Hakka and cypress

The so-called Hakkas refer to the unique Hakkas formed in southern provinces after five large-scale migrations of the Han nationality from the Central Plains. Hakka clan is an important branch of the eight ethnic groups of Han nationality in China.

According to textual research, the ancestors of Hakkas have moved south on a large scale five times:

The first southward migration was between 3 17 and 879. When Emperor Huaidi came to power in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the northwest minorities invaded the Central Plains, which had a far-reaching impact on the Han nationality. Many officials and civilians in the Central Plains followed the Yellow River south. At that time, in order to take refuge, some Central Plains residents moved to the border areas of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi. Later, due to the confrontation between the north and the south, nearly one million people from the Central Plains moved south to both sides of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Part of the population flows into Gannan, and part of it enters Fujian and Guangdong through Ningdu and Shicheng. 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 the Chinese nation.

The second southward migration was during the Huang Chao Uprising in the late Tang Dynasty. First, the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty brought great disasters to the people, forcing a large number of Han people in the Central Plains to flee south. During the Huang Chao Uprising in the late Tang Dynasty, a large number of Central Plains Han people fled to Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangxi and other places. Gushi people, Wang Xu and Wang Chao, responded to the Huang Chao Uprising and led the peasant uprising army from Guangzhou and Shouzhou to Jiangxi, which led to a sharp increase in the population on the border between Fujian and Jiangxi.

The third southward migration was in the late Southern Song Dynasty. Jin people invaded and built Yan, and some officials and scholars moved to Taihu Lake basin. Another part of the cremation or crossed Dagengling in the south and entered Nanxiong, Shixing and Shaozhou; Or along Hong, Ji and Qianzhou, and then from Qianzhou to Tingzhou; Or stay in counties in southern Jiangxi. At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Yuan Army went south in a big way, and a large number of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Song people fled from Putian to Chaoshan, Guangdong Province, and fled to Hainan Island. During this process, many Hakkas participated in the Wang Qin War to defend the Song Dynasty and resist the Yuan soldiers. After the death of the Song Dynasty, they retreated to more remote eastern and northern Guangdong.

The fourth southward migration was in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Because of the large population and limited land, the Hakkas living in southern Jiangxi, eastern Guangdong and northern Guangdong migrated to Sichuan, Hunan, Guangxi, Taiwan Province, central Guangdong and western Guangdong. This large-scale migration is called "Westward Movement" in the history of Hakka immigrants. At that time, due to wars, plagues and natural disasters, the population of Sichuan dropped sharply. In order to win the hearts and minds of the south, Emperor Kangxi gave every man eight taels of silver and four taels of silver to women and children, and encouraged Hakkas to move to Sichuan, Guangxi and Taiwan Province provinces. This is the famous "Huguang fills Sichuan" in the "Westward Movement". Comrade Zhu De's ancestors, who have always been proud of Hakkas, moved from Shaoguan to Sichuan in this migration.

The fifth southward migration was during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the middle of19th century. Hong Xiuquan, leader of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and Taiping Army are mostly Hakkas. After the failure of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, under the pressure of the Qing government, many Hakkas migrated to the far south and even overseas areas such as Southeast Asia.

In addition to the above five large-scale relocations to the south, some Han people in the Central Plains also moved to the south due to drought and flood disasters, and some officials were relegated to the border areas of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi to do business and study. However, not all the Han people who moved south became Hakkas, only the Fujian-Guangdong-Jiangxi system and the people from this system were called Hakkas.

Hakka's base camp

According to statistics, the Hakkas living in Chinese mainland are mainly distributed in Guangdong, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Hubei and Guizhou. Together with the Hakkas from Taiwan Province, Hongkong and Macau, the total population exceeds 50 million, accounting for 5% of the Han population. 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, western Fujian and northern Guangdong. Overseas, Hakkas are widely distributed, with a population of 5 million. More concentrated in Southeast Asia, Singaporean Lee Kuan Yew and internationally renowned writer Han are both Hakkas.

The triangle of southern Jiangxi, western Fujian and eastern Guangdong, where Wuyishan meets Nanling Mountains, forms a natural barrier separating the Central Plains from the southeast coast. It is in the center of this natural barrier that three great rivers, Ganjiang, Tingjiang and Meijiang, have been bred. On the banks of these three rivers and their numerous tributaries, small basins are dotted. Hakka ancestors migrated from north to south and finally found an ideal foothold here.

Before the Hakkas came, the Jiangxi-Fujian-Guangdong Triangle was a primeval forest with few people and wild animals. In this wild mountain, there are local aborigines such as Baiyue, She nationality and Yao nationality. These ethnic minorities are backward in culture, in the wild era of slash and burn, and their productivity level is extremely low. A large number of Hakkas moved south, which brought vigorous vitality to this desolate and magical land. Hakka brought the seeds of crops, advanced farming techniques and building techniques from the Central Plains. They cut down trees to open up wasteland, build dams to cultivate fields, turn small basins or gentle slopes into minefields or terraces, build ditches and slopes, and irrigate fields with water, making the silent mountains picturesque. Shan Ye, once desolate and isolated, became noisy, and the productivity level was greatly improved. Hakkas open roads on every mountain and bridge when they meet water, and villages are connected by winding paths or thoroughfares. Some large villages with concentrated population have formed bazaars. In this way, the Hakkas brought excitement to the valley, prosperity to the mainland and civilization to the desolate Shan Ye. The pioneering work of Hakka ancestors in the triangle areas of southern Jiangxi, western Fujian and eastern Guangdong shows their spirit of hard work and hard struggle, as well as their courage to fight against the sinister environment. It is with this spirit and courage that we have created a strong and unyielding outstanding nation.

For generations, Hakkas have helped the old and brought up the young, shouldered the civilization of the Central Plains, endured hardships, resisted the flood of natural disasters, crossed the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, crossed the Nanling Mountains of Wuyi, took root in the triangle of southern Jiangxi, western Fujian and eastern Guangdong, developed production, lived and worked in peace and contentment, and planted civilization, showing a vivid and wonderful cultural map of self-sufficiency in farming and reading. So far, a Hakka clan with remarkable characteristics has been formed, which has a continuous connection with the Han nationality in the Central Plains in terms of language, people's feelings, customs and culture. Then, Hakkas traveled to Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou, crossed the Straits and spread all over the world, and developed into an outstanding ethnic group with a large population and far-reaching influence in the world. Huang Zunxian, a famous poet in the late Qing Dynasty, said: "The Tao and the Peach arc moved left and right, and the south has been far away for thousands of years. Dialect fully proves the original rhyme, and customs and habits still exist three generations ago. " The poem refers to the historical fact that Hakka ancestors left their homeland in the Central Plains, went through hardships, moved to Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi, and then developed to southern provinces and overseas.