Introduction
China has long portrayed the image that there is a singular Chinese culture, but in reality, it is a large country with a varied population. While many consider the Taiwanese to be a traditionally “Chinese” people, there is a lot of conflict in the region between the Taiwanese government and the Chinese government. Even more interestingly, there are some specific cultural minorities in Taiwan, like the Hakka people, with their own cultural traditions, beliefs, foods, and even languages. In reality, China and Taiwan are complex social networks made up of varied cultural groups. The Hakka Chinese are one of these separate groups— although these groups are distinct in terms of language and culture, they are largely invisible. This invisibility is not unheard of in other cultures, but it is particularly distinct in China: much of the discussion that follows here will investigate the invisibility of the Hakka group and the manner in which the group experiences discrimination.
Before beginning the discussion regarding minority groups in Taipei, however, it is important to outline the vocabulary that will be used to discuss different racial groups and experiences in this document. The term “mainland China” will refer to the country called China, which is currently controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) (Brown, 2004). The concept of Chinese culture, however, is not limited by national boundaries; the overarching Han Chinese culture can be seen in mainland China, Taiwan, and even in parts of Hong Kong. The Han Chinese culture is the most dominant cultural reality in both Taiwan and China (Brown, 2004). Although mainland China and Taiwan currently experience political and demographic separation— and there is still much in the way of tension between the two— both generally share the same dominant cultural class.
Overview and Research Questions
The purpose of this discussion will be to investigate the current sociocultural status of the Hakka population in Taipei today. The investigation will centre around racial and class separations in this city in the Global North, and it will investigate why certain groups like the Hakka population become segregated from mainstream society—and why these groups tend to struggle in terms of economic and social success.
Literature Review
Although the Hakka people are traditionally considered to be “Han” Chinese—that is, they are part of the majority group in China—they also have a very distinct cultural tradition that deviates significantly from the mainstream (Brown, 2004). While the Hakka people are found in great numbers in Taipei, they are from any of the provinces bordering the Yellow River that speak Hakka (Brown, 2004). In most Chinese cultural subgroups, the reason for the subgroup’s existence is a shared geopolitical and linguistic history; however, Hakka people are from many different parts of China. Many left the country during the Cultural Revolution and settled in Taipei (Chang, 2004; Brown, 2004). Today, there are 80 million Hakka people around the world, and approximately 15-20% of the Taiwanese population is considered to be Hakka (Brown, 2004; Chang, 2004; Lin et al., 2001; Constable, 2005).
Hakka culture is closely linked with Southern Chinese culture, but it is not indigenous to any specific location. This is one of the things that makes the Hakka culture so unique— the people of different Chinese groups generally associate based on geographical location, but the Hakka people are actually Han people— they are just Han people who are native to the southern areas of China, linked by a shared language and an identity as guest people. In fact, the characters of the word “Hakka” represented the words “guest” and “family” (Brown, 2004)
The Hakka present an interesting question, because they are considered Han Chinese by most, and thus, they do not face the same level of discrimination that some outside groups face in Taiwan (Lin et al., 2001). Instead, these individuals face a completely different kind of discrimination: erasure (Constable, 2005). The Hakka people, despite having their own cultural traditions and language, have been effectively assimilated into Han culture and largely erased from public view in many ways.
The purpose of this discussion is to investigate the ways that culture in Taipei leads to erasure or invisibility for certain Chinese ethnic groups, particularly groups like the Hakka. Because this group has no ancestral homeland, so to speak, there is no central power locale for the group; it is disparate and linked only by cultural traditions (Wang, 2004). While Taipei has been effective in developing a number of relatively liberal protections for different racial minorities, the Hakka are still a group that experiences social and cultural invisibility in the current geopolitical paradigm in Taiwan as a whole (Wang, 2004).
This discussion will investigate how these groups maintain cultural integrity in the face of erasure and policies of homogeneity, and how policies that encourage homogeneity affect cultural structures in Taipei. The discussion will also investigate how this group’s linguistic and social structures have affected the Taiwanese popular culture as a whole, and the perception of what it means to be Han Chinese in Taipei. Han Chinese culture is complex and much less uniform than is commonly thought; the Hakka people are interesting because of their simultaneous exclusion and inclusion into this ethnic group in Taipei.
Valentine (2008) suggests that there are mechanisms by which a culture can forge a cohesive civic culture even with difference. However, in the case of the Hakka, the Taiwanese government— and to a greater extent, the Chinese Communist Party in mainland China— have established a civic culture that largely makes the Hakka invisible (Wang, 2004). While Taiwan allows individuals of all cultures to live within their borders— there is no hukou system in Taiwan that requires a citizen to live in the town or community that he or she was born— there is still distinct grouping on the part of Hakka individuals (Constable, 2005). Valentine (2008) suggests that “contact between different social groups alone is not sufficient to produce respect” (Valentine, 2008). Isin and Siemiatycki (1999) note that whenever an urban centre experiences a large influx of immigrants and immigrant communities, the immigrant communities are indeed affected by the immigration, but so too are the urban centres affected by the influx of immigrants (Isin & Siemiatycki, 1999).
Interestingly, from an outsider’s perspective, the cultural differences between the Hakka and the mainstream Han Chinese seem quite minimal. After all, the Hakka are indeed a subtype of the Han cultural group; however, the hegemonic cultural group has taken precedence over the smaller group, effectively splintering the smaller group into a separate minority group (Razack, 2002; Brown, 2004). Today, the Hakka have a distinct linguistic, culinary, and even architectural tradition (Brown, 2004). Within mainland China and within Taiwan, the Hakka have the reputation of being farmers and country people— they are not known to have urban ties (Brown, 2004; Chang, 2004). This reputation has been somewhat destructive in regards to the reputation of the Hakka in Taiwan— the Han majority retains the prejudicial view of the Hakka as a backwards, farming people (Brown, 2004; Chang, 2004; Wang, 2004; Lin et al., 2001).
Analysis
Chinese culture is different in both mainland China and Hong Kong, but it is important to remember that these two locations— despite facing a significant cultural rift during the Cultural Revolution in the 1950s— share a very long history. Chinese culture is known for being a face-saving culture; that is, pride and appearances are very important within Chinese society on all levels (Lin et al., 2001). A culture that prides itself— as the Chinese culture does— on the shared 5,000 year history of the people is one that tends to minimize the role of the various minority groups in the country on historical events and cultural development (Brown, 2004; Chang, 2004; Wang, 2004; Lin et al., 2001).
Brown (2004) suggests that the pseudo-nomadic past of the Hakka and these pseudo-nomadic traditions have, in addition, led to the Hakka being more willing to settle in an insular community. The Hakka integrate partially into Taiwanese society, but they also tend to remain separate from the society as a whole (Brown, 2004; Chang, 2004; Wang, 2004; Lin et al., 2001). The treatment of minority groups in mainland China is certainly not excellent, although in Taiwan it is somewhat better: the Taiwanese government does not necessarily encourage policies that discriminate against minority groups, but there are also no real failsafes designed to protect minority groups against de facto discrimination.
The Chinese culture, unlike many western cultures, has developed very differently with different schools of thought and different understandings of reality and philosophy. This is not to say that cultural relativism should be applied to places like China— however, there are very different cultural realities and expectations in places like mainland China and Taiwan than there are in the Western world. The Chinese culture is just beginning to expand into the developed world; mainland China and Taiwan are developing their first international cities. the concept of racial, ethnic, and immigrant integration are still relatively new for Chinese culture as a whole.
While there are instances of discrimination against groups like the Hakka in which the Hakka people are openly denigrated, it is more common to see Chinese people who identify as the dominant Han ethnic group choosing members of their own ethnic group rather than individuals who identify as part of the minority groups of the country. Constable (2005) notes that because the Hakka are often from the countryside, they are considered to be undereducated and often unsophisticated; this is a kind of social lodestone tied round the neck of anyone who speaks Hakka as a first language (or speaks with an accent)— it is difficult for these individuals to overcome the racial stereotypes that have been passed from generation to generation.
Discussion and Conclusions
Although the Hakka people are ethnically part of the Han majority, they face distinct racist undertones within Taiwanese society. This racial inequality is linked closely to the nature of Chinese history: Taoist thought and Confucius’ philosophy both heavily value the “family”— which, in many parts of Chinese culture today, refers not only to one’s immediate family but also to the in-group to which one belongs (Constable, 2005). These cultural divisions— particularly between the Han majority and all other racial groups— is very prevalent in Chinese society to this day. While the Chinese culture as a whole tends to be openly racist against certain racial groups— particularly those with dark skin and Muslim cultural groups— the Chinese hegemonic culture also tends to shunt other Chinese minority groups to the side.
The effect of this racism is a society that forces minority groups to live in small, insular communities; many Chinese dialects are completely different from Mandarin Chinese, the official language of both China and Taiwan, and this means that groups like the Hakka even have their own linguistic culture that is separate from the mainstream. Racist undertones are very prevalent in Taiwanese society— particularly in the urban centers. While the Taiwanese do not necessarily officially denigrate or discriminate against the Hakka, society all but makes this group an invisible part of the Taiwanese society as a whole.
Reflection
The research that was conducted in this case investigated many of the problems associated with racism in Taiwanese culture. Chinese culture as a whole— whether mainland Chinese, Hong Kong, or Taiwanese culture— has been associated with Han-centric policies and political thought for a significant period of time (Brown, 2004). More specifically, this paper discusses the inequalities that seem to be inherent in the urban centre in Taiwan— the purpose of this discussion was to investigate the current sociocultural status of the Hakka population in Taipei. The discussion determined that the Hakka population experiences a number of different kinds of discrimination, but much of the discrimination that the population faces is associated with de facto discrimination rather than de jure discrimination. There were a number of surprises that arose in this particular case; however, the most interesting surprise was when the level of underlying discrimination that the Hakka experience in Taipei was uncovered. To the Western eye, it is very difficult to visually tell the difference between different Chinese racial groups; the Chinese Communist Party also expends significant energy creating a monolithic national entity. While Taiwan is separate from mainland China, there is no doubt that the influence and size of minority groups— and their cultural influence— is minimized as much as possible.
References
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Constable, N. (2005). Guest people: Hakka identity in China and abroad. University of Washington Press.
Isin, E. F., & Siemiatycki, M. (1999). Fate and faith: Claiming urban citizenship in immigrant Toronto. Joint Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement.
Lin, M., Chu, C. C., Chang, S. L., Lee, H. L., Loo, J. H., Akaza, T., & Tokunaga, K. (2001). The origin of Minnan and Hakka, the so‐called “Taiwanese”, inferred by HLA study. Tissue antigens, 57(3), 192-199.
Razack, S. (2002). Race, space, and the law: Unmapping a white settler society. Between the Lines.
Valentine, G. (2008). Living with difference: reflections on geographies of encounter. Progress in human geography, 32(3), 323-337.
Wang, L. J. (2004). Multiculturalism in Taiwan: Contradictions and challenges in cultural policy. International journal of cultural policy, 10(3), 301-318.
