An abstract of the five Migrations of the Hakkas (3)

[CHUNG Yoon-Ngan <chungyn@mozart.collective.com.au>]

   An abstract of the five Migrations of the Hakkas (3)

   The third Migration of the Hakkas (1268AD to 1279AD) 
   -----------------------------------------------------

   It was the period of Wu Dai Shi Guo (The five Dynasties and the ten 
Kingdoms 907AD to 960AD) and Zhao Kuang-Yin was a commander in chief of 
the armed forces of the Later Zhou Dynasty (951AD to 960AD). In 960AD he 
was ordered north to stop the incursion by the Liao army who were from the 
Liao River Valley in present day Southern Manchuria.
 
   Zhao Kuang-Yin and his army arrived at Chen Qiao a small suburban 
town north east of Bianjing (present day Kaifeng city in Henan province).
They camped there for a few days. Those generals under his command
decided that he should become the Emperor as the present Emperor was only 
a seven years old boy. Whether Zhao Kuang-Yin like it or not they put a
yellow robe on him and proclaimed him the Emperor. Zhao Kuang-Yin refused 
to wear the yellow robe. For three times his generals made him wear the
yellow robe and become the new Emperor. Each time he refused, but 
eventually he was persuaded by his subordiants. Thus he became the emperor. 
He named his empire the Song Dynasty (960AD to 1279AD) with the capital 
in Bianjing. He was known as Emperor Tai Zu3 (reigned 960AD to 976AD).

   Seven generations later in 1101AD Zhao Ji was crowned as Emperor Hui 
Zong. It was during the reign of Zhao Ji that the Song empire 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 
money 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 Jurched in present day 
northern Manchuria in the upper basin of Song Hua Jiang (Sungari River) 
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 (Golden Dynasty). In 1153AD they moved 
their capital from Manchuria to Yanjing (present day Beijing city in 
Hebei province).

   A new dynasty like Jin could easily defeated the Liao, Zhao Ji thought 
that his army could do the same and defeat the Liao too. So he formed an 
alliance with the Jin hoping that, together, they could destroy the Liao. 
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 troble to overrun the eastern part of Liao, but 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 1126AD, in consternation, Zhao Ji abdicated in favour of his 
elder son named Zhao Hang who was installed as Emperor Qin Zong. But the 
Jin hordes continued riding south and captured Bianjing, the Song 
capital. The two Emperors, Zhao Ji and Zhao Hang were still in the city 
because they did not escape fast enough from the blitze-kreig of the 
Jin. They were captured by the Jin and became prisoners.

    Zhao Gou, the numbered nineth son of Zhao Ji, continued to 
resist the Jin. The following year in 1127AD Zhao Gou crowned himself as 
Emperor Gao Zong the numbered tenth Emperor of the Song Dynasty. He 
established his capital in the southern city of Lin An (present day 
Hangzhou city Zhejiang province).
   
   The Hakka People, like Yue Fei the Hakka general, were fanatical 
patriots supporting the Song Court. They swore that they would recapture 
the lost territory in the North and free the two Emperors held in 
captivity by the Jin. General Yue Fei trained and organized an army which
was called the northern expedition army. They marched northward and
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, he was afraid that his elder brother 
Zhao Hang and his father Zhao Ji would be released by the Jin. He would 
have to give up the throne in favoure of either of them. The second 
matter was that a much adored and highly respected general might seize 
the throne just like his ancestor the founder of the Dynasty Zhao 
Kuang-Yin did 267 years ago.

    General Yue Fei and his northern expedition army were winning battles 
after battles. The Jin were being routed and pushed further northeast.
The Emperor of Jin was in panicked. Meanwhile, down in the south Zhao 
Gou was in panicked too. He was afraid that Yue Fei might conquer all 
the territory in the north and free the two Emperors. 
 
   One of his ministers named Qin Gui convinced Zhao Gou to make peace 
with the Jin and recall Yue Fei's expedition army. Zhao Gou agreed. 
Yue Fei and the army under his command were summoned back to the 
southern capital, Lin An. Later Qin Gui had Yue Fei murdered.

   In 1233AD the Song Court formed an alliance with the Mongolian  
from the north with the intention to destroy the Jin. It was agreed that 
after the destruction of Jin the land south of the Yellow River would be   
returned to the Song Court, whereas the Mongolian would occupied the rest 
of the land north of the Yellow River. In 1234AD the combined forces 
of the Song and Mongolian destroyed the Jin.   
 
  After the extinction of 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 Court,   
desperatly resisted the invasion, but the Mongolian armies under the
command Genghis were too strong. The Song Court fled South and the 
Hakkas went with them. They fled from Jizhou (present day Ji An city in 
Jiangxi province) through Fuzhou and Quanzhou in Fujian province to  
Meizhou (Meixian), Chaozhou, Xiushan (Humen town in Dongguan district), 
Huizhou and finally in 1278AD they arrived at Yashan near Xin Hui county
in the coastal province of Guangdong. The remaining members of the Song
Court, the Song army and the civilians numbered about a quarter million
and the Song Emperor was Zhao Bing, an eight years old young boy. They
set up their Court on the boats because they had no land of their own.

   Wen Tian-Xiang, the last Prime Minister of Song Dynasty was captured 
by the Mongolian troops at Lufeng in Guangdong province. He was sent back 
to Da Du (present day Beijing city in Hebei province) where he was 
executed because he refused to surrender and work for the Mongols. 
While in prison and before he was executed Wen Tian-Xiang wrote a famous
essay entitled "Zheng Qi Ge" (The Song of Uprightness) which is still
being taught in some of the Chinese schools in Malaysia.

   A year later in 1279AD the Mongols finally caught up with them. 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, a Minister in the Song Court, carried the young Emperor 
Zhao Bing on his back and said,

   "We, the Emperor and the Minister, would not 
    be humiliated by foreigners".

   With that 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 which 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 
dispersed and settled down in the regions between the provinces of  
Guangdong and Fujian, specially in the districts of Meixian, Dongguan,
Huizhou, Dabu, Haifeng, Lufeng (Hai-Lu-Feng), Yongding, Yongxin and many
other hilly places.

   They built villages and remained isolated and aloof, retaining their 
own customs and speaking their ancient dialect (Hakka). They multiplied.    

  Several hundred years later in the 19th and early of 20th centuries
the offspring of these Hakkas emigrated to all over the world especially 
to Nanyang (Southeast Asia ) where I was born.

CHUNG Yoon-Ngan.