No Subject

[teoh@cs.utk.edu]

Dear Jonathan Teoh Eng,

since I recently joined your maillist and have in the past two years greatly
profited of the HGN as a source of information in various aspects, I feel
obliged to contribute some of the material I have at hand for the netters. If
you are interested, I could send you my bibliographic list (25 pages) of
Hakka-, Fujian- and Guangdong-related books and articles. Some of the titles I
indeed collected thru your HGN-infos. But doing some crossreading on different
Hakka-topics (architecture, ethnic identity, migration, land conflicts/feud), I
picked most of the articles on the way. Just tell me if you see a practicable
way to present it in any form in the HGN environment and want me to send it to
you. (I do lack the technical ressources - and can actually at the moment not
spare the time - to construct a homepage). 

Hakka a race?

This may also be the reasons why I did until now only passively follow your
HGN-discussions - but sure I often felt the need to do so. Another reason was
my irritation when your discussion heated up on the topic of ethnic
identification and discrimination. Though (even as a non-Hakka by-stander) I
can imagine that most participants in the discussion (Hakka-emmigrants and
their descendants) feel a need to express their concern on the loss of culture
and want to reassure each other of ethnic bonds. But some of the contributors
showed a strong tendency towards the racial structuring of society. As a
(half-) German, I may be especially concerned when people start to ventilate
their ethnic identity from a standpoint of superiority. To delineate any
we-group through histori(fi)c bloodlines (as also Kiang does in the dubious
book "Hakka Odyssey") and genealogies (of which some are known to be recent
concoction) is a questionable if not dangerous enterprise when combined with an
essentialistic construct of a "Hakka-spirit" and the the feeling of cultural
superiority and political deprivation. In fact, the discourse of superiority by
definition needs a counterpart: backwardness and inferiority which in turn can
only be the legitimation for discrimination. 

I hope you netters (and Kiang) kept in mind that 
1. individual behavior and character are not so much inherited over centuries
but rather adjustments to a changing social environment;
2. there can not exist anything as an "ancient Hakka people" if you are looking
beyond the time when Hakka-identity came into existence by the historic
construction or definition of ethnic borderlines between Hakka and other
Chinese groups. 
[For reference read for instance Barth (1969), Roosens (1989) and the
introducion to Honig (1992).]
and more important:
3. superiority is a standpoint which points out others as inferior.

Barth, Frederik (1969). Introducion. In: Barth F. (ed.): Ethnic groups and
boundaries. The Social organization of cultural difference. Bergen:
Universitetsforlaget.
Roosens, Eugeen E. (1989). Creating Ethnicity. London: Sage.
Honig, Emily (1992). Creating Chinese Ethnicity, New Haven & London: Yale
University.


Hakka language

But still, as I said, I can comprehend the wish of young Hakka living in
different non-Chinese settings to reassure ethnic bonds through networks and to
recover individually one's cultural roots (i.e. by being eager to study the
Hakka dialect which seems to me the most important cohesive element for a
dialect group). The most appreciable service of the different Internet sites to
the Hakka dialect group is, on the other hand, that they do not exclusively use
Hakka dialect but English as its lingua franca. Although it seems
contradictory, your English language pages are a more important medium to
enhance Hakka group consciousness than any Hakka dialect site can be. It simply
takes into account, that Hakka culture is subject to change and not constant: a
Singapore Hakka, for example, who had to assimilate by his language choice is
that way given the opportunity to feel as a member of the Hakka (dialect)
group. This means, that the criterion for Hakka identity has changed (and has
to be aknowledged) from dialect to a presumed and more abstract, for a widely
scattered community more feasible group characteristic: the BELIEF in a common
Hakka identity.

I hope I do not stress your tolerance to far with my personal views. And for
myself I hope not to become an object of internet mobbing as some netters
showed in the unfair, over emotionalized treatment of the pitiable "Mr.
96981339r@polyu.edu.hk" and his bitterly charged opinion. 

* Anyway, dear Jonathan Teoh, if you think that the debate on genetics and
others should not go on (what I personally would understand), just drop the
above part of my letter. 

Originally I wanted to address another question to the netters:

Does anybody of the HGnetters have a relative who had contact to the
missionaries of the Basel Mission in Meixian, Xinning (Hinnen), Heyuan
(Honyen), Guzhu (Kutschuk), Lianping (Lenping), Lilong, the Berlin Mission at
Guangzhou (Kanton), or to one of these mission societies in another place in
Guangdong Province in the 1920ies/1930ies? 

I am planning to write a thesis on the activities of the Basel Mission in
Guangdong. As most netters probably know, the Basel Mission was nearly
exclusively restricting herself to Hakka areas. The BM was in their misssionary
politics aware, that to grant independance to the indigenous sub-churches as
soon as possible was of important help to their goal: to spread christianity
even if it was adapted to local or societal circumstances. This led to the
early foundation of the Tsung Tsin Associations, first in Hong Kong and later
with new branches in other countries where Hakka had emigrated to. 

As a source for the thesis I will consult the archives of the mission society.
At the moment, it seems possible that I will also have access to the assets of
a german missionary who spent more than 30 years (1904-1936) with Hakka in
Guangdong (Jiaying zhou, today Meixian). (He spoke, as some other missionaries
did as well, fluently Hakka and after his return to Germany even kept talking
to his children in Hakka. Although under his presidency for the region, mission
stations were sometimes attacked and pillaged, three missionaries were
kidnapped and banditry and the Red Army was a great ostacle to missionary work,
he kept his China experiance in astonishingly sympathetic souvenir - maybe due
to the rather tolerant attitude of the local Hakka population.) There should be
some interesting material in his assets (which consist of historic photographs,
sketches and diaries) to be added to one of your homepages. For now I can not
promise if I will be entitled to publish this material and want to get his
grandson's permission for it. But I would be glad to do so (there is a good
chance to uncover a photo of one of your relatives). 

What I do still miss is a way to access the early archive resources of the
Tsung Tsin Association of Hong Kong. Does anybody have an idea how they can be
contacted. Did one of the netters also research on the topic?

It would be of great help to me if you write to
amir@zedat.fu-berlin.de

P.S. one of my articles ("Identities on the move. Hakka in search for their
identity") which also refers to the HGN will be published in this years
september issue of "Das Neue China", a magazine in German language.

--------------------------------------------
Hi !   (since I do not know your name )
I am interested in the bibliography list that you have compiled.  Please    
send it to me, and thanks for your compilation.  If you do not mind, 
I will edit it with new source if any and will post it in the Hakka WEB 
pages.

I am very interested in the thesis you are doing, if you do not mind,
I will love to have a copy when it is done. Basel Mission info. has been
hard to come by and it is great that you undertake to compile this info.

There is a book "Hakka Spirit and Christian Soul" by a student doing a
thesis on a Hakka village in Hong Kong.  That village was from those 
escaping communism and is linked to Basel Mission. That book reference is
found in the Hakka Resource that I have.  If you do not have a copy
of Hakka Resource, let me know and I will send one to you.

Also, there is a Hakka church in vancover, and I have talked to the pastor
before over the phone.  It should and may be able to help you to
find the Basel Mission linkage through this Hakka church.  The address and 
phone is again in the Hakka Resource. 

I believe the churches in Wu Hua are linked to Basel Mission.  If you 
can find some people from Wu Hua and ask them to get the churches's address
, you could write to them and find inroads into Basel's history.
Unfortunately my last trip over there did not permit me to stop at Wu Hua.

Good luck in your thesis, and keep me posted on the status. 

As for the Hakka issues, I leave it to the netters to discuss( or argue
or flame ?)  It is good to share opinion and hopefully it is done
in a polite way with respect for others. 
The world does not revolve around the Hakkas in Indonesia, or Hakka in Taiwan 
,or Hakka in China or Hakka in Malaysia.  
								   
   Take care !