By Pao-Chien Wang, Professor in the Department of Hakka Language and Social Sciences, National Central University / Deputy Dean in College of Hakka Studies / Director of Language Equality and Policy Research Center
During the Qing Dynasty, the Xinzhuang Plain in northern Taiwan was the first area in the Taipei region developed by Han settlers. Hakka pioneers left many historical traces of their development in the region, such as Guangfu Temple’s Three Mountain Kings Temple (Xinzhuang), Mingzhi Academy (Taishan), Yinshan Temple (Tamsui), Shengji Pavilion (Shulin), and Jiang Pu Ting Ancestral Hall (Banqiao). However, due to conflicts between the Fujian and Guangdong settlers and the tensions caused by the First Opium War, many Hakka people in the Taipei region sold their land and migrated to Taoyuan and Zhongli. Despite this, a significant number remained in New Taipei City and became known as “Old Hakkas” (Wang, 2019).
During the 1960s, urbanization and the magnetic pull of metropolitan areas attracted increasing numbers of rural populations. Hakka people from Hsinchu and Miaoli moved to Taipei and New Taipei City, becoming “New Hakkas.” Most of today’s Hakka associations in the Taipei metropolitan area comprise these “New Hakkas.” Whether “Old Hakkas” or “New Hakkas,” the prosperity of the metropolitan environment has led to a phenomenon of “invisibility” among the Hakka people.
The so-called “Invisible Hakka” (or Hakka invisibility) refers to Hakka people living in urban areas who, to integrate into the dominant metropolitan culture and survive, often hide their Hakka identity by speaking Mandarin or Taiwanese Hokkien, leading to a gradual loss of the Hakka language. Many second- and third-generation Hakka individuals growing up in the multicultural environment of the metropolis, influenced by their surroundings and interethnic marriages, may experience a shift in their ethnic identity, giving rise to “Hoklo Hakka” (Hakka ancestry with a Hoklo cultural identity).
The “Invisible Hakka” retain their ancestral Hakka bloodline but may gradually stop speaking the Hakka language, opting instead for the dominant languages of their environment. This phenomenon results in a complex intersection between “Hakka language use” (ability) and “Hakka bloodline” (identity).
The highest degree of Hakka invisibility is represented by the “Hoklo Hakka” category, referring to Hakka people who the Hoklo community has assimilated. Though their ancestors were Hakka, their descendants no longer speak the Hakka language or identify with Hakka culture, sometimes even believing they are Hoklo. This phenomenon has led to the saying: “Hakka ancestors, Hoklo descendants” (Qiu Changtai, 2012). To promote ethnic mainstreaming, the Hakka Affairs Council has officially renamed “Hoklo Hakkas” as “Hagdai” (客底).
In terms of Hakka policy, efforts should not only focus on the revitalization of the Hakka language but also on strengthening Hakka bloodline identity through policy tools. This would encourage people of various skin colors and language backgrounds to declare, “I am Hakka proudly.” While visiting the Tsung Tsin Association of Ontario in Canada, the author observed second-generation Hakka migrants from Jamaica. Though their skin color resembled that of Afro-Caribbeans and they could not speak Hakka or Mandarin, they could only communicate in English. Yet, when they proudly declared in English, “I am Hakka,” it revealed the emergence of a “new ethnicity” within the Hakka identity (Wang, 2022).
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