Hakka Soul Memories, Migrations, And Meals

Author: Chin Woon Ping
Translator: Han Hsiang-chung
Publication Date: First Edition, June 2024
This book is a work of autobiographical literature, distinguished by its lyrical form of micro-essay narration. Told in a gentle, reflective tone, each vignette takes its title from a dish or flavor, using food as the narrative thread that binds together fragments of memory and emotion.
The author’s story unfolds from the personal to the familial, tracing her migrant journey and cultural inheritance—born and raised in Malaysia, influenced by her “New Hakka” father, and later immigrating to the United States, where she achieved distinction in English and American literature. The narrative flows freely without strict chronological boundaries, blending lived experience with remembrance and imagination.
Through its delicate language and sensory imagery, Hakka Soul captures how taste, memory, and migration intertwine to form the emotional landscape of identity. It is both a tribute to Hakka heritage and an intimate meditation on belonging, displacement, and the enduring warmth of home carried through food.