Origin of Hakka language

Introduction

The historical development of the Hakka language can be summarised in the chart below. This follows closely its migration path from northern to southern China.

This chart is based on the Language Atlas of China 2012 (second edition) which is different from the first edition.

The name Hakka 客家 came about because the Hakka people were registered as 'guest households' 客戶 in Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong provinces since they were late comers as compared to earlier Han Chinese people who were registered as 'owner households' 主戶.

Ethnic She

The natives of Jiangxi province are the She (畲) people which is a subgroup of the Hmong-Mien people.

Ethnic She girls wearing red pointed cap

There exists a She substratum in Hakka language such as the word 'tung' which means 'wear on the head' and pronounced 'tɔng' in She language.

Proto-Hakka language

During the northern Song dynasty (960-1127 AD), proto-Hakka people migrated to southern Jiangxi from densely populated central Jiangxi. This migration was triggered by the opening up of more lands for cultivation in the south which attracted the non-landowning Hakka families to settle there.

The proto-Hakka people migrated to Ganzhou prefecture and settled in two main cities which are Ganzhou 贛州 and Ningdu 寧都. Most of the people in Ganzhou migrated from central Jiangxi whereas Ningdu also received new Han Chinese immigrants from northern China.

Ganzhou prefecture in Jiangxi

Proto-Hakka dialect is a Middle Chinese language descendant because the ancestors of Hakka came from northern China mostly during the late Tang to early Song dynasties.

The proto-Hakka dialect spoken in south-western region around Ganzhou city developed into the Yu-Xin 雩信 language whereas the proto-Hakka dialect spoken in south-eastern region around Ningdu developed into the Ning-Long 寧龍 language.

The second largest group of Hakka speakers can be found in southern Jiangxi today.

Tingzhou Hakka

The Jurchen people (ancestors of Manchu) conquered Kaifeng which is the capital of Northern Song dynasty in 1127 AD. This triggered another wave of Han Chinese immigrants into Jiangxi province.

The proto-Hakka migrants from Ningdu in southern Jiangxi migrated to Ninghua 寧化 and Tingzhou 汀州 both in south western Fujian around this time possibly due to overpopulation in southern Jiangxi.

Ting river migration route

This proto-Hakka dialect in south-western Fujian developed into the Ting-Zhou 汀州 language.

The Ting river 汀江 in Fujian and Guangdong is called the 'mother river' of Hakka people because the most important early Hakka settlements were along this river. This river provided an important migration route for the formation of the most important Hakka city in Guangdong detailed below.

Meizhou Hakka

The Mongol invasion of Fujian province towards the end of Southern Song dynasty (1276-1279 AD) triggered another migration wave of Hakka people further south.

They travelled along the Ting river from Tingzhou into Meizhou 梅州 (ancient name Jiayingzhou 嘉應州) prefecture in north-eastern Guangdong. Some of the Tingzhou Hakka even joined the imperial army to protect the last Song emperor when the imperial family escaped to Guangdong province.

A second migration wave of Hakka from south-western Fujian into Meizhou came soon after the end of the Mongol Yuan dynasty in 1368 AD. Unfortunately, the Mongols had already killed a large number of Hakka in Meizhou during the Yuan dynasty.

Meizhou city gradually became the Hakka cultural and linguistic center replacing Ganzhou city in Jiangxi during the Ming dynasty.

Hakka dragon round house in Meizhou

The proto-Hakka dialect spoken in Meizhou prefecture developed into the Yue-Tai 粵台 Hakka language which is the variant spoken in north-eastern Guangdong and Taiwan. Yue-Tai literally means Guangdong and Taiwan.

60% of the total Hakka population are found in Guangdong province making them the largest subgroup.

Taiwanese Hakka

When the Manchu invaded southern China during the Southern Ming dynasty (1644-1683 AD), many Meizhou Hakka migrated to Taiwan and they formed around 15% of the population today.

Since they came from Meizhou, their dialect is similar to Meizhou dialect.

Language classification

Based on phonology and percentage of cognate similarities, all the Hakka languages can be classified into two main branches which are Northern and Southern Hakka.

The representative language of the Northern branch is Yu-Xin (雩信) language and its prestige dialect is Ganxian (贛縣). The languages in this branch are mostly spoken in southern Jiangxi province and southwestern Fujian.

Note that Northern Yue Hakka migrated directly from Ganzhou and didn't migrate from Meizhou; its language is more similar to Ganzhou than Meizhou. 

The Southern branch was formed from the proto-Hakka language formed in Meizhou after the split from the Northern branch.

The representative language of the Southern branch is the Yue-Tai (粵台) language and its prestige dialect is Meixian (梅縣) in Meizhou prefecture. The languages in this branch are mostly spoken in Guangdong province and Taiwan.

Southern Hakka speakers are mostly concentrated in Meizhou, Heyuan, Huizhou and southern part of Shaoguan prefectures in Guangdong. Refer to map above.

Relationship with Gan speakers

The ancestors of Hakka are closely related to the southern Gan speakers in central Jiangxi. They share the same ancestral language which is proto-Southern Gan. The origin of Gan languages sub-family can be found on another article in the 'related links' section below.

Conclusion

From the analysis of their languages and genealogical records, we can determine the real origin of the Hakka and their migration paths.

Hakka people are Han Chinese who came from the Yellow River basin but they came much later to southernmost China than the Min people in Fujian and also Yue people in Guangdong. Their homeland lies between the borders of Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong.

There are other Hakka subgroups not mentioned here because this article concentrated on the origin of the most important Hakka branch which formed along the Ningdu-Tingzhou-Meizhou migration path.

Related links

Origin of Gan language
http://eastasiaorigin.blogspot.my/2017/11/origin-of-gan-language.html

Ethnic origin of Han Chinese
http://eastasiaorigin.blogspot.com/2017/06/ethnic-origin-of-han-chinese.html

Sources

• On Gan-Hakka. Tsinghua University. Author: Laurent Sagart.
• Gan, Hakka and the formation of Chinese dialects. Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. Author: Laurent Sagart
• The Hakka Dialect: A Linguistic Study of Its Phonology, Syntax and Lexicon. Author: Mantaro J. Hashimoto
• Migration and Ethnicity in Chinese History: Hakkas, Pengmin, and Their Neighbors by Leong Sow-Theng
• 客家源流新論 (New theories on the origin and development of the Hakkas by  陳支平 Chan Tsi Ping)
• 客家：誤會的歷史、歷史的誤會  (Hakka: Misunderstood History, Historical Misunderstandings by 劉鎮發 Lau Chan Fat
• Hakka-Guangfu(Punti) civil war. https://kknews.cc/zh-hk/history/ggzzxkm.html
• Red Turban rebellion. https://www.mapsofworld.com/on-this-day/june-17-1854-ce-red-turban-rebellion-begins-in-guangdong-province-china/

Last updated: 1 Dec 2021

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