Yue and Cantonese

[Lau Chunfat <96981339r@polyu.edu.hk>]

Dear Hakka friends,

To put a equal sign between Yue and Cantonese is a big misunderstanding.

If you look at the five wave of "Hakka migration" proposed by Luo Xianglin
(1933), you can see that the third wave is actually that of Cantonese
speakers. According to county gazetteers, genealogical records and
historical documents, they arrived the PearlRiver Delta around AD1200, and
the route coincide with that suggested by Luo for Hakka.

This implies that Luo's Hakka in borad sense includes most Cantonese
speakers, and explains why Cantonese and Hakka speakers are most related in
the immunoglobins (Zhao et al., 1991). Of course no Cantonese speakers want
to be "Hakka", and Hakka continue to view Cantonese speakers as barbarous
natives. This is not the first time in human history that two brother
groups changed into enemies. The distinction between Cantonese and Hakka is
sentimental rather than genetic because of the great war around 1850.

Understanding is needed and studying our history will help.

Liu Zinfad