Hakka (11): Our Progenitors?

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

Hakka (11): Our Progenitors?
 
In 265AD Si-Ma Yan (司-馬炎) established the Jin Dynasty (晉朝). 
The estimated population of his empire was about 16,163,863. 
 
Si-Ma Yan was not only a drunkard but also a debauchee who could not
tolerate criticism. He kept thousands of young and beautiful girls in his
palace as his concubines. He died in 290AD and was succeeded by his son
Si-Ma Zhong (司-馬衷).

Si-Ma Zhong was a moron who did not have the ability to govern such a
large country. He allowed his wife Emperess Gu Nan-Feng (賈南風) to take
charge of the administration. She used her husband's authority to
manipulate with power and the country fell apart in a civil war which was
called the Rebellion of the Eight Princes (八王之亂) that lasted from
290AD to 305AD.  Eventually Emperess Gu died in the general chaos. As a
result of the civil war, the country deteriorated into famine which
followed by droughts and the invasions of locusts.

The non-Han tribes of the Turkic Xiong Nu (匈奴), the Jie (羯), the Xian
Bei (鮮卑), the Di (氐) and the Qiang (羌) took the advantage of the
anarchy and established themselves into politcal and armed units in the
north. In 304AD the Di founded a kingdom in the western region, the Xiong
Nu proclaimed the formation of a kingdom in south of present day Shaaxi
province (陜西省). The historians called this period "Wu Hu Luan Hua
五胡亂華"  or the Invasion of the Five Barbarians.

In 307AD Si-Ma Chi (司-馬熾), or Emperor Huai Di (懷帝), appointed Prince
Si-Ma Rui (司-馬睿) the governor of Jiang Dong (江東 present day provinces
of Jiangsu 江蘇省 and Anhui 安徽省). Prince Si-Ma Rui selected one
thousand families to accompany him to the south. After crossing Chang
Jiang (長江 Yangtze River)  Prince Si-Ma Rui took up his residency in Jian
Kang (建康 present day Nanjing 南京 city in Jiangsu province). However
there were eight large clans who did not stop in Jian Ning but contiuned
their journey to the south and eventually settled down in Min Zhong
Prefecture (閩中郡 present day provinces of Fujian 福建省 and Guangdong
廣東省). The eight clans were: Lin (林), Huang (黃), Chen (陳), Zheng
(鄭), Zhan (詹), Qiu (丘), He (何)and Hu (胡).

In 311AD Liu Cong (劉聰) the chieftain of the Xiong Nu tribe siezed Luo
Yang (洛陽), the capital of Jin and captured Si-Ma Chi, the Emperor, and
had him executed in 313AD.

In 314AD, the 14 years old Si-Ma Ye (司-馬業), a nephew of Si-Ma Chi was
installed as Emperor Min (愍帝) by a relative in Chang An (長安 present
day Shaanxi province). However, in 316AD another leader of the Xiong Nu
tribe overran Chang An and captured Emperor Min who was forced to become a
commoner and later killed by the conquerors. The leader of this Xiong Nu
tribe called himself Liu Yao (劉曜), an offspring of Liu Bang, the founder
of Han Dynasty (漢朝 206AD to 220AD)  That was the end of the Jin Dynasty.
 
Due to the famine, the politcal and economic chaos in North China en masse
of Han-Chinese fled southward to the safety regions in the south of Chang
Jiang.

In 317AD Prince Si-Ma Rui set up a new Dynasty called Eastern Jin (東晉)  
in Jian Kang and installed himself as Emperor Yuan (元帝). The exodu of
Han Chinese unabated but continued to move into regions south of Chang
Jiang This time they were the powerful family groups and they established
political units to control over their new homes. They swamped the regions
where it is now called the provinces of Jiangsu, Jiangxi and Anhwei.

There were feuds between the emigrants and the locals. The disputes were
mostly over the seizure of lands by the new comers. The locals nicknamed
these newcomers "Cang Ren 傖人" reckless people. Some of them must be our
progenitors. Although the new dynasty of Eastern Jin had made a few
attemps to recover the North, Si-Ma Rui and the new comers were contented
with their new found and fertlie land. It was estimated that more than a
million northerners had emigrated to the south within this period. As a
result the population in the south increased dramtically and the locals
were being sinicized by the new comers. 

CHUNG Yoon-Ngan.