Onze familiegeschiedenis is vrij recent omdat wij nix weten over de periode vóór de komst van onze overgrootvader Tan Kie Djwan uit China.
In welke tijd is hij naar Indië gekomen?
Terug redenerend komen wij uit op de periode tussen 1858-1863. Dit lijkt vrij exact maar is (helaas) beetje ‘natte vinger’werk.
De redenatie:
Onze opa is in 1900 getrouwd (hebben we zwart op wit).
Hij is geboren in 1883 (ook een geverifieerd feit)
Daarna begint het gissen.
Engtiong vertelde dat onze overgrootvader een “strong young man” was toen hij in Indië aankwam. Hij landde met de boot in Juwana, midden Java. Laten we zeggen dat hij toen tussen de 20 en 25 jaar oud was. Er wordt immers gezegd dat hij mogelijk in China al getrouwd was, dus heel erg jong zal hij ook wel niet geweest zijn. Ook is gezegd dat onze familie Hakka Chinezen waren uit de provincie Fujian.
Op basis van informatie uit een rapport van Huihan Lie (zoon van Yaoke Lie) kom ik tot het volgende tijdsbeeld. Als er fouten in de tekst zijn geslopen, dan komen die geheel voor mijn rekening. Ik zal tussen haakjes, cursief en in het zwart schrijven welke interpretaties van mijn hand zijn:
Originally, the term Hakka in Chinese, “kejia,” did not refer to a particular ethnic group. Kejia actually simply means “guests.”
The Hakka are sometimes called the “Jews of Asia” for the amount of times they were forced into exodus and as a Chinese ethnic group without a designated territory.
Hakka migration waves
Hakka migration occurred in six major waves throughout history. The first took place at the time of the first Qin emperor (around 200BC) when violence, social unrest and forced migration policies caused the first Hakka ancestors to flee southward.
They fled again in the fourth century to take refuge from barbarian violence. The third wave occurred during the Tang-Song Dynasty transition, early 10th century. The fourth happened during the Mongol invasions of the 13th century.
The fifth wave occurred during and after the Ming-Qing Dynasty transition.
The last wave was triggered by the Taiping rebellion of 1850 to 1864, after which countless Hakkas emigrated overseas.
Rebellions and despair in southern China
There were no less than three destructive and violent rebellions raging through Guangdong provincie (de Guangdong provincie grenst in het noorden aan de provincie Fujian. De provincie grenzen lijken me niet bepalend in deze oorlogen)
1851-1864: Taipeng Rebellion
1854-1857: Red Turban Revolt
1855-1867: Hakka-Punti Clan Wars
Although the Qing rulers in Beijing managed to quell the conflicts in the end, the widespread popular discontent that had triggered the unrest signified the loss of their legitimacy and the start of a crumbling empire.
The Taipeng Rebellion (1851-1864)
In 1851, Hong Xiuquan, a Hakka Chinese Christian fundamentalist from a village 80 miles north of Songyuanxia, led a peasant uprising that turned into one of the most deadly armed conflicts in history. Believing he was a younger brother of Jesus Christ, Hong Xiuquan aimed to overthrow the Qing Dynasty that had come to be viewed as inept and corrupt after the natural disasters, economic problems and humiliating defeats at the hands of barbaric foreigners during the first half of the 19th century.
Hong Xiuquan sought to restore order and pride, and set out to build a ‘Heavenly Kingdom’. The (mostly) Hakka peasant uprising fought against foreign influence, feudalism, and traditional concepts such as Confucianism and Buddhism, while advocating equality for women and common ownership of land and resources. The rebellion quickly spread throughout southern China and based its capital in Nanjing.
In 1864, the Qing armies were finally able to quash the rebellion with help from the French and British forces. By the time the “Heavenly Kingdom” had gone, it had left behind an estimated 20-30 million dead.
Red Turban Revolt (1854-1857
Overpopulation, increasing rural poverty, unemployment and other social issues prevalent during the mid-nineteenth century all contributed to growing public discontent in Guangdong. Inspired by the Taipings’ capture of the strategically important Nanjing, a series of uprisings started in Guangdong in 1854. Collectively, these uprisings were referred to as the Red Turban Revolt. While most of the Qing’s imperial forces were focused on bringing down the Taiping Rebellion further north, the Red Turban rebels, dressed in crimson headwear and uniforms, took up arms against the Qing’s imperial ‘White Soldiers’, who wore white headdresses. The rebels were members of the Tiandihui (Heaven and Earth Society), a secret, anti-Qing society that was founded during the start of the Qing Dynasty. In 1857, Qing authorities ultimately defeated the unorganized and under-supplied Red Turbans.
Punti-Hakka Clan Wars (1855-1867)
In 1855 was the start of the violent Punti-Hakka Clan Wars in Guangdong. Thousands of Hakkas who, in response to government incentives, moved to the Guangdong coast at the end of the 17th century and the first half of the 18th. Although the locals (also called Punti) that had either stayed or returned to the coast initially coexisted peacefully with the Hakka, there were seeds of tension from early on. Land was scarce, and most of the Hakka were forced to inhabit the ‘leftover’ hills and waterways rather than the fertile plains.
However, the Hakka were growing in numbers, gaining favor and influence in the court, and admitted to lower ranks of government, earning appointments as district magistrates and prefects. Hakka success and growth further exacerbated the underlying Punti-Hakka tension that had been building over centuries.
Over 150,000 Hakka perished during the Punti-Hakka Clan Wars. Countless surviving Hakkas were sold as slaves in Macao, escaped to other provinces, or migrated abroad.
Tot zover de informatie van Huihan. Ik zal hem in kennis stellen van dit bericht, zodat hij kan reageren, corrigeren, becommentariëren.
Dit is de reactie van Huihan op 7 september 2015:
“……wat je hebt overgenomen van het rapport dat ik eerder had gestuurd is in feite correct. De enige kanttekening die ik zou willen plaatsen is bij de zin: “Rebellions and despair in southern China
There were no less than three destructive and violent rebellions raging through Guangdong provincie”
Dit was zo opgeschreven in het client rapport omdat het ging over een specifieke periode waarin de overgrootvader van de klant in zijn tienerjaren opgroeide in Guangdong. Deze drie opstanden hadden met aan zekerheid grenzende waarschijnlijkheid invloed op het dagelijks leven van deze overgrootvader. ECHTER, tijdens de tweede helft van de 19de eeuw waren er nog meer oorlogen en rebbellies in guangdong (bijvoorbeeld de eerste en tweede opium oorlogen), die grote invloed hadden op China, maar die niet direct betrekking hadden op het dagelijks leven van de betreffende overgrootvader. Onze rapporten zijn heel erg op maat gemaakt, en we reconstrueren echt de persoonlijke levens van de voorouders van onze klanten tot voor zover dat mogelijk is
Als jouw voorouders uit Fujian kwamen (net als de onze), dan zou ik ook niet die drie rebellies noemen als direct van invloed op je overgrootvader’s leven. De Taiping opstand, ja, die begon in het zuiden en trok naar het noorden, maar waarschijnlijk niet de Hakka-Punti oorlogen, die veelal tot het zuidelijke Guangdong (gebied rondom Guangzhou) beperkt bleven.”