Introduction

The Hakkas are a southern Chinese cultural group which has seen a considerable diaspora over several countries of Southeast Asia, especially Taiwan. Today, some thirty-five million people speak the Hakka language (one of the seven main dialect groups of Chinese), of which almost twenty-five million live in continental China, especially in the provinces of Kwangtung, Fukien and Kiangsi.

The very word Hakka (kejia in Mandarin Chinese), which could be translated as "foreign families", casts light on one of the characteristics that best define this culture: the need to live alongside other groups in a situation of inferiority as regards their implantation in the territory. Originally from regions farther north, the Hakka emigrated to the areas they now inhabit at a time when these areas had already been colonised by settlers who rejected the newcomers' arrival. Hence they are looked on as unwanted guests, "Hakka". The confrontation with the local majority population, who spoke other dialects and had different social and religious customs, marked the development of the Hakka people until well into the twentieth century.

Nevertheless, the name Hakka also shows the lack of a term of their own by which to define themselves and set themselves apart. There is no word in the Hakka language with this object, although the Hakkas can be classified according to the dialects they speak or the regions they live in. This is a result of their lack of awareness of their own identity as a people. The Hakkas belong to the Han Chinese ethnic group, which accounts for almost 90% of the population of the People's Republic of China. It is therefore a culture without any ethnic specificity. This has made it difficult to classify the Hakkas; assimilation and cultural unawareness have been common features of their history.

In spite of this, the Hakkas have elements of identity of their own that identify them as a culture with an important presence in southern China. Although some of their cultural features, such as their food, rituals, religious beliefs and social ceremonies, seem very similar to the practices of the majority of Chinese, these see them as clearly distinguishable differentiating factors. We have therefore decided to pay special attention to two closely connected features of Hakka culture, women's position in society and the powerful social ties that are established between the members of Hakka communities.