How Taiwan Leads the World in Hakka Revitalization

Nearly 20% of Taiwan’s population is Hakka. In a society known for ethnic and linguistic diversity, Hakka people are the second-largest ethnic group. According to recent census figures, Taiwan’s Hakka population is about 4.669 million out of 23.5 million people roughly one in five. This makes Taiwan’s Hakka experience especially significant. Most ethnic groups are concentrated in their historical homelands: most Welsh live in Wales, most Irish in Ireland, and most Catalans in Catalonia. Hakka people, by contrast, are a diasporic community. The global Hakka population is estimated at around 80 million, with about 60 million in China, mainly in the southeast. Yet despite the much larger Hakka population elsewhere, Taiwan has become one of the most successful places in the world for Hakka language revitalization and cultural preservation.

Taiwan’s success is not accidental. It is built on four mutually reinforcing foundations, or what I call the “Four Pillars” of Hakka revitalization:

1. Exclusive Legislation

2. Specialized Government Institutions

3. A Hakka Education System

4. Mass Media, especially Hakka TV

These pillars matter not only because they exist, but because they work together. In many places, language preservation depends on community effort alone. In Taiwan, Hakka revitalization is supported by law, policy, education, and media at the same time.

Pillar 1: Exclusive Legislation- Public language rights in daily life

Taiwan’s Hakka revitalization is grounded in law. This legal framework supports language rights, cultural development, and institutional continuity. A major turning point was the Act of Broadcasting Language Equality Protection in Public Transport, promulgated on April 19, 2000. This law was historic because it changed how local languages—including Hakka—were treated in public space. For many years, local languages were often marginalized as “dialects.” This act helped restore them as legitimate public languages with the right to be heard. Its impact was especially powerful because it focused on public transportation—trains, subways, and buses—the most routine and audible spaces of civic life. The law requires key announcements to be delivered in Mandarin, Taigi (Taiwanese Hokkien), Hakka, and English. In practice, this made language equality something people could hear every day. For Hakka communities, this was more than a technical policy. It was a public recognition of dignity. Hakka was no longer confined to private life; it became part of Taiwan’s shared public sphere.

The Hakka Basic Act

The second major legal foundation is the Hakka Basic Act, passed in 2010 and amended in 2018. This is the core law for Hakka policy in Taiwan.

Most importantly, it recognizes Hakka as one of Taiwan’s national languages, granting it legal status alongside Mandarin. That shift is crucial: long-term revitalization depends not only on cultural pride, but on institutional legitimacy. The Act also created a place-based mechanism for implementation. Any township or district where Hakka people make up more than one-third of the population may be designated a Key Hakka Development Area. In these areas, Hakka is promoted in public services and local administration. This turns language policy from symbolic recognition into concrete local practice.

The broader national-language framework

A third key law is the Development of National Languages Act (2018). Although it is not exclusive to Hakka, it reinforces Hakka revitalization by guaranteeing the right to receive education and public services in one’s mother tongue and by supporting media production in national languages.

This broader framework is important because it places Hakka revitalization within Taiwan’s democratic commitment to linguistic diversity. Hakka policy is not isolated; it is part of a larger language-rights system.

Pillar 2: Specialized Government Institutions

Laws are essential, but they need institutions to implement them. Taiwan is the only country in the world with a central government agency specifically dedicated to Hakka affairs. After Taiwan’s first democratic transfer of power in 2000, the government established the Council for Hakka Affairs on June 14, 2001, under the Executive Yuan. In 2012, it was renamed the Hakka Affairs Council (HAC). The HAC gives Hakka issues Cabinet-level visibility, policy continuity, and budgetary support. This is one reason Taiwan’s Hakka revitalization has been more systematic than in many other places. Just as importantly, the HAC was not created in a vacuum. It was the result of long-term social activism, especially the “Restore My Mother Tongue” movement. A key moment came on December 28, 1988, when thousands of Hakka people marched in Taipei demanding the right to speak Hakka in public and to hear it represented in media. That movement changed Taiwan’s language politics. It reframed language as a matter of rights, identity, and democratic inclusion. It also helped build the momentum that later led to Hakka TV in 2003. Taiwan’s model, then, is not simply top-down policy. It is a combination of grassroots activism and state institution-building.

Pillar 3: A Hakka Education System

If law creates rights and government creates policy capacity, education creates the future. Taiwan’s Hakka education system has been central to revitalization.

Higher education and academic legitimacy

In the early 2000s, Taiwan established Colleges of Hakka Studies at major universities. National Central University founded the world’s first such college in 2003, followed by National Chiao Tung University in 2004 and National United University in 2006. These institutions elevated Hakka from a largely inherited cultural tradition into a recognized academic field. They created a foundation for research, teacher training, and policy development, and they helped produce the professionals who now support Hakka revitalization across sectors.

Revitalization through primary and secondary schools

At the elementary and secondary levels, Taiwan has moved from passive preservation to active revitalization. Under the National Languages Act and related policies, schools increasingly treat Hakka not as a marginal elective, but as a language with educational value and public relevance. This shift matters because schools normalize language use. A language becomes sustainable when children encounter it not only at home, but also in classrooms, school activities, and community events.

Immersion and intergenerational transmission

Taiwan has also promoted more immersive approaches, including language nests and school-based environments where Hakka is used in daily routines and in subjects such as music or arts. This helps students experience Hakka as a living language rather than a memorized subject. Schools also help reconnect generations. Through family assignments, local festivals, and community participation, they encourage children to use Hakka with parents and grandparents. That intergenerational link is essential, because no revitalization can succeed if the language disappears from the home.

Pillar 4: Mass Media — Hakka TV

Among the Four Pillars, Hakka TV is the most visible and immediate. Since its launch on July 1, 2003, it has grown from an ethnic-language channel into a major cultural institution.

A living classroom

Hakka TV provides something schools and government agencies cannot: a 24/7 media environment where Hakka is used naturally in news, dramas, documentaries, children’s programs, talk shows, and lifestyle content. It functions as a living classroom, making Hakka part of everyday media consumption. The station also preserves internal linguistic diversity by including all six major Hakka accents in Taiwan: Sixian, Hailu, Dabu, Raoping, Zhao’an, and South-Sixian. This is vital because revitalization should not erase variation within the language community.

Mainstreaming Hakka identity

Hakka TV has also succeeded in making Hakka more visible to non-Hakka audiences through Mandarin subtitles and accessible programming. This helps move Hakka from an “ethnic niche” into Taiwan’s broader multicultural media space. Revitalization is stronger when a language is not isolated. Hakka TV helps normalize Hakka as a shared part of Taiwan’s identity.

Quality and digital transformation

Hakka TV has also challenged the stereotype that ethnic media must be low-budget or marginal. It has become a strong presence at Taiwan’s Golden Bell Awards, with the 2024–2025 season reaching a record 29 nominations. At the same time, the station has adapted to the digital era by investing in short-form video, social media, and youth-oriented content. This is not only a change in platform; it is a change in cultural positioning. Hakka is increasingly seen as contemporary, creative, and relevant—not only traditional.

Beyond Hakka, Beyond TV, Beyond Taiwan

Hakka revitalization in Taiwan is now entering a new phase. Hakka identity is not only local; it is global. Since becoming CEO of Hakka TV, I have proposed three strategic directions:

• Beyond Hakka

• Beyond TV

• Beyond Taiwan

“Beyond Hakka” means building partnerships with other minority and Indigenous media organizations facing similar challenges. In 2023, Hakka TV hosted an Ethnic Media Summit and signed MOUs with partner media committed to language and cultural preservation. “Beyond TV” means expanding beyond traditional broadcasting into digital media and cross-platform storytelling. “Beyond Taiwan” means joining the international conversation on language rights, public media, and cultural diversity. Hakka TV has strengthened collaboration with NRK Sápmi (Norway), Whakaata Māori (Aotearoa New Zealand), Taiwan Indigenous TV, and other ethnic media in Taiwan. After more than a year of cooperation, Hakka TV became an Affiliate Member of the World Indigenous Broadcasters Network (WIBN).

This international engagement has continued to grow. In 2025, I was invited to speak at Deutsche Welle’s Global Media Forum and at a Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) workshop, where I shared how ethnic media can support language revitalization, media literacy, and democratic resilience. These exchanges show that Hakka revitalization is not only Taiwan’s success story. It is also a model for how democracies can support minority languages through law, institutions, education, and media.

The Easiest Way to Immerse Yourself in Hakka

The world knows Taiwan for its economy, democracy, and technology. It should also know Taiwan for its cultural diversity. Hakka culture—representing one-fifth of Taiwan’s population—is one of Taiwan’s greatest strengths. Hakka TV will continue to promote Hakka language and culture across generations and across borders. Our goal is not only to preserve heritage, but to ensure Hakka remains a living and evolving part of modern society. If you want to learn about modern Hakka culture, Taiwan is the best place to begin. And if you cannot visit Taiwan yet, Hakka TV is the easiest way to immerse yourself in Hakka language and life.

Please visit our official website and YouTube channels to experience Hakka culture firsthand.

About The Author

Paul Shiang is the CEO of Hakka TV and has been with the network since 2004 following postgraduate studies in Media and Cultural Analysis at Loughborough University in England. A strong advocate for youth media literacy, he also led and hosted the youth current affairs programme Octopus News. Since becoming CEO in 2022, Paul has driven a bold vision of connecting Hakka culture with the world.

This article is part of the WIBN Global Indigenous Media Leadership Series.

臺灣仰仔領先全球推動客家復興呢?

作者：客家電視台台長-向盛言

臺灣差毋多有20%个人口係客人。大家都知，臺灣係一個族群還過語言多樣性个社會，客人係第二大族群。照盡新个普查數據來看，在臺灣 2,350 萬人口當中，客家人口大約係 466.9 萬人—也就係講五儕人當中就有一儕係客人。

這就看得出臺灣个客家經驗有幾重要仔。一般來講，族群旦旦會集中歇在一個位所形成歷史源頭，比論像威爾斯人旦旦歇在威爾斯，愛爾蘭人旦旦歇在愛爾蘭，加泰隆尼亞人旦旦歇在加泰隆尼亞。恁仔比較起來，客人斯係一個分散歇在各地（diasporic）个群體。

全世界个客家人口胚算大約有8,000 萬人，其中大概仔有 6,000 萬人在中國（主要分布在東南沿海）。斯講，就算其他地方个客家人口多加當多，臺灣既經係全世界客語復興同文化保存盡成功个其中一個地區。臺灣个成功並毋係好點點仔就成功个，係因爭有四個相幫相𢯭个基礎，乜做得講這四大基礎係臺灣客家復興个「四枝大楯仔」：

一、                    專屬立法

二、                    專責政府機構

三、                    客家知識體系

四、                    大眾媒體（客家電視台）

 這兜大楯仔會恁重要，毋單止係因爭佢這兜个存在，還較係因為佢這兜相互共下運作。在當多地方，語言保存淨倚恃社群自家在該打拚；在臺灣，客家復興係同時受著法律、政策、教育同媒體个支持。

楯仔一：專屬立法—日常生活當中个公共語言權

《大眾運輸工具播音語言平等保障法》

臺灣个客家復興有法律來做基礎。這個法律限制支持了語言權利、文化發展同制度个延續性。一個主要个轉變關鍵係 2000 年 4 月 19 該日公布个《大眾運輸工具播音語言平等保障法》。這項法律有厥歷史意義，因爭佢改變了客語等本土語言在公共空間當中个地位。長久以來，本土語言輒常分人講係「方言」毋重要、無厥地位；這項法案就同佢這兜恢復做合法个公共語言，還過有在公開場所分人聽著个權利。

這項法律个影響力當大，因為有了佢，客話在火車項、捷運項還過公車項…等，民眾日常生活當中盡輒會去坐、乜係盡輒聽得著各種聲个大眾運輸工具項「現聲」分大家聽著。《大眾運輸工具播音語言平等保障法》要求在這兜運輸工具項个公共廣播(Public Announcement/ PA)定著愛用華語、客話、河洛話同英文。打幫實際來做，在臺灣个各種話語當平等个大家人逐日當自然就聽得著。

對客家族群來講，這毋單淨係一項技術性政策，還較係一種對母語尊嚴个公共認可。客話就毋係刊定存在在私人个生活項，係成為臺灣共同公共領域个一部分。

《客家基本法》

第二個重要个法律基礎係 2010 年通過、2018 年修正个《客家基本法》。這係臺灣客家政策當中一等重要个法律。盡重要个係，佢承認客話係臺灣个「國家語言」个其中一種，恁仔佢同華語就有了共等个法律地位。這項轉變十分重要：長期个復興做毋得淨倚恃自家試著沙鼻个文化，還較需要有正當个制度。

這隻法還建立了一套考慮著地區个執行機制。任何客家人口祛忒總人口三分之一以上个鄉、鎮、市、區，都同佢劃做「客家文化重點發展區」。在這兜地區，公務服務同地方行政當中都會煞猛推廣客話。這將語言政策對象徵性个認可轉化做具體个地方實踐。

《國家語言發展法》

第三項關鍵法律係 2018 年个《國家語言發展法》。雖然這並毋係專門為客家建立个法，毋過佢保證了接受母語教育同公共服務个權利，還過支持用國家語言來進行媒體製作，恁樣就還較加強了客家復興。這個範圍還較大个法非常重要，因為佢將客家復興加入臺灣對語言多樣性个民主承諾當中。客家政策並毋係無伴無陣个存在，係還較大个語言權利體系个一部分。

楯仔二：專責政府機構

必要个法律制定出來吔，毋過還愛有機構來執行。臺灣係世界項唯一有專門負責處理客家事務个中央政府部會級機關个國家。

在2000 年臺灣完成頭一擺民主政黨輪替過後，政府在 2001 年 6 月 14 該日在行政院下設立了「行政院客家委員會」，乜在 2012 年改名安到「客家委員會」（HAC），簡單喊做「客委會」。有了客委會，客家議題就有「部會層級」个能見度、政策做得連續做下去，乜有編預算來支持。這乜係臺灣客家復興比其他當多地區還較有系統个其中一項原因。

共樣當重要个係，客委會並毋係無緣事故就有个，佢係長期社會運動來个結果，特別係「1988還我母語運動」。1988 年 12 月 28 該日係客語復振个一個當關鍵又重要个日仔，幾下千個客人行上臺北街路項，要求在公共場所講客个權利，同時要求在廣播還過電視等大眾媒體當中，製作、放送有客話內容个節目。

這場運動改變了臺灣个語言政治。佢將語言重新定義做權利、認同同民主參與个問題。佢乜緊累積動力，盡尾推動了 2003 年客家電視台个成立。故所以，臺灣模式並毋係單純个對上到下（top-down）个政策，係基層運動同國家制度建設个結合。

楯仔三：客家知識體系

撿採法律創造了權利，政府創造了政策能力，該教育就創造了未來。臺灣个客家知識體系一直係復興个核心。

高等教育同學術个正當性

2000 年代初期，臺灣在主要个大學設立了客家學院。國立中央大學在 2003 年成立了全球頭一個客家學院，續下來2004 年在國立交通大學同 2006 年在國立聯合大學成立。

這兜機構將客家對一種主要靠繼承个文化傳統，提升到一個分人認可个學術領域。這兜為研究、教師培訓同政策開發打好基礎，乜培育了這下支持各領域客家復興个專業人才。

打幫中小學來推動復興

在中小學階段，臺灣既經對被動个保存轉向主動个復興。在《國家語言發展法》同相關个政策下，緊來緊多學校將客語看做係有教育價值同公共相關性个語言，毋係有也好無也好个選修課。這種轉變當重要，因為有了學校教育，語言就變到極平常。等到細人仔毋單止在屋下，還在教室肚、在學校同社區个活動當中接觸著一種話語，恁仔語言正會永久傳等下去。

沉浸式學習同跨世代傳承

臺灣還推廣了有沉浸感乜就係歸下仔全講客个方法，包含「語言竇」還過在平常時个學校環境，連音樂、藝術等項目都講客。這對學生仔來講，就會同講客看做係一種實際有用个話語，並毋係愛死記硬背个學科。

學校還𢯭重新連結無共樣个世代。打幫家庭作業、地方節慶同社區參與，學校鼓勵細孲仔同爺哀還過阿公阿婆講客。這種跨世代个連結一等重要，因為撿採母語在屋下就聽毋著、無忒了，麼个幾煞猛去復興都無法度成功。

楯仔四：大眾媒體—客家電視台

在四大楯仔當中，客家電視台係盡有能見度還過盡接近民眾生活个。對 2003 年 7 月初 1 該日開始放送到今，佢既經對一個族群語言頻道發展成為一個重要个文化機構。

有生命又生活个教室

客家電視台提供了學校同政府機構無辦法提供个功能：一個 24 點鐘運作个媒體環境，在新聞、戲劇、戲曲、紀錄片、兒童節目、音樂人文節目同生活風格內容當中自自然然个講客。佢做一個「有生命又生活个教室」這隻角色，做得講客話就係客家電視台這隻媒體平常時使用个話語。

客家電視台還保留了客家內部个多樣語言，也就係保留了臺灣客話个六大腔頭：四縣、海陸、大埔、饒平、詔安、南四縣。這點十分重要，因為復興還係愛顧著語言社群內部个所爭。

愛客家認同行向主流

客家電視台還經過中文字幕同當好了解、當好接近个節目編排，成功分毋係客家族群个人乜想愛來看、來了解客家文化。這對「族群小眾」个客家推向臺灣還較大範圍个多文化媒體空間當有幫助。等到一種語言同別個族群有了連結就毋會孤栖，復興个力量就會還較大。客家電視台幫助客語成為隨時在生活項就聽得著、看得著个話語，幫助客話成為臺灣共同身分認同个一部分。

品質同數位轉型

客家電視台乜挑戰了族群媒體定著係低預算無就毋受人重視个刻板印象。佢在金鐘獎(臺灣个艾美獎)當中表現當打眼，2024-2025 年度還創下了入圍 29 項个紀錄。同時客台這恁多年還利用短影音、社群媒體還過專門為青少年打造設計个內容來適應數位時代。這毋單淨係平台个改變，還較係文化定位个轉變。客家這下緊來緊多人認為係當代个、有創造力个，還過同生活有一等深个關係；客家並毋係原在大家認為係傳統个、地方个還過老時代个。

超越客家、超越電視、超越臺灣

臺灣个客家復興當當進入一個新階段。客家認同毋單淨係地方性个，乜係全球性个。對接任客家電視台台長到今，𠊎提出了Hakka TV个三大戰略方向：

• Hakka TV Beyond Hakka客家電視超越客家

• Hakka TV Beyond TV 客家電視超越電視

• Hakka TV Beyond Taiwan 客家電視超越臺灣

「超越客家」意思係講同其他面對有相像挑戰个少數族群還過原住民媒體組織建立伴陣關係。2023 年，客家電視台舉辦了族群媒體高峰會(Ethnic Media Summit)，乜同落身在做語言同文化保存个媒體伴陣簽了合作備忘錄(MOU)。

「超越電視」意思係講對傳統廣播擴展到數位媒體同跨平台敘事。

「超越臺灣」斯係表示參與有關語言權利、公共媒體同文化多樣性个國際對話。客家電視台加強了同挪威薩米廣播電台(NRK Sápmi)、紐西蘭毛利電視台(Whakaata Māori) 、原住民族電視台還過臺灣其他族群媒體个合作。經過年零个共下合作，客家電視台乜對2025年8月仔起勢正式成為「世界原住民族廣播電視聯盟」(World Indigenous Broadcasters Network/ WIBN)个聯盟會員(Affiliate Member) 。

像這種國際參與這恁多年來繼續成長。2025 年，𠊎接受邀請在德國之聲(Deutsche Welle)个全球媒體論壇(Global Media Forum/GMF)還過「全球合作暨訓練架構」(Global Cooperation and Training Framework/ GCTF）工作坊發表講演，分享族群媒體仰仔推動語言復興、媒體識讀同民主韌性。

這兜交流展現出客家復興毋單淨係臺灣个成功故事，乜係一個典範，展示出民主國家仰仔經過法律、制度、教育同媒體來支持少數族群語言。

汨在客家文化盡簡單个方式

世界識因爭經濟、民主同科技來認識臺灣。世界乜該當因爭這往土地項个文化多樣性來認識臺灣。代表臺灣五分之一人口个客家文化，係臺灣盡強大个其中一個軟實力。

客家電視台會繼續跨越世代同國界來推廣客家語言同文化。𠊎這兜个目標毋單淨係愛保存遺產，還較愛確保客家文化在現代社會當中保持活力乜緊進化。

係講你想愛了解當代客家文化一等真實个樣貌，臺灣係盡好个起腳點。係講你暫時無法度來臺灣尞，客家電視台就係你汨在客家語言同生活一等簡單个方式。

歡迎上𠊎這兜个官方網站(www.hakkatv.org.tw )同 YouTube頻道(www.youtube.com/@hakkatv )，自家來體驗客家文化。