Hakkas' Ancestral Land

Hakkas' Ancestral Land

Hakkas' Ancestral Land, now a town in the western part of Ninghua County, is located at the eastern foothills of the Wuyi Mountains. In ancient times, it was called Shibi, known for its fertile land, flat terrain, and dense forests, and was praised as the “Jade Screen.”

Shibi was an important region in the formation of the Hakka ethnic group. Many experts have argued that since the Yongjia era of the Jin Dynasty, many Han people from the Central Plains migrated south to escape warfare (through five major migrations over successive dynasties), leaving their original homeland around the Heluo area. They crossed the Wuyi Mountains and settled in Ninghua’s Shibi, where they thrived and multiplied. The Hakka people who trace their origins to Shibi are widespread and numerous.

The people of Shibi embody the resilient, hardworking, etiquette-conscious, justice-valuing, knowledge-seeking, and ethics-emphasizing traits typical of the Hakka people. At the same time, through the long course of historical evolution, the people of Shibi gradually developed a relatively unique Hakka culture and folk customs.