Hakka are a handful of north Chinese people, who traveled all the way to Taiwan after 1270. They originally belonged to the Southern Shang Dynasty in China, after whose downfall, they left the country and came to settle permanently on Taiwan mainland.
Hakka in Taiwan never allowed themselves to get completely assimilated with the country's native population. But they affected the national language immensely in the sense that their mother tongue was regarded as an important medium of communication in Taiwan. In fact, the language used by the Hakka was a combination of both Mandarin and Cantonese, which had altogether a different effect on the Taiwanese linguistics.
By nature, Hakka was wise and highly industrious group of people. Yet they loved seclusion and possessed an innate clannish tendency. The literal meaning of their name in Honsii is "Guest People", which signify the fact that they were never the original inhabitants of Taiwan but outsiders who lived on the land permanently.
As a Han Chinese sub-group, Hakka in Taiwan comprised about 15 percent of the total national population. Descending mostly from the Guangdong Province, they are the third largest population on Taiwanese island. As peace-loving lots, they prefer to live on remote highland areas, to distance themselves from political discriminations.
The Hakka people have a remarkable Chinese cuisine and cooking style of their own, which derived huge popular accolades in Taiwan and across the globe. They lived within a matriarchal society, earning their living though agricultural and military activities. Owing to the typical agrarian lifestyle, the Hakka population in Taiwan developed unique architectures that largely reflect the communal lifestyle and defensive methods, earning them immense public applauds down the ages.
