Chinese Hakka : guest people

Hakka in Chinese means guest people.  They are part of the Han ethnic group.  Their ancestors came from Central China and migrated to the South over the past centuries.  Many of them had further migrated to other regions in Southwest China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and other overseas countries.   At present, there are still many Hakka villages in Guangdong and Southwest Fujian.

Hakka people have strong sense of clanship.  They keep their dialect and custom.  Many of them maintain their agrarian living and stay together in the Hakka communities. 

During our trip to Fujian, we saw interesting Hakka buildings known as tulou (which means mud houses in Chinese). 

(Circular and square shaped Tulou buildings in the hillside)

(Over sixty families living in the four storey Tulou building)

(Tulou architecture for defense purpose: high external mud wall with small windows at the top) 

These tulou buildings are built in the hillside close to their farmland.  The tulou architecture shows the social characters of the Hakka community.  Over sixty families live together in the same communal house.  The community supports each other in the agrarian society. Tulou is also designed for protection against external attacks, such as local bandits. 

Irrigation is critical to the agrarian society.  Hakka people are good at building and maintain their irrigation systems.  Without modern equipment, they build these systems with their hands and stones from the river.

(Water mill in the river)

Temple for ancestors is an important part of Hakka village.  During Chinese New Year and festival dates of the village, the whole community will gather in the temple and pray for their ancestors.  It is also a venue to resolve community issues.