CRI launches new radio station for Hakka speakers

Updated: 24 Dec 2009
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 Dominic Swire flanked by two Chinese lion dancers
at the inauguration of CRI's Hakka Studio in Meizhou City, Dec 22nd, 2009
 
After broadcasting in the Hakka dialect for years, CRI opened a new studio dedicated to producing programs for Hakka speakers around the world in Meizhou City, Guangdong Province on Dec 22nd, 2009. 
 
Meizhou City is one of the main locations in China where the Hakka people are based.

The word Hakka refers not to an ethnic group, rather an individual subset of the Han Chinese that have maintained their own traditions and linguistic features over the centuries. It??s estimated that the Hakka people have a population of around 30 -- 45 million worldwide. Although many have now emigrated abroad, the main cultural centre of these people remains in the Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Fujian and Jiangxi.

Hakka people ended up in this region after a series of migrations over about two thousand years ago from which they were fleeing wars and other hardships. The group set up communities in mountainous regions and built their famed circular buildings, the architecture of which was designed with defense and community in mind.

The Hakka people are renowned for the importance they put on education. Perhaps this is because the original groups that migrated were from the more educated sectors of society that had the means to escape the warring chaos of ancient China. Whatever the reason, this group has produced a long list of successful names that can be traced back to Hakka family lines, such as political leader Madame Soong Ching-ling and Hong Kong film director John Woo.

One other notable Hakka is marshal Ye Jianying who, arguably, was responsible for the survival of the Chinese Communist Party and their army during the Long March. The incident came about following a disagreement between Mao Zedong and Zhang Guotao, who was leading another army division within which Ye Jianying was working. Zhang Guotao wanted to move south and establish a base within the region inhabited by Tibetan and Qiang minorities, a tactic that later turned out to be disastrous nearly wiping out the division. Ye Jianying, who predicted this end, switched sides to help Mao cement his leadership of the Communist Party of China. Had Ye Jianying not made this move, it's possible that the communist party could have been defeated thus meaning China would not be the country we know it as today.

Hakka people take pride in this story and the heroism and clear-sightedness of Ye Jianying, which is why they have made an impressively large memorial hall and museum to the great man in the beautiful mountainous area just outside the Hakka city of Meizhou. You must check it out if you ever visit the area. 
 
SOURCE: english.cri.cn
 
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