Hakkas in the Heavenly Kingdom:Tracing the Hakka Identity and its expression in the Taiping Movement

ABSTRACT:

In the middle of the nineteenth century, one of the bloodiest civil wars in the history of China

known as the Taiping Movement came to the fore. It saw large-scale participation challenging

the Manchu state, particularly from the members of Hakka group. The Hakkas were the

ethnically dominant figures in the Taiping Movement, actively working towards the Taiping

vision. This paper is an attempt to explore the role of Hakka identity and its influence on the

Taiping movement. It will aim at a reconstruction of the Taiping movement and the expression

of Hakka ethnicity within it. Patterns which unified the Hakkas and Taiping followers together

are explored in the paper. Research is mostly centred around the Hakkas of Guangxi province, where the movement is said to have begun. The paper will focus on how the perception of Hakka ethnicity evolved during the Taiping. It will aim at understanding the root causes for the mass participation of the Hakkas in the Taiping Movement, and if they were a direct consequence of their ethnicity. The significance of Hakkas will be traced in particular to the religious sphere and the perception of sexes in the Taiping. To lend weight to the research, a number of contemporary sources have been referred to.

Author: Karnika Vats

Full Paper: Hakkas in the Heavenly Kingdom: Tracing the Hakka Identity and its expression in the Taiping Movement