I am a Hakka

 Name:Elaine

When I was a little child, my grandpa always sat next to me and told some stories about the legendary of Hakka. I was very interested in these kinds of stories and learned a lot from that. Until then, I started to know I’m a Hakka and also felt proud to be a Hakka.

Hakka, we call it “KeJia” in Chinese, which means “guest family”. When I first heard this word, I felt very confused why we are called guests, are we guests coming from other place? I finally got the answer from my grandpa. He told me sincerely and earnestly that, we, Hakka are the people who emigrated from the north of China in Jin Dynasty. The flooding, grasshopper plaques, droughts, famines and war drove our ancestors move to the south in China. Throughout the whole period, they suffered a lot and finally settled here.

According to this, I felt Hakka is really a great ethnic group. But for their perseverance, hard-working, how could they still exist in the most adverse environment. It is so surprising!

As I gradually grew up, my admiration to this culture increased, my understanding of Hakka was not merely from the little words of my grandpa, but from what I have heard and what I have seen.

When referring to the culture of Hakka, the first thing you will think about is their dialect. Because our ancestor came from different places in the north of China, moreover, when they settled here, their dialects more or less mixed with the dialects of native people, they created so many dialects. I felt intensely about this point. When I was in my middle class, all my classmates are Hakka, who were just from different villages and towns, but the dialects of them were different from each other. Now, you can imagine what a showplace of dialects it was!

Then I want to tell you another treasury of the culture. Let’s begin it with a true story. It sounds interesting. In the sixties of last century, when a foreign reconnaissance satellites flew throw the Fujian province, it took a picture of a building of cylindraceous structure which was once mistaken by a launching base for rockets. Until an old couple walked into it, the riddle was finally undone①. That was the round building of Hakka. From then on, Hakka people can show their own culture to the world. It is Hakka’s time!

The round building is usually 3 to 4 stories tall with a large inner open space (single ring) or double rings. Why is it so big---that’s another cultural reflection . Because of  the historic reason, Hakka people don’t want to be apart any more. They always live in big family, and usually with several generations. As for this point, I feel more deeply, especially, when it comes to the end of a year, the Spring Festival. Because at that time, I will go home and enjoy new year with all my relatives. To show my respect and love, I must call them (it’s also a tradition), that’s so hard for me, “Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt, Uncle…” This often lasts for more than 5 minutes. But, on the other hand, I really admire the warm and fragrance feeling with all my relatives!   ()