Hakka Identity in Museums: An investigation

Before the publication of Luo Xianglin’s An Introduction of Hakka Study in 1933, Hakka 客家, ‘the Guest people’, were seen as a ‘backward’ and a non-Chinese race by both elite Han Chinese and western scholars. Yet in contrast the 20th century saw Hakka become seen as a distinguished minxi (sub-branches within a nation) of the Han Chinese. These shifts in the status of Hakka continue to exert an influence today and allow Hakka to exist almost without a definition. Over the last decade there has been a notable increase in Hakka institutions across the world in sites of Chinese diaspora, including museums and heritage institutions. This study investigates Hakka institutions as agents in the ambiguity of the meaning of ‘Hakka’ in negotiating ethnicity and national identity in contemporary China. My study is framed around fieldwork that I conducted in Hezhou Hakka Ecomuseum in Guangxi Province, the first Hakka ecomuseum in China. In my critical analysis of the interview with the museum director, conversations with the villagers and museum staff and other research derived from my fieldwork, I investigate how Hakka is treated in contemporary China and in which way it serves the purpose of promoting China’s cultural nationalism and enhancing a national unity. My own reflections on visiting the ecomuseum are also under critical investigation. This study is a self-searching process because I am a Hakka as well. With an autoethnographic approach, I attempt to (re)construct my own Hakka identity through encounters in these spaces. Through these approaches, and a wider analysis of China’s heritage discourse and practices, I contest the idea of having an ecomuseum for Hakka in mainland China. The model of the ecomuseum in mainland China is often adopted to preserve ‘minority’ cultures which are on the verge of extinction due to rapid urbanisation and modernisation. Hakka, however, is not generally considered as ‘minority’ or accorded any ethnic status which is discrete from other Han Chinese groups in contemporary mainland China. I argue that Hakka institutions are proliferating largely because the ambiguity in the definition of Hakka allows for the issues of authenticity to be circumnavigated. Hakka heritage can perform a dual function. It can appear to be closely aligned to ancient Chinese philosophy and a Han-ethnocentric worldview to fit into the national narrative. Yet the distinctiveness of Hakka means it can also play a vital role in China’s cultural diplomacy. My investigations on Hakka museums and theme parks in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia help elucidate how these spaces have become new spaces for the Chinese government to make connections with Chinese communities worldwide. This research opens up debates about cultural diversity and its heritage practices in the Chinese context, issues which have arisen precisely because China is currently ‘going out’ as part of a new phase in pursuing the ‘China Dream’