The Hakka 客家 (lit. guest families) ancestors, a subgroup of Han Chinese, are said to have migrated from the north of China to today’s central China a thousand years ago: from the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC) until the Qing Dynasty (17th century). After the power struggle with the Ming court was eliminated, Kangxi Emperor (1654-1722) issued a royal edict to repopulate the coastal areas, by incentivizing the move with money. The newcomers moving south were registered as “Guest Families” 客戶 kèhù. Through the series of migrations, the Hakka settled in their present locations in southern (ports) China and often used that as a springboard to emigrate throughout the world.
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