Information on Hakka residences

Hakka Houses: Wailong House

Wailong House

The style and form of Hakka houses are different in different historical periods and in different regions. The changes include Yuanzhai, Weilongwu, Zoumalou, Sijiaolou, etc. But the most representative one is Weilong House. The Weilong House is a typical Hakka residential building with the characteristics of the Central Plains. The Hakka Weilong House is collectively known as the "siheyuan" in Beijing, the "cave dwelling" in Shaanxi, the "bar style" in Guangxi and the "one seal" in Yunnan. It is one of the five traditional residential building forms with the most local style in my country, and is called one of the five characteristics of Chinese residential architecture by Chinese and foreign architectural circles. According to the investigation of historians, this kind of residential building is very similar to the style of the courtyard of the Central Plains nobles, which has its historical origin. The ancestors of the Hakkas were originally Han people from the Central Plains. Due to wars, famines and other reasons, they moved southward and settled in the mountainous areas at the junction of Jiangxi, Guangdong and Fujian. After the Hakka ancestors moved south and settled in Lingnan, they not only spread the advanced farming techniques of the Central Plains, but also maintained the original traditional style of building houses.

1. The overall layout of the Weilong House

The overall layout of the Weilong House is a large garden. In terms of the overall shape, the Weilong House is like a Tai Chi diagram.

The front half of Weilong House is a half-moon-shaped pond, and the back half is a half-moon-shaped building. The joint between the two halves is separated by a rectangular open space. The open space is paved with Sanhe soil and is called "Heping" (or hall). It is a place for residents to move or dry out. At the connection between "Heping" and the pond, a high or short stone wall is built with lime and small stones. The short one is called "wall ridge" and the high one is called "zhaoqiang". The half-moon-shaped pond is mainly used to stock fish and shrimps, irrigate vegetable fields, and store water to prevent drought and fire. It is not only a natural fertilizer warehouse, but also a natural sewage purification tank.

The second half of the building has a square main building in the middle. There are "three buildings and two horizontals" with one surrounding floor; there are "three buildings and four horizontals" with two surrounding floors. The smallest Weilong House has a construction area of ??thousands of square meters, while the larger one has a building area of ??tens of thousands of square meters. Some Dawei Longwu houses hundreds of households with hundreds of people. Generally, there are "three buildings, two horizontals" and one enclosed house. There are three buildings with two horizontal walls surrounding the dragon house, with upper, middle and lower halls. There is a patio between each hall, and they are separated by wooden screens. The screens can be opened or closed as needed. On the left and right of the hall, there are north and south halls, upper and lower corridors and toilets, flower halls, wing rooms, study rooms, living rooms, bedrooms, etc., which are well arranged and have clear priorities. The building structure is low in front and high in back, which is conducive to lighting, ventilation, drainage and sewage discharge.

The outer layer of the main house - the horizontal house is a half-moon-shaped enclosure, some with one enclosure and some with two enclosures. This is how the Dragon House gets its name. The arc-shaped enclosed rooms guard the main house and form a defensive barrier. The windows in the enclosed rooms are generally small and serve as natural lookout holes and shooting holes, which are convenient for resisting incoming attacks with bows and arrows, earthen guns, earthen cannons and other weapons. enemy. The design and architecture of Weilong House is actually closely related to the situation of the Hakka people at that time. The Hakka people are Han people who migrated south from the Central Plains since the Tang and Song Dynasties. They mostly live in remote mountainous areas and are marginalized and bullied by the locals. In order to unite and survive, they have to live in groups and build defensive villages. Castle-style residences - dragon houses to protect against bandits and locals. The Weilong House also has a sturdy multi-story "turret", which can be used to store food and fodder, and to shoot at invading enemies from a high position. If bandits come to cause robberies, they only need to close the gate and half door, and the villagers can enter the dragon house and turret with weapons to fight.

History of the Hakka people

The ancestors of the Hakka people originated from the Central Plains and migrated from the Central Plains to the south. They are a branch of the Han nationality in southern China. Because he was in a foreign land, he was nostalgic for his hometown Heluo (the Luo River Basin with Luoyang as the center) and called himself "Heluo Lang". On the one hand, Hakka culture retains the mainstream characteristics of Central Plains culture, and on the other hand, it accommodates the cultural essence of the local ethnic groups. Hakka people often use those talented men as role models to inspire and educate their children and grandchildren, and learn from their meritorious and successful predecessors. Some people say: Wherever there is the sun, there are Chinese people, and wherever there are Chinese people, there are Hakkas. Others say: Wherever there is sunshine, there are Hakkas; wherever there is a piece of land, Hakkas will gather together, work hard, and reproduce. Because Hakka people travel all over the world, immigrate to the world, and have many successful people in overseas business circles, they are called "Oriental Jews".

The first southward migration was during the era of Qin Shihuang. After Qin Shihuang unified China in 221 BC, he sent 600,000 troops to "conquer Baiyue in the south" for political and military needs.

The Qin army moving south entered Jieling (i.e. Jieyang Mountain, 150 miles north of today's Jieyang County) from the border of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi, and reached the border of Xingning and Haifeng counties. In 214 BC, Qin Shihuang sent another 500,000 soldiers to "garrison the Five Ridges in the south" (today's Guangdong and Guangxi regions). These soldiers "garrisoned the five mountains and crossed the mountains" for a long time. After the fall of Qin, the two groups of Qin soldiers who went south stayed in the area and became the first batch of Hakkas.

The second migration to the south was during the "Five Husties" period in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. At that time, some Central Plains residents moved to the Fujian-Guangdong-Jiangxi border area in order to seek refuge. Later, due to the confrontation between the north and the south, about 960,000 people from the Central Plains moved south to both sides of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Some of the population flowed into southern Jiangxi, and some entered the Fujian and Guangdong regions via Ningdu and Shicheng.

The third move south was during the Huangchao Uprising in the late Tang Dynasty. First, the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty brought huge disasters to the people and forced a large number of Han people from the Central Plains to flee south. During the Huangchao uprising at the end of the Tang Dynasty, a large number of Han people from the Central Plains fled into the Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi regions. For example, the clan member Li Meng moved from Chang'an to Bianliang, and then to Gubi Township, Ninghua, Fujian. Wang Xu and Wang Chao from Gushi responded to the Huangchao Uprising and led five thousand peasant uprising troops from Guangzhou and Shou Prefectures to Jiangxi, causing the population in the Fujian-Jiangxi border area to increase.

The fourth southward migration was the Southern Song Dynasty and the late Song Dynasty. The Jin people invaded and built the Yannan Crossing, and some officials and people migrated to the Taihu Lake Basin. Another part of the scholars either crossed the Dageng Mountains southward and entered Nanxiong, Shixing, and Shaozhou; or they traveled along Hong, Ji, and Qianzhou, and then from Qianzhou to Tingzhou; or they stayed in counties in southern Jiangxi. At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Yuan army moved south in a large scale, and a large number of Song people from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Jiangxi fled from Putian to Chaoshan along the coast of Guangdong to Hainan Island.

The fifth southward migration was in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. At that time, the Hakka people living in southern Jiangxi, eastern Guangdong, and northern Guangdong migrated to Sichuan, Hunan, Guangxi, and Taiwan, as well as central and western Guangdong, due to the population proliferation and the lack of land. This large-scale migration is called the "Westward Movement" in the history of Hakka immigration. The Hakkas in Sichuan basically originated from this "Westward Expansion Movement". At that time, Sichuan's population dropped sharply due to war, plague and natural disasters. The Qing government particularly encouraged immigrants to "fill Sichuan from Huguang".

The sixth southward migration was during the Taiping Rebellion in the mid-19th century. At that time, some Hakkas migrated to South Asia to avoid the war, and some were lured into indentured labor and taken to Malaysia, the United States, Panama, Brazil and other places.

In addition to the six large-scale southward migrations mentioned above, there were also Han people from the Central Plains who fled southward due to droughts and floods, and there were also those who were officials of the past dynasties, who were demoted, engaged in business, and studied in the border areas of Fujian, Guangdong, and Jiangxi. However, Not all Han people who migrated south became Hakkas. Among them, only those from the Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi ancestry and those originating from this ancestry were called Hakkas.

The ancestors of the Hakka originally lived in the north, but later moved to the south of the Yangtze River, living in the provinces of Jiangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Hunan, Taiwan and Qiong, and gradually dispersed abroad and spread all over the world. Gannan is the first stop for the Hakka ancestors to migrate south, and it is also one of the areas with the largest number of Hakka residents. The origin of the name "Hakka" is related to the migration of the Hakka ancestors. To the place where they live, these people are "guests" who have moved from elsewhere. It can be said that without migration, there would be no such thing as "Hakka".

There are many reasons why Hakka people migrate. In the early days, it was mainly due to the coercion of disasters. Such as cruel wars, floods, droughts, insects and other special natural disasters and epidemics of plague. Almost every large-scale war in Chinese history resulted in a great migration of Hakka people. According to historical records, there was a great migration of Hakka ancestors during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Just imagine, in the long years, the "Five Hus and Sixteen Kingdoms" have been in constant war and mourning is everywhere. Can you survive if you don't escape? It is said that our ancestors of the Chen family left their homeland in western Henan during that period, traveled to Jiangxi, and finally settled in Gan County. "The moon is the brightness of my hometown." At first, the ancestors may only want to stay here temporarily for a while, but they gradually got used to it. So they built houses, cultivated fields, raised pigs and cattle, and lived there for a long time. From a temporary guest to a permanent home. Just like that, we will be "Hakka" forever!

It is worth mentioning that there is a special way of migration. It is said that in order to build the Afang Palace, Qin Shihuang drove tens of thousands of "wooden guests" to the south of Gansu to cut wood for the rejuvenation of the country. Those who did not die from exhaustion later stayed there. These were probably the earliest ancestors of the Hakkas in southern Gansu.

The process of migration is definitely difficult and dangerous. Support the old and the young, travel across mountains and rivers, and settle down to live in a strange place. The ancestors of the Hakka people overcame obstacles and obstacles, "making roads in the mountains and building bridges in the water." They finally survived and formed a prosperous ethnic group with tens of millions of people today.

The last step of migration is to build a house and settle down. An elderly guest said: "The most important thing about settling down is the location of the house. How to decide? It depends on Feng Shui. This Feng Shui is not the superstitious Feng Shui that Mr. Geography talks about. The main thing is to get sunlight, look at the wind direction, and be close to water sources. , close to the hard mountain, choose a high ground. It is an ideal choice to sit in the north, facing the south, facing the sun, close to the water, and with a wide view."

People often praise the Hakka people for their diligence, bravery, perseverance and resourcefulness. . As an ethnic group, the Hakkas have naturally experienced social reality and production reality in a more diverse and deeper way than other groups due to their ancestors' long-distance migrations for several generations. They must have been tempered and nourished more, and accumulated more knowledge. Gain more experience in dealing with relationships with the natural world and social interpersonal relationships. Therefore, a large number of politicians, scientists, writers, and entrepreneurs have appeared in the Hakka community...

There are many theories about the origin of the Hakkas, the main ones are the Hakka original theory and the Hakka indigenous theory. The Hakka original theory believes that the main body of the Hakkas are immigrants from the Central Plains, while the Hakka indigenous theory believes that "the Hakka homogeneity is the homogeneity produced by the mixing of the Han people who migrated to the south and the ancient Yue immigrants in the Fujian-Guangdong-Jiangxi triangle area. The main body is the Guyue people living on this land, not the few Central Plains people living in this area." Starting from the Song Dynasty, Han people from the Central Plains migrated southward on a large scale, passing through southern Jiangxi and western Fujian to Meizhou, eventually forming a relatively mature and highly stable Hakka ethnic group. Since then, the Hakka people have used Meizhou as their base and moved to other parts of the country and even the world in large numbers. The "Three Hakka Prefectures" are Jiaying Prefecture, Ganzhou, and Tingzhou.

Speaking of Hakka, the most famous thing is their earth buildings. If you search for Hakka on the Internet, many entries about earth buildings will appear at the same time. If you are a philately enthusiast, you should have noticed that one of the Fujian houses in the stamp set of Chinese houses is a Hakka earth building. Since most of the Hakka people lived in remote mountainous areas or deep forests, they were not only lacking in building materials, but also noisy with wolves, tigers, leopards, and thieves. In addition, they were afraid of being harassed by local people. Therefore, the Hakka people built "defensive" castles like earth buildings. style residential building. In Fujian, there are two types of earth buildings: square earth buildings and round earth buildings, while round earth buildings are relatively rare.

I guess everyone still remembers a joke about Tulou: It is said that in the 1960s and 1970s, American spy satellites conducted photo reconnaissance on China and were surprised to find that there were many earth buildings scattered in the mountainous areas of Fujian Province, my country. Many unknown large-scale buildings, either round or square, are considered to be "missile launch bases" after analysis. China's military strength cannot be underestimated. It was not until China and the United States established diplomatic relations that Americans learned that those so-called "missile launch bases" were actually earth buildings, typical Hakka dwellings.

Of course, Hakka tofu is also very famous. The most famous tofu in China: Hakka Yong Tofu, Sichuan Mapo Tofu, and Hunan Stinky Tofu. The latter two can only be regarded as side dishes and snacks. Only Hakka people regard them as snacks. Tofu has become a side dish and main dish. Even their wedding songs include tofu. For example, one song goes like this:

Buy a new round grinding stone,

I bought it to grind soy milk,

Grinding tofu in the middle of the night,

Grinning tofu until dawn.

1: Hakka origin

Hakka is a huge ethnic group of Han Chinese, with a long history and a large number of people. According to the data, the total number of Hakka people is now 55 million, including about 45 million in China. Among overseas Hakkas, most live in some countries in Asia, including about 1.25 million in Malaysia, about 400,000 in Indonesia, about 370,000 in Thailand, about 300,000 in Vietnam, 200,000 in Singapore, and Myanmar. 100,000..., others are distributed in America, Europe, Australia and other places.

The Hakka ancestors came from the Central Plains. They were people who migrated directly from the Central Plains on a large scale due to wars in the past dynasties, or who moved in through time, or who settled there because of officialdom, relegation, or business. The migration of their ancestors occurred in the following periods:

(1) The Qin and Han Dynasties unified China, and immigrants from the Central Plains began to move south.

1. In the twenty-fifth year of the First Emperor of Qin (222 BC), the Qin army defeated Chu with 600,000 soldiers, who “conquered the king of Baiyue in the south.” After the Minzhong County was established in 1978, he divided his troops and went south, from the border of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi to reach Jieling, that is, Jieyang Mountain. It is 150 miles north of present-day Jieyang County and reaches the border of Xingning and Haifeng counties.

2. In the thirty-third year of the First Emperor of Qin, 500,000 people guarded the Five Ridges, that is, Zhao Tuo "generated troops to garrison the crossing."

From this we can see that there are two Qin armies garrisoning on the border between Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi, one at the border of Wunanye and the other at Jieling.

3. In the thirty-fourth year of the First Emperor of Qin, Zhao Tuo built a city two miles across the river to control the Wu River, and built a city of ten thousand people on Zhongsu Mountain. Zhao Tuo built a city in Longchuan again. The number of these city builders is unknown, but during the same period, those who moved to the northern border counties to build cities could be estimated to be as few as 30,000 households and as many as 50,000 households.

4. In the thirty-sixth year of the First Emperor of Qin, it is estimated that the Qin garrison immigrants stationed in the borders of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi accounted for more than one-third of the local population.

5. In the fifth year of Yuanding (115 BC), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, a large number of soldiers from the Central Plains went south to garrison Lingnan and were stationed in counties and military strategic points.

6. In the first year of the Han Yuan Dynasty (110 BC), the Minyue people in central Fujian and Jieyang (Chao and Meigu were the Minyue areas) all moved away, leaving only the Qin people in the area. Descendants of immigrants from Zhong County. This shows that from then on, the residents of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi border areas were mainly immigrants from the Central Plains.

(2) From Jian'an in the late Han Dynasty to Yongjia in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the people of the Central Plains took refuge, and some people moved into the Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi border areas.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, people from the Central Plains took refuge in Jiaozhou, which set off a climax. The southward migration mainly came by sea.

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, when the north and the south were in conflict, the Central Plains people once again migrated south on a large scale, with a population of about 960,000. Most of them settled on both sides of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Some of them entered Jiangxi and southern Jiangxi, and some entered through Ningdu and Shicheng. Fujian and Guangdong border counties.

On the occasion of Yongjia, many gentry from the Central Plains flowed into Fujian.

(3) The Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty brought huge disasters to the people, and a large number of people in the Central Plains fled south.

(4) During the Huangchao Uprising in the late Tang Dynasty, a large number of Central Plains people fled into Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi. For example, the clan member Li Meng moved from Chang'an to Bianliang, and then to Gubi Township, Ninghua, Fujian. Wang Xu and Wang Chao from Gushi responded to Huangchao's uprising and led 5,000 peasant uprising troops from Guang and Shou prefectures to Jiangxi. From the end of the Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, the population of Fujian and Jiangxi border areas increased sharply.

(5) During the Southern Song Dynasty and at the end of the Song Dynasty, a large number of people from the Central Plains fled to central Guangdong and the border areas of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi.

After Jianyan crossed to the south, some officials and people moved to Hangzhou, Xiu, Su, Chang, and Hu, that is, the Taihu Basin. The other part, and most of it, followed Long Huangtai along the way to Hong, Ji, and Qianzhou, and Huangtai returned to Lin'an. These scholars did not have the conditions to follow the Queen Mother, and they were unable to return north, so some of them crossed the Dageng Mountains southward and entered Nanxiong, Shixing, and Shaozhou. Part of it went from Qianzhou to Tingzhou. Some were stranded in counties in southern Jiangxi.

At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Yuan army marched southward in large numbers. A large number of Song people from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Jiangxi fled from Putian to Chaoshan along the coast of Guangdong to Hainan Island.

(6) In addition to the large-scale southward migration due to wars mentioned above, people from the Central Plains fled south due to droughts and floods. There are also people who have been officials, demoted, businessmen, and study tours in the past dynasties and settled in the border areas of Fujian, Guangdong, and Jiangxi. .

From the above historical data, the Hakka ancestors mainly came from the Han nationality in the Central Plains. In the process of the formation of the Hakka ethnic system, they continued to absorb southern minority groups such as She, Yao, Dan, and Muke to strengthen the Hakka team.

Two: Hakka etiquette and customs

(1) Traditional wedding customs

Matchmaking In the past, young Hakka men and women, after the age of sixteen, could ask a matchmaker to make a matchmaking introduction. marriage. Usually, the parents of the boy's family ask a matchmaker to go to the girl's family to talk. Sometimes the girl's family asks a matchmaker to visit the boy's family first.

Seeing girls: The male and female families negotiate through the central media. If both parties are interested, they will agree on a time to "see girls."

Writing Geng Tie After both parties agree, they must tell each other their birth dates and horoscopes. After returning home, each of them asked a fortune teller to "calculate their horoscopes". If the eight characters match each other and will not conflict with each other, write out Geng Ties (commonly known as marriage bills) and place them on the incense table. If there are no ominous signs within three days, the marriage will be decided. (If the eight characters do not match, the husband will The female Geng Tie is returned to the female family).

Compiling red slips is also called "red wedding slips" or financial gifts. The man's parents, clan relatives and matchmaker go to the woman's family together and issue the financial gifts that the man wants to give to the woman's family. Some of the red slips also include gifts for the son-in-law, such as hats, silver flowers, clothes, shoes, socks, etc. During the process of opening a red order, both parties will bargain and finally negotiate and finalize. After the red orders are drawn, the men and women also exchange tokens such as rings, handkerchiefs, etc. Finally, the man came back after lunch at the woman’s house.

Engagement is also called "Dazha", which means the marriage is officially confirmed again. The young man and his parents will go to the girl's house and bring pig heads, fish, meat, etc. The girl's parents, brothers-in-law, uncles, grandparents, etc. will all be present.

After lunch, the girls come out to meet each other and call the boy's parents parents, and the parents of the two families call each other their in-laws and in-laws' mother.

The house-sitting party means that the woman goes to the man’s house to see the family. Some of the time is before the "big wedding", and sometimes after the "big wedding". In addition to the girl and her parents, the people the woman goes to visit are: Aunts-in-law, sisters, etc. were all going, and there were more than a dozen people of all sizes. They didn't bring any gifts, even if they brought some, the groom's family didn't dare to accept them.

After the wedding is decided, the man will ask a fortune teller to choose a date for the wedding, including the day and time for the bride to go out, and the time for the bride to return to the groom's house. In addition, the woman will cut a red dress and the man will make the bed. The day must also be chosen at the same time.

Sending vegetables and carrying dowry One or two days before the bride comes to the house, the groom’s family will ask relatives to deliver the betrothal gift and fish, meat, poultry, noodles and other items stipulated in the red list to the bride by more than ten people. When you return home, you will take your dowry, furniture, etc. back to your husband’s house.

Welcoming a bride is also called receiving a bride or passing through the door. The day before the wedding, more than ten people from the groom's family will go to the bride's house to pick her up. There will be a drummer band, some will set off firecrackers, some will carry sedan chairs, and some will burn incense (they will go to the bride's ancestral hall, temple, or commune to burn incense), and one person will carry the burden. There is a lead chicken (one male and one female) on one end, wine and pineapple on the other. A woman has to bring the bride's clothes, and two people carry wooden baskets, and they have to carry fish, meat, wine, and cakes. , cigarettes, firecrackers, candles, etc., the matchmaker will also go. Some grooms will go, some will not. If the groom goes with him, the groom will also have to make a sedan chair. The one who sets off the firecrackers is the man's plenipotentiary, and he will bring one or twenty red envelopes with him. indivual.

After arriving at the bride’s house, the bride-to-be will first have snacks, and then two members of the bride’s family will take them to the ancestral hall to burn incense and pay homage to their ancestors. The girl's family will host a banquet at noon or evening.

The bride usually leaves in the middle of the night or at midnight, and the sky becomes brighter as she goes, symbolizing her move towards the light. If she goes out at night, she will not encounter unlucky things such as carrying a coffin. In the front of the wedding procession are the lantern players, followed by the music players, the sedan chair is in the middle, and behind are the people receiving the bride.

When the bride arrives at the groom's house, if it has not yet arrived at the stipulated entrance time, she must wait on the gate at the gate or in a house next to the door. Entrance is usually at seven or eight or eight or nine in the morning, and some even have to wait until noon. At the entrance moment, the bride has to kick the sedan door, and the groom's bridesmaid will lead the bride out of the sedan, and then "cross the fire" at the gate. The bride steps over the fire made of fir branches before entering the gate.

After the bride enters the hall amidst the sound of drums, she begins to worship. The incense table is arranged in the hall, with parents and elders standing on the east side, relatives on the west side, relatives on the north side, and juniors on the south side. Before the ceremony, the bridegroom's wife should hang a red cloth on the groom's body with a five-foot-long red cloth.

Recite: "Holding a red flag five feet long in hand, I use it to pretend to be the groom. I will pretend that the groom will give birth to a son, and if he gives birth to a son early, he will be the number one scholar." When worshiping, the groom stands on the left and the bride stands on the right. The rituals are: first, worship the heaven and earth, secondly, worship the ancestors, thirdly, worship the high hall, and fourthly, the husband and wife worship each other.

Finally, relatives meet and give red envelopes to the bride. After the ceremony, the bridesmaid leads the bride into the bridal chamber with a red bow, and the bride and groom scatter wedding candies from the door to the hall amidst the sound of firecrackers. Then the bride and groom have a cup of wine. The bridesmaid held a chicken on a tray and said while serving wine: "The family is reunited and the couplets are on the wall", "Guanyin sends a son, and a child is born early"; "The husband and wife are reconciled and grow old together". (This etiquette is no longer common in the Meizhou area and has been replaced by modern wedding models)

Have a banquet at noon, have a wedding banquet, use loud cannons to invite guests, fire them every half an hour, and fire them when the banquet begins Three rings. Then the etiquette will give a list of names, and there will be two seats at each table. According to their seniority and closeness, they will be arranged to sit at the table first, and then the others will sit at their leisure. Male and female guests sit separately, and the bride and groom go to the table to toast.

One type of house riot is in the hall, and the other is in the new house. There are also people who make trouble in the hall first and then in the new house. During the riot, firecrackers were set off every few minutes until midnight.

Returning door is also called "revolving door". Usually on the third or fifth day after the wedding, the woman sends the bride’s sisters and other female family members to invite the bride and groom to be guests together. The matchmaker and the groom’s sisters also go with them. There are 7-14 people. After lunch, the wedding will be held on the same day. return.

Giving a full moon. One month after the wedding, the bride's family will come to give a full moon. At the same time, they will send chickens, vegetables, seeds, grain seeds, beans, etc. to indicate a bumper harvest and a prosperous fortune.

(2) Traditional festive customs

1. Birth etiquette

It marks the celebration and blessing of a person’s birth and is the first etiquette in life.

When a married daughter is pregnant and about to give birth, usually one to twenty days before the baby is born, the mother's family will bring chickens, eggs, noodles, dried noodles, etc. to the daughter's house to "encourage" the baby, with pre-birth wishes. It means a safe birth. If the mother is no longer here, the sister-in-law will be responsible for the birth, and a banquet will be held at noon.

After a child is born, the son-in-law will bring chickens, eggs, and rice wine (sometimes carrying dozens of kilograms) to his in-law's house to announce the good news. The grandma's house will treat the baby, and all close relatives and friends will come to express their congratulations. Grandpa and grandma will give chickens and red eggs in return.

Do three dynasties. Three days after a child is born, he should do "three dynasties". First give the child a bath and treat the midwife to a meal. Grandma will bring big roosters, eggs, noodles, glutinous rice noodles, etc. I want to make "three dynasties of wine" and entertain my grandma and my bride-in-law. In some places, red eggs are also given to relatives and friends. Relatives and friends will return chickens, eggs, noodles and other items before the full moon.

One month after the baby is born, grandma will send a big rooster (many places give big capons), eggs, clothes, quilts, etc. for the baby. Hats, collars, windbreakers, skirts, silver bracelets and suspenders, etc., uncles, aunts, aunts and other female relatives usually send pullets, eggs, clothes, fabrics, etc., and male relatives such as aunts and uncles will also come. celebrate.

One hundred days. Celebrate the 100th day since a child was born. On this day, the grandfather and the girl’s uncle will bring roosters to celebrate, and other relatives usually give red envelopes to the baby.

Celebrating the first birthday of a child. When a child is one year old, he celebrates his birthday by celebrating his birthday. The first year is more solemn than the full moon, and there are more guests coming to celebrate.

2. Coming-of-age rituals

Hakka coming-of-age rituals are divided into two types: male and female. The coming-of-age ritual for men is called "Guan Li", and the coming-of-age ritual for women is called "Hairlock Ceremony". (There seems to be no such etiquette now, at least not where I am (the Hakka capital of the world - Meizhou))

3. Birthday etiquette

Hakka people’s birthdays are the same as the customs everywhere. , a small birthday is held every year and a big birthday is held every ten years, but the big birthday is more common. Starting from "Qi Shi" at the age of ten, it continues until the age of forty or fifty, and when it reaches sixty or above, it can be called a birthday celebration. For birthdays, longevity noodles and poached eggs are eaten to symbolize longevity. (This custom has also been simplified and only applies to birthdays: those over sixty years old)

When celebrating a birthday, the married daughter will give a big rooster, as well as a birthday coat, a birthday hat, birthday cakes, birthday shoes, A complete set of birthday socks from head to toe. When a father celebrates his birthday, he also gives a complete set to his mother. In addition, he also sends birthday scrolls, birthday cannons, birthday candles, roosters, birthday peaches, birthday noodles, birthday cakes, birthday wine, birthday cakes, and birthday socks. Meat etc. Others come to celebrate birthdays, and generally relatives and friends send birthday banners, birthday couplets, or additional gifts.

In many places, birthday celebrations are held for elderly people who are over seventy years old, have many children and grandchildren, and have a good family background.

For birthdays and birthdays of the Hakka people, insiders send gifts by themselves and come to congratulate them. Congratulations first and then invitations. Unless relatives and close friends send invitations, no congratulations or invitations are given.

4. Building a house and moving to a new home

The Hakka people regard building a house and moving to a new home as one of the major celebrations, and they should celebrate it grandly.

When building a house, the positioning of the house and the direction of the door must be determined by Mr. Kanyu. When the vertical pillars are raised and the beams are raised, lights and colorful banners and red couplets must be pasted. After a new house is built, it is necessary to "exorcise evil spirits" and "eliminate evil spirits" the night before moving in before moving in.

When moving into a new home, you should bring a lantern (or oil lamp), a fire cage, a scale, etc. into the house, as well as a nest of chickens and a steamer of rice to show that the newcomer is prosperous. The garden is filled with joy. When moving to a new home, you need to hold a "house-in-house banquet" and entertain relatives and friends, as well as house builders and helpers. Dishes should include leeks, tofu, pig intestines, pig blood and rice cakes, etc., which symbolize long-term prosperity and high prosperity.

Hakka is an excellent branch of the Chinese nation. The ancestors of the Hakkas were originally the Han people in the Yellow River and Huaihe River basins, the cradle of Chinese civilization. Starting from the Tang and Song Dynasties, a large number of them moved south due to natural disasters, wars and other reasons. They first took root in the vast mountainous areas at the junction of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi, and later spread to the southern provinces and overseas. There are now tens of millions of Hakka people living in more than 70 countries and regions around the world. People often say: "Wherever there is the sun, there are Chinese, and wherever there are Chinese, there are Hakkas." The Hakkas have become one of the most widespread and far-reaching ethnic groups in the world today.

Ethnicity and ethnic origin.

Nation generally refers to various human beings formed in history and at different stages of social development, such as primitive nations, ancient nations, modern nations, etc. At the same time, there are other widespread uses, such as the Chinese nation, the Arab nation, etc. The concept of ethnic ties is a new term coined by Mr. Luo Xianglin, a Hakka research expert, in the 1930s for the purpose of studying Hakka. Its connotation is each independent branch or unit within the same nation. Today, the concept of various ethnic groups within the Han nation has almost become a professional term established in academic circles.

Today, the domestic Hakkas are mainly distributed in Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Guangxi, Taiwan and other provinces and regions; the foreign Hakkas are mainly distributed in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and other countries and regions. In the history of the development of the Chinese nation, the Hakka ancestors and their descendants have contributed to the development of the Yangtze River Basin and the Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi triangle, the economic and cultural prosperity of South China, the development and growth of the Han nationality family, and the Han culture and Central Plains civilization. The dissemination and promotion of it have had an immeasurable impact. Since modern times, the Hakka ancestors have also played an important role in promoting economic and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. In the modern history of China, outstanding Hakka people have emerged in large numbers, fought heroically for the independence of the country and the liberation of the nation, and written glorious historical chapters that are both evocative and evocative. In the current wave of world development, the Hakka people still have their style, outstanding achievements and meritorious service. M)<

The Hakka ethnic group does not exist since ancient times. From the fact that the Hakka people are called "Ke" and call themselves "Ke", we can see that the Hakka ethnicity is the product of historical immigration. Migrating - living abroad - migrating again - living abroad again, the Hakka ancestors went through many hardships. With their unique way of living and tenacious vitality, the Hakka people have created their own unique cultural traditions and vast social areas, thus becoming a special ethnic group of the Han nation with a large population, a wide distribution, and numerous talents.

So, what are Hakkas? It can be said that the Hakka people are an important ethnic group of the Han nation; the Hakka people are a unique and stable group of the Han ethnic group; the Hakka people gather in the triangle area of ??southern Jiangxi, western Fujian, and eastern Guangdong (there are 20 ethnic groups here) The nine pure Hakka counties are the base camp of the Hakka people). Hakka dialect is the unique language of the Hakka people; the Hakka people have special Hakka culture and customs; the Hakka people have a unique Hakka spirit. In summary, the Hakka people are a unique and stable ethnic group of the Han nation formed due to historical reasons. They have the same interests and have a unique and stable Hakka language, culture, folk customs and emotional mentality (i.e. Hakka spirit). Anyone who meets the above stable characteristics can be called Hakka.

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The Hakka people are synonymous with displacement and hardship. The migration process of the Hakka people is full of blood, tears and bitterness; the Hakka people are another rich people. Synonymous with the glory of hard work and pioneering spirit, the Hakka people have gone through many hardships and created the famous Hakka spirit and culture - the glory and splendor of which the Hakka people should be proud of.

When the Hakka ancestors traveled around and finally found the base camp at the junction of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi, they were regarded as "guests", that is, "outsiders" by other surrounding ethnic groups. The Hakka people who "are guests all the time and everywhere" are not only called "guests", but also call themselves "guests", which shows the generosity and open-mindedness of the Hakka people. It is precisely with this kind of generous and open-minded spiritual quality that the Hakka people can realize that "when you enter a foreign land, you are your hometown", they can integrate the indigenous residents in the triangle area of ??southern Jiangxi, western Fujian, and eastern Guangdong, and finally "turn the main focus on the guests" and form Unique and outstanding Hakka ethnic group. The formation process of the Hakka ethnic system is also the process of the formation, development and growth of the Chinese nation. Hakka are outstanding members of the Chinese nation. Learning and understanding the formation process of the Hakka ethnic lineage will help Hakka descendants have a deeper understanding of the historical footprints of the Chinese nation, and will help Hakka descendants enhance their sense of historical responsibility and mission of the times for the country and the nation.