PERSISTENCE AND PRESERVATION OF HAKKA CULTURE IN URBAN SITUATIONS: A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS OF THE WAICHOW HAKKA IN HONG KONG
JIANN HSIEH*
I. INTRODUCTION
In modern anthropological literature, the study of voluntary associations or common-interest associations has received much attention. A main focus of such studies is on how rural migrants to cities organize voluntary associations that facilitate adaptation to the urban situation. In a context of rapid socio-cultural change, voluntary associations constitute one means of organizing rural settlement in cities; they create new roles and relationships that serve as substitutes for the traditional institutions with which the migrants have lost touch (Banton, 1968; Kerri, 1976; Fallers, 1967; Anderson, 1971; Freedman, 1960). For example, an excellent statement of the case, provided by Kenneth Little (1974:89-90) in his study of West African urbanization, is worthy of quotation:
Voluntary associations are important in this situation because they provide a link between the traditional and urban way of life... In other words, these regional associations, as "adaptive mechanisms," provide for the rural migrant a cultural bridge, conveying him from one kind of social universe to another. Although the African ethnic or regional associations emphasize tribal duties and obligations, they are more directly concerned with adapting to a Western outlook and social practices, such as dress and table manners (Little, 1965, 1974: passim). In contrast to those of the West Africans, the voluntary associations of the overseas Chinese, as I pointed out in a previous article (Hsieh: 248), are mainly based on traditional principles. The overseas Chinese modify these principles to perpetuate their particular cultures. This seems to be particularly so in the case of the Hakka.
* Dr. Hsieh, whose doctorate is from Pittsburgh, is a member of the Department of Anthropology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.