Hakka Culture in Guangzhou, Guangdong

There are currently no less than two million Hakka registered in Guangzhou. A part of them are distributed in Zengcheng District, Huadu District and Conghua District around Guangzhou, especially Zengcheng and Huadu are more concentrated. Zengcheng has the largest number of Hakka, about 400,000, and Huadu has about 300,000. The other part is in the suburbs of Guangzhou, the most concentrated Hakka population in the suburbs of Guangzhou is the Baiyun District, Taihe Town, Tianhe District, Phoenix Street, and Yuexiu District, Hongqiao Street area, especially in Tianhe District, Phoenix Street, Kemulang Village and Fishery Shatan Village, it is the most pure Hakka villages in the suburbs of Guangzhou, more than 98% of the residents and villagers are Hakka people.

I. Do these Hakka villages, where the main concentration of Hakka people resides, still preserve such typical buildings as Hakka walled dragon houses?

1, Guangzhou suburbs of Baiyun District, Taihe Town, Tianhe District, Fenghuang Street, and Yuexiu District, Hongqiao Street area, almost can not see what the Dragon House. But Baiyun District, there should still be some, however, are interspersed with concrete houses, can not see the flavor of the Dragon House. In Huadu District, where more than 300,000 Hakka people live, there are also no pure Dragon Houses. Zengcheng City is the most obvious city that still preserves the typical architecture of the Hakka dragon house. For example, there are well-preserved Hakka walled houses in the villages of Dengcun Shiyu Village, Gangpu Village, Old Liu Village and Xinwei Village. The Hakka walled houses in Dengcun Shiyu Village and Xinwei Village are quadrangular in shape, also known as four-cornered buildings; those in Gangpu Village and Old Liu Village are wailong houses. It is important to mention here that Hakka residential architectural styles and forms have undergone continuous development and evolution, with the emergence of round cottages, round dragon houses, horse-riding buildings, four-cornered buildings and other residential buildings, the most representative of which is the round dragon house.

2, Deng Village Stone House Village is located in Zengcheng City, Pai Tan Town, is characterized by distinctive Lingnan Hakka roundhouse building ancient village. The village villagers mostly surnamed stone, the village ancestors moved here in the Qianlong period, the village has a history of more than 240 years. In front of the village is a half-moon shaped pond, wall, Wo Ping sun field, three rows of flat paved sisal road in front of the village, the left and right sides of the village each have two-storey high gate tower, the village house front open three trips close door. Around the village, there are brick and wooden houses built as high as a fence, and there are gunpowers on all the houses. The village houses are connected to the ancestral halls by eaves and gable corridors, so that when it rains, one can walk between the huts without being caught in the rain. There is also a 6-story bunker building in the village.

3, Zengcheng City, Zhongxin Town, Au Tou Gangpu Village of the Hakka Dragon House was built in the Qing Dynasty in the twenty-second year of the Kangxi (1683), has been listed as internal control of cultural relics protection units in Guangzhou City. According to the village history, the family led by Chen Rulan from Xingmei Jiao Ling moved to this place, built the house and live, before and after more than 320 years. The plan of the perimeter dragon house is half-moon shaped, and there are Tsubaki walls around the outer wall of the perimeter ridge. The middle part of the whole house is a two-entry deep ancestral hall. Outside the ancestral hall, there are more than 20 fan-shaped ring houses. In front of the flat land outside the walled house is a half-moon shaped pond of the same size as the walled house. This is a somewhat pocket-sized classic architecture of a small wailong house.

2, Hakka people Guangfu people, the same ancestral **** village customs blend

1, in Zengcheng, these perimeter dragon house, there are still Hakka people in residence? And the people living here are all Hakka people? There are still a lot of people living in the peristyle houses and the four-cornered buildings, however, not necessarily all of them are Hakka people. The Hakka settlements in Zengcheng have very different characteristics. When the Hakka people first came to live in Zengcheng, there were three kinds of situations: firstly, they repaired and lived in the dilapidated villages; secondly, they lived in the local villages; and thirdly, they built and lived in other villages. According to the survey statistics of Zengcheng Local History Office in 1991, among the 398 administrative villages in the county, there are 134 pure Cantonese villages, 90 pure Hakka villages, and 74 villages in which Cantonese and Hakka live together. Therefore, Zengcheng formed a very unique Hakka people and Guangfu people "the same ancestor *** village *** shrine" unique phenomenon.

2, located in zengcheng city zhengguo town Yue village of the old Liu village, is Guangzhou's largest dragon house building, but also now the largest number of original inhabitants of the dragon house, it is said that the village is still living a few hundred people, most of the villagers surnamed Liu. This village is originally Guangfu people Shitan Ma Che Liu surname in the Ming Dynasty between the calendar moved to this place to open residence, is the traditional residents of Guangzhou, but in the Xianfeng two years (1852) issued a flood, the village field was flooded all the way to the village, so the villagers specially invited a brotherhood and have the financial strength to have the prestige of the Zhengguo Hakka Liu brother Liu Ruitang to rebuild the village field. After it was completed in the third year of Xianfeng, half of it was given to the local people to live in, and the direction and location were decided by drawing lots. As a result, the local Liu drew to the east wing, Hakka Liu drew to the west wing, local Liu Hakka Liu also in an ancestral hall with the same sacrifice of an ancestral tablet, both sides of the amicable, *** with the residence, so far, the local Liu and the Hakka Liu are called according to the brotherhood.

3, there is the city of Zengcheng in the new town of Wulian administrative village high car natural village local Zhao and Hakka Zhao. More than 600 people in the village, the Hakka people accounted for one-third. Hakka "Bingxian Zhao Ancestral Hall" sits east to west, another branch of the ancestral hall sits west to east; local Zhao "Deng Yun Zhao Ancestral Hall" to the north. According to the recollection of local elders, the two ancestral halls were built at the same time and have a history of about 300 years. The local Zhao was moved from Zhongxin Hefo Ling, while the Hakka Zhao was moved from Zijin. According to legend, the local Zhao eleventh ancestor Zhao Deng Yun to Zijin to ask Feng Shui (said to Guangzhou exam), met the Hakka geomancy Zhao Bing Xian, according to the genealogy of Zhao Kuangyin era is a brother, Bing Xian belongs to the second house, Deng Yun belongs to the third house. The two then went to the high car to build a shrine to open the residence, the local Zhao Hakka Zhao for hundreds of years has also been known as brothers.

Three, the Hakka people and the local Guangfu people for hundreds of years in harmony, the Hakka people's architecture has not been Guangfu people's influence? And do the customs of the Hakka and the Guangfu people permeate each other?

1. The architecture of the Hakka people was certainly influenced by the architecture of the Guangfu people. One of my deepest impressions is that, while the fireproof walls with pots and pans as sidewalls are a characteristic of Guangfu architecture, you can also find such fireproof walls in Hakka walled houses. For example, the wall of the Ruitang Family School in Old Liu Village has a pot-ear fire-blocking wall.

2, as for the customs, the Hakka people into Zengcheng, into the local customs, a lot of customs also follow the people of Guangfu, therefore, there are many beliefs and customs of the same place. Such as beliefs in the Hexian Nun, cowboy Buddha (Zhengguo Buddha), Hong Sheng Wang (South China Sea Guangli Hong Sheng Wang) and so on. Annual festival is also basically the same, during the Spring Festival, "light celebrations" (Hakka called "hanging lanterns"), burn the head of the cannon (also said to grab the head of the cannon), burning fireworks, etc., Hakka and Guangfu people are also roughly the same, only time is not the same, the scale of the big and the small only. In addition, the Hakka villages also have a kind of jiao-festival activity to eliminate disasters. Some Hakka villages have their own jiao-festival, while others have joint jiao-festival with Guangfu villagers, with a five-year or ten-year period. However, this kind of activity is no longer seen.

Four, with the change of the times, the Hakka people, what are the other traditional customs still handed down today? ---- The most typical traditional customs that are still passed down today are the Spring Bull Dance and the singing of Hakka songs.

1. The Spring Cow Dance, performed by native cows and farmers, symbolically shows people the arrival of the spring plowing season and urges them to cultivate their land. It is a festive celebration that includes entering and exiting the cows, whipping the cows, competing for the cows, buying and consuming the cows, creating the cows, sending the cows, evaluating the cows, drawing the cows, and sticking on the cows' paintings, etc., and it is a sign of the new year's good wishes for good winds and good rains, good clothing and sufficient food and prosperity for all the six animals. Song after the southward migration of Zengcheng Hakka, including Chengxiang Hakka language Yonghe, Zhongxin, Licheng, Zengjiang, Zhengguo Hakka and Changning Hakka language PaiTan, Xiaolou Hakka, but also retained the Central Plains to welcome the Spring Dance of the spring bull custom, evolved to today, from around the spring bull dance, to sing the spring bull tune performance of the spring bull dance. The annual Dance of the Spring Cow is usually performed at the Spring Festival or the beginning of the plowing season.

2, the dance of the spring bull in Guangzhou Zengcheng Hakka living area is very popular, generally in the annual Spring Festival or plowing season, people are full of affectionate praise for hard work, silent companion of the ploughing oxen, dressed as spring bulls and whip the spring bulls of the spring bulls dance, and with the help of the cattle, cattle plowing, whipping oxen, eating grass, and other props and scenarios, or to amuse each other, or express love, the actors and the audience cheered in unison, the atmosphere of a strong harmony! The performance shows the prayers for the future life, the joy of farming and the blessing of love.

3, according to the guangdong province folk cultural heritage rescue project series of books "guangdong folk tales book - guangzhou - zengcheng volume" records: zengcheng's dance in the spring cow program, "spring cow" generally by male actors dance, small can be as pets in the hands of the dance, large can be like a real cow by the people dressed in the cow's belly to duck into the drill dance. Appearance, first said a few gags funny words, teasing laughter, mobilize the atmosphere. Such as the bull whip singing "hand red whip red, red over the red bag hanging in the corner. Your field spring cow sing well, but the back of the cow has a hole." The "Spring Cow" replied, "The gongs and drums beat and the cymbals are all in a row, and Yamei's speech is not bad. The cow's back has a hole in it, so it's a good place to take it."

4. The cow's movements are simple and concise, just swaying its head and tail as the cow-whipping man sings or teases and accepts praise and jokes. Whipping man's action is more, while singing, while shooting spring cattle, each shot back, there are singing, while doing bull riding, cattle, cattle, cattle, whipping cattle plowing, driving cattle plowing and other actions, some holding plows and rakes and other farm equipment, some bare hands, but the action is to be very realistic, a little broken, the audience can sing the question: "bull's-eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye eye, plowing sub-mui not in the line. The cow's eyes look at the plow, but the ploughing girl is not good at it. The ding ding goes round and round and round, but the middle of the road is not open? The performer will then take over and answer the question: "The gongs and drums are beating loudly, and Yamei is good at talking about it. The water is also needed to plow the field, leaving the center as a fish pond."

5, interestingly, Zengcheng Pai Tan, Xintang Yonghe Wei dance spring cattle, but also once in a lifetime, the performance of the landlord's daughter fell in love with the driving cattle brother, love sister love brother love long, while dancing and singing, knocking a drum and gongs, on a back to sing, as a kind of singing, to cattle as a metaphor for people, and a different mood.

6, singing Hakka songs, Hakka villages in the suburbs of Guangzhou has been very popular. For example, Tianhe District, Phoenix Street and Yuexiu District, Hongqiao Street area, have set up a Hakka Mountain Song Association, and every month to organize the fight song rally: the 12th of each month, Yuexiu Park, the four sides of the fortress will be the formation of the lively Hakka "Mountain Song Market"; the 28th of each month, Phoenix Street, fight song field Yinpailing the most lively, crowded with singing songs of the neighborhood. The Hakka Song Market is a unique space for Hakka people in Guangzhou to identify with each other in terms of emotions, interests and lifestyles. It is said that there are also many Guangzhou people or people from other provinces who do not speak Hakka and have joined the Hakka Mountain Song Association because they are infected by the melodious Hakka Mountain Songs. I think the mutual integration of Hakka people and Canton people, and even with various outsiders, this can also be another face witnessing the change of Guangzhou.

V. Hakka Song Market

1. In the 1940s, Hakka people from Xingning, Guangdong Province, came one after another to the area around Hongqiao Street at the foot of Yuexiu Mountain to open cloth factories or workshops to engage in the production of dyeing and weaving. The workers employed by the private owners were mostly Hakka people from their hometowns. After these workers gained a foothold in the area, they attracted their relatives from their hometowns to join them, and the Hakka community here continued to grow and became the main residents of the area.

2, Guangzhou City, Yuexiu District, Hongqiao Street Cultural Station, Guangzhou City, Hongqiao Hakka Mountain Song Association, Hou Zhuo said to reporters: At that time, Hongqiao generation has two very famous dyeing and weaving factories, one is a three-dyeing factory, and the other one is the eight-dyeing factory. Most of the factory workers are Hakka people, workers after work, they often meet to Hongqiao next to the Yuexiu Mountain Sifang Battery where the hill, chatting, bragging, singing songs, both recreation, but also to dispel fatigue, at the same time, listening to the familiar folk songs, but also a solution to their homesickness. The hill is not uniform, later, some Hakka people also cut off some weeds on the hill, organized a small piece of flat land. So, every night this piece of flat ground gossip more and more people, and every night singing songs of the song is also more and more loud and clear. Because the Hakka people often sing songs on the hill of the Sifang Fortress on Yuexiu Mountain, this place has been called "Hakka Mountain" by the public.

3. However, although there are many people singing on Hakka Mountain every night, the day when the most people sing on Hakka Mountain is the 12th of every month. Hou Zhuo said, at that time Hongqiao Street and other neighboring factories "out of food" (payroll) day, probably the 12th of the month. Workers on the day of the payroll, they came to the Hakka mountain to meet, happy, singing mountain songs one after another. Over time, the 12th of the month became the day when the largest number of Hakka people gathered, accompanied by the everlasting Hakka songs. Thus, on the 12th of every month, the Sifang Battery of Yuexiu Park formed a lively Hakka "Mountain Song Market". Later, because of the expansion of the road, land acquisition and other reasons, the two dyeing and weaving factories are no longer, many Hakka people also moved to other places to live. Although, in the past, we used to see the mouth of the evening to meet friends from the same hometown because of the dispersal of the residence is rare to get together, but the Hakka people's hometown feelings are tightly connected. The 12th of every month has become a major festival for Hakka people to meet, and Hakka workers will go to Yuexiu Mountain to meet, sing, and exchange information from their hometowns when they are out of food. Nowadays, Hakka singers from Panyu, Zengcheng, Huadu and other places in Guangzhou come to sing songs at the Sifang Fortress hillock. The scene is very spectacular, often involving thousands of people.

Six, Hakka Mountain Song Tournament

1, Tianhe District, Phoenix Street is a very pure Hakka village, residents and villagers more than 98% are Hakka. As the villagers are all Hakka, all the mountain songs in Phoenix Street have become a spontaneous and original form of entertainment for the villagers.

2, Phoenix Street, the Hakka songs have been nearly three hundred years of history, where the villagers are more concentrated location often have a special "song market" activities, now formed the scale of the "Fisherman Shatan market", The present scale includes "Yushatan Market", "Kemulang Park", "Yinpai Ling Park" and other fixed places for song market. The market usually starts at around 7:00 a.m. and lasts until around 1:00 p.m. The market days are held on the 8th day of each month. The market days are held on the 8th, 18th and 28th of each month, with the 8th being held at Yinpai Ling, the 18th at Orchid Valley Park, and the 28th at Yu Sha Tan Market. Not only that, there are still many middle-aged people who sing Hakka songs every morning or evening at the Cultural Square of Yingsha Tan and the North Gate of Furnace Hill Park in Ke Mu Long respectively. Later, as singing songs at the Song Market could no longer satisfy the enthusiasm of Phoenix residents for mountain songs, so from 2005 to 2010, Phoenix Street organized the "Hakka Mountain Song Competition" every year before and after the Spring Festival, which attracted mountain song enthusiasts from Huadu, Wugang, Yuexiu, Meixian, Wuhua and other places, and the scene was very lively. The scene is very lively, the competition every year to create a local Phoenix "King" and "Queen".