The origin of "Hakka"

The so-called Hakka refers to the Han nationality in the Central Plains, originally from Henan, who moved south during the Eastern Jin War and began to become a resident group with a "special identity". In the subsequent migration, they gradually formed today's unique Hakka family. Hakka clan is a branch of Han nationality in China. The most obvious feature of Hakka people is that they can speak Hakka dialect, which is one of the eight major dialects of the Han nationality.

In history, the Hakkas have moved south five times, with time delay 1500 years.

The first great migration was in AD 3 17-879, when Emperor Huaidi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty came to power. Because the northwest minorities invaded the Central Plains, the situation of "Five Wild China" which had a far-reaching influence on the Han nationality was formed, and many officials and people in the Central Plains also crossed the Yellow River to the south. In order to avoid confusion with the original household registration, these new household registration are called "guests". This is the first time that the word "guest" has appeared in China Citizen Travel Service.

The second great migration was from 880 to 1 126. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Huang Chao sent troops for an uprising, and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms caused chaos in the world. Hakka ancestors moved from Anhui and Jiangxi to southern Jiangnan, northwestern Fujian and northern Guangdong.

The third great migration was in the period of 1 127- 1644. Jin and Yuan invaded one after another and crossed the river to the south. During this process, many Hakkas were lucky enough to participate in the Wang Qin War to defend the Song Dynasty and resist the Yuan soldiers. After the death of the Song Dynasty, they had to retreat to more remote eastern and northern Guangdong.

The fourth great migration was from 1645- 1843. In order to win the hearts and minds of the south, Emperor Kangxi gave 8 taels of silver to every man and 4 taels to women and children, and encouraged Hakkas to move to Sichuan, Guangxi and Taiwan Province provinces. Comrade Zhu De's ancestors, who have always been proud of Hakkas, moved from Shaoguan to Sichuan in this migration.

The fifth great migration took place after 1866, at the end of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement. Hong Xiuquan, leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, is a Hakka. After the failure of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, under the pressure of the Qing government, many Hakkas moved to the distant south and even overseas areas such as Southeast Asia.

At present, there are about 45 million Hakkas in the world. There are 40 million people in China and about 5 million people abroad. Overseas Hakkas are widely distributed, especially in Southeast Asia. Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew and internationally renowned writer Han are both Hakkas. There are Hakka people living in 17 provinces and 185 cities and counties in China. Among them, there are 50 Chunke counties where Hakka people account for more than 95%, and the most concentrated places of Hakka people are Gannan, Minnan and northern Guangdong. There are more than 20 million Hakkas in Guangdong, accounting for nearly 30% of the province's total population, including Chunke County 15.

Heyuan, as a pure Hakka area in Dongjiang River Basin, the earliest Hakka ancestors can be traced back to the Qin Dynasty. In 2 14 BC, after Qin Shihuang pacified South Vietnam, in order to further develop Lingnan, Tusui, Ren Tao and Zhao Tuo were sent to station 500,000 troops, and hundreds of thousands of "sinners" were also ordered to be sent to Lingnan. Zhao Tuo was the county magistrate of Longchuan and then the king of South Vietnam. The residents of Longchuan, whose surnames are Zhao, Wei, Guan and Ren, are the first people from the Central Plains to enter Longchuan and live together with local aborigines. However, as the time when the Hakkas migrated to Heyuan on a large scale, it should be pushed back to the third migration period of Hakkas, that is, 1 127- 1644.

In the long historical process, Heyuan people have been inheriting the excellent traditional virtues and humanistic spirit of Hakka people. The folk song culture in Meixian County, Guangdong Province is unique. Dongjiang Hakka dishes in Heyuan are more distinctive.

Second, Hakka customs.

Hakka customs generally include national traditional festivals, local sacrifices and rituals.

(1) major festivals:

☆ Spring Festival: It is the most solemn festival with New Year greetings and entertainment activities.

Beginning of spring: It's spring.

Lantern Festival: The 15th day of the first month is the traditional Lantern Festival in China. Eat, play and enjoy the Lantern Festival in solving riddles.

☆ February 2: Festival.

☆ Qingming: Hakka grave-sweeping customs mostly start from the vernal equinox, and Qingming reaches its climax.

☆ Dragon Boat Festival: Hakka people generally call it May Festival. The main contents of the festival are eating zongzi, realgar wine and dragon boat racing.

☆ July Festival: Ghost Festival.

☆ Mid-Autumn Festival: commonly known as August Festival. Eating moon cakes and enjoying the moon are generally the same.

☆ Double Ninth Festival: Hakka people call it "September Festival".

☆ Solstice of winter: Hakkas have a saying that "winter is a big festival".

(2) Marriage customs:

Hakka marriage customs are deeply influenced by ancient fashion, and their main purpose is to carry on the family line. The marriage between men and women in Hakka pays attention to "being suitable for each other", and the formal marriage relationship in Hakka society is a kind of "marrying into a rich family", and the wind of uxorilocal is not prevalent.

Most of the procedures and ceremonies still follow the old habits, such as blind date, dating, date announcement, bride price, dowry, bride reception, wedding ceremony and so on.

(3) Folk entertainment:

Hakka folk entertainment is very rich in content. The main festivals are Yangko, Dragon Boat Race, Lantern Ride, Dragon Lantern Dance, Lion Dance, Teacher on stilts, Lantern Greeting, Lantern Ride, Drumming, Musical Instrument Concert, Performance and Fireworks. Usually there are folk songs, ditty singing, piano playing, guzheng playing, erhu playing, flute playing, chess playing and gobang playing.