National Hakka Day places local culture in the spotlight

Questions such as these are becoming more commonplace as local and international media organizations discuss the diverse range of cultural identities in Taiwan — especially in the wake of the celebrations of National Hakka Day (全國客家日) on Feb. 11, including the language and traditions of the Hakka culture, which are becoming more and more visible around the island.

According to the 2010-2011 Taiwanese Hakka Population Survey conducted by the Council for Hakka Affairs, Executive Yuan (行政院客家委員會), 3.147 million people now identify themselves Hakka in Taiwan. Those who consider themselves both Hakka and Taiwanese or Aborigine account for 4.286 million, while those who identify themselves as descendants of Hakka people total 5.753 million.

Still an invisible population to some foreigners, the island's Hakka community is actually hiding in plain sight. Nowadays, the Hakka people are promoting their way of life across the island in a series of festivals and activities held all year round, such as the National Hakka Day.

This renaissance has further helped to popularize an emerging Hakka pop culture in the island's literature, music, dramas, mass media and architectural design, and bring these cultural traditions to younger generations of both Hakka and non-Hakka people. The National Hakka Day is a great way to help the public discover the island's Hakka people and their authentic traditions in addition to introducing some of the country's most popular tourist spots.

But, who are the Hakka people? They are a subgroup of the Han Chinese whose ancestors were often said to have arrived from what is now central China. Most of Taiwan's Hakka people traveled from the Chinese provinces of Guangdong (廣東), Jiangxi (江西) and Fujian (福建) in successive waves of migrations.

Their arduous journey not only cemented their cohesion — they usually had to struggle and survive on the less desirable lands — but also offered them opportunities to develop a new cultural identity according to local conditions.

Despite the obstacles, they have been adamant in defending their cultural heritage, and a renaissance of the Hakka culture has now emerged in areas such as Hakka culinary arts, traditional crafts and religious celebrations.

Most people don't know that the Hakkas — pronounced as “haagga” in the Hakka language and “kejia” in Mandarin — have successfully developed a unique way to preserve their foods for long journeys, and created a hearty and savory style of cuisine based on unique methods they have developed for cooking unsophisticated ingredients in a sophisticated manner.

Thanks to the support from the Council for Hakka Affairs, this renaissance of Hakka culture has further helped to popularize Hakka traditions and language in the island's literature, music, dramas, mass media and architectural design, and thereby catering to the tastes of younger generations of both Hakka and non-Hakka people.

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