Ganzhou Hakka Southward Migration Memorial Altar

At the northern tip of Ganzhou, where the Zhang and Gong rivers collide to form the Gan River, stands a monument marking a historic point of arrival. Here, at Guijiaowei Park, Hakka ancestors ended their long river journeys to settle in Southern Jiangxi. In late 2004, builders completed the Hakka Ancestors‘ Southward Migration Memorial Altar on this historic waterfront to welcome the 19th World Hakka Conference.

The monument consists of a circular base and a massive bronze tripod. The base, measuring twenty-five meters across， is modeled after the Temple of Earth in Beijing, anchoring the Hakka lineage to the Central Plains. Its three tiers represent the phases of Hakka cultural evolution across Southern Jiangxi, Western Fujian, and Eastern Guangdong. Five flights of steps represent the five historical migrations of the people. Three stairways represent the Gan, Ting, and Mei rivers—the three life-giving waterways of the Hakka heartland.

At the center stands the eight-ton bronze tripod， modeled after the Western Zhou Dynasty‘s Great Ke Ding. Cast in Nanjing for 540,000 RMB， the five-meter-tall vessel traveled by water across the Yangtze River, Poyang Lake, and the treacherous Eighteen Shallows of the Gan River, arriving on August 29, 2004. Three legs support the tripod, resting on stones gathered from Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guangdong provinces. Tan Yuanheng composed the 219-character inscription on its side, recording the long journey south.

When the altar opened on November 19, 2004， over three thousand visitors from twenty-two countries gathered for the ceremony. They offered soil and flowers to honor their ancestors， while local children wrapped their arms around the bronze legs to measure the scale of their shared history.