From the central plains to wild mountains: A cultural psychology of migration and subsistence style among the Hakka
Creators: name: Hu, Chao
name: Talhelm, Thomas
name: Wu, Wu
Publisher: name: Open Science Framework
Year: 2022

description: Based on subsistence theory, Talhelm and colleagues (2014) proposed the rice theory to account for the cultural differences in individualism-collectivism and analytic-holistic thinking between northern and southern China. A series of studies have demonstrated that growing wheat/paddy rice is a significant predictor for individualism/collectivism and analytic/holistic thinking, and this effect remains significant when controlling for pathogens (Fincher et al., 2008) and economic factors (Hofstede, 2001; Inglehart &amp; Baker, 2000). One important remaining question is that we do not know whether these differences are driven by social norms, institutions, or perhaps even genetics. Genetic studies have found differences between northern and southern China (Sun, Sun, &amp; Gao, 1996). Moreover, there is evidence that Han Chinese people have experienced lots of migration over time and even mixed with historically herding cultures such as the Mongolians (Xue et al., 2006) and mountain cultures such as the Yao-She (Wu, 1994). Thus, it is also possible that some portion of the differences might be genetic. It is also unclear how long the effect of growing wheat/rice would last. The participants in the studies to date are not farmers themselves, which suggests that differences extend past when people leave their farms. However, will these differences continue on as more people enter modern office and service jobs? One way to test this question is to see what happens when people change their subsistence style. The Hakka people in China provide a test case for this because the Hakka migrated from northern China (central plains) to southern China (mountain areas). Along the way, they adopted paddy rice farming in the south of China, for example, the counties in the west Fujian (Zheng, 2006), and areas around the Yangtze and Huai River (Xuan, 2010). Meanwhile, the Hakka people have preserved their language and some aspects of their cultural heritage such as Confucianism originally developed in wheat-faming areas (Northern China). At the same time, it is important to note that the Hakka are not a pure comparison group. Perhaps the biggest confounding variable is that the Hakka are a migrant group. As a migrant group, the Hakka people have fought against the state-dominated system and local people to survive. One way the Hakka have evaded locals is by living in predominately hilly areas, in which stateless politics and values are strongly adaptive (Scott, 2009). This minority status may have encouraged a more independent social style, such as the individualistic or autonomous aspect of Confucian norms in adaption to harsh realities (e.g., “道之不行，乘桴浮于海”) and to escape social structures against the state power (Scott, 2009), and perhaps a sort of fierce tight in-group loyalty showing preference for community and affiliation during social mobility (Oishi et al., 2007). In this study, we will test whether the Hakka are more individualistic and think more analytically than neighbouring non-Hakka people due to their wheat-growing legacy and position as escape-structured migrators. If the Hakka score more analytic and more individualistic than nearby Han from rice areas, it would suggest that their history of farming wheat or their status as a minority group has shaped their culture. If the Hakka score as holistic and interdependent as nearby Han participants, it would suggest that the adoption of rice farming and of social mobility has had a strong influence on their culture. Reference: Xuan S., (2010). Fujian Hakka Rice Culture Visit. Chinese Rice, 16(2), 51–55. Oishi, S., Rothman, A. J., Snyder, M., Su, J., Zehm, K., &amp; Hertel, A. W., et al. (2007). The socioecological model of procommunity action: the benefits of residential stability. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 831-844. Scott, J. C. (2009). The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia. Yale University Press. Sun, X., Sun, Y., &amp; Gao, X. (1996). DNA typing of HLA class I genes reveals further genetic difference between northern and southern Chinese. Human Immunology, 47(1), 50–50. Xue, Y., Zerjal, T., Bao, W., Zhu, S., Shu, Q., Xu, J., … Tyler-Smith, C. (2006). Male Demography in East Asia: A North–South Contrast in Human Population Expansion Times. Genetics, 172(4), 2431–2439. https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.105.054270 Zheng, L. (2006). Analysis on Hakka cultural geography. Fujian Geography, 21, 74-88.