2009年9月6日 星期日

客家人 Hakka in Danshui

Officially, this is 鄞山寺 (left). To the locals, it is simply the 鄧公廟. The deity in residence is actually 定光佛. 定光 and 鄧公 are pronounced the same in Hoklo. So there was no Mr Deng but who's counting. Hakka's own guardian 定光佛 was a high-priest-monk during the Song Dynasty. His original name was 鄭自嚴, a Hoklo who had spent a life-time ministering the 汀州 Hakkas.

This temple, first proposed by 張鳴岡, was built in 1822-23 by the Hakka residents of Danshui (with contribution from other Hakkas in northern Taiwan, particularly 三芝 and 石門), on a parcel of land donated by two Luo羅 brothers, also Hakka. Inside the complex, there was accommodation, known as 汀州會館 (Ting-Chow Meeting Place), for visiting Hakkas.

These Hakkas migrated from Western Fujian, 汀州鄞江. Presumably the Hakkas in Danshui spoke 汀州客家話. Dr George Leslie Mackay must have met and preached to some, yet after 20 years he had never mastered the Hakka language. In fact, he had decided not to learn it because he was convinced that the Hakkas would be assimilated into the general population and the language lost. He might have been right, but only in Danshui. No one seems to recall Hakka being spoken in town in recent years. Of course, when it comes to the mother tongue, all bets are off. The Hakka language elsewhere has survived more or less intact and is enjoying the same Peh-oe-ji revival as the Hoklo these days.

There also have been transient Hakkas. The 500 Hakka Hillmen who arrived in Danshui in September, 1884, did take a very active part in the battle of Fisherman's Wharf. Oddly, no casualties were ever reported. And whether the same 500 men later went on to fight the French in Keelung also remains unclear. It seems that the ones fighting in Danshui were recruited from San-shia area, whereas those in Keelung, from Hsin-Chu. There were probably free to join up in each other's camp anyway.

The Hakkas of course had settled in different parts of Taiwan. On the left is a map made by early Swiss missionaries (date unknown) showing where the Hakkas were (click to enlarge). Danshui was not among the major settlements, however.

It is unknown when the 汀州 Hakkas arrived in Danshui and in what number. Although, like most Hoklo families, the info would have been recorded in Hakka family and clan histories which are usually still accessible. Generically, all Hakkas were from 汀州. Most, however, moved on to other settlements in, e.g., Canton. 汀州 Hakkas were those who had chosen to stay.

In 1688, a Hakka infantry battalion (about 100 men) was dispatched from Guangdong to fight the last of the 明鄭Ming-Cheng (東寧王朝 - Koxinga et al) army in Taiwan. These soldiers stayed on after 4 years of service, who latter moved to Pintung and intermarried with the Pinpuhuan there. In 1721-2, the Hakkas sided with the Qing and had put down a large-scale revolt by the Hoklos. That had precipitated the lasting distrust and animosity. In 1737, large numbers of Hakkas from Guangdong arrived and settled in Miaoli. This was 50 years after the ban on Cantonese migration instituted after the Qing defeated the Ming-Cheng Dynasty. The victorious Qing general cum Ming-Cheng turncoat Shi-Lang施琅 deemed the Cantonese too rebellious to be allowed in. This ban also applied to the Hakkas.

Danshui had its share of ethnic (more accurately gang-related) conflicts during the Qing rule, but all amongst the Hoklo people themselves. The Hakkas had wisely stayed out and become invisible. The French invasion of Danshui actually put a stop to these bloody conflicts when the Hoklos suddenly realized that unity equaled survival.

6 則留言:

  1. The Hakka along with Aborigines were often recruited by the Qing to put down Hoklo revolts. That would probably help to explain some of the mistrust underlying Hoklo-Hakka relations.

    In 1721, a Hakka duck-farmer, Chu I-kuei, inspired a rebellion out of Tainan that led to the successful expulsion of the Qing. For six months, Taiwan was actually a free country.

    I'm curious about the 汀州鄞江. Which form of Hakka did they speak, that of the Hsinchu / Miaoli Hakka or the Meinong Hakka of the south? You must know some Hakka actually doubt the authenticity of Lee Tung-hui's claims to being a Hakka. I'm guessing it's media-fueled, that's there is not much to it.

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  2. 朱一貴 was from 福建漳州長泰縣, a Hoklo. His main collaborator 杜君英 was a Hakka. Chu's downfall was caused by the internal power struggle between Hoklo and Hakka. The Hakkas then went over to the Qing side.

    I believe there are at least 8 different Hakka dialects in Taiwan. The 2 major ones are 四縣 and 海陸, both spoken by Hakkas from Canton. Not many speak the Fujian 汀州 version. The Hakkas in Danshui area, including Mr Lee (if that is what he claims to be), don't speak any Hakka at all, not when I was growing up in Danshui anyway. Mr Cho-san or some real Hakkas out there may know more.

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  3. Ex president Lee was my sister’s playmate when they were young. Being the family friends, his parents send him to stay with us a couple of times during his schooling. None of my family members ever mentioned Lee family was Hakka and be able to speak any language other than Hoklo and Japanese. They must be already assimilated by Hoklo long time ago. As the matter of facts that many Taiwanese Nisei in the States have already forgotten how to speak their parents’ mother tongue, some are unable to use the chop sticks, unfortunately though it is the power of assimilation.
    I did not know the existence of Hakka until I moved to East Taiwan. We call them 広東人, (Kanton-Jin) in Japanese and 客人 (Kea-Lan) with Hoklo. When I was attending junior high in 花蓮港中学, our class consisted of half Hakka and half Hoklo in addition one each of 外省人 and 阿美族.
    I have explored 定光佛once by myself when I was 6 or 7 years old. The pond in front of the temple was impressive with a lot of water lily. Entering the temple, I remembered well, I saw three layers of Buddha in sequences. Ignoring the first and second Buddha, I proceeded to the last one. Yes, I saw it, with my very eyes. As I heard of there was a mummy of a high priest sitting there. Seventy years later, sometimes I wonder if what I saw was the mummy dressed up like a Buddha or just my imagination?
    Cho-San

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  4. Cho-san, that is supposed to be a 軟身神像, i.e, a wooden statue with detachable limbs. Maybe it really is a mummified monk. There is a picture here, very life-like:

    http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%BB%9F%E8%BA%AB%E7%A5%9E%E5%83%8F

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  5. whah, 軟身神像!?!?,never heard of it.
    I rather worship a piece of tissue paper than the 軟身神像.
    cho-san

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  6. Maybe Patrick-san can go there and find out for us what it really is.

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