Author: Fulford Chin Choy
Date: 12-12-05 08:22
It has been several years since i visited this site. What has prompted me to get involved is the last query about who is an Hakka. Well, as our host S.L. Lee has described, we are a diaspora that have migrated from the north for nearly two thousand years. Now we are all over the world. But before i describe who is an Hakka, I want to tell the audience who I am. I am an Hakka born in Jamaica with western values. My grandparents came from the Bao On area near Shenzten. I met our webmaster, Dr S. L. Lee, in 2000 at Dr. Keith Lowe's Toronto Hakka Conference. Amazingly how S.L. could relate to the jamaican diaspora as well as how we could relate to him. In my quest to know more about my ancestral roots I went, this past spring, to see the tou lou [Hakka Earth Building] in Yong Ding where i spent two nights in one. I recommend highly that anyone who wants to experience a moment of our ancestral roots do the same. Next my group visited several Hakka communes which are living exhibits of our culture. Naturally, i paid respect at the temples of my parents. China is changing so rapidly that our ancestral homes are swamped by our fellow Hans. In addition, the next generation has to speak putonghua in school. So our culture is rapidly becoming a historical issue. We need to do an oral history of our culture before there is nobody to tell us about it.
As to who is an Hakka, I find this an intriguing question. Contrary to the Han, Hakka has a maternalistic tradition likely stemming from the husband going away to earn a living while the wife keeps the home fire burning. In addition, Hakka is an inclusive clan as the wife welcomes into the home any offspring the husband sires abroad and sent home. Hakkas are humble while maintaining respect and consideration for all. The best part to our culture, to me, are our dishes. No food is as tasty as a Hakka speciality dish. I could go on and on. Will save my other thoughts as i attempt to capture all these aspects in a tentative book. Zai jian for now.
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