The comprehensive study of Hakka by scholars from all walks of life shows a gratifying phenomenon of a hundred schools of thought contending. They put forward many different opinions. Generally speaking, they have the following views:
1. On "the purest descendants of Han people in the Central Plains"
2. The theory of "aborigines (Guyue)"
3. Theory of "Originating from the whole ancient Central Plains"
4. Theory of "Integration of Southern Nationalities"
5. The theory of "Han-min integration"
Hakka is an important member of the big family of the Chinese nation, a Han nationality with remarkable characteristics and a geographical group of the Han nationality. Hakka culture is the sum total of all material and spiritual cultures created by this group in the process of its formation and development in order to adapt and transform its living conditions. Once this culture is formed, it becomes the identification symbol of this group and the core force to maintain its survival and development. In other words, without Hakka groups, there would be no Hakka culture; However, without the long-term and stable development of Hakka culture, it is impossible for Hakka ethnic groups to have such a strong vitality that they can still maintain it until now after hundreds of years.
Hakkas are widely distributed, among which the border triangle of Guangdong, Fujian and Jiangxi is the main settlement, and Southeast Asia is the main place overseas. According to academic estimates, there are about 40 million to 50 million Hakkas. Hakka culture is a regional culture represented by immigrants formed under specific historical conditions. Why is it regional culture? Because this kind of culture has a very clear geographical scope, it only occurs in the triangle area of Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong, and there is no other place.
Hakka history
Why is there such a strong Hakka culture with regional characteristics here? On the one hand, it is a hilly and mountainous area surrounded by mountains, with Luo Xiao Mountains in the west, Wuyishan and Jiulian Mountains in the east and Nanling Mountains in the south. There is also a Lushan Mountain in the middle of Luo Xiao Mountain, which is connected with Wuyishan Mountain, thus separating southern Jiangxi from central Jiangxi and forming a relatively closed natural environment. The aborigines here are Baiyue people belonging to the same ethnic group as Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong and Zhejiang. They "have their own castes and are not subordinate to each other." After the Qin and Han Dynasties, hundreds of Vietnamese were sinicized in batches due to the continuous entry of northern men into the area, some were forced to move to Jianghuai area, and some left the plain to enter the deep mountains and forests, becoming a once famous "mountain-crossing" nation in history. So, on the whole, it has long been a sparsely populated place. During the Jin Dynasty, especially during the Tang and Song Dynasties, due to the constant war in the north and the depression of rural economy, a large number of refugees crossed the river south to find another way to survive. After continuous migration, some immigrants came to this triangle area of Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong, which was shielded by mountains, lived with the local aborigines and merged with them under the condition of relatively closed society and nature, thus creating a regional culture dominated by Chinese culture and different from the surrounding cultures, which is Hakka culture. Therefore, the original foundation of this culture is the indigenous culture with strong local flavor and the Han culture in the Central Plains with the charm of Han and Tang Dynasties, and the great driving force for the emergence and development of this culture is a large number of northern immigrants who have entered the triangle area of Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong since the Tang and Song Dynasties. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration for some scholars to call it the immigrant culture formed under specific historical conditions.
It is precisely because Hakka culture is an immigrant culture with the Han culture in the Central Plains as the main body that it not only has the profound connotation of the Central Plains culture, but also has the cultural outlook as a special group of immigrants. For example, the very strong root-seeking consciousness and local consciousness in Hakka culture is precisely the attachment of immigrants to the native culture after leaving their ancestral home. At the same time, it is precisely because of the Hakka people's long-term wandering and displacement experience and the difficulties they face after arriving at their settlement that they have honed their indomitable will, pioneering spirit, industrious and simple character and collectivism spirit, and they are good at establishing cooperative relations between the same clan, fellow villagers and the same culture under various conditions such as blood relationship and geography. These are all to ensure their own survival and development, and to realize the need to change from an immigrant society to a settled society. It is precisely because of their constant migration that they have found new opportunities for development. From their own life experiences, Hakkas have gained the values of "people don't retreat, tigers don't retreat from the mountains", "life is long and they are not afraid of the distance" and "trees move and die, and people move and live". Hakka clans have a long history. Hakkas originally belonged to the Han nationality in the Central Plains. After many migrations due to wars in history, they gradually settled in Guangdong, Fujian, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan Province, Hongkong and overseas. Hakka culture is the product of the integration of Chinese culture in the Central Plains and local culture in the South. The main body of Hakka culture is Han culture, because it retains the basic characteristics of Han culture more, but it is also influenced by indigenous culture in many ways, which makes Hakka a Han nationality that is different from the indigenous people and not completely equal to the Han people in the Central Plains. Hakka dialect is one of the eight major dialects in Chinese, which is widely distributed. Although there are some differences in Hakka dialects spoken in different places, there will be no communication difficulties between them, because there are many different variants or Japanese dialects in Hakka dialects, but the basic characteristics are basically the same. Hakka has a long history and has cultivated a large number of outstanding romantic figures who have made important contributions to the progress of Chinese civilization, such as Hong Xiuquan, Huang Zunxian, Sun Yat-sen, Zhu De and Ye Jianying.
hakka spirit
The connotation of Hakka spirit is very rich, and its core lies in unity and forge ahead. This is very prominent and concrete in the history of Hakka immigration and Hakka culture.
First of all, the spirit of self-unity of Hakka ancestors formed a strong centripetal force. It is this centripetal force that enabled them to bring the splendid civilization of the Central Plains to the south during the long migration process without being assimilated by the indigenous people in the migration areas. Typical Hakka buildings, such as multi-storey enclosed houses in Gannan, Jiangxi and Meizhou, Guangdong, earth buildings in Yongding and nine halls and eighteen wells in Changting, are not only "a wonderful work in the history of world architecture", but also a symbol of Hakka unity and forge ahead. In some large earth buildings in Yongding, there are stone pillars, stone drums, carved beams and painted buildings; There are patios, gardens, rockeries, bonsai and fish ponds, which are beautiful. There is even an earthen building attached to a small school, with a building name and carved columns, such as "Zhencheng Building" and "Zhengang Building, Lide Shuren", which teaches people to abide by the law, pay attention to honesty and strive for progress. These cultural imprints all shine with the spiritual light of the Central Plains civilization, which respects literature and martial arts, and studies family heirlooms.
Secondly, this spirit of unity and forge ahead is also manifested in the absorption and assimilation of foreign cultures. The migration of Hakka ancestors to the south is a long-term struggle and unification process between the Han nationality in the Central Plains and the indigenous people who moved in, and finally formed a * * * identity. Today's Hakkas have never relied solely on the reproduction of the Han nationality who moved into the Central Plains, but have developed and grown up through the integration with local ethnic groups, and some other ethnic groups have moved into Hakka homes and been assimilated into Hakkas. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, with Hakkas as the main body, put forward that "harmony is precious and everyone enjoys peace" and "there are many people in the world, and all are brothers; The slogan "Many women in the world are sisters" shows the simple democratic thought that Hakkas should respect each other, live in harmony and treat the aborigines equally. In Hakka areas, people's religious beliefs are also very tolerant and friendly, and Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and Christianity can live together in a temple like a family. Even Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, enemies, can share a shrine to accept people's sacrifices. Mazu was originally the patron saint of people sailing along the coast, and Hakka invited her to Shanxiang as the patron saint of Shanxiang. Hakka culture inherits and develops the essence of China culture. Long-term migration has developed an eclectic, pioneering and non-conservative folk custom, which has made Hakka people have strong cohesion and vitality.
Hakka Wei Wu
Before Hakka ancestors entered Gannan, most of the aborigines here lived in houses in Ganlan (overhead buildings). Tuweizi was built in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, when pirates were rampant on the Jiangxi-Guangdong border and society was in turmoil. In order to effectively save their own lives and accumulated property, the Hakka family spared no expense to build it. Its structural form is developed from the standard format of Hakka in eastern Guangdong-enclosed house. This indestructible huge building has turrets at the four corners, which are connected and echoed, and the firepower is like a net; Fire attack, surrounding multiple fire water injection ports; In order to prevent siege, there are many granaries in the enclosure ... If we subdivide the shell, we can also see two basic modes: solid hollow type and solid type. The main building in the enclosure adopts "hall style", but the horizontal houses on both sides are raised to form a fully enclosed square enclosure plane, such as Kansai New Enclosure, with an area of 10000 square meters and three internal rooms (one main room and two auxiliary rooms). Hollow, such as Yi Yan round house in Yangcun, covering an area of 2,500 square meters. There is no main building in the paddock, only houses are built around the paddock, and there is a big peace in the middle except the well.
Today, Gannan is one of the main settlements of Hakkas, with more than 7 million Hakkas living there. When the distant years have passed, this enclosed house soaked with Hakka blood and tears has become a typical Hakka home structure in the eyes of the world and a symbol of Hakka emotional world. It embodies the whole spiritual feelings of Hakkas, embraces the vicissitudes of the years experienced by Hakkas, retains people's hearts, and constitutes the call of Hakkas to wander abroad.
Hakka festival
The folk activities of the Lunar New Year season originated very early, such as the Spring Festival, which originated in the ancient society of La Worship, and the tradition of "Chinese New Year" also originated in ancient times. Besides the Spring Festival holiday in China, there are four seasons and other popular letters to commemorate it. These activities express people's kind hearts, especially with the progress of the times, people constantly abandon bad habits, inherit good customs and add new customs in the process of inheriting old customs, which makes traditional folk activities more beautiful and shows the traditional cultural features of China Hakkas.
Hakka sacrifice
Hakka people have great ideas about funeral customs, even too much red tape. Hakka people have a strong sense of ancestor worship and attach great importance to the pursuit of the future. "General funeral etiquette can be divided into three parts, namely, before burial, during burial, after burial, or three stages.
Hakka marriage
Hakka ancestors came from the Central Plains, so their marriage customs were deeply influenced by ancient customs. Hakkas stereotype that men and women must get married "legally" so as not to be laughed at by the villagers.
Hakkas' marriage styles are all in accordance with the ancient "Six Rites". The so-called six gifts are "offering marriage, setting a date, announcing the date and giving a bride price, setting a dowry, picking up the bride, visiting the bride, and eating noodles and bowls of chicken".
Hakka agriculture
Most Hakkas live in mountainous areas, and their economy is mainly agriculture. The main agricultural product is rice. Paddy fields in Hakka areas use streams near mountains and rivers near rivers. A waterwheel is used to irrigate fields. Farmhouse manure, using "retting manure" or "retting furnace ash" as manure seeds, and adding lime to fertilize the field.
When the rice is ripe, no employees are hired when harvesting; As for the women nearby, they will take their sickles to the fields to help cut rice. This is called "helper". When their family harvests rice, women who have been "helped" by others will "help" others' work. It fully embodies the fine tradition of Hakka people's unity, mutual assistance and equal treatment.
Hakka clothing
Hakka costumes are simple and practical, spacious and simple. Generally like to wear plain colors, especially blue, black and white. An apron commonly worn by rural women "covers the abdomen" can actually cover the chest. The hem is wide to both sides, and the upper end is embroidered with flowers, plus "neck chain", "waist chain", "tooth tag" and "bracelet". Girls wear braids and young women wear buns. Workers often wear short shirts, commonly known as jackets, to make up for it. Most men who read books have changed their suits and pants.
In terms of shoes and socks, more cloth shoes are made by housewives.