Liu Yizhang: To understand Hakka culture, one must first identify with Hakka identity

In order to further explore the issue of Hakka people’s identity recognition, the 3rd Global Hakka Gospel Conference specially invited Dr. Liu Yizhang, Academic Director (Honorary) of the Christian and Chinese Culture Research Center of the Hong Kong Alliance Bible Seminary and Head of the Department of Chinese Culture Studies, to serve as one of the keynote speakers.

　　Currently, Dr. Liu is also Senior College Tutor (Honorary) of Chung Chi College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, as well as a member of the Mandarin Ministry Group of First City Baptist Church. This time, Dr. Liu’s lecture topic is “Understanding Hakka History and Culture”.

　　Dr. Liu believes that the southward migration of the Han people began in the Qin and Han periods. At that time, Qin Shi Huang sought to unify China and therefore launched a southern campaign, opened the Lingqu Canal and conquered the south, and further established three commanderies, namely Nanhai, Guilin, and Xiang.

　　The first peak of Han people’s southward migration was during the Yongjia period of the Western Jin Dynasty (307–312 AD); the second peak was during the An Lushan Rebellion of the Tang Dynasty (755–763 AD); the third peak was during the Jingkang Incident of the Northern Song Dynasty (1125–1142 AD). The Han people in the above three southward migrations included the early ancestors of the Hakka people. The fourth migration of the Hakka people occurred in the early Qing Dynasty, and the fifth migration of the Hakka people occurred in the late Qing Dynasty. (The following is the original manuscript of Dr. Liu Yizhang’s lecture)

1. “Hakka Identity (Hakka People’s Identity)”

　　“Hakka identity” has always been a topic of concern for Hakka people, which can be traced back to the “revival of boundaries” policy of the Qing government at the end of the 17th century (more than 300 years ago). In the early Kangxi period, after the demise of the Zheng regime, which used Taiwan as a base to resist the Qing and restore the Ming, the Qing court, considering national security and economic interests including taxation, encouraged people from Jiaying Prefecture (in present-day Meizhou) to migrate to the Pearl River Delta including Xin’an County (including Hong Kong) to open up and settle under preferential policies. The migrants from Jiaying Prefecture who moved there had different dialects and customs from the local Cantonese people, and were therefore called “Hakka”. These “new immigrants” who were adjacent to the Cantonese people called themselves “Hakka”. Later, they brought this originally “exonym” back to Jiaying Prefecture, and the local people gradually also began to call themselves “Hakka”.1

　　The earliest existing document discussing the issue of “Hakka identity” is the 《Fenghu Miscellaneous Records》 (1808) left by Xu Xuzeng of Fenghu Academy in Huizhou when lecturing on the distinction between “local (Tu)” and “guest (Ke)”. Xu Xuzeng was a Hakka from Zengcheng; he elaborated that the Hakka language and customs are similar to those of people from the Central Plains, and believed that the Hakka people are descendants of Han people who migrated south from the Central Plains.

　　In the 19th century, missionaries in China noticed the cultural characteristics of the Hakka people and found that their dialect, gender roles, and daily living habits were different from those of Cantonese and Teochew people. They were particularly impressed by Hakka women’s non-foot-binding practice and their hardworking character. The 1907 published “Guangdong Local Geography Textbook” stated that “Hakka are neither of Yue origin nor Han origin”. The English “World Geography” published in 1920 even described the Hakka people as “barbarians”. These erroneous and discriminatory views prompted Hakka scholars to write and refute them. Hakka people in various places initiated the establishment of organizations, hoping that through the efforts of associations, the Han identity of the Hakka people would be recognized.

　　In 1971, the Hong Kong Chongzheng Association celebrated its 50th anniversary and invited about 250 representatives from 49 Hakka associations around the world to participate in the Golden Jubilee celebration. This grand event brought together Hakka people from all over the world. The organizers then established the “World Hakka Association” (World Hakka Federation) to continue and promote the spirit of unity symbolized by the Golden Jubilee Conference, and resolved to regularly hold future fellowship conferences. The headquarters of the World Hakka Federation is located in Taipei, and its mission is to “promote the Hakka spirit, strengthen unity among Hakka people, and gather Hakka strength. Promote and transmit global Hakka people’s commercial, industrial, and cultural activities. Enable Hakka people in various places to further understand and unite, so that the excellent traditions of the Hakka people—courage, perseverance, diligence, and endurance—can form a respected organizational force worldwide.”2

　　The “World Hakka Federation” is the global umbrella organization of Hakka people worldwide, responsible for organizing successive World Hakka Conferences, which have been held nearly thirty times to date. The “World Hakka Federation” also initiated the “World Hakka City Leaders Conference”, providing a platform for global Hakka elites to exchange ideas and jointly discuss Hakka welfare and related affairs; it co-hosted the first conference in 2004 and the 2005 conference with the Hong Kong Chongzheng Association, playing a positive role in promoting global Hakka unity. Hakka people in mainland China and overseas are concerned about the preservation of Hakka language, history, and culture, and they especially cherish Hakka identity. In 1994, the World Hakka Conference was held for the first time in the Hakka homeland, where thousands of Hakka compatriots gathered in Meizhou. They attended with excitement, witnessed the development of their homeland, and were able to worship ancestors in their hometown, feeling great satisfaction. Many overseas Hakka people are engaged in commerce and industry. Governments at all levels in mainland China attach importance to the regular holding of the “World Hakka Conference”, viewing it as a good opportunity to attract overseas Hakka compatriots to return for inspection, tourism, and investment.

　　In Taiwan, Hakka people have also moved from being “invisible” to the public stage. In recent years, Hakka Affairs Committees established in various counties and cities, as well as the Hakka Affairs Council of the Executive Yuan established in 2001, are public resources responding to the Hakka people’s demand of “return my mother tongue” and cultural inheritance. The Hakka Affairs Council convenes the “Global Hakka Culture Conference”, providing a platform for Hakka people around the world to exchange ideas on how to inherit and promote Hakka culture, while also allowing Hakka compatriots to connect and build networks. Today, “Hakka identity” is no longer an issue; Hakka people continue to work side by side with other Chinese ethnic groups and dialect groups to contribute to the revitalization of China.

2. The origin and early development of the Hakka Gospel movement 

Today, the border region of Fujian, Guangdong, and Jiangxi provinces is known as the Hakka homeland. Outside this homeland, large populations of Hakka people also reside in Guangxi, Sichuan, and Taiwan, as well as overseas regions such as Southeast Asia, South Africa, Europe, the Americas, and Oceania. According to one estimate, the global Hakka population is approximately 70 million. This article provides a brief introduction to the early history of the spread of the Christian faith among the Hakka people and the current situation of the Hakka Gospel movement.

　　Christianity encountered the Hakka people in the 1830s. The first missionary to preach among the Hakka people was Rev. Karl Friedrich August Gützlaff (1803–1851) from Europe. Gützlaff was a German from Prussia. He graduated from the Berlin Missionary Seminary in 1823 and later studied at the Rotterdam Missionary Seminary in the Netherlands. Before departing for his missionary work in Asia, he visited Rev. Robert Morrison, who had just returned to Britain from China to report on his mission work. Influenced by Morrison, he developed a desire to preach the Gospel to the Chinese people. In 1827, he was sent by the Netherlands Missionary Society to Java in the Dutch East Indies. The following year, he left the Dutch Missionary Society and became an independent missionary to focus on evangelizing the Chinese people. While preaching in Batavia (present-day Jakarta), he was influenced by the “itinerant preaching” concept of Rev. Walter Henry Medhurst (1796–1857) of the London Missionary Society. Between 1831 and 1833, he made three journeys along the Chinese coast distributing Gospel tracts. At that time, the Qing government still enforced a prohibition on Christianity, so he could only preach among Chinese migrant communities in Malaya and surrounding Southeast Asian regions. During this period, he learned dialects such as Minnan (Hokkien), Teochew, Cantonese, and Hakka.

　　Gützlaff later moved from Southeast Asia to Macau, and after the end of the Opium War, he relocated to Hong Kong, where he was appointed by the British colonial government as the first Chinese interpreter. He observed that the mission field was vast, and therefore wrote letters to the German “Three Basel Mission Societies”: the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society, the Rhenish Missionary Society at Barmen, and the Berlin Missionary Society, calling for missionaries to be sent to China.

　　In his letters, he strongly emphasized that the Hakka regions of Guangdong were highly suitable for missionary work, which was greatly approved by the missionary societies in Basel, Switzerland. The churches responded by sending missionaries to China. Among them, Basel Mission and Rhenish Mission missionaries focused respectively on Hakka-speaking and Cantonese-speaking regions, while Berlin Mission missionaries worked in both areas. In 1844, Rev. Gützlaff established the “Chinese Union” in Hong Kong (meaning “that the Chinese may believe and receive blessing”), focusing on evangelizing the grassroots Chinese population, with the Hakka people as the primary target.3

　　The Basel Mission later concentrated its evangelical work in Hakka regions. Early missionaries included Rev. Theodore Hamberg (1819–1854) and Rev. Rudolph Lechler (1824–1908). Through their efforts, the Gospel began to spread among the Hakka people of eastern Guangdong.

　　While preaching the Gospel, Rev. Hamberg met Hong Ren’gan, cousin of Hong Xiuquan (a Hakka from Huaxian, Guangdong, now Huadu City), the leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In 1852, Hong Ren’gan began studying Christian teachings under Rev. Hamberg, and the two became close friends. Rev. Hamberg authored the earliest historical record of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, mainly based on his interviews with Hong Ren’gan. Among the Hakka Christians who studied under Hamberg, Li Zhenggao, who later joined the Taiping Army with Hong Ren’gan, became the first Hakka pastor. Hong Ren’gan also absorbed Western ideas of national prosperity and strength taught by Hamberg. He later wrote the “New Treatise on Aids to Administration (Zizheng Xinpian)”, which became an early blueprint for China’s pursuit of modernization.4

　　Medical missionary work by the Basel Mission was carried out in Hong Kong, Bao’an, Dongguan, eastern Guangdong, and Taiwan, among other Hakka regions, while also engaging in healthcare, education, and social relief services.5

　　In 1924, the Basel Mission implemented self-propagation, self-support, and self-governance in China and changed its name to the “Chinese Christian Tsung Tsin Mission” (Chongzhen Hui), meaning “worshipping the true God and honoring the true way.” According to 1948 statistics from the Tsung Tsin headquarters in Laolong, the church had 25 districts in Guangdong, 167 branches and preaching stations, and 19,678 members.6

　　The Basel Mission (Tsung Tsin Church) established hospitals and clinics in Hakka regions, including the establishment of the Meixian Deji Hospital (now Meixian Huangtang Hospital) in 1893 and the Heyuan Renji Hospital in 1907. In addition, it set up a blind girls’ home for orphaned blind girls and taught them vocational skills such as sewing. After the 1950s, the Tsung Tsin Church continued its medical and charitable work in Hong Kong, providing urgently needed social relief services in the post–World War II period.7

　　In education, Basel missionaries paid early attention to the educational needs of the Hakka people. They compiled Hakka language textbooks for teaching, greatly improving the cultural level of the Hakka people.

　　In Hong Kong, in 1862, Mrs. Lechler, wife of Rev. Lechler, established the Western District Girls’ School at the To Tsai Church in Sai Ying Pun, known as the Basel Free School. It was “a school teaching in the Hakka dialect, thus becoming the birthplace of Hakka church girls’ education.”8

　　By 1946, the Basel Mission (Tsung Tsin Church) had established 30 schools in the Dongjiang, Meijiang, and Pearl River regions of Guangdong Province, including 5 lower primary schools, 21 complete primary schools, 3 secondary schools, and 1 theological seminary, with a total of 3,962 students (including 676 girls) and 144 teachers. Because Loyeuk Middle School offered German classes, it also indirectly trained many talents in medicine and engineering for China.9

Today, the Tsung Tsin Mission of Hong Kong operates 6 secondary schools, 4 primary schools, 7 kindergartens, and 1 child care center, distributed across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories.

　　Today, the Tsung Tsin Mission of Hong Kong operates 6 secondary schools, 4 primary schools, 7 kindergartens, and 1 child care center, distributed across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories.

3. Training Ministry Plan for Churches in the Hakka Homeland

　　The China Studies Department of Alliance Bible Seminary, located in Cheung Chau, Hong Kong, is established with the purpose of enabling students, while receiving theological and biblical training, to also gain knowledge of Chinese culture and history. Since the 2010–2011 academic year, the China Studies Department has offered a course titled “Chinese Ethnic Groups and Christianity.” The course design includes two parts: classroom lectures and field study trips to the homeland; the first subject is “Hakka Culture, Hakka Communities and the Church.”

　　In December 2010, Mr. Tin Hing Sin (advisor to the “Chinese Ethnic Groups and Christianity” course), Dr. Kuo Wai Luen (Director of the Christian and Chinese Culture Research Center, Alliance Bible Seminary), Assistant Director Miss Mui Pik Chu, and the author led students enrolled in the course “Hakka Culture, Hakka Communities and the Church” to conduct field study visits in the Hakka homeland. Through visits and exchanges with local Hakka churches, we discovered that local believers, leaders, and pastoral workers had a great and urgent need for training.

　　Therefore, we discussed how to assist churches in the Hakka homeland in planning training courses. Mr. Tin Hing Sin was very concerned about the faith situation of Hakka people in Meizhou and hoped that the Religious Affairs Bureau of Meizhou could accept and support the initiative, so as to respond to the local churches’ needs in training young pastoral workers, volunteers, and lay leaders. In February 2011, the author invited several individuals who cared about Hakka evangelism to exchange views and jointly explore the feasibility and implementation of assisting local churches in setting up training courses for pastors and believers.10

　　At the meeting, participants agreed to try launching training ministries such as pastoral worker training courses, volunteer training courses, and retreat camps for workers in the local area, and to refer to the experience of training centers in Xingning and Heyuan, Meizhou. Training content would include preaching (how to prepare sermons), pastoral care, and counseling topics. At the same time, retreat camps for pastoral workers would be organized to provide opportunities for fellowship among church workers in the region. Training course content would be designed according to local church needs, and seminarians or pastors with a burden for mainland ministry would be recruited to assist in the training work. The meeting also discussed the number of instructors required for each course, how many subjects to be offered each time, and the need for a pastor to take long-term responsibility in liaising with local churches and following up on ministry development.11

　　It was further suggested that some participants visit Meizhou to meet with local church leaders and officials from the Religious Affairs Bureau, in order to exchange views on the feasibility of establishing training courses or centers, and to plan details of training programs and retreat camps. After gaining a clearer understanding of the training needs of local pastors, co-workers, and volunteers, the training curriculum and retreat program would be written in detail, followed by the organization of training ministries, course design, and recruitment of trainers. At the same time, churches in Hong Kong would be identified for long-term care and support, so as to regularly respond to the needs of churches in Meizhou. Based on this consensus, Pastor Luo Zucheng, Pastor Zeng Qiongying, Mr. Tin Hing Sin, and the author visited Meizhou in early May 2011 to exchange views with local church leaders and pastoral workers regarding the establishment of a training center.

　　During the two-day visit, it was confirmed that our observations in December 2010 were accurate: pastors and co-workers of the Meizhou churches expressed the necessity and urgency of establishing a training center.12 We positioned the role of Hong Kong co-workers as supporting partners who assist from the side and provide advice when consulted. In order to better assist the proposed pastoral training center in Meizhou, Brother Tin Hing Sin, Pastor Zeng, and a graduating seminarian visited the Jieyang Christian Training Center in Guangdong Province in mid-June 2011, in order to learn from senior teachers there and draw on their valuable experience. The initial concept of the training center was to first offer a one-year program and later develop it into a two-year program, with one full-time staff member responsible for administration and two full-time resident lecturers.13

　　By God’s grace, more than a year after the idea of training ministry in the Hakka homeland began to develop, through prayer and discussion among pastors and believers, the training began with retreat camps specifically designed for pastors, evangelists, and volunteers. With the support of the Guangdong Dapu County Christian Council, the “Dapu County Co-workers Retreat Meeting” was successfully held on 16–17 July 2012 at the Dapu County Christian Council, providing pastors and co-workers from eight local church points with opportunities for retreat and mutual fellowship.

4. The Hakka Gospel Movement in Taiwan

　　In Taiwan, the Hakka church community—the members of the Tsung Tsin Mission of Taiwan are not limited to Hakka people; Hakka believers make up roughly half of the total membership. In November 2010, the “Taiwan Tsung Tsin Church Fellowship” was officially renamed the “Taiwan Tsung Tsin Mission.” The author was invited to attend the renaming ceremony held at the auditorium of Longtan School in Taoyuan County, and gained initial understanding of the proportion of Hakka believers within the Tsung Tsin Mission. Taking the Tsung Tsin Mission Pingzhen Church visited by the author in mid-May 2011 as an example, Hakka members accounted for less than one-third of the congregation.

　　In recent years, the Hakka Gospel movement in Taiwan has also developed vigorously. In order to facilitate more effective evangelism among the Hakka ethnic group, the Taiwan Hakka Gospel Association and local Hakka churches founded in 2000 the world’s only seminary named after “Hakka” to date—the Hakka Mission Seminary (“Hak-Ka Theological Seminary”), which trains pastoral workers capable of preaching the Gospel in the Hakka language. The seminary takes into account the two main Hakka dialects spoken by Taiwanese Hakka people: the “Hailu dialect” (originating from Hailufeng in Huizhou Prefecture, Guangdong Province) and the “Sixian dialect” (originating from Meixian, Xingning, Jiaoling, and Pingyuan counties in Jiaying Prefecture, Guangdong Province). Courses in both dialects are offered so that students may choose either one. In addition, in order to promote the “Ten-Year Doubling Movement” in the number of Hakka Christians, this has become one of the key ministries of the Taiwan Hakka church in recent years. The Taiwan Hakka Gospel Association, together with the Taiwan Tsung Tsin Mission, is a major promoter of this movement, with the goal of increasing the proportion of Hakka Christians from 0.3% to 0.6% within ten years. The “Ten-Year Doubling Movement” is now in its ninth year, and through the efforts of various churches, the proportion of believers has increased.

　　The Hakka Mission Seminary is currently constructing its permanent campus, with a preliminary estimated construction fund of NT$100 million. Because the construction project has received prayers and support from Hakka churches across Taiwan, the Taiwan Hakka Gospel Association, and Hakka believers from many countries and regions worldwide, as of May 2012 more than NT$55 million had been raised. The honorary and concurrently serving dean, Rev. Wen Yongsheng, and his wife have for three consecutive years traveled to multiple cities on the East Coast, West Coast, and Midwest of the United States to share the vision of the Hakka Gospel, bringing the global Hakka Gospel movement to a new height.14

5. Faith and Migration: The Spread of the Gospel among Hakka People in North Borneo15

　　In the second half of the 19th century, large waves of migrants from Fujian and Guangdong went overseas to seek livelihood, including many Hakka Christians. As they migrated from their homeland to Southeast Asia, including Borneo (called “Ban Niao” in Hakka, the Hakka pronunciation of Borneo), Hakka Christian communities gradually took shape in what is today Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia (formerly North Borneo).

　　Today, Sabah has become the region with the highest proportion of Hakka Christians in the world, with believers exceeding 20 percent of the population. Local Hakka churches still use the name Basel Mission Hakka Church. The Hakka churches in Sabah are flourishing and have established the world’s largest Hakka theological seminary. We look forward to the Hakka churches in Sabah, Malaysia, becoming a central pillar of the global Hakka Gospel movement in this century, expected to play a powerful role in spreading the Gospel. The “Love the Hakka, Gain the Hakka: 2013 Global Hakka Gospel Conference” organized by the Global Hakka Gospel Association was held on 19–22 September this year in Kuching, the capital of Sarawak. This was the 3rd Global Hakka Gospel Conference.

　　Here we introduce the Miri Gospel Chapel in Sarawak as an example of the spread of the Gospel among overseas Hakka people. Miri Gospel Chapel began as a Hakka-speaking church and later developed into a multilingual, mission-oriented church. In 1963, Australian missionary Rev. Percy King (1911–2005) and his wife Lydia King (1911–2005) came to Miri, Sarawak to serve as missionaries and founded the Gospel Chapel. Rev. King responded to God’s call at the age of 18 with a commitment to preach the Gospel in China. After graduating from seminary in 1937, he joined the China Inland Mission and was sent to Sichuan for ministry. During his time in Sichuan, he also traveled to Tibet and learned Mandarin and Sichuan dialect. In 1938, together with a Canadian missionary, he also learned Hakka. Today, Miri Gospel Chapel has developed into a church with a total of 14 congregations, 1,500 members, and 700 children; it has also evolved from a Hakka-language church into one that primarily uses Mandarin as its main language.

　　In order to reach English-educated people and indigenous communities, Miri Gospel Chapel later added English worship services and indigenous education ministries.16 The church has now become a mission-oriented church, as it was originally founded with a mission vision. In those days, Rev. and Mrs. King obeyed the Great Commission of Jesus Christ to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth, pioneering in Southeast Asia to preach the Gospel and establish churches. Later, Rev. Liu Yuhan and his wife from the Philippines Linghui Church were sent to pastor at Miri Gospel Chapel (1970–1973). “After Rev. Liu and his wife left, several pastors from the Methodist Church of West Malaysia and other denominations came to shepherd the church… At this stage, Miri Gospel Chapel was still a beneficiary of missions and had not yet formally begun its own mission work. A mission church basically moves from being a recipient to being a giver. Being a recipient is a process; being a giver is the goal.”

　　Based on this conviction of “becoming a giver,” the church established a Missions Department in 1980. At that time there was only one congregation (the mother church of Miri Gospel Chapel), with about 120 worshippers. “The following year, the first Missions Conference was held, with Elder Xu Shuchu from Linghui Church as speaker. At that time, more than half of the congregation were students… The leaders, with simple faith, set a faith pledge goal of RM10,000 for that year’s Missions Conference. At that time, RM10,000 was a very large amount for believers. However, through simple faith, God performed a miracle, and the offering reached RM20,000. This marked the beginning of Miri Gospel Chapel’s participation in global missions.”17

　　Today, Miri Gospel Chapel has developed into a “mission church.” “As the passion for missions and evangelism continues to rise, the church constantly reflects on how to improve mission work. As a result, many related actions have been initiated. In 2000, the English congregation was established, with the aim of raising more members who are English-educated to engage in cross-cultural mission work. In 2004, a tutoring school for indigenous people in the country was established, aiming to cultivate potential indigenous people to become full-time servants of God in the future. To deepen the mission awareness and experience of believers, the church organizes domestic and overseas mission teams every year, and the number continues to increase; currently the church plans to send out 14 mission teams in 2007.”18

6. The Vision of the “Global Hakka Gospel Association”

　　The Hakka churches have developed an increasingly fervent heart for their compatriots, especially for the Hakka people to believe in Jesus. In order to better promote the Hakka Gospel movement and enable Hakka people distributed throughout the world to hear the Gospel, the “Global Hakka Gospel Association” was established. Initiated and organized by the Tsung Tsin Mission and Basel Mission churches, the purpose of the “Global Hakka Gospel Association” is to “connect fellow workers who care about global Hakka mission work, and work together to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ; actively lead Hakka compatriots in various regions to come to the Lord, and strive together to complete the mission of global evangelization.” The “Global Hakka Gospel Association” is jointly formed by Hakka churches from regions and countries including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the United States, with its headquarters currently located in Hong Kong. The president is Rev. Luo Zucheng, Senior Pastor of the Tsung Tsin Mission of Hong Kong, and the General Secretary is Rev. Wu Tianhui of the Basel Christian Church in Sabah.”19

　　The second “Global Hakka Gospel Association” conference was held from 17–20 September 2011 in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, with the theme “For My Kinsmen.”20 The purpose of the conference was to explore how to more effectively spread the Gospel to the global 70 million Hakka people: “Win the Hakka, Reach the Ends of the Earth.” The main speaker was Rev. Dr. Wen Yongsheng, Senior Pastor of Pingzhen Church of the Taiwan Christian Tsung Tsin Mission and honorary dean of the Taiwan Hakka Mission Seminary. Rev. Wen delivered two keynote addresses titled “Identifying with the Hakka, Winning the Hakka” and “Committed to Mission, Reaching the Ends of the Earth.” A total of 253 participants attended this Hakka Gospel conference, coming from Taiwan (36), Sabah (86), Australia (2), Kuching (13), Hong Kong (11), Singapore (11), and Indonesia (94).21

　　Several hundred years ago, Chinese migrants moved to Southeast Asia to engage in land reclamation and achieved remarkable success. Among them, Luo Fangbo (1738–1795), a Hakka from Meixian who pioneered in Pontianak, Borneo, was one of the many resilient and courageous settlers. Generations of overseas Chinese have lived and developed in Southeast Asia, contributing significantly to the local social and economic development. However, since the 1960s, the Indonesian government closed all Chinese-language schools and newspapers. Today, except for a few regions such as Semarang in Java, Surabaya in Java, and Medan in Sumatra, most Chinese under the age of fifty are unable to speak Chinese and generally only speak Indonesian and English.

　　In May 1998, anti-Chinese riots broke out, during which the Chinese population suffered severe persecution, shocking the world. After President Suharto stepped down and President Wahid took office, the Indonesian government, following a policy of multiculturalism, adjusted its policies toward the Chinese community, restored the status of Chinese culture, and gradually expanded the use of Chinese language and media, with readership and audience steadily increasing.

　　As a result, the status of Chinese Indonesians has been restored, Chinese-language schools have reopened (offering trilingual education in Chinese, Indonesian, and English), and Chinese language education has resumed. “Today in Indonesia, the trend of learning Chinese is flourishing. Many Indonesians have also joined in learning it, because proficiency in Chinese can bring them more and better job opportunities and prospects.” The author’s participation in the Pontianak Hakka Gospel Conference led to a deeper understanding that the spread of the Gospel among Chinese Indonesians requires first an understanding of their “dual multicultural” identity: Indonesian culture and Chinese culture, the latter including sub-ethnic cultures such as Teochew, Hakka, Minnan, and Cantonese. Indeed, integration into the mainstream Indonesian society is an inevitable path for Chinese people. However, the Chinese cultural heritage they carry still retains significant vitality. With China’s rapid economic development, more and more people around the world, including overseas Chinese, are eager to learn Chinese and send their children to China to study Chinese culture and language. Chinese Indonesians, living in a multicultural society, must adapt to the indigenous culture of their country while also preserving the cultural changes that have taken place over generations or even more than ten generations since migration overseas.

7. Conclusion
　　The history and current situation of the spread of the Gospel among the Hakka people over nearly 170 years still require deeper and more comprehensive exploration and research; this article is only a preliminary attempt. Today, there are approximately 70 million Hakka people worldwide, and the proportion of believers is lower than the average among the Chinese population. In the past decades, Hakka churches have focused on strengthening evangelism among Hakka people and established the Global Hakka Gospel Association to promote Hakka mission work. In the past ten years, the Taiwan Hakka Gospel Association has launched the “Doubling Movement,” aiming to double the proportion of Hakka Christians from 3% to 6% within ten years. Sabah, Malaysia, is currently the region in the world with the highest proportion and largest number of Hakka Christians, whether measured by population ratio or absolute number. The author hopes that Hakka evangelistic ministries in other regions worldwide will emulate Taiwan and Sabah, and fully commit themselves to obeying the Great Commission entrusted by the Lord Jesus Christ: to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth, including every corner of the Hakka people.

Notes:

1. 1 Liu Zhenfa, *“Hakka”—The History of Misunderstanding, the Misunderstanding of History* (Guangzhou: Academic Research Journal Press, 2001).
2. 2 World Hakka Association website: http://www.hxuc.com/qiaotuan/shijiegedi/56.htm (Shijie Keshu Zonghui).
3. 3 Yu Weixiong, “140 Years of Work of the Tsung Tsin Mission,” in *Commemorative Volume of the 140th Anniversary of the Tsung Tsin Mission of Hong Kong* (Hong Kong: Tsung Tsin Mission of Hong Kong, 1987), pp. 55–71.
4. 4 The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s adoption of Christian ideas is related to Hong Xiuquan’s reading of Liang Fa’s *Good Words to Admonish the Age*. Hong also studied under Baptist missionary Rev. Issachar Jacox Roberts in Guangzhou. His writings such as *Poems for the Salvation of the World*, *Instruction for Awakening the Age*, and *Imperial Publications of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom* reflect Christian influence. Scholars such as Luo Xianglin and others noted the historical significance of Hakka participation in the Taiping movement and China’s modernization process. (Further detailed citations as in original text.)
5. 5 In addition, the Chinese Christian Church also established churches among Hakka communities in Hong Kong (Yuen Long, Tai Po, Tsuen Wan), Jieyang (Jiexi Wujingfu), and Boluo.
6. 6 Yu Weixiong, ibid. In 1987, the Tsung Tsin Mission had 14 congregations with about 8,000 members. Today it has 24 congregations. With Hakka migration to North Borneo, Basel Mission churches were also established there; today Sabah is well known for its Hakka churches.
7. 7 Tang Yongshi, *A Study of a South China Hakka Church: From Basel Mission to Tsung Tsin Mission* (Hong Kong: Chinese Religious Culture Research Society, 2002), p. 42.
8. 8 Zhang Daoning, “A Brief History of the Tsung Tsin Mission Salvation Church,” in *Commemorative Volume of the 140th Anniversary*, pp. 177–185.
9. 9 Additional statistics and historical notes on Basel Mission education and theological training institutions (as listed in original text).
10. 10 Meeting held at Alliance Bible Seminary (urban campus). Participants included Rev. Luo Zucheng, Mr. Tin Hing Sin, Dr. Kuo Wai Luen, etc.
11. 11 It was agreed that Rev. Zeng Qiongying of Tsung Tsin Mission Whampoa Church would take responsibility for long-term coordination of training ministry.
12. 12 Field observations were compiled into formal meeting minutes after the May 2011 Meizhou visit.
13. 13 Potential lecturers included retired professors and seminary graduates such as Rev. Zeng Lihua, Dr. Huang Shouran, and Evangelist Huang Ziyou.

1. 14 “Hakka Mission Seminary Newsletter” June 2012 issue.

2. 15 The spread of Christianity to Hakka regions outside the homeland is illustrated by the establishment of the Tsung Tsin Mission Chong Him Church in Fanling, Hong Kong, as an example of how Hakka migrants from their homeland to areas including Huiyang, Dongguan, and Bao’an in Guangdong also brought the Christian faith to regions outside the homeland. Christianity later also spread to Hakka-populated areas in western Fujian and Sichuan. While in western Fujian, the author heard a young local scholar sing Gospel songs in the Hakka language. In the eastern suburbs of Chengdu, Sichuan, the author visited a historically established church in a Hakka settlement. The spread of Christianity in Hakka regions outside the homeland is a subject that requires careful study and remains an area yet to be fully explored.

3. 16 Jiang Xiangping, “Blessing and Being Blessed—The Mission History of Miri Gospel Chapel”; Miri Gospel Chapel website. Accessed: 3 June 2011.

4. 17 Same as note 21.

5. 18 Same as note 22.

6.  19 Rev. Wu Tianhui was formerly Superintendent of the Basel Christian Church in Sabah. In November 2010, to support the promotion of the Hakka Gospel movement, the Global Hakka Gospel Association, together with the Tsung Tsin Mission of Hong Kong, held the “Hakka Fellowship Day” at Tsung Him Church. The author was invited by Rev. Wu to speak on “Hakka Folk Customs and Culture” at the event.

7.  20 Romans 9:2–3: “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” The Hakka Gospel Conference was held immediately after the World Chinese Evangelization Conference in Bali (12–15 September).

8. 21 Global Hakka Gospel Association, *Hakka Gospel Conference Handbook* (September 2011), pp. 9–19.

*Provided by Sarawak Methodist Church Methodist Message*