Of whether the geographical factors lead to the differences between the Hakka people’s festivals and the Central Plains people’s festivals

Hengist Patrick Callister

In regards to various explanations and discussions for numerous differences between the festival customs of the people in Central Plains and that of the Hakka people. In this paper， by comparing the customs and supporting belief of the Chinese New Year celebrations in Central Plains （Honan， and the surrounding core areas） and those of the Chinese New Year celebrations in Hakka areas （the core areas in southern part of Kiangsi， northern and eastern parts of Kwangtung， western part of Fukien）， I find out that there is a decisive influence exerted by geographical factors on these differences.

First of all， as the descendants of immigrants from Central Plains， Hakka have the same bloodline， festival customs， and belief as people in Central Plains do. They even have been considered as Han Chinese “de pure sang” （Nicola 1989）. What the Chinese New Year celebrations of Hakka and that of Han have in common， and the basic ones are： ritual， procedures， and the meaning.

In the following we will discuss the specific differences between the two regions in festival celebration and its relation to geographical locations. Traditionally， Chinese New Year， begins from the day of worshipping the Kitchen God and ends in Lantern Festival （another custom is that it begins in the Laba Festival and ends in Lantern Festival） （Gao 2008）. In the region of Central Plains （and most areas in northern China）， the practice of worshipping the Kitchen God begins on 23rd of twelfth lunar month （Ma 2008）， but that practice begins on 24th of twelfth lunar month （Fang 2006） in Hakka region. According to research， the inconsistency dated from Song dynasty， and has remained since then. Two hypotheses were put forward to explain the inconsistency. The first one holds that people in northern China worship the Kitchen God on 23rd while people in southern China worship the Kitchen God on 24th. The second one holds that official organizations worship the Kitchen God on 23rd while average citizens worship the Kitchen God on 24th， but its evidence is limited and insufficient （Li 2012）. In either statement， the difference means that geographic factor plays its role. Regardless of the difference in time， the images and effects of Kitchen Gods in these two regions are nearly the same and both have the last name “Zhang” （Zhang and Zhang 2015， Ma 2008）. Apparently， since Central Plains sits closer to the political center at that time （which is nowadays the Peking）， the region was impacted more by the change. But， it was not the case for Hakka areas that were geographically situated remote from the political center.

On the 25th of the twelfth lunar month， both Hakka and Central Plains regions have entered the traditional “New Year holiday” ， in which people start the special purchases and prepare the food for Chinese New Year： Hakka people will start to make annual desserts （Fang 2006）， like the paddy-rice cakes （Liang 2011）， steamed sweet glutinous cakes， fried sweet rice， sesame balls （Fang 2006）; on the contrary， people in Central Plains will make foods like steamed flower-shaped wheat flour with Chinese dates ， steamed bun （Gao 2008）， dumplings （Ma 2008）. It is not hard to find that Hakka people more like paddy rice and glutinous rice for food preparation， while Central Plains people like wheat. Probably this phenomenon is due to geographical difference： there are sufficient water and good temperature condition for the growth of paddy rice in the southern areas of China， and the glutinous rice grown there can be harvested twice to three times， whereas the North of China can only grow wheat owing to the low-temperature condition and fairly large diurnal temperature variation （The result of vernalization and the formation of protein）， which also leads to the harvest of round glutinous rice for only once in a year in the north. Hence， such limitation on food material probably may， to some extent， lead to the difference of eating habits.

On the 27th of the Twelfth Lunar Month， there is the custom of taking a ritual bath in wish for a better new year （Gao 2008） in most Chinese areas （including central Plains）. However， in Hakka area， the custom of Chinese new year bath is usually practiced on the New Years Eve. Also， in Hakka area this kind of bath needs leaves like camphor trees leaves， pomelo leaves， cypress leaves that are exclusively produced or are commonly seen only in the south of China， for medical bath （Fang 2006）.

On 30th of the Twelfth Month--the Chinese New Year eve， people in both areas will post up paintings of Door Gods and Spring Festival couplets at doorstep. Posting up the paintings of Door Gods， is also an important custom during Chinese New Year celebration. Nevertheless， there is slight difference between the tales told about the Door Gods in the two regions： The popular version in most Chinese areas is primarily about the emperor of Tang dynasty and two generals （Gao 2008） although this prevailing version is also popular in Hakka area， there is another tale going in this area （Fang 2006）.

Compared to the traditional version in Central Plains area， Hakka version is with more added details that the version of Central Plains area doesnt have. Hakka version has created characters like the Jade Emperor， Wei Zheng， the Dragon King of the East and the fortune-teller， all of which are not presented in Central Plains version. Plus， the Hakka-version tale of Door Gods is highly similar to the tale associated with the deprivation and customs of the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival in Hakka area. But， the tale about the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival in Hakka area has more local features. For example， the common “Dragon King of the East” has been changed into “Dragon King of the South” that is consistent with the geographical location of where they live. They also added the specific location in the story （Nanan） （Zhang and Zhang 2015）. Other than that， Hakka people need to pay homage to Gods and their ancestors first， and then heat their dinner for eating （Fang 2006）. The next day， January 1st， is the climax of Spring Festival. No matter in Central Plains or Hakka area， the god worship， ancestors worship， and new years greetings need to be practiced （Gao 2008）.

On the fifteenth day of first lunar month， the Lantern Festival， is another important day and ending of Spring Festival. There is the custom of hosting lantern exhibition; according to research， this custom came from the Emperor of Mings act of carrying forward the Buddhism in Han Dynasty （Gao 2008）. But the Lantern Festival activities are not scheduled on the fifteenth day of first lunar month like it is in Central Plains： Such as Meichou， the time of holding Lantern Festival activities is set to be from the ninth day of first lunar month to nineteenth day （Fang 2006）. In addition， there will be Taoists who say Mass for the departed souls， and the competitive events like Dragon Lantern Dance for displaying the status and prosperity of a clan to other clans （Lagerwey 2005）. And since Han Dynasty， the ruling ideology Confucianism， so those Taoist Gods and related ideas will not be welcomed or allowed in Central Plains. While， in Hakka area， which is far away from the political center of in most dynasties， as is shown in the map attached， people might have more freedom in making those choices.

Generally speaking， as to Spring Festival celebrations， there surely exist some differences between Hakka and Central Plains in customs. And these differences arent just in some details of festival itself， but also in the meanings or faiths behind these customs. According to what has discussed above， it is clear that those differences are mainly caused by geographical factors.

References：

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【作者簡介】Hengist Patrick Callister（2000.10-），男，高中生， 研究方向：漢學與社會科學。