Re: hakka: re: Hakkologists, please reply

[sllee <sllee@asiawind.com>]

On the migration and genetic studies on localized population, I just have
to bring up the following points:

Massive popoulation relocation can be due to social and natural factors.
There may sound absurd today, but it was more often than unusual to have a
blanket effect on a population.

Even up to the 20th century, we have seen the Hindu/Moslim conflict in
India created two Pakistans and an India. Language, ethnic group, and
religious beliefs can have significant manipulation on populations. Those
who refused to leave ended up socially isolated and even massacred. 
Just less than 200 years, see who is populating the American continents?

Natural disasters such as famine caused by drought, grasshopper,
desertization of northwest, and the Yellow River floods are natural
driving forces to cleancut migrations.  The choice is between death or
move.  There have been numerous incidents of such natural disasters in
China's history. 

If one studies the genetic components of today's population in the south
and in the north, I doubt if the "majority" really reflects that of 2000
years ago. The population in Song dynasty was about 100 million as some
estimated. The population in Qin dynasty got to be far less than that. If
Qin emperor could send 30,000 women to Guangdong, it was not a small
number at all. The descendants of these people in Guangdong already become
the majority. However, if you really trace their origin, they were from
the central plain. This expalins the fact that why Guangdong has the most
diversified dialect system per square mile among all provinces. Since
Guangdong is the end of the migration before the sea route was developed,
the population in Guangdong in fact should reflect the ancient Han culture
better. That is why we find a lot more religious ceremonies in Guangdong
still retain those of the ancient time. 

There is a famous fable that a man dropped his sword from a moving boat
and tried to mark the location on the boat. Contemporary genetic studies
of a current locales must have to take in consideration of the historical
perspective. 

Again, I feel the debate on the genetic origin of Hakka may be
interesting, but the far more important issue is the nature of Hakka's
cultural origin and how we may winnow and promote the essence of it. Let's
focus on our commonalities rather than differences.

SL Lee
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