38
JIANN HSIEH
because of high heterogeneity and rapid local social mobility, kinship networks are difficult to perpetuate. For this reason, it seems impossible to organize traditional clan associations based on genealogical ties, even though the Hakka are much concerned about maintaining their culture, especially their kinship system. However, instead of clan associations, the Waichow Hakka have organized six surname associations based on fictive kinship. For instance, Tz'eng-tzu (曾子), as a cultural hero of ancient China, was assigned the rank of common ancestor in one surname association in order to consolidate all the Ts'engs from Waichow. In other words, kinship as a fictive concept rather than as traced in a concrete genealogy is still an important principle manipulated by the Waichow Hakka in organizing voluntary associations in urban situations.
The very mixed origins of residents, the complex differentiation of occupations, and the rapid social mobility in Hong Kong have also rendered the maintenance of traditional guilds and associations, based on occupation and often combined with locality and/or kinship principles difficult (Ho, 1966: 101; Gamble, 1929:168). Taking the Waichow Hakka as an example, although they established the Waiyang (Hweiyang) Trade Union after the Second World War, its nature today is more that of a locality association than that of an occupational association. In addition, the Waichow Hakka from Tsu-chin District established the 紫金縣同鄉會 (Tse Kam District Countrymen's Association); nineteen of the forty-one members of its executive committee or board of directors are concerned with construction work and the association has been very active in recruiting its members as employees for that business. But still it cannot be called a guild because of the nature of its regulations.
I wish to stress that dialect as an organizing principle of voluntary associations is not necessarily identical with locality. As mentioned before, Waichow, as a prefecture in the Ch'ing Dynasty, included ten districts inhabited by two dialect groups: the Hakka, who stem mostly from the districts of Hwei-yang (惠陽), Po-lo (博羅), Hsin-feng (新豐), Ho-yuan (河源), Lung-chuan (龍川), Tzu-chin (紫金), Lien-ping (連平), and Ho-ping (和平), and the Hoklos, who came mostly from the districts of Haifeng (海豐) and Lu-feng (陸豐) (Lo, 1933:102). Because Hakka constitute the absolute majority of the Waichow population, most members of
38
JIANN HSIEH
because of high heerogeneity and rapid local social mobility, kin- ship networks are difficult to perpetuate. For this reason, it seems impossible to organize traditional clan associations based on genea- logical ties, even though the Hakka are much concerned about maintaining their culture, especially their kinship system. However, instead of clan associations, the Waichow Hakka have organized six surname associations based on fictive kinship. For instance, Tz'eng-tzu ( ), as a cultural hero of ancient China, was assign- ed the rank of common ancestor in one surname association in order to consolidate all the Td'engs from Waichow. In other words, kinship as a fictive concept rather than as traced in a concrete genealogy is still an important principle manipulated by the Wai- chow Hakka in organizing voluntary associations in urban situa- tions.
The very mixed origins of residents, the complex differentiation of occupations, and the rapid social mobility in Hong Kong have also rendered the maintenance of traditional guilds and associations, based on occupation and often combined with locality and/or kin- ship principles difficult (Ho, 1966: 101; Gamble, 1929:168). Taking the Waichow Hakka as an example, although they established the Waiyang (Hweiyang) Trade Union after the Second World War, its nature today is more that of a locality association than that of an occupaional association. In addition, the Waichow Hakka from Tsu-chin District established the (Tse Kam District Country- men's Association; nineteen of the forty-one members of its execu- tive committee or board of directors are concerned with construc- tion work and the association has been very active in recruiting its members as employees for that business. But still it cannot be called a guild because of the nature of its regulations.
I wish to stress that dialect as an organizing principle of volun- tary associations is not necessarily identical with locality. As mentioned before, Waichow, as a prefecture in the Ch'ing Dynasty, included ten districts inhabited by two dialect groups: the Hakka, who stem mostly from the districts of Hwei-yang (✯ ✯ ), Po-lo ( # ). Hsin-feng (), Ho-yuan (Ti), Lung-chuan (#END), (龍川)。 Tzu-chin (✯✯), Lien-ping (✯), and Ho-ping ( * ), and the Hoklos, who came mostly from the districts of Haifeng (#) and Lu-feng (*) (Lo, 1933:102). Because Hakka constitute the absolute majority of the Waichow population, most members of
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