China Hakka Museum

Summary

China Hakka Museum is the largest museum in China preserving, researching and displaying Hakka history and culture.

Introduction

Meizhou City, as one of the largest settlements for Hakka people, serves as the only Hakka Autonomous prefecture-level city in China. There sits the famous Hakka Park, including the China Hakka Museum, integrating Hakka architecture, culture, art and customs and habits.

There are Hakka museums in many places around the world, but this is the largest one in China with the main building covering an area of 5985 square meters (1.5 acres) and a total building area of about 12,000 square meters (3 acres). It consists of four large-scale buildings, namely the major hall (China Hakka Museum) and three branches (Huang Zuixian Memorial Hall, Hall of University Presidents and Hall of Generals).

The whole museum exhibits 194 pieces of relics, and nearly 100 items of historical documents. The museum permanently holds a theme display, Hakka, which is further divided into five sections, namely "the origin of Hakka", "the customs of Hakka", "the architecture of Hakka", "the culture of Hakka" and "the development of Hakka", all showing the profound history and culture of Hakka.

Hakka Genealogy

Genealogy is a family tree recording the origin, development and migration of certain a family name. It is the most important raw data for searching the ancestor and studying social history and folklore. The history of genealogy in China could date back to the Wei and Jin dynasties (220-589). Hakka ancestors moved to the south part of China because of wars, natural disasters or promotion and relocation of official positions. They settled down in Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guangdong provinces and later migrated all over the world. During the movement and immigration, genealogy was viewed as the treasure and legacy to integrate the family. And now it serves as the most important historical data for studying Hakka culture.

In the museum there is a special digital genealogy. The digital genealogy can turn the page automatically by simply doing a page-turning gesture above the machine. It can help visitors to find the origin of his or her name.

Travel Essentials

• Location: Dongshan Avenue, Meijiang District, Meizhou City
• Transportation: Take public bus No. 1, 2, 6 or 12
• Opening hours: 8:30-17:30, daily
• Admission: free

Related Links

• Meizhou Travel Guide
• Customize a tour to Meizhou