Hong Kong Hakka Explained: Interview with Liu Shuyong

The Hakka culture in Hong Kong can be traced back to the 17th century when the Qing government enforced the Great Frontier Shift to move the boundaries of Xin’an County back to Hong Kong.

After settling down the anti-Qing movement led by Zheng Chenggong, the Qing government recruited some farmers to reclaim the land. These farmers, moved to Hong Kong from Meixian and Fujian, two major Hakka settlements in Southern China.

Before the New Territories was leased to the British in 1899, Colonial Secretary H. Stewart Lockhart was assigned to conduct a prospecting in the New Territories districts. He had divided the Han residents into three ‘races’, according to their languages in use: “Local” [or “Puntis” (圍頭人), “Hakka” (客家人), and “Tanka” (蜑家人),” [and also “Hoklo” (鶴佬)]

H. Stewart Lockhart (Photo credit: Wikipedia User Arnold Wright)

Hakkas, which literally means “guest people” or “strangers” in Chinese. Hakka villages could be found in highlands, as the flat and fertile lands were first occupied by the Puntis. While Hakka people mainly farmed for a living, terraces could be found near the Hakka villages, such as Tai Po.

Terraces in Tai Po in the 1960s (Photo Credit: HK01)

Diving into Hong Kong history for more than 40 years, 81-year-old Liu Shuyong is a Senior Research Fellow at the Lingnan University’s Hong Kong and South China Historical Research Programme. He had published various chronicles on Hong Kong history, including a Hakka village Lin Ma Hang near Sha Tau Kok.

Liu Shuyong (Provided by interviewee)

What is Hakka?

They are a very unique branch of the Han Chinese people mainly located in Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guangdong, but historically, they came to central China from northern China, and further southwards due to war and other reasons. But they had a characteristic which is, that they lived together in groups -- and they also share some unique customs and the same dialect.

Are there any differences between Hakka people in Hong Kong and Southern China? Did the Hakka people in Hong Kong be influenced by British Colonialism?

There were not many differences between Hakka people in Hong Kong and southern China. The main reason is that most of them migrated from southern China. For example, as you know, there is a very famous historical building in Yuen Long - Pun Uk, which is also called Yam Wah Lo.

The owner had modeled his ancestral house on his hometown in Meixian in Guangdong Province. Most of the Hakka people in Hong Kong are the ones who came from the Mainland after the reclamation order [the Great Frontier Shift due to the anti-Qing movement by Zheng Chenggong] -- some of them came before that, but the number is not significant.

Part of the Hong Kong culture has also been influenced by the British colonial culture, so does this also apply to the Hakka at that time?

When they moved to Hong Kong [during the Qing Dynasty], the British had not invaded Hong Kong yet, right? That is, until 1842, or 1898, after signing the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory 《中英展拓香港界址專條》, where British colonized the New Territories. The Hakka people were influenced by the British culture only after their invasion. But later on, because of various circumstances, especially in the 19th century, many of the Hakka villagers went to the urban areas and overseas to make a living, and after they left their community, they were more influenced by the colonial culture or the Western culture. Back in the Hakka villages, some customs, and traditional practices were relatively well preserved, but after the villagers left, due to more contact with the outside world, they were affected to a certain degree. But at the same time, a lot of Hakka cultural things were brought to the city or foreign countries by the Hakkas. The cultural impact is mutual.

As Hakka people move from villages to urban areas or overseas, much of the traditional Hakka culture is also brought to new places and new cultures. This is a process of mutual influence.

Are there any habits in our daily life that are influenced by the traditional Hakka customs?

It is difficult to say whether some things are unique to the Hakka - because they have lost the influence of the Han Chinese, other ethnic groups, or other minorities in the process [of cultural integration]. They are constantly absorbing the cultures of other ethnic groups. But since the Hakkas are a branch of the Han Chinese, and they have a very special advantage in their way of life - they live together in groups. The Hakkas are a large group of people just living together in one piece. They had been moving from central China to the South, but they have relatively retained the way of living back in the North.

As the “guest people”, did the Hakka people in Hong Kong maintain a good relationship with other ethnical groups like the Puntis or the Tankas? Are there any serious conflicts between these groups in history?

As we know from history, there is a historical phenomenon of clan wars, which is called “打傢伙” in the Hakka dialect. It means, fights between 2 groups of people of different ethnical groups. In the 1850s, there was a large-scale clan war between the Puntis and the Hakkas in the Guangdong province. The Punti–Hakka Clan Wars involved almost a million casualties.

However, in Hong Kong, there were very few clan wars between the Hakka and the locals, or what we call the Puntis, as well as the Tankas. In fact, in the history of Hong Kong, quarrels sometimes happened between the village alliances, or between “Yuek” (約) -- that is, a few villages combined into an alliance. Historically speaking, in the 6th year of the Qing Dynasty's Emperor Daoguang (A.D. 1826), there was a dispute between the Alliance of Ten in Sha Tau Kok over the water supply.

People from various villages would unite and call themselves a "Yuek" -- which was a community based on their genetic relationship.

The Hakkas should get along well with the Puntis and Hakkas, and there were not many cases of disputes or fights, usually because of land issues or water supply problems.

Some Hakka villages were abandoned since the late 1900s. What do you think is the main reason for Hakka villages being idle?

During the 1960s, the Hakka farmers failed to compete with those imported agricultural products, the villagers at that time felt that farming could not make a living, so they went to the urban areas to do more work to increase their income. This situation is quite common. Since the Hakkas are very flexible, where they also came to Hong Kong from the outside. After they had settled down [in Hong Kong] for some time, like 100 years, 200 years, they found the living conditions were harsh in the countryside, especially under the industrialization and urbanization of Hong Kong. Therefore, they chose to go abroad to make a living.

Starting in the 1960s and 70s, they were seen to migrate to overseas countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Malaysia, and more. Since the younger manpower had left, only the older ones stayed in the villages, thus resulting in the situation of "zero population" in some villages afterward.

Do you think the Hong Kong Government had considered different groups like the Hakkas when enforcing conservation and cultural policies?

The Hakka culture is a part of the traditional Chinese culture, and it is also a part of Hong Kong culture. In terms of conservation and cultural policies, I can’t say that the HKSAR Government has not supported Hakka culture at all in the past -- it had showed its support somehow. However, I think the level of support and assistance is not enough, and more measures should be taken to preserve and support the Hakka culture.

For example, by publishing books or materials on Hakka culture, including Hakka customs and traditions, the Hakka hill song, and more; in addition, the authorities could try to organize Hakka cultural festivals; build a "Hakka Culture Museum" to display various aspects of Hakka culture for a long time, and also to introduce Hakka culture to the public and overseas visitors. These are all very good ways.

The New Territories Heung Yee Kuk has proposed a plan to develop the rural areas before, and they gave a lot of very good ideas and their plan was even seen by the Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.

The main issue of the government is, that the executors have a lack of understanding of conservation -- of course, there are also problems in terms of policy and the government structure.

Hong Kong does not have a Cultural Bureau, which is a big issue. In Hong Kong, most of the cultural matters in the Home Affairs Bureau [also the Leisure and Cultural Services Department], sound weird to the world, and same for the Mainland China. We do not attach enough importance to culture for the SAR government to attach importance to the issue. Now the government is planning to set up a specialized Cultural Bureau. If things work out, we also hope that they take supporting cultural development as an important task.

We also have the new term of the government soon. I hope they will provide more practical support to the development of Hakka culture so that Hakka culture can be carried forward as a component of traditional Chinese culture.