Taiwan Today

Government cultural parks and academic support programs are deepening appreciation and strengthening research on Hakka history, language and traditions.

Of the approximately 4.5 million Hakka people in Taiwan, 46.8 percent can speak their native tongue fluently and 64.3 percent have good listening comprehension, a 2017 survey by the Cabinet-level Hakka Affairs Council (HAC) showed. Representing declines of 1.2 percent and 2.2 percent respectively from 2007, these figures highlight the significant work required to revitalize the language.

Yet there was some positive news to be gleaned from the HAC study. It found that the proportion of Hakka people over the age of 11 who hope that their current or future children are able to speak the language climbed to a record high 86.9 percent, up from 81.7 percent in 2010. According to the HAC, this spotlights the progress of wide-ranging government initiatives to enhance appreciation of Hakka culture.

Chen Min-jen (陳明真), chairman of Taipei City-based Taiwan Hakka Association (THA), agrees that the language and cultural promotion environment has grown increasingly favorable in recent years. One encouraging sign, Chen said, is the rising number of Hakka pop musicians writing and singing songs in their native language. “Through merging their heritage and contemporary experiences, groups like the Hohak Band are finding eager audiences in Hakka communities and beyond.”

The THA chairman similarly pointed to growing recognition of the ethnic group’s literature, as evidenced by the Cabinet conferring the 2019 National Cultural Award, the country’s highest creative honor, on Hakka writer Li Qiao (‬李喬). The author is best known for “Wintry Night Trilogy,” an epic collection published from 1979 to 1981 set during and after Japanese colonial rule (1895-1945) in which three generations of two Hakka families struggle for survival. It is a tale that speaks to the marginalization of the Hakka people for much of the 20th century, as well as the need for the dedicated public and private sector efforts to foster cultural rejuvenation.

Nationwide Organizations

Established in 2005, the THA is among the largest and most prominent Hakka advocacy organizations in Taiwan. Comprising 52 member bodies from across the country, it works to support the efforts of these regional associations and promote the culture of Taiwan’s second largest ethnic group, comprising 19.3 percent of the population.

With funding from the HAC, the THA arranges regular seminars on topics spanning Hakka communities, films, literature and pop music. A recent event staged at National Tsing Hua University in northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu City focused on Hakka author Long Ying-zong (龍瑛宗). In 1937, Long released the acclaimed Japanese language short novel “A Small Town Planted with Papaya Trees.” The work won a literary prize from a Japanese magazine the same year, a rare honor for a Taiwan writer at that time.

Forums to bolster appreciation of such cultural contributions are part of government efforts to build a Hakka knowledge system. This goal is outlined in the Hakka Basic Act, promulgated in 2010 to protect the rights and interests of the minority group. To develop this system, the legislation states that the government should provide incentives for related academic research and help tertiary organizations establish Hakka colleges, departments, graduate institutes and degree programs.

Chou Chin-hung (周錦宏), dean of the College of Hakka Studies (CHS) at National Central University in the northern city of Taoyuan, said that financial support offered in line with the act has significantly strengthened Hakka studies in Taiwan. CHS was launched in 2003 as the first college of its kind in the country. It was quickly followed by counterparts at Hsinchu-headquartered National Chiao Tung University and National United University in northern Taiwan’s Miaoli County in 2004 and 2006, respectively.

The years since have seen the establishment of the Graduate Institute of Hakka Culture Studies at National Kaohsiung Normal University, as well as the Graduate Institute of Hakka Cultural Industry and Hakka Industry Research Center at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, both in southern Taiwan.

According to Chou, this well-rounded academic ecosystem emerged out of decadeslong efforts by grassroots activists and community groups to foster Hakka research. Since the Return Our Mother Tongue rally, a landmark 1988 demonstration in Taipei, “Hakka cultural and language studies have garnered mainstream acceptance and increasing levels of institutional support,” he said.

Hakka colleges and departments play an important role in rejuvenating the language. At CHS, all freshmen and sophomores, ethnic Hakka or not, are required to take basic or advanced courses in the tongue. “Learning to speak Hakka facilitates more in-depth cultural understanding and analysis,” Chou said.

Curriculums also seek to engrain Hakka heritage throughout society. CHS encourages cross-disciplinary studies and offers courses in areas ranging from audio-visual production and design to digital marketing and programming, Chou said. “We hope graduates can use their Hakka knowledge to enrich a wide variety of sectors.”

While CHS spurs enrollees to study marketable skills, it also ensures they are grounded in the soil of Taiwan’s rural Hakka heartland. Under the college’s Hakka Institute project, students and faculty work to build connections with and study traditional communities. Targets have included the fishing and tea cultivation industries in Taoyuan’s Xinwu and Longtan districts, respectively.

Cultural Hubs

Government efforts to build a comprehensive Hakka knowledge system extend beyond the academic sector. The Taiwan Hakka Culture Development Center (THCDC) under the HAC operates two major facilities dedicated to heritage promotion and research: Taiwan Hakka Museum in Miaoli and Liudui Hakka Cultural Park (LHCP) in Pingtung.

Opened in 2012, the 11-hectare Miaoli site focuses on studying and exhibiting artifacts and documents. The 30-hectare Liudui park, launched a year earlier, aims to build a Hakka cultural network in southern Taiwan through forging connections with local communities, as well as provide a facility where visitors can explore traditional Hakka lifestyles.

Liudui, literally meaning “six gatherings,” refers to a historical region spanning eight townships in Pingtung and four districts in neighboring Kaohsiung City. “Dating back about three centuries, the name was used by local Hakka people to refer to six defensive enclaves erected to guard against invading forces,” THCDC Director Ho Gim-liong (何金樑) said. “Through this evocative title alone, Liudui demonstrates the vibrancy and complexity of Hakka history.”

Major exhibits at the facility in Neipu Township illuminate the area’s long-standing status as an agricultural center. These include a traditional tobacco barn, relocated from Pingtung’s Gaoshu Township, and a rice polisher dating to the Japanese colonial period. Visitor numbers at both parks have surged in recent years. Liudui welcomed 929,307 people in 2018, up 19.4 percent from 2015, while the Miaoli site recorded a 21.1 percent increase to 751,550 over the same period.

In February, LHCP received about 150,000 visitors through the turnstiles, the highest figure since January 2012, shortly after its opening. According to Ho, in addition to unseasonably good weather, this was due to the staging of the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival Feb. 19 to March 3 in nearby Donggang Township. Attracting more than 13 million visitors from home and abroad, the event included a Hakka section with lanterns inspired by LHCP exhibits on traditional dyeing, food, folk religion and martial arts.

Ho said that participation in the festival helped further THCDC efforts to strengthen international cooperation on Hakka cultural affairs. In recent years, the center has been working with overseas partners such as the Indonesian Hakka Museum, Japan’s National Museum of Ethnology and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman in Malaysia to host exhibitions, organize seminars and publish books.

According to Ho, through its facilities, outreach initiatives and research programs, THCDC is developing a comprehensive view of Hakka culture and history in Taiwan, drawing a line from the earliest immigrant settlements, through the emergence of major industries like tea and tung tree cultivation, to exchanges with other ethnic groups such as the Holo and indigenous peoples. “The long centuries of struggles and achievements convey where Taiwan’s Hakka came from, who they are now and what they will become in the future,” he said. “And ultimately through collecting and sharing these stories, we’ll gain a deeper appreciation of the Taiwan people as a whole.”

Write to Pat Gao at cjkao@mofa.gov.tw