hakka (4)

[CHUNG Yoon-Ngan <chungyn@mozart.joinet.net.au>]

Hakka (4)

This article, 客家尋根之旅 the tour of Searching for Hakka Root  
organised by the Malaysian Hakka Association, was written by Qiu Hui Zhong
(丘惠中) and appears in the magazine to commemorate the 10th Congress of
the Persekutuan Persatuan Persatuan Hakka of Malaysia.

There is a paragraph in the article entitled:
福建的客家搖藍 or the cradle of the Hakka People in Fujian province.
In the paragraph there is a mountain song about the migration of the Kakka 
People from the north to Fujian provinve. They settled down in Shi Pi
village in Ning Hua county (寧化石壁村). The village of Shi Bi is
recognised by the World Hakka Association as the cradle of the Hakka
People in Fujian province. On the bank of Ting Jiang Mother River
(汀江母親河) there is a statue called The Mother which is sacred to the
Hakka. The composer of this mountain song is unknown.

山歌唱來一蘿蘿﹐   遊子回到母親河﹐   河南福建轉一轉﹐
方知祖先苦難多﹐   翻山越嶺受折磨。
翻山越嶺受折磨﹐   萬苦千辛都挨過﹐   平地已有前人住﹐ 
只好走入大山坡﹐   開天辟地淚沱沱。
開天辟地淚沱沱﹐   今日終有好結果﹐   開枝散葉天下走﹐
隔山隔水難隔疏﹐   勿忘公公同婆婆。
記得祖公和祖婆﹐   回到祖地感觸多﹐   汀州寧化石壁村﹐
親情都像母親河﹐   河水長流暖心窩。
河水長流暖心窩﹐   遊子歸來唱贊歌﹐   優良文化應傳頌﹐
結出美麗好花朵﹐   千年萬代笑呵呵。

The English is roughly like this:
 
There are lots to sing about in mountain songs. The wandering sons 
have returned to Mother River. Touring through the provinces of Henan 
and Fujian we realise the amount of hardship our ancestors had
suffered, crossing the mountains and ridges. 

After crossing the mountains and ridges our ancestors thought the hardship
was over. However, the flat fertile land was already being inhabited by
the progenitors. Without alternatives they settled in the hilly slopes.
With tears, they removed the forest and cleared the land before they
planted the crops.

Having removed the forest, cleared the land and planted the crops, 
wonderful results were achieved as it is today where their descendants
have spread far and wide through out the world. Though they are seperated
by land and sea yet their relationship is inseperable. Forget not our
grandparents.

Remembering our ancestors, we retun, with stirring emotion, to the 
ancestral land of Shi Bi village in Ning Hua county of Ting Zhou
prefecture. Our love is like Mother River whose water flows through our
hearts.

As the water of Mother River flowing through our hearts, the wandering
sons sing the praise of our excellent culture blossoming with flowers for 
the upcoming thousand generations.   

     
CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)