| dc.description.abstract | Gold leaf is an adapted television series based on the novel of The Days of Golden Leaves. This historical drama uses Hailu Hakka language, featuring the Hakka culture of Beipu, Hsinchu. It illustrates the family of Chang who operated a tea business and spread Taiwanese tea from the local area to the whole world. They experienced the prosperity of tea trading in a golden era till the recession of tea trading in a dark age. Several factors influenced the renowned company, including new policies of the Nanjing national government and difficulties in international trade. Yet, the chief of the company and his daughter have overcome these obstacles together.
The kinship of Hakka community in 1950s is consist of matrilocal residents, married couples and family inheritance of Hakka lineage. The film director demonstrates Hakka lineage not only had a significant impact on gender roles in the Hakka community, but also defined the behavior of Hakka females within and outside the family/clan. Furthermore, the plot reveals the retreat of Chinese people from mainland China after losing the Chinese Civil War in the 1950s. People in Taiwan had a hard time, either the displacement reminded the military of patriotism or the challenges Hakka females faced. Eventually, the director emphasizes the hardship of Hakka females′ livelihood and the decisions they made at the end of the story.
Despite that the kinship of Hakka fades away in modern society, Hakka females have no longer limited by the clan system. However, Hakka culture still depends on the clan system nowadays. In order to elaborate on feminism in the 1950s, director of Gold
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leaf empowers the Hakka females by modernizing them in that time and makes a modern Hakka female time traveling back to that period.
In this study, we analyze the relationship between the clan system of Hakka and the gender roles, along with the correlation between ethnic groups and the gender roles in the television series, Gold leaf. Through the role setting of several main characters, discussions contain: (a) the influences of the Hakka community on gender roles; (b) the differences between Hakka females in play and in reality; (c) the impacts on economic policy in the post-war era and (d) the relationship between ethnic groups and the gender roles. Taken together, we hope to gain further insight into Taiwanese Hakka culture.
Keywords: Gold leaf, Hakka women, Hakka lineage, gender, nation | en_US |