The Social Image of Hakka Women

1. Hard-working and frugal

Most Hakkas live in mountainous areas. This is the reason why "every mountain has its guests, and no one can live without them". Because the countryside is scarce, the land is barren and it is not easy to make a living, so most men go far away and go out to make a living. Therefore, farming, housework, educating children, textiles, etc., not only have to take care of housework, take care of the young and the old, but also go out to work, and all the firewood cutting and farming in the mountains are shouldered, forming a "male going out, female staying at home; Male industry and commerce, female farming "complementary family model. They dug up fields in narrow ravines and worked all day. This is quite different from the old habit in North China that women are forbidden to work in the fields and think that "women go to the fields for three years in a row". The so-called "male ploughing and female weaving" is not applicable in pure Hakka areas. Women in Chaoshan are still not working in the fields. Therefore, women in Hakka areas are all stout and have the ability to live independently. Therefore, the most prominent feature of Hakka women is their rare diligence, hard work and frugality. "Jia Ying Zhou Zhi Li Customs Volume" contains: "The folk soil in the state is barren and the people are poor, and there are many mountains and few fields. Men make a living, each holding the ambition of the four sides, and women who have more housework. Therefore, rural women do all kinds of things, such as plowing, picking firewood, weaving hemp, sewing and feeding. In ancient times, women workers were both men and women workers ... The so-called' a healthy woman holding a door is also better than a husband' in ancient Yuefu is worthy of the words of my state. "

Qianlong's "Tai Po County Records and Customs" says: "Women's makeup is light, their knees are full, they don't want acupuncture, and they are twice as diligent as men, regardless of wealth."

Jiaqing's Preface to the Stories of the Martyrs in Tai Po County says: "It is natural for women in Pu to be accustomed to doing housework, but if they are unfortunate, they can still stand on their own feet through diligence and thrift, so it is foolish to belittle and save people. As the saying goes: a healthy woman is a man; There is another cloud: if you work hard, you will forget the rumors, and the festival of women will be successful. "

It is said in the book "Clear banknotes, customs and thrift of women in Tai Po": "Work at sunrise, rest every day, and be frugal. There is no laziness, arrogance and extravagance. The word" thrift "is well deserved. As for his occupation, he tramples all day long, so seven or eight out of ten farmers grow in the countryside. That is to say, in terms of planting rice, except plowing, transplanting and using men, women are often used for planting, ploughing, fertilizing and harvesting. Smoking is popular in light and publicity, and it is also mostly cooked by women. Planting tobacco and drying tobacco are often better than men. The rest of the things, such as planting fruits and vegetables, are purely left to women. In Gaobei area, there are many pottery products, and most of them are carried by women. More than half of the porters used by shops in various places are women, and the rest are domestic helpers for miscellaneous writers, and there are many of them. If there are vendors, there will be more widows or poor women. Except for a few rich women, all the firewood pickers go up the mountain, and the salary they collect is more than enough for their own use, so they need to bear the burden and sell it in the market. People who live in secluded mountains often take this as their career. He is also diligent in weaving, but most of the weavers are for personal use. In a word, women in Tai Po can stand on their own feet, be diligent, and have all the virtues of hard work, so they can run various occupations to reduce the burden on men. Among them, those who have lost their husbands are more able to spare no effort to raise their aunts, teach their children, and take songs as the way of women. There are even men who rely on their wives to support them instead of doing their jobs. If you take care of the housework, you will still have trouble. "

The traditional custom of Hakka women's diligence, hard work and frugality is not only preserved in Hakka areas in Fujian, Jiangxi and Guangdong, but also in Hakka women who have migrated to Sichuan and even overseas. "Hakka scenery in northern Sichuan" says: "Hakka women are the most diligent. They are generally in good health. When they are not married, they read books and practice embroidery. Sometimes they help their mothers or learn cooking or textile. They are busy all day long and rarely enjoy themselves. ..... They are used to working and don't feel bitter. As we know, most ordinary women are willing to be men's playthings all day long. Apart from giving birth to children for their husbands, they give everything to men. Only Hakka women have scrubbed this shame. Most of them can run their own family life without relying on their husbands. Because they are willing to work, they can do everything. For example, they grow cotton, weave and sew themselves. The problem of food is solved in the same way. It is purely' self-cultivation and self-weaving and clothing'. Coupled with rural by-products, such as raising chickens, ducks, geese, silkworms, or feeding rabbits, sheep, pigs, etc., the annual income is also very considerable. Their economy can be self-sufficient. If when the sun rises, as long as you go to three village for a walk, you will hear the sound of the loom and the sound of string songs, which is endless. It really makes people unconsciously admire. They work hard, and the anniversary is as usual, and they have never heard a complaint. "

2. A good Hakka girl

Michina, a famous American writer who won the Pulitzer Prize, published a huge book with a thickness of thousands of pages in 1959, called Hawaii. ..... Among the China people in Hawaii, Michener wrote about "Hakkas" and "Fulao people". In fact, there are also "Hakkas" and "Fulao people" among China expatriates in Hawaii. ..... In the book Hawaii, there is a passage about an American doctor named Wei Jing. When he went to Guangdong to hire 3 Chinese laborers to plant sugarcane in Hawaii, he insisted on hiring half of the Hakkas. He believes that "Hakkas can work hard and diligently." For Hakka women, it is also like the description of the next paragraph, which is close to praise symptoms: "Dr. Wei accidentally noticed that all the women in the highlands didn't wrap their feet, so he pointed to a woman and asked Uncle Chunfa," Why aren't their feet wrapped? " The uncle Chunfa from California said, "They are Hakkas, and they are not worth talking about." Dr. Wei asked again, "Are women allowed to go to Xiangshu Country (as the Chinese called Hawaii at that time)?" Uncle Chun Fa said, "Maybe Hakka women can, but Minnan women can't." So Dr. Wei said nothing more, but he thought to himself, "Maybe one day Hawaiian will need China women, but Hakka people must go. They look strong and smart. "

But Dr. Wei finally inadvertently recruited a Hakka named Xia Meiyu to work as a maid in the Wei family in Hawaii. The daily cost is $5, but she doesn't care about her salary, but she works hard, from 5 am to 9 pm every day, seven days a week. So I touched Mrs. Wei Qiang's generosity and paid her a dollar a day. "

The Hakka woman in Michina's works is indeed a typical figure.

The industrious and frugal spirit of Hakka women is exemplary. Hakka women's labor intensity is very strong, and they often work at sunrise, and when they have no leisure, they are especially plain in makeup, and they despise the beauty of whitewashing and dressing up, which also contains the meaning of thrift.

Because hard work and frugality have become traditional virtues, the education of daughters attaches great importance to the so-called four women workers: taking care of the family, taking care of the land, cooking the stove and cooking the pot, and sewing the needle.

The so-called "taking care of the family" means that they should get up at dawn, be diligent and frugal, keep everything clean inside and outside, sweep and wash, attend to their grandparents, raise their children and other affairs in order.

The so-called "the end of the field" means sowing, transplanting rice seedlings, driving cattle to plow fields, weeding and fertilizing, and harvesting grains, so as not to make farmland barren.

The so-called "the end of the stove and the pot" means cooking, preparing soup, and judging the five flavors. You can master everything, learn the skill of cooking with one hand, and you have to cut grass and firewood for fuel.

The so-called "needle thread tail" means that sewing, embroidery, tailoring, textile and other needlework can be done by yourself.

According to the traditional customs of Hakka, only by learning these women workers can we be considered competent, qualified and standard women and marry a good husband. The folk song "Good Hakka Girl" vividly and concretely reflects this custom:

Diligent girl, cock crows to get up. Comb your hair and wash your face, and make tea soup first.

at the end of the stove, the light shines brightly. Cook breakfast, it's just dawn. Sprinkle water to sweep the floor, carry water full of tanks. Wash your clothes after breakfast.

go up the mountain to collect firewood, and hurry. Rain flowers and grow vegetables, stew soup and boil slurry.

don't leave the room when spinning and weaving. Needle thread end, clean up the cabinet.

don't say right and wrong, don't take absurdity. Cherish children, such as the liver as the intestines.

be careful when cooking rice, there is no grain or chaff. When the guests arrive, they will discuss in a low voice.

be happy, and pick up the homely things. Eggs, duck eggs, fermented soybean and sour ginger.

where there is rice and wheat, you know how to keep food. Simple tea and light rice, honest clothes.

the more you have, the more frugal you are. There is no rice to cook, and it is resistant to snow and frost.

collect firewood and sell it, don't hoard it, don't steal it, and work hard.

I don't blame my husband or my parents ... What a nice girl!

On the contrary, in Meizhou, lazy women are ridiculed as "lazy corpses". The folk ballad "Lazy Dead Women's Way" satirizes the lazy and greedy woman in a very vivid and pungent way:

Lazy dead women's way, which is funny. Get up in the middle of the day and call three or four. If the sun rises for half a day, the cold pot will die. Don't pick water, and the ground is lazy to sweep. Bald hair, go home. Gossiping and laughing. The fields are not cultivated, and the crops are stolen. Regardless of housework, raise pigs into cats. Going in and out of the market, three times a day. Fried dumplings, everything is good. ? (No) money to buy, stealing rice to teach (exchange). Husband, can you turn it up? (screaming, crying). When you go abroad, your eyes are like urine. My husband's uncle scolds and teaches. It's useless for me to scold, but it's immoral for me to scold (mother). Don't dare to return, don't dare to return. Sent back to the men's home, everyone laughed at. Lies are thrown into the pond, and the melon shed falls. I married her and used a silver sedan chair. If I had known this, I wouldn't post money.

Folk songs handed down for a long time are not only the expression of local people's emotions, such as emotions, likes and dislikes, but also a true embodiment of local people's social life and customs. The same is true of Hakka folk songs.

Because of this, many foreigners greatly admire Hakka women. Robert Smith, an American missionary who has lived in Hakka areas for many years, said in his book "Hakka in China": "Hakka women are really the most admirable women of any ethnic group I have ever seen. In Hakka, it can almost be said that all the slightly heavy work belongs to women. If you live in a Hakka place in China for the first time, you will be greatly surprised. Because you will see the coolies who do business in towns, stations and docks, those who plow fields in the countryside, those who go to the mountains to cut wood, and even those who do heavy work in building houses, and those who do heavy work in grey kilns and earthenware kilns, almost all of them are women. They are not only competent in ability, but also very happy in spirit, because they are not oppressed, on the contrary, they are active. " In a family with little property, a man has no motive to dominate his wife, and the wife can't live on her husband. It should be said that Hakka girls, who are famous for their diligence, hard work and frugality, are the symbols of "women create civilization". Although what Robert Smith said is a bit biased, it does reflect the characteristics of Hakka women who are capable of heavy work, dirty work, tired work and other high-intensity and overloaded heavy physical work, which is incomparable to women in other regions.

3. Good and virtuous

The gentle and obedient character of Hakka women can be said to be very typical. Many women's husbands have gone away from home for many years or have no money to support their families, but they can take care of themselves, raise the old and the young, make a living, and what's more valuable is that they regard it as their duty and obligation without complaining. Hakka women are hard-working, independent, gentle and virtuous, including "filial piety to in-laws", "respect for husbands" and "love for children". Let's say "filial piety to in-laws" first. Hakka people have a tradition of filial piety to their parents, and regard the word "filial piety" as an important criterion for life. The word "filial piety" focuses on the word "respect". As a daughter-in-law, what is "respect"? First of all. We should give full understanding to the elderly. Because the older generation live in different times and social conditions, have different experiences, and have different ways and angles of looking at problems, they often have different opinions from the younger generation. At this time, the daughter-in-law should not contradict or refute her in-laws, let alone quarrel with her. For in-laws wrong place to patiently explain for her, rather than cynicism, in order to maintain its image. In addition, Hakka women are also caring and caring for their in-laws' lives. If in-laws are ill, Hakka daughters-in-law will not only ask questions, but also go to the mountains to dig up medicinal roots, pound juice and decoct soup, and even ask God for divination and change symbols to drive away disasters, which is not far away. In case the elderly are single, a good daughter-in-law often reminds her husband to accompany the elderly for a night's sleep, talk and chat for half a month, so as to drive away the loneliness and coldness of the elderly. When the child grows up, he will carefully arrange for the child to sleep with the elderly. As the saying goes, "a child's ass burns three fires". In winter, the child's body temperature can be used to warm the bed and quilt for the elderly, so that the elderly can sleep steadily and steadily, and the loneliness and loneliness of the elderly can be reduced.

Hakka women are very respectful and obedient to their husbands. In the eyes of Hakka women, the husband is the pillar and backbone of the family. Once they become formal couples, they fully support their husbands' career and work hard all their lives without complaining, which is really a "good wife." When the husband is in trouble, the wife will take the initiative to give advice, find problems and find ways for him. When the husband is in an emergency, the wife will step forward, share her husband's pressure and give him spiritual support. Hakka women are also considerate of their husbands in life, always taking care of their diet and daily life. The husband went out to be warm and cold; If the husband is sick, accompany the nurse and ask the doctor for medicine. Hakka women often show tolerance for their husbands' faults, and try to take care of their husbands' face without hurting their self-esteem. They think that it's a shame to wash our dirty linen in public, and that if the husband makes a mistake, let him know it in introspection. Hakka women have a strong concept of chastity. They generally believe that marriage is predestined, and no matter whether the husband is good or bad, it is their lifelong dependence. Some people's husbands go abroad to make a living, and they don't come back for decades, while wives are still staying faithful and waiting for Lang's return. Japanese scholar Yamaguchi Prefecture said in his book Hakka and China Revolution: "Japanese women are famous for their gentleness and obedience, and Hakka women are not inferior. Moreover, we can say that Japanese women are so gentle and obedient, which is morbid, because their lives depend on men and they can't help but seek pity and favor; The gentle obedience of Hakka women is healthy, because they can live independently. What they do is pure sincere love and traditional reverence for their husbands ... ". From the above, it can be seen that Hakka women are considerate, supportive, understanding, tolerant, patient, cooperative and coordinated to protect the pillars of their families, which is another manifestation of their "virtuous". Their dedication is also one of the reasons why Hakka marriage is relatively stable.

The "virtuous" of Hakka women is also manifested in their love and education for their children. Hakka women are extremely caring for their children. In order to make their children live a hundred years, they often make a wish in Guanyin Temple when their children are born. Some of them give the goddess Guanyin (the whole body) and name their children NiangLong, NiangDog and NiangXi. I thought that after this, I would be blessed by Goddess Guanyin. In those days when there was a shortage of milk, in order to give children more nutrition, mothers often prolonged the breastfeeding period, so that some children were still kneeling at the age of three or four. In order to educate children to be able to adapt to all kinds of hardships, Hakka women always patiently and hand-in-hand teach them all kinds of skills, encourage them not to be afraid of hardships, and cultivate their spirit of hard work.

In a word, it is because of adhering to certain inherent beliefs that Hakka women can persevere and maintain and support thousands of families in Hakka areas. We can say that in Hakka