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JIANN HSIEH
migration patterns. First, in the early Ch'ing Dynasty, Hsin-an Hsien (*) (a district including Hong Kong and Kowloon) was deeply affected by a security policy of "chien-chieh" (†) (literally, "to clear up the border") and, therefore, became somewhat depopulated. Thereafter, during the later part of the Ch'ing Dynasty, many Hakka were encouraged by the government to migrate to the depopulated areas, which included the present day New Territories. They came with their families, possessions, and tools for reclaiming the land, and formed so-called single-surname villages, i.e., villages based on localized lineages, in the resettled area (Davis, 1962:331; Aijmer, 1967: passim).4
Second, the Hakka immigrated to Hong Kong or via Hong Kong to other Southeast Asian areas after 1842. Hong Kong especially, with its continuous urban expansion, attracted many Waichow Hakkas to work in the stonecutting and building trades (Hayes, 1977:151-158). Before the Second World War, migration was provoked mainly by population pressure, but sociopolitical disorder was another important factor (Lo, 1933:63). Evidence for this is to be found in Ch'en Ta's (1939:63) study of the relationship between land and population in Fuchien and Kwangtung; in Huang Chih-lien (1972:64) and in my research done in Singapore (Hsieh, 1977:42). As for the migration pattern at this time, although there were then relatively fewer political barriers than today to put a brake on migration, most migrants moved from rural places to urban areas, or even entered into a completely different socio-cultural setting in a foreign land; they were people who took risks. As a result, cases of migrants moving with their whole families or even with a whole lineage—as happened in the Ch'ing Dynasty—do not figure prominently. Anthropologists had designated this pattern of migration as "chain-immigration" (Hsieh, 1977:41). It was the most common pattern of overseas Chinese migration to South East Asia: people emigrated gradually from their native places, relying on intertwining kinship networks, each individual clinging to the others.
However, the picture is quite different when we examine those who migrated to Hong Kong after 1949. This migration constitutes the third stage. Data from my interviews show that more than 95 per cent of the present leaders of the Waichow voluntary associations were born in China and immigrated to Hong Kong after that
36
JIANN HSIEH
migration patterns. First, in the early Ch'ing Dynasty, Hsin-an Hsien (*) (a district including Hong Kong and Kowloon) was deeply affected by a security policy of "chien-chieh” (†) (literally, "to clear up the border") and, therefore, became some- what depopulated. Thereafter, during the later part of the Ch'ing Dynasty, many Hakka were encouraged by the government to migrate to the depopulated areas, which included the present day New Territories. They came with their families, possessions, and tools for reclaiming the land, and formed so-called single-surname villages, i.e., villages based on localized lineages, in the resettled area (Davis, 1962:331; Aijmer, 1967: passim).4
Second, the Hakka immigrated to Hong Kong or via Hong Kong to other Southeast Asian areas after 1842. Hong Kong especially, with its continuous urban expansion, attracted many Waichow Hakkas to work in the stonecutting and building trades (Hayes, 1977:151-158). Before the Second World War migration was pro- voked mainly by population pressure, but sociopolitical disorder was another important factor (Lo, 1933:63). Evidence for this is to be found in Ch'en Ta's (1939:63) study of the relationship be- tween land and population in Fuchien and Kwangtung; in Huang Chih-lien (1972:64) and in my research done in Singapore (Hsieh, 1977:42). As for the migration pattern at this time, although there were then relatively fewer political barriers than today to put a brake on migration, most migrants moved from rural places to urban areas, or even entered into a completely different socio- cultural setting in a foreign land; they were people who took risks. As a result, cases of migrants moving with their whole families or even with a whole lineage-as happened in the Ch'ing Dynasty-- do not figure prominently. Anthropologists had designated this pattern of migration as "chain-immigration" (Hsieh, 1977:41). It was the most common pattern of overseas Chinese migration to South East Asia people emigrated gradually from their native places, relying on intertwining kinship networks, each individual clinging to the others.
However, the picture is quite different when we examine those who migrated to Hong Kong after 1949. This migration constitutes the third stage. Data from my interviews show that more than 95 per cent of the present leaders of the Waichow voluntary associa- tions were born in China and immigrated to Hong Kong after that
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