1. Introduction - The Hakka – Name, Origin and
Migration to Taiwan
Since the beginning of Taiwans missions-history in
1865, only 0.35% of the presently 4,6 million Hakka in Taiwan are Christians.
As research reveals one major reason for that lies in the way how the Hakka
perceived the gospel. Today the Hakka are a distinct ethnic Han-Chinese people
group. Their name in Cantonese pronunciation means „guest families“. As
descendants of the ancient Hsiongnu (Hunish people), they originate from the
Central Asian Baikal Lake area, but migrated in several waves to the south of
China. Some of them arrived in South Taiwan as early as the seventh century AD.
In Taiwan the Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli and Pingtung counties are the Hakka
heartland. Besides, large numbers of Hakka also live in the Meinung area.
2. The Hakka - their Culture and Use of Language in
Church Ministries
Many people have accused the Hakkas of being very
resistant to the gospel. But it seems that the Hakkas of Taiwan have been
neglected. The need for having the gospel bi¬blically contextualized
specifically into their mental framework has never been a priority. While the
Hakka look the same as other Chinese and seem to talk like other Chinese they
have friends from different Chinese backgrounds. When it comes to family
celebrations and reli¬gious festivals they return to their roots. Whether a
missionary can speak Hakka or not soon or later becomes an issue. George McKay,
in 1895 after 20 years of missionary and medical ministries among Hakka felt,
to learn Hakka is not worth the effort, because „in a few years the Hakka may
become extinct.“ As McLean says this believe has never become true. Dr. McKay
obviously did not know that many Hakka may be willing for the purpose of making
better business to use Minnan (Taiwanese) or Mandarin, but since Hakka is a
part of their cultural identity and family-lineage, never to give up their
heart-language.
3. The Hakka People`s Relationship and their
History.
The interested Christian in Asia quickly becomes
aware of the Hakka as a Chinese minority who due to their special history and
their constant search for a homeland during their 2400 years of recorded
history has long been described as the „Jews of Asia“. Some periods of their
exceedingly complex history can serve to contextualize biblical teaching.
During their 1400 years long period of wandering, exploring and fighting, the
Hakka of Taiwan experienced almost every kind of persecution, discrimination
and aggression imaginable. Therefore, to take some time studying the Hakkas
history among history-minded Hakka with the purpose of finding stories to
contextualize the gospel makes a lot of sense.Waves of Immigration, Local
Religious Hakka Traditions and Resources. During the time of the imperial China
five large immigration waves (249-209 BC, 255-206 BC, 307-419 AD, 907-1280 AD)
brought the Hakka from Central China to nearly everywhere in the world. Since
the 4th century, when they left the Yellow River area the Hakka where on the
run to escape invasions and chaotic wars. Wherever they went, they held on to
their own customs and language. They became known as the Hakkas, which means
"Guest People," because they did not assimilate with local
populations. The Hakka, however, call themselves "Ngai," which means
"me." With every wave of immigration more traditions of Hakka culture
went lost. This is the main reason why Taiwan has so many different local
Hakka-traditions.
4. About the Hakka Homelands in Taiwan.
The Early Hakka Settlement of
Meinung Hakka women, even in ancient China, never bound their feet; they were
needed to work the fields, and they also had to be able to flee danger. Because
they worked alongside men, their status was higher than that of most Chinese
women. Today it is mostly Hakka women who pick the sweet Pengfeng Oolong or
Oriental Beauty Tea (椪風茶) for
which Miaoli is famous. This visible participation continues to give them
economic power in the community.
The Hakka in Miaoli and Hsinchu. Two
places to visit in Miaoli county are the Huatao Kiln (華陶窯) and the
Kuangsen Village of wood carvers in Sanyi (三義廣聲新城 ). At Huatao, local clay is
worked into organic designs and wood-fired. Tours (available only in Chinese)
allow visitors to make their own pottery, which is fired and sent to them
later. A Hakka lunch is served.The wood carvers at Sanyi are among Taiwan's
best, and mostly use the island's camphor wood. Temple gods, folk scenes,
dragons, and even abstract sculptures are turned out in open workshops.Hsinchu
county is 85% Hakka, and large celebrations at the famous Yimin Temple (義民廟), built
in 1788, draw thousands of worshipers. On festival days, incense is offered to
ancestors who have died defending the community. Besides ancestors, the main
object of worship at the temple is "Tien Kung" which roughly
translates as Lord of Heaven, or the Supreme Being. In the North of Hsinchu is
Taoyuan county, also with a large Hakka population. Hakka-style restaurants in
communities like Chungli are the only evidence a tourist might find, however.
Taoyuan has long been an industrial suburb of Taipei, and little remains here
of the rural Hakka lifestyle.
The Hakka in Taipei
There are approximately 500,000 Hakkas in the
Taipei area. Today, most Hakkas speak both Mandarin and Taiwanese as well as
their own language. But when they introduce themselves as being from Miaoli,
Hsinchu, or Meinung, other Hakkas will say "Oh, are you Hakka?" and
will lapse into their mother tongue."You can sell your ancestors' rice field
but you cannot forget their language," runs a Hakka saying. These days,
however, some of the younger generation speak more Taiwanese (Hoklo) than
Hakka. Will intermarriage with outsiders (unheard of a century ago but common
today) and media pressure (almost all TV and radio broadcasts use either
Mandarin or Taiwanese) erode the language? To encourage the use of the Hakka
language, a Hakka radio station Hakka TV and a magazine have been developed.
Hakka people have lived in Taiwan since the 7th century BC and in higer numbers
since late 1500. Most of them think of Taiwan as their homeland now, and hope
to wander no more. At the same time, the Hakka must also struggle to keep their
unique spirit, and develop in a modern Hakka culture.
Resources: Clyde Chiang, the Hakka Odyssey
& Their Taiwan Homeland, Elgin Alegheny Press, 1992.George Leslie
Mackay, From Far Formosa- the Island, its people and Missions. Taipei: SMC
Publishing Inc., 1991.
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