Summary:
Hakka and Hoklo originally were two main dialects in Taiwan. But nowadays, the Hakka dialect is shrinking and disappearing. Zhao-jin Luo, an expert in Hakka studies, once said that if Hakka people do not understand deeply about Hakka language and do not keep on speaking it, the Hakka language will die out soon.
Introduction to Hakka
The Hakkas are a unique ethnic group of "Han" Chinese. They are thought to be the earliest "Han" settlers in China. One theory states that many of the early Hakkas were affiliated with the "royal bloods." After 17 century, the sailing skill was improved and developed, therefore, about in the early Qing dynasty, a lot of Minnan and Uedong people sailed across the sea to Taiwan. But Hakkas were much fewer than Minnan people. There were two reasons: the first is that during the Kang Xi period, the Hakkas of Chouzhou Fu and Huezhou Fu were banned from sailing across the sea to Taiwan because of the prohibition; the other is supposed to be that most Hakkas living in the mountains were not familiar with watercourses, so they preferred to stay.....
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