Punti–Hakka Clan Wars

The Punti–Hakka Clan Wars were a conflict between the Hakka and the Cantonese people in Guangdong, China between 1855 and 1867. The wars were most fierce around the Pearl River Delta, especially in Toi Shan of the Sze Yup counties. The wars resulted in roughly a million dead with many more displaced civilians.

Background
The origin of the ethnic group Punti ('; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Pún-thi) literally means "natives" while Hakka ('; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Hak-kâ) literally means "guest family". The Punti are also referred to by the language they speak, Yue Chinese. The origins of the conflict lay in resentment of the Cantonese (Punti is a Cantonese endonym of the Cantonese people) towards the Hakka people, whose dramatic population growth threatened the Cantonese. While the Hakka were marginalized and resentful, being forced to inhabit the hills and waterways, rather than the fertile plains.

The Cantonese-speaking Punti were protective of their fertile lands and so newcomers were pushed to the outer fringes of the fertile plains, or they settled in more mountainous regions. During the 19th century, the tension between the two groups (the Hakkas had by then been settled for several hundred years) led to a series skirmishes in the Pearl River Delta, known as the Punti–Hakka Clan Wars.

During the Qing conquest of the Ming, Ming loyalists under Koxinga established a temporary seat and regional office for the Ming dynasty in Taiwan in the hopes of eventually retaking Mainland China. In an attempt to defeat Koxinga and his men without war, the Kangxi Emperor strengthened the sea ban (haijin) in 1661 and issued the order for the Great Clearance of the southeastern coast. Han Chinese, especially the ethnic Tanka, who were living off the coast of Shandong to Guangdong were ordered to destroy their property and to move 30 to 50 li (about 16 - 31 km) inland upon pain of death to deprive the Taiwanese rebels of support or targets to raid. The governors and viceroys of the affected provinces submitted scathing memorials, and the policy was reversed after eight years. In 1669 and 1671, however, strong typhoons destroyed what few settlements existed.

As far fewer Punti returned to the abandoned lands than had been expected, the Qing ruler decided to provide incentives to repopulate these areas. The most visible of those who responded were the Hakka. For some time, the Punti and the Hakka lived together peacefully. As the population of Guangdong soared, life became increasingly difficult, and unrest broke out, such as the Red Turban Rebellion, which was led by the Cantonese who attacked Ho Yun and Fat Shan.

Clan war
During the Red Turban Rebellion in Guangzhou, the Hakkas had helped the imperial army raid Punti villages to kill the rebels and any real or suspected sympathisers, including villagers who had been forced to pay taxes to the Red Turbans. That precipitated open hostility between the Hakka and the Punti, with the Punti attacking Hakka villages in revenge.

Battles raged in which both sides fortified their villages with walls, destroyed bridges and roads, and raised fighting men. The Cantonese were armed with the help of their relatives in Hong Kong and the Chinese diaspora who lived abroad. Some captives were sold to Cuba and South America as coolies via Hong Kong and Macau, and others were sold to the brothels of Macau. Throughout the war, 500,000 perished from fighting in which thousands of villages were destroyed, but an even greater number perished in epidemics. The Punti significantly outnumbered the Hakka, whose losses were therefore more extensive. The population share of Hakka in the Sze Yup area dropped to 3%, with many relocating to Guangxi.