Hakka Gentry Awareness In Cheng Xian Zhang's Novels

Cheng Xianzhang is a leading novelist in the Hakka Literature.He is a benchmark in the aspect of writing span,writing quantity and influence.During his fifty years of writing,he was deeply influenced by the traditional Hakka culture.Hakkas are a group of Chinese descendents moving from North China to South China during different historical periods.There are distinguish cultural features among them such as adhering to Confucius,inheriting their ancestors' behaving norms,seeking higher political and economical status and focusing on education.Demonstrating the above features,Cheng Xianzhang writes the stories and lives of the Hakkas in a new perspective,This essay is made up of five parts.The first part is an introduction,which summarizing the Hakkas' cultural traits,especially their gentry awareness.Part two is analysis of plot,mainly dealing with theme choosing,clan tendency,political pursuit and devoting to education.Part three analyze the characters and images in his novels,which focus on the privilege of man and the humble diligent women.Part four is about gentry awareness in well-known Hakka cultural heritages such as Hakka round house,,music,clan record,etc.Part five is a general conclusion to evaluate Cheng Xianzhang's contributions to the Hakka culture.