Hakka Roots

Many of the characteristics of the Hakka Chinese that are evident today were instilled during the “yesterdays” of their rich history. To truly understand the heart of the Hakka people, we need to take a glimpse at who they’ve been and where they’ve come from.

The general history of the Hakka Chinese can be broken down into four major migrations and their subsequent settlements.


Migration #1: 250 – 400 AD

Nomadic bands of Mongols invading from the north were the cause of this first major migration. The Han Chinese people who would one day become the Hakka Chinese fled from their homes in Honan Province (near the Yellow River) to Kiangsi Province during this 150 year period of time.


Migration #2: 875 – 885 AD

These pre-Hakka ancestors in Kiangsi Province ended up on the wrong side of an uprising against the T’ang Dynasty in 875 AD (the Huang Rebellion) and had to flee for their lives. They headed east to the mountains of southern Fukien Province and settled in a place called T’ing Chou, where they would live for the next 400 years.

This four century settlement in T’ing Chou proved to be a key period of development for the Hakka Chinese. The seeds of “Hakka-ness” were planted in them during these years, just waiting to take root during the next migration.


Migration #3: 1300 – 1650 AD

During the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, these Hakka ancestors grew too populous for the T’ing Chou area, so were forced to migrate south to Kaying Prefecture (in northern Kuangtung Province.) This migration is now recognized as the pivotal event in molding the Hakkas into a separate and distinct Han Chinese people group. 

When the Hakkas came onto the scene, the local Kaying residents were made up of Cantonese people (Han Chinese) and various tribal peoples (non-Han Chinese.) The Hakka Chinese looked down on the non-Han Chinese tribals, while the Cantonese people looked down on the Hakkas. (They figured the Hakkas were just another barbarian people as their women didn’t bind their feet like all other Han Chinese did at the time.) These prejudices – towards the tribals and from the Cantonese – caused the Hakkas to draw inward and remain separate from all others in the area. It also resulted in a growing “people” pride, which was accompanied by the desire to both cling to and defend their developing heritage. They became known as “Hak Ka Ngin” or “guest people” during this time.


Migration #4: 1650 – 1900 AD

During the latter parts of the Ming Dynasty, the Hakkas found that Kaying Prefecture was no longer big enough to contain their swelling ranks. They not only migrated to other parts of China, but also to other parts of the world – including Taiwan – taking their new, rock-solid identity with them. Due largely to the massive migration at this time, roughly one out of every four overseas Chinese in the world today is Hakka.