Re: hakka: Hakka Chinese FAQ

[Lim KonLiong <limkl@ms1.showtower.com.tw>]

Dear HGN friends,

I would like to express some comments as below.

> B. 001  Are Hakka really Chinese?
>
> The short answer, is "Yes", but it deserves a bit of explanation. The
> question really has two parts, one dealing with culture, and the other
>
> dealing with language. Telling the difference between the two is the
> Number
> 2 source of confusion in the mailing list. (Telling the difference
> between
> history and  politics is Number 1.)
>
> Hakka people were thought to be a minority people of China, like the
> Hmong.

In fact, it is not really minority. Its population is about France,
German, two sizes of Taiwan. In China, it is one of seven biggest
ethnics. We believe it is a comparative term to 1.2 billions population.

> B. 002  Why are Hakka people called "Hakka"?
>
> "Hak-ka" is Cantonese for "guest people", an euphemism for
> "foreigner",
> "barbarian" or "interloper". (In Mandarin/Putonghwa, the term is
> "Kei-jia".)

It is easily to translate into "guest people" by Maderian, but it is not
a good expression to Hakka themselves. It should not be an adjective
term, it is a noun. Hakka is a Hakka. No translation required such as
Italian,American,Philipino etc.
 Something are very important as my quote below.



Lim KonLiong - Hakka Monthly Home Page Publisher
To Improve The Hakka Living Environment all over the world
-------------------------------------------------------
Speaking Hakka is as important as listening and reading
Singing a Hakka song is the easiest way to learn Hakka
Actively purchasing Hakka material, is the only way to continue the
improvement

http://www.hakkamag.com.tw
http://www.showtower.com.tw/~limkl/hakka.html