省), to Meizhou (梅州 present day Meixian 梅縣), Chaozhou
(潮州), Xiushan (秀山 present day Humen 虎門 town in Dongguan county 東莞
縣), Huizhou (惠州) and finally in 1278AD they arrived at Ya Shan 崖山 near
Xin Hui (新會) in the coastal province of Guangdong. The remaining members
of the Song Court, the Song army and the civilians numbered over a quarter
million. The Song Emperor was Zhao Bing (趙昺), an eight-year old boy. They
set up their Court on the boats because they had no land of their own.
http://yn.chung.id.au/Wen.Tianxiang.jpg
Wen Tianxiang (文天祥), a Hakka, and the last Prime Minister of Song Dynasty
was captured by the Mongolian troops at Wu Po Ling (五坡嶺 present day Hai
Feng 海豐 Lufeng in Guangdong province). He was sent back to Da Du (大都
present day Beijing 北京 city in Hebei province 河北省) where he was executed
because he refused to surrender and work for the Mongols. While he was being
transported to Da Du, Wen Tianxiang wrote this famous poem when he passed
through the Pearl River.
過零丁洋
辛苦遭逢起一經, 干戈寥落四周星.
山河破碎風拋絮, 身世飄搖雨打萍.
皇恐灘頭說皇恐, 零丁洋裏嘆零丁.
人生自古誰無死, 留取丹心照汗青!
Wen Tianxiang was reminiscing of how, four years ago, he raised an army
to fight the Mongols in Gan Shui (贛水 or River Gan 贛江) at Huang Kong
Tan (皇恐灘) in Jiangxi province (江西省), and the many battles he had fought.
While in prison in Da Du and before he was executed Wen Tian-Xiang wrote
a famous essay entitled "Zheng Qi Ge" (正氣哥 or The Song of Uprightness)
A year later in 1279AD the Mongols finally caught up with the Song Court.
In front of them lay the deep waters of the South China Sea and behind them
stood the Mongolian armies. Quite literally, the Song Court was between
the devil and the deep blue sea.
Lu Xiu-Fu (陸秀夫), a Minister in the Song Court, carried the young Emperor
Zhao Bing on his back and said,
"我們君臣﹐不應受到外國人的侮辱"
"We, the Emperor and the Minister, would not be humiliated by foreigners".
http://yn.chung.id.au/Lu.Xiufu.jpg
With this statement and the young Emperor still on his back, Lu Xiu-Fu walked
right into the sea. Both of them were drowned. That was the end of the Song
Dynasty that had existed for 320 years.
After the extinction of the Song Dynasty, the remnants of this great Dynasty,
including the Hakka people, did not go back to the north but instead they
dispersed and settled down in the regions between the provinces of Guangdong
and Fujian, especially in the districts of Meixian, Dongguan, Huizhou, Dabu
(大埔), Haifeng, Lufeng (陸豐), Yongding (永定), Yongxin (永新) and many
other hilly places.One of these people was my ancestor. They built villages
and remained isolated and aloof, retaining their own customs and speaking
their ancient dialect (Hakka). Over the years they multiplied and proliferated.
滅人之國的報應
當日陳橋驛裏時, 欺他寡婦與孤兒.
誰知三百餘年後, 寡婦孤兒亦被欺.
CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
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