Dongjiang Hakka people have a long history.

Dongjiang originates from Yajipo in Xunwu County and Sanbai in Anyuan County, Jiangxi Province. Xunwu and Anyuan water merge with Beiling water in Longchuan County, Guangdong Province into a river, which flows to Shilong Town, Dongguan City, joins the Pearl River and flows out of the South China Sea.

Dongjiang is named because it is located in the Pearl River. In ancient times, the whole line of Dongjiang was not collectively referred to as Dongjiang, and each section had its own name. Jiangxi section, Xunwu ancient belongs to Anyuan county, so it is collectively called Anyuan water; The downstream of Beilingshui is called Lianshui; In the old Longtuo section of Longchuan, it is called Jiang Lei (also known as Leishui and Lianjiang); In the Heyuan section, it is called Hull Water; In Boluo section, it is called Luofushui; In Huizhou section, it is called Huizhou River; In Dongguan, it is called Dongjiang (also called Shilong River). These names also changed in different dynasties.

Dongjiang River Basin has a long history of humanities, and it is a civilized place where Lingnan developed earlier. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the civilization of Dongjiang Valley has reached a certain level. Judging from the tombs unearthed in various places, its tomb buildings have reached a certain scale, and bronzes have been widely used. For example, more than 300 ancient tombs unearthed in Hengling Mountain in Boluo County and more than 300 tombs discovered in Dongguan during the Warring States Period are rare in Lingnan. These unearthed cultural relics fully show that during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the culture and economy of Dongjiang River Basin have reached a certain level.

After Qin Shihuang pacified Lingnan, the Dongjiang River Basin was under the jurisdiction of Nanhai County. Nanhai county governs Panyu, Sihui, Boluo and Longchuan, among which Boluo and Longchuan are all in Dongjiang River basin. Boluo and Longchuan counties in Qin Dynasty had a wide jurisdiction, especially Longchuan county, which included all of eastern Guangdong, northern Guangdong and southern Jiangxi. In the early Western Han Dynasty, there were three counties in southern Sichuan, Ganxian and Du Yu, Jieyang in eastern Guangdong, and three counties in western Fujian in the middle of Tang Dynasty. Who is in charge of these places? It may all be under Longchuan's jurisdiction. In short, how wide Longchuan was in the Qin Dynasty is still a question that needs careful textual research, but one thing is certain: it connects Ganzhou in the north, Fujian in the east, Boluo in the south and Beijiang in the west, which is beyond doubt.

With the development of history, the organizational system in this area has gradually changed. Since the establishment of the three counties of Gannan and Jieyang in eastern Guangdong in the Han Dynasty, in the sixth year of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 33 1 year), Longchuan was included in Xingning County, and Haifeng County was included in Longchuan and Boluo. Later dynasties, based on Boluo and Longchuan counties, gradually established Anyuan, Dingnan, Longnan and Xunwu counties in southern Jiangxi, and gradually established Heyuan, Xinfeng, Chengxiang (now Meixian District of Meizhou City), Guishan (Huizhou), Fengshun, Lufeng, Changle (Wuhua), Heping, Li Anping and Yong 'an (Guangdong). In a word, judging from the constant change and improvement of the organizational system in Dongjiang River Basin, since the Qin Dynasty, the population has been increasing, politics, economy and culture have been developing, and the level of civilization has been improving. Since the origin of Qin and Han Dynasties, Hakkas have experienced great historical evolution, mainly manifested in the changes in the number of Hakkas. In more than two thousand years, there are many reasons for the changes of Hakka population in Dongjiang River basin and eastern and northern Guangdong, at least the following series of events have played an influential role.

(1) Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent troops to quell the Lujia rebellion in South Vietnam. In BC 1 1 1 year, the Prime Minister of South Vietnam, Lu Jia, killed the mother and son of Zhao Xing, the king of South Vietnam, and contacted Dongyue (now Fujian) to fight against the Han Dynasty. Han sent 100 thousand soldiers to suppress the rebellion. In this incident, the population of Dongjiang River basin and eastern Guangdong increased.

(2) Lu Xun Rebels stationed in Guangzhou during the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In 403 AD, Lu Xun led the Wudoumi Rebel Army into Guangdong from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, quickly captured Guangzhou and Shixing County, and became the ruler of Guangdong. In this incident, Guangdong lost nearly100,000 able-bodied men, especially the population of Beijiang River and Dongjiang River Basin decreased greatly.

(3) Hou Jing rebellion in 548 AD. In this incident, Situ of the Eastern Wei Dynasty colluded with Yuan Zhongjing, the secretariat of Guangzhou, and plotted against Liang. Chen Baxian, the satrap of Gaoyao County, and Mrs Xian of Gaoliang County crusaded against it, reaching Dayuling in the north and Jiankang from Ganzhou via Ganjiang River.

(4) Huang Chao army captured Guangdong. In 879 AD, more than 100,000 people of Huang Chao Uprising Army entered Guangdong from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian. The rebels stayed in Lingnan for several months and then moved to the north. Many officials and nobles in the north fled to the south to escape the rebel attack, and the population of Lingnan increased.

(5) The establishment of the Southern Han regime. After the demise of the Tang Dynasty, there were five dynasties and ten countries in China. In 9 17 AD, Gong Liu, the military leader of Guangxi and western Guangdong, established the Southern Han regime in Guangzhou. Many northerners were forced to flee to Lingnan, a stable place with a rapidly increasing population.

(6) Zhang Yuxian uprising. At the end of the Southern Han Dynasty, the Southern Han regime began to corrupt, causing public dissatisfaction. In July of 19941year, Zhang Yuxian, a small historian in Boluo County, was reborn under the disguise of Lohan and led the uprising. After the failure of Zhang Yuxian's uprising, the population of eastern Guangdong, especially the Dongjiang River basin, decreased greatly, and many people fled to Jiangxi and Hunan. By the time Lingnan was unified in the Song Dynasty, the population of eastern Guangdong and northern Guangdong was less than 20,000.

(7) Northerners moved south in the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty was the largest dynasty in China's history in which northerners moved south, and there were three climaxes of northerners' moving south. During the three climaxes of northward migration in the Song Dynasty, the population growth rate of Dongjiang River basin and the whole eastern and northern Guangdong regions was amazing.

(8) The anti-Yuan struggle in eastern Guangdong in the late Song Dynasty and early Yuan Dynasty. 1at the end of 276, the imperial court of the Southern Song Dynasty retreated to Guangdong, followed by the Yuan Army, and the soldiers and civilians around Guangdong launched a tug-of-war with Yuan for three years. In this occupation war, the people in Dongjiang Valley and the whole eastern and northern Guangdong were killed by the Yuan Army, which caused heavy losses, and many people were forced to flee again.

(9) Chen Youliang was defeated and stationed in eastern Guangdong. In A.D. 1358, the peasant uprising army led by Chen Youliang was defeated by Zhu Yuanzhang's army in Jiangxi, and the rest fled to eastern Guangdong, camped in Longchuan, Heyuan, Xingning and other places, and finally settled in this area and became residents in this area.

(10) Two major natural disasters in the middle of Ming Dynasty. During the Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty, floods and droughts in Dongjiang River basin continued. During the period of Qin Long, the Dongjiang River Basin was flooded again, and the people along the coast were seriously affected. The earthen houses in Longchuan and Heyuan counties all collapsed, and the prosperous Dongba Street in Longchuan was destroyed. These two major natural disasters made the people in Dongjiang Valley miserable, and the people fled from famine one after another.

(1 1) Peasant uprisings in eastern and northern Guangdong in the late Ming Dynasty. After these failed uprisings, Yu Zhong and his family took refuge and fled.

(12) Qing soldiers entered Guangdong. After the Qing soldiers captured Fujian in A.D. 1646, they invaded Chaoshan and entered Guangzhou. The anti-Qing struggle in eastern Guangdong and central Guangdong is in the ascendant, and the Qing army sent heavy troops to clear it in this area.

(13) "Moving the boundary" and "Huguang filling Sichuan" in the early Qing Dynasty. After the Qing government ruled Guangdong, it imposed a strict "sea ban" and "moved the border" in coastal areas. This "border relocation" action has turned many coastal residents into inland residents. At the same time, in order to prevent the anti-Qing forces in Guangdong from resurfacing and fill the shortage of population in Sichuan, population migration operations were also carried out in Guangdong and Hunan, and a large number of Cantonese were moved to Sichuan. In this migration, the largest number of people moved out from eastern Guangdong, northern Guangdong and Dongjiang Valley, and now all the Hakkas in Sichuan have moved out from this area.

(14) Taiping Rebellion. 1864 After the fall of Nanjing, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Kang Wang Wang Haiyang led the rest to retreat to eastern Guangdong, and lived in Jiaoling, Meixian District, Fengshun, Longchuan, Wuhua, Heping and Xingning in Meizhou for more than a year. Many people from eastern Guangdong joined the army. 1866 After the Taiping Army was suppressed by Qing soldiers, people in eastern Guangdong fled everywhere.

All the above events are related to the changes of Hakka population and are the basic context of Hakka evolution. From this context, we can see that Hakka has experienced four evolutionary periods: origin, growth (or mutation), formation and extinction (immigration). These four evolution periods are divided into three periods, among which the Qin, Han and Song Dynasties are the period of Hakkas' origin and growth (or mutation), which is characterized by the continuous migration of Central Plains people to Dongjiang River basin and northern Guangdong, and the continuous influence and transformation of Central Plains culture on local indigenous culture, resulting in local indigenous people.

The second period was the Song and Yuan Dynasties, which was characterized by a large number of northerners (including people from Jianghuai area) entering the Dongjiang River basin and eastern and northern Guangdong areas, completely changing the population structure here. Newcomers from the north turned against customers and became the main population in this area, eventually forming Hakka and culture. It can be seen that the Song and Yuan Dynasties were the period when Hakka people and culture were formally formed, and the appellation of "Hakka people" officially began from this period.

The third period is the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which is the period of Hakka migration or dissipation. During this period, many Hakkas in the north moved to other places from eastern Guangdong, northern Guangdong and Dongjiang River basin for various reasons. Many Hakkas have moved all over the country, and some have moved abroad.

The above three time periods reflect the whole process of Hakka evolution in the long history. The Hakkas in Dongjiang Valley not only witnessed the evolution of this process, but also participated in it, and have always been the protagonists of this evolution. At present, the Hakkas in Dongjiang River valley, even in eastern Guangdong and northern Guangdong, are basically not descendants of the original Hakkas, or, basically, they are not descendants of the aborigines before the Song Dynasty. There are few descendants in Qin and Han dynasties, and few descendants in Jin and Tang dynasties. Some time ago, after investigation, Tuo Town, Longchuan County has 178 surnames, which is rare in China. Because Tuo Town is under the jurisdiction of Gulongchuan County, some people think that so many surnames are related to the soldiers who stayed here during the Qin and Han Dynasties. The author is also a native of Tuocheng. As far as I know, these surnames have nothing to do with soldiers in the Qin and Han Dynasties, because except for a few surnames, the genealogy of most surnames is clearly recorded, and their ancestors moved to Tuocheng in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties respectively. There is a puzzling problem. Dongjiang river basin has a county system since the Qin dynasty, with many residents. Where are these aborigines? In the Tang Dynasty, Wei Changming wrote in Wang Menstruation Collection that Wang Yuejing was "surrounded by two promises, although it was a drought, it was inexhaustible". Although the 10,000 people recorded by Wei Changming are not necessarily 10,000 people, at least several thousand people drank well water. Otherwise, Wei Changming can't say that "ten thousand people are inexhaustible." So where are these people going? In this regard, if we explore from the long river of history, we can understand why this phenomenon occurs, and at the same time we can find that Hakka people in Dongjiang River Basin have their bitter history of blood and tears.

First of all, during the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Dongjiang River Basin was generally a desolate place. Although there were many people living in Longchuan and Boluo counties, there were not many people living in the vast areas under their jurisdiction, and most of them were indigenous.

Secondly, after the Jin and Tang Dynasties, although the population of Dongjiang River basin gradually increased with the continuous immigration of northerners, the population of Dongjiang River basin declined and changed greatly due to the war before and after the regime change and several large-scale peasant uprisings. Especially in the Jin and Tang dynasties, some giants took in people and raised domestic servants, and many ordinary people became domestic slaves. When these giants declined, their servants were either killed, sold or fled. According to historical research, there was a strong trend of openly plundering and selling "raw food" at that time, and human trafficking was an open market transaction.

Thirdly, in the Song Dynasty, due to the large-scale migration of northerners to the south, the population of eastern Guangdong increased sharply, and the population of eastern Guangdong moved westward to the south, which led to the population of northern Guangdong and Dongjiang River basin moving westward to the south. In Song Dynasty, northerners entered Lingnan area in three ways, one from Hunan via Lingqu to Guangxi, the other from Jiangxi via Nanxiong to Guangzhou, and the third from Fujian via Changting to East Guangdong. Before the Song Dynasty, northerners' southward migration was basically scattered and sporadic, but in the Song Dynasty, northerners' southward migration was large-scale, and many people in one place moved to Lingnan with their families. Because in the Song Dynasty, most northerners moved south by ethnic groups, the aborigines with small population and weak ethnic consciousness, including the aborigines and northerners who came here first, retreated into the mountains and moved to other places. According to textual research, the local population of eastern Guangdong has been shifting to northern Guangdong and Dongjiang River basin, and the population of northern Guangdong and Dongjiang River basin has been shifting to Beijiang River basin and Guangzhou area. The Song Dynasty is not only the period when the Hakkas came to maturity, but also the period when the Hakkas began to leave their hometown and move to other places again.

Fourth, in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, because of natural disasters and wars, as well as northerners from ethnic minorities, there was a contradiction between surnames and nationalities because of various interests. In order to survive, Hakkas left their hometown and emigrated during this period. Some Hakkas in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province moved to Chenzhou, Hunan Province, and some Hakkas in eastern Guangdong, northern Guangdong and Dongjiang Valley moved to Gannan, Guangxi, western Guangdong, Pearl River Delta and some overseas.

Historical vicissitudes, the stars and the moon turn, things are different, Dongjiang River Basin, as the birthplace of Hakka people, has experienced more than two thousand years of wind and rain and the baptism of blood and tears here. Where do the aborigines here belong? There are only two things: one is to be assimilated by Hakkas, and the other is to be forced to move out.