By Vanessa Peng, Designer of Hakka Association of New York
While trying to start this piece, I came across an interesting fact: unlike most Han Chinese women, Hakka women never bound their feet. Instead, they worked alongside men in the fields. They were resilient and independent, shaping both their work and their pursuit of education, qualities that reflect the “Hakka spirit”. Hakka women sought knowledge whenever they could, balancing tradition with their own ambitions. When I look at the women in my family, all Hakkanese, I see these traits reflected in them.
My grandma was a teacher. She left Hsinchu, Taiwan to come to America with her two sons, hoping to provide them with a stronger education. She believed learning was a path to something greater, and despite the challenges of starting over in a new country, she held onto that belief. She even became a pre-K teacher at a local Chinese school, continuing to share her love for education.
My mom grew up in a rural town in Pingtung. When she was still in high school, she left the comforts of home to study in the big city. It was a bold decision, one that required sacrifice and courage, but she knew that education would open doors she couldn’t reach otherwise.
My sister and cousin are both younger than me. One is studying to become a lawyer at George Washington University. The other is studying to become a teacher at National Taipei University of Education. Both want to make an impact in their own ways. Although their paths are different, they are both grounded in the same Hakka values we were taught from a young age: hard work, independence, and the pursuit of knowledge.
Each generation builds on the last, using education to navigate both their aspirations and their heritage. For Hakka women, learning is not just about advancement, it is a continuation of the hard work and independence that define them. The evolution of education for Hakka women is a story of both change and continuity. While opportunities have grown, the core values remain the same. Like the women before me, I hope to embody the “Hakka spirit,” forging my own path while staying connected to the resilience that runs through my family’s history.
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