Symbolic Ethnicity among the Taiwanese Hakka: An Analysis of the Hakka Basic Law

Abstract

This study explains the perception of ethnicity in Taiwanese society; specifically, Taiwanese people are now adhering to ”symbolic ethnicity,” and this trend will be used to recognize a person as a part of the Hakka ethnicity. In January of 2010, the Legislative Yuan passed the Hakka Basic Law, thereby giving legal ground for the recent promotion of Hakka cultural policies; thus, this legislation was welcomed by most of the people in Taiwan. The unique point of this law concerns the definition of the Hakka. The Legislative Yuan's proposal did not mention the Hakka language as a criterion to define the Hakka people, but a counterproposal presented by members of the assembly used the Hakka language as one of the criteria, thereby leading to a heated argument associated with this issue. The enactment of this law indicates that the trend toward recognizing symbolic ethnicity is indubitable in contemporary Taiwan. Despite the lack of language requirements in the definition of the Hakka people, the Hakka Basic Law did not abandon the objective of sustaining and developing their language. Indeed, two distinct goals are immanent in this law, i.e., the aim to maintain the Hakka language group alongside the active recognitions of symbolic ethnicity as an important part of the Taiwanese Hakka ethnicity.