|
Han Chinese |
| People Group: |
Han Chinese
Hakka |
 |
 |
| Location: |
Cambodia |
| Population: |
30,000 |
| Religion: |
Ethnic Religion |
| % Christian: |
1.2% |
| % Evangelical: |
0.55% |
| Ministry
Resources: |
Groups of Churches,
Bible, |
|
|
Total People Group
Population: |
40,861,000 |
Other countries People
Group Linked to: |
Laos |
____________________________________________________________ |
|
Additional Information:
Identity
The Hakka, although proud of their cultural differences, have never
claimed to be non-Chinese. Many famous Chinese have been Hakka,
including Deng Xiaoping, Lee Kwan Yew, and Hong Xiuquan (the leader of
the Taiping Rebellion).
 History
There is much speculation concerning the historical roots of the Hakka.
Some claim that they were the first Chinese people to arrive in China.
Others claim that the Hakka are the descendants of the Xiongnu tribe.
This much is agreed upon: At various stages between the fourth and
thirteenth centuries AD, large numbers of people were forced to flee
their homes in the war-torn Yellow River valley to seek refuge in
southern China. These war refugees came to be known as Kejia - a Hakka
word meaning "strangers" or "guests." When the savage Mongol hordes
swept across China in the thirteenth century, many Hakka fled to the
south to escape the carnage.
Customs
As part of the careful preservation of their language, when a non-Hakka
woman marries into a Hakka family she is required to learn the Hakka
language. In the past, many Hakka mothers killed their female babies.
"Sooner than sell their daughters into slavery or concubinage, Hakka
mothers prefer to kill them soon after birth." The Hakka never practiced
footbinding like other Chinese.
Religion
Since the advent of Communism most Hakka could accurately be described
as nonreligious. Aspects of animism and shamanism are found among some
of the more remote Hakka locations.
Christianity
Rev. T. H. Hamburg and Rudolf Lechler were the first missionaries sent
out by the Basel Mission. They arrived in China in 1846 to commence work
among the Hakka. They experienced great success, and by 1922 the Hakka
Christians numbered 30,000. Today, most of the estimated 150,000 Hakka
Christians in China are located in southern Guangdong. In the 1800s the
Taiping leader Chung Wang, a Hakka, pleaded for missionaries to have
patience with his people. "You have had the Gospel for upwards of 1,800
years; we only, as it were, eight days. Your knowledge of it ought to be
correct and extensive, ours must necessarily be limited and imperfect.
You must therefore bear with us for the present, and we will gradually
improve. We are determined to uproot idolatry, and plant Christianity in
its place."
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