The Hakka (客家) are Han Chinese people who speak several variations of the Hakka dialect, including Meixian and Longchuan. The Hakka dialect spoken in Meixian is considered the standard form and can be transcribed into standard Chinese characters as well as other Chinese vernaculars. The Chinese characters for Hakka (客家) literally mean "guest families".

The Hakka people were forced to flee their homes in the war-torn Yellow River valley (Shanxi, Henan, Hubei and Anhui in north-central China) to seek refuge in southern China in five successive waves of migration at various stages between the 4th and 13th centuries AD.

The first migration during the 4th century at the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, when Hakka ancestors reached as far south as Hubei, south Henan, and central Jiangxi. By the late 9th and early 10th centuries, with the disorder created during the late Tang dynasty, the ancestors of the present-day Hakka moved farther south into Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guangdong. The third wave, which stretched from the beginning of the 12th century to the middle of the 17th, was caused by the exodus of the Southern Song dynasty and their supporters in a southward flight from the Mongol invasion. This dislodged people from Jiangxi and southwestern Fujian and forced them further into the northern and eastern quarters of Guangdong. By the end of the Yuan dynasty (1368), northern and eastern Guangdong were exclusively Hakka. The fourth wave, which lasted from the mid-17th century to the mid-19th century, began with the Manchu conquest, and during the Qing dynasty, migration expanded into the central and coastal areas of Guangdong, Sichuan, Guangxi, Hunan, Taiwan, and southern Guizhou. By the time of the fifth wave, beginning in the middle of the 19th century, conflicts between the Hakka and the Yue increased. Triggered by population pressure, the Hakka-Punti (Yue called themselves Punti people, meaning local people in Cantonese dialect) Wars, and the large Hakka involvement in the Taiping Rebellion, the fifth wave of migration sent Hakka emigrants to seek better lives farther afield, to the southern part of Guangdong, Hainan Island, and overseas to Southeast Asia (Malaya and Borneo). The establishment of the People's Republic of China and China's announcement of the intent to reclaim Hong Kong in 1997 have created the sixth wave of migration, which has continued the flow of Hakka overseas to the United States, Australia, and Canada.

Since the prime farming land had already been farmed in places to which they emigrated, the later arrivals of Hakka people were generally forced into the higher elevations to the hilly, less productive, and less desirable land. Such was the case in Guangdong, Guangxi, and the New Territories of Hong Kong, where the Yue had already settled the more fertile river valleys, and also in Taiwan where the Min speakers owned the better land. Hakka settlements can be found widely distributed and in smaller communities. Many are found on coastal areas in inlets and bays surrounded by hills.

Most of the Hakka people are concentrated in northeastern Guangdong, east of the North River, in the mountainous, less fertile region of Meizhou Prefecture. Meizhou, which includes the seven predominantly Hakka counties that surround Meixian, is considered the Hakka "heartland" and is claimed by many Hakka as their native place.

Sizable Hakka populations are also found in southwestern Fujian, southern Jiangxi, eastern Guangxi, Hainan Island, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and in regions of Sichuan and Hunan.

The Hakka have had a long history of conflict and competition with other Chinese groups over scarce land and resources. In Fujian and Taiwan they suffered from hostile relations with Min, and in Guangdong they fought with Yue speakers. Hakka-Yue conflicts were particularly violent throughout the middle of the 19th century, in the aftermath of the Taiping Rebellion, and during the Hakka-Punti Wars (1854-1867). The Yue-speaking people were also called Punti people which means "local people".

Because of their often hostile relations with other groups, Hakka architectural style often differed from that of their Chinese and non-Chinese neighbours.

The Hakka who settled in the mountainous region of south-western Fujian province developed a unique form of architecture known as the tulou (土樓) for defensive purposes. The tulou are round or square and were designed as a combined large fortress and multi-apartment building complex. The structures typically had only one entrance-way, with no windows at ground level. Each floor served a different function: the first floor contained a well and livestock, the second food storage, and the third and higher floors living spaces. Tulou were built to withstand attack from bandits and marauders.

As they strifed to live a simple life in a harsh environment of poor land and lack of other resources, the Hakka people had endevoured to learn to become extremely skilled and hardworking agriculturalists who can render the least desirable land productive. In the course of their history, the Hakka often farmed wasteland rejected by others or worked as tenants. During the 19th century, Hakka peasants often had to supplement their agricultural work with other occupations. They were also silver miners, charcoal makers, itinerant weavers, dockworkers, barbers, blacksmiths, and stonecutters.

When Hakka expanded into areas with pre-existing populations, there was often little agricultural land left for them to farm. The Hakka culturally emphasized on education. As a result, many Hakka men turned towards careers in the military or in public service. They have been a source of many revolutionary, government and military leaders, including Dr. Sun Yatsen.

As early as the Southern Song dynasty, Hakka men sought their fortunes by joining the military. The Taiping army, the Nationalist forces of Sun Yatsen, and the Communist army during the Long March were all comprised of large numbers of Hakka soldiers. Overseas Hakka men worked as railway builders, plantation hands, and miners.

Besides being agriculturists, Hakka people exceled in martial art and their scholarly skills have helped in their achievement in political, academic, and professional occupations, but they are not known for their involvement in commercial enterprises. However, a number of successful entrepreneurs are of Hakka ancestry. For example, T. V. Soong, founder of the Bank of China, and Aw Boon Aw, who made his fortune selling Tiger Balm, were both Hakka. In Calcutta today, the Hakka minority are successful entrepreneurs in the leather and tanning industry.

Where the land permitted, they grew rice and vegetables. In poorer areas sweet potatoes were their staple. As much of the agricultural labor was performed by women, who, unlike other Chinese, did not have their feet bound when the practice was commonplace in China. Men's tasks were limited to marketing and cutting of wood from the hillsides for fuel in villages. Because of their agrarian lifestyle, Hakka people's cuisince was largely based on an equal balance between texturised meat and fresh vegetables.

The Hakka people do not have their own distinct religion, but like most other Chinese, traditionally practiced a blend of Daoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and "folk" religion, subject to regional variation. Some missionaries characterize the Hakka as having more "monotheistic tendencies" than other Chinese; these tendencies may have contributed to the fact that relatively larger numbers of the Hakka converted to Christianity during the 19th and early 20th centuries than did other Han Chinese.

The Hakka have emigrated to many parts of the world. By the 20th century Hakka could be found on virtually every continent. Many of them have settled in Taiwan, Asia (India, Burma, Bangladesh), Southeast Asia (Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and East Timor), North and South America (USA, Canada, Panama and Brazil), the Carribean (Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago), Africa (South Africa and Mauritius), Australia and Europe (Great Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands).

The Hakka people have had a significant influence on the course of Chinese and world history. The Hakka have long played an important role in Chinese politics, despite their economic disadvantages. During the Qing dynasty, the Hakka fared well in the imperial examinations and ascended into the imperial bureaucracy. Today they are disproportionately well represented in the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC). While they comprise of 3.7% of the population of the PRC, they represent a far greater proportion of government leaders. Among the most well-known Hakka political figures are Deng Xiaoping; Zhu De, the military commander during the Long March; Marshal Ye Jiangying, leader of the Peoples Liberation Army; and former Communist Party Secretary Hu Yaobang. Outside of the PRC, Hakka leaders include Taiwan's President Lee Teng-hui; Singapore's Prime Ministers Lee Kwan Yew and Lee Hsien Loong; Burma's Prime Minister Ne Win; and the governor-general of Trinidad and Tobago, Sir Solomon Hochoy.

It was estimated that the total population of Hakka people in china was over 38 million in 1990, comprising approximately 3.7 percent of the total Chinese population. In 1992 the world population of the Hakka was approximately 75 million, increasing to about 80 million worldwide today.

Related Links:

客家人歷史

客家天下

Distinguished Hakka People Worldwide

Ethnic Minorities

Han Chinese

Zodiac