FW: Hakka News in the Recent Editions of the China Daily

["kong Family" <kongfam@eastnet.com.cn>]

-----Original Message-----
From: kong Family [mailto:kongfam@eastnet.com.cn]
Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2000 6:41 PM
To: 'hakka@brooklaw.edu'
Subject: Hakka News in the Recent Editions of the China Daily



Hakka congress fosters exchange
     More than 2,000 Hakka representatives from 34 countries and regions are
expected to attend the 16th World Hakka
     Congress in Longyan, Fujian Province, next month.
     Among the 2,000 representatives, more than 1,500 are from Hong Kong,
Macao, Taiwan and abroad, the preparatory
     committee of the congress announced in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian
Province last week.
     The congress is scheduled to run November 17-22.
     Hakkas are a part of the Han nationality. Since the Jin (AD 265-420)
and Tang (AD 618-907) dynasties, many residents
     in the Yellow and Yangtze river valleys migrated to the boundaries of
today's Fujian, Jiangxi and Guangdong provinces.
     After thousands of years, Hakkas formed their own dialect and customs.
Hakkas later migrated to many parts of China
     and other countries.
     The theme of the congress, "Unity and Development," is designed to
promote economic co-operation and cultural
     exchange among Hakkas both in and outside China and push forward
China's peaceful reunification.
     Longyan, located in the western part of Fujian Province, is the
ancestral home of the world's Hakkas. The local
     government has invested more than 500 million yuan (US$60.2 million) in
the congress.
     According to statistics, there are 100 million Hakkas in the world,
including 10 million in Hong Kong, Macao and
     Taiwan. Another 6 million live in 80 countries across the world.
     The first World Hakka Congress was held in Hong Kong in September 1971.
After nearly thirty years of development,
     the congress has become an important link among Hakkas. Many well-known
figures, including Hong Kong entrepreneur
     Tsang Hing-Chi, have promised to attend the 16th congress.
     Date: 10/23/2000
     Author: GUO NEI, China Daily staff
     Copyright© by China Daily


Hakkas congress focuses on 'unity'
     LONGYAN, Fujian: The 16th World Hakkas Congress will start this
morning. "Unity" and "development" will be top
     topics for discussion during the three day congress.
     Zhang Yuzhu, spokesman for the congress, said yesterday that more than
3,000 guests have registered to attend the
     congress.
     Around 1,700 of the guests are from China's Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan
and also from overseas.
     Hakkas are a part of the Han nationality. During the Jin (AD 265-420)
and Tang (AD 618-907) dynasties, many people
     living in the Yellow and Yangtze river valleys migrated to the
boundaries of today's Fujian, Jiangxi and Guangdong
     provinces. Since then, the Hakkas have formed their own dialect and
customs. Hakkas later migrated to many parts of
     China and other countries.
     There are 100 million Hakkas in the world, including 10 million in Hong
Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Zhang said that
     several seminars highlighting the Hakkas's history and future
development will be held during the congress. Some
     sightseeing tours and art shows are also scheduled to be held to
promote relations between native Hakkas the their
     overseas relatives.
     The spokesman said economic co-operation would be another focus during
the congress, and a number of profitable
     investment projects are likely to attract funding from overseas Hakkas.
     Wang Zhaoguo, head of the United Front Department of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party of China, met
     Hong Kong entreprenuer Tsang Hing-Chi, a member of the Standing
Committee of the National People's Congress, in
     Longyan yesterday.
     Wang praised Tsang's long-standing efforts in promoting cultural and
economic exchanges between Hakkas worldwide,
     as well as his support of the nation's unity.
     Date: 11/20/2000
     Author: HU MEIDONG, China Daily staff
     Copyright© by China Daily


Festival strengthens ties
     SHENZHEN _ Longgang, a district in South China's Shenzhen Special
Economic Zone, is hosting a Hakka cultural
     festival this week.
     The '99 China Hakka Cultural Festival, which began on Wednesday and
ends today, is jointly organized by the China
     Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the Guangdong Provincial
Federation of Literary and Art Circles and local
     authorities of Shenzhen and the Longgang district.
     "We hope the festival will help promote the culture of the Hakkas and
boost cultural exchanges among domestic Hakka
     people and between native Hakkas and the overseas Chinese of Hakka
origin," said Li Zhigeng, director-general of the
     festival's organizing committee.
     More than 60 million Hakkas now live in the country and millions of
overseas Chinese of Hakka origin live in other parts
     of the world, many of whom are business tycoons and prominent people.
     The Chinese meaning of "Hakka" is "guest." The ancestors of the Hakka
people originally lived in Central China and have
     migrated over the past 1,000 years and now inhabit mountainous regions
all over the country.
     Most Hakkas share a unique dialect, culture, cuisine and architectural
style that merit further anthropological study.
     Date: 10/29/1999
     Author: Zhan Lisheng
     Copyright© by China Daily

3rd type of folk worship revealed among Hakkas
     Previous studies of ancient Chinese folk worship customs have
distinguished two types - the worship of ancestors which
     takes place in the ancestral hall, and the worship of gods who sit in
temples.
     But Professor Yang Yanjie, director of the Centre of Hak-ka Studies at
the Fujian Academy of Social Sciences, has
     uncovered another form of worship, which he describes as the "worship
of god ancestors."
     Since 1992, Yang has done fieldwork in the area bordering the provinces
of Fujian and Guangdong and the Guangxi
     Zhuang Autonomous Region in South China.
     Most residents of this area are Hakka, who were part of the Han people
but moved south from the Yellow River region
     in the Tang and Song dynasties between the 7th and the 13th centuries.
     Li Wulang, for instance, is a famous legendary figure still revered in
Qingliu County of western Fujian Province.
     Moving to the county in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), Li and
his family are said to have encountered an evil
     local magician who demanded all residents sacrifice a child to him once
every year.
     Being newcomers, the Li family was asked to sacrifice their baby girl.
Li Wulang met a powerful Taoist and learned
     magic arts. He defeated the evil magician and abolished the cruel
sacrifice.
     Today, locals still say that a rock bears Li's footprint where he
kicked the magician into the river.
     Yang said god ancestors appeared between the 12th and the 15th
centuries as Taoism flourished in southern China.
     The influence of Taoism was so deep that many people of that time
followed the Taoist custom in naming their children.
     Li Wulang, for instance, literally means "the fifth boy of the Li
family."
     Yang noted that god ancestors are mostly found in regions where the She
and Yao ethnic groups live and intermarried
     with Hakka people. The two ancient tribes regarded dog as their sacred
totem.
     In front of the temple for Xiao Yu, an official in the early Tang
Dynasty (AD 618-907), a stone dog has been receiving
     worshippers for centuries at the Dongkeng village of Qingliu County.
During Spring Festival, locals will pay tribute to the
     dog before offering sacrifices to Xiao Yu.
     Traditional studies of Chinese folk culture have focused on famous
figures such as the Goddess of Mazu, who is still
     revered in Southeast China and Southeast Asia. But it is time for
scholars to dig into the grass-roots, which reflect
     everyday life, Yang said.
     Date: 02/16/2000
     Author: LIU JUN, China Daily staff
     Copyright© by China Daily