Re: references Henan and Hakka

["S. L . Lee" <sllee@asiawind.com>]

Dear Dylan,

I think Qieyun was said to be an invention of Xixia kingdom (occupying Gansu
and neighboring regions), which is now perished. They left many relics in
Gansu province in carvings. Few people can read Xixia writing now, although
they look very similar to Hanzi.

I consider many Cantonese have their origin in Zhongyuan too.  Their
settlement in Guangdong during Han dynasty is well documented. However, they
may or may not  be Hakka in origin. Many Hakkas in Guangdong have lost their
ancestry and regard themselves as just Guangdong people speaking Cantonese.

I can only go by what I have in hand as reference. Chen Yundong's book
should be available from bookstores in Taiwan and Hongkong. It is up ther
reader to decide whether it is convincing or not.

I am not as attached to the narrowly defined Hakka culture as some friends
here. I view Hakka in a very broad sense. In fact, I view cultures in a very
liberal way. That may be the key of our difference. I place Chinese culture
first over Hakka culture, which is a subset. The subset is never as rich as
the whole.  I also appreciate non-Chinese culture as well and try to absorb
anything that might enrich Chinese culture (or I would see how Chinese
culture may enrich American culture).  I could have set up a Chinese culture
site instead if Professor Ming L. Pei has not done so.  Some of the debates
on the origin of Hakka and Hakka language to me are less important  and may
be even limiting our perspective to enjoy the entire Chinese culture.  I
know this view may not be shared by some fellow Hakkas here but I hope that
does not diminish my role or exclude me from this community.  I would like
to propose a new mission for Hakka if I might call it so to embrace other
ethnic groups, to understand and appreciate their culture too.  I never fail
to enjoy listening to other dialects - Shanghai, Sichuan, Fujian, ... and
try to pick up the beauty of their speech.

The term Hakka will become fuzzier outside the pure community of the
Guangdong-Fujian-Jiangxi area. This is very obvious for the Toronto Hakka
Conference. Many of the participants do not speak Hakka. Some even don't
read Chinese. But their zeal and pride in sharing the Hakka experience and
identity are above their knowledge due to historical reasons. Our future
'Hakka' generations overseas will have a very different genetic constituent,
but as long as they identify and be proud as a Hakka, a Chinese, they will
be Hakka.

I quoted a piece of news earlier about a Dutch-Indonesian orphan brought up
by Hakka parents and his identity as a Hakka is most interesting.  I believe
there were many Hakkas like him in the long migration history of our people.
Let us try to appreciate the substance of our culture rather than the
superficial packaging.

SL Lee