Global Roots: Immigration and Traditional Chinese Culture

Author: Ge Jianxiong et al. / Country:
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-02-01
Features: In the table of contents, the asterisk () represents a character that is on the left side of the character for "gift" and the right side of the character for "right." This character is found in the dictionary but cannot be typed. It is pronounced "you."
II. Going West to the Mouth—The Great Migration to the Northern Frontier in the Qing Dynasty
"Brother goes west to the mouth, sister cannot stay,
Unable to hold back the tears, they flow down—
From the Shanxi Hequ Erren Tai opera "Going West to the Mouth"
The term "going west to the mouth" is widely used, especially in northern China. This is largely due to the famous local opera Going West to the Mouth of Erren Tai opera. The background of this opera is the migration movement of commoners from northern regions of the Qing Dynasty to the northern areas beyond the Great Wall for farming. In this migration movement, the commoners of Shanxi played a prominent role.
Looking through the history of the Chinese nation, it is not difficult to find that the Great Wall, one of the "Seven Wonders of the World," actually became a barrier that long separated the northern and southern ethnic groups. Ethnic wars time and again caused the people living north and south of the Great Wall to suffer immense pain and suffering. These painful memories often became an eternal nightmare in people's hearts.
However, after the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, true unification was achieved both inside and outside the Great Wall, creating a new situation for the production and life of the border residents. Many wise people expressed heartfelt remarks about this situation. For example, Fang Weichang, the magistrate of Xinzhou in Shanxi during the Guangxu era, pointed out: Since our dynasty was established, the Mongols have been subdued, and the inside and outside have become one family. For over two hundred years, we have never used military force. The people of Xinzhou, like those who have been saved from fire and water, have been able to rest and recuperate, and their population has multiplied. During the Qianlong and Jiaqing eras, those familiar with border affairs traded with various tribes and cities outside the northwest mouth, exchanging goods and profiting greatly. The people of Xinzhou not only avoided the harm of the border but also benefited from it. Xinzhou (now Xinzhou City, Shanxi) can be considered a typical representative of the border region.
The significance of the integration of the inside and outside of the Great Wall is not limited to eliminating hostility and suppressing wars, but also lies in demonstrating the great potential for economic development north and south of the Great Wall. This potential is first reflected in the demand for trade between the north and south. Due to differences in economic nature and material, the economies north and south of the Great Wall have significant complementarity. Pastoral ethnic groups need tea, sugar, iron, cloth, and other daily necessities from the Central Plains, while the interior has a huge demand for horses and furs. The considerable profits from bilateral trade attracted border residents to engage in the business of "managing the mother and son." Many people became wealthy as a result, an endless number.
Secondly, related to the migration movement, in addition to vast grasslands, the northern areas beyond the Great Wall also had large tracts of arable land suitable for farming. As the population in northern regions increased, the per capita land ownership continued to shrink, and the contradiction between people and land became increasingly prominent. Therefore, northern farmers without land turned their eyes to the vast wilderness beyond the border. Tens of thousands of farmers who went to the frontier to farm eventually settled there and became masters of the frontier together with the people of the border regions. They were also the main force of the "going west to the mouth" migration movement.
However, the development of the "going west to the mouth" migration movement was not without challenges. The feudal dynasties of China had long implemented strict household registration systems to restrict the free movement of residents, and the Qing Dynasty was no exception. For example, starting from the Kangxi era, the Qing government made regulations to restrict the migration of commoners from the interior to the Mongolian regions, such as prohibiting the marriage of interior people to Mongolian women and issuing official stamps annually to limit the number of people leaving.
But even the highest rulers of the Qing Dynasty recognized the positive role of farming in the frontier in alleviating the contradiction between people and land. Taking Emperor Qianlong as an example, he proudly said: The areas outside the ancient Beikou have long been known as "rocky borders," and no one dared to cross them by even an inch. The forty-eight tribes of our dynasty, our officials and servants, are considered as one family. The people of the border and the interior who go there to plant, establish families, and have children will benefit greatly. If we were to prohibit them, it would be to oppress the people.
With the "leniency" of the highest rulers, the restrictions imposed by the Qing government had a limited actual effect, leading to a situation where "those who prohibit prohibit themselves, and those who farm farm themselves." By the Guangxu era, a considerable number of immigrants who had settled in the frontier through "going west to the mouth" had already played a pivotal role in the local economy. However, they did not have household registration in the frontier areas, and their status as permanent residents was not legally recognized. To facilitate administration and protect their legitimate rights, Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Shanxi, proposed the suggestion of "registering guest households" in the Tumot area, which was eventually approved by the court, reflecting that this was in line with public opinion.
Zhang Zhidong's memorial roughly reflects the actual situation of the local guest households: Currently, about one-third and two-thirds of the Mongolians in this area live by farming and herding, while the remaining are supported by rent and taxes. As for the so-called "pastoral lands" and "population lands" in the banner, they have been rented to the people for farmland and housing since the Kangxi era, and this has continued for over two hundred years. These people have long raised their children and established villages, with tens of thousands of households in each bureau. These guest households, even without registration, have become local residents. Over the years, as the number of guest households has increased, it has become clear that they are now the original inhabitants. In the south of the Greater Khingan Mountains and east and west of Hohhot, stretching for thousands of miles, these areas have been part of prefectures and counties since the Yuan Shu era of the Western Han Dynasty, including the regions of Dingzhou, Yunzhou, and Wuyuan. Moreover, with the nation's long-term focus on rest and growth for over two hundred years, with hundreds of thousands of households engaged in agriculture, industry, commerce, and crafts, it is absolutely unreasonable to force them back to the interior.
The "hundreds of thousands of households of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants" refer only to the scale of Han Chinese residents in the western part of Inner Mongolia centered around Hohhot. If each household has five people, the number of Han Chinese residents in this area during the Guangxu era was several million, most of whom were descendants of immigrants. It is clear that in the "going west to the mouth" migration movement, a very large number of Han Chinese immigrants came to the frontier.
III. Breaking Through the Pass—The Migration Movement to Northeast China in the Qing Dynasty
Desolate cities, ruined fortresses, fertile fields stretching for thousands of miles, with land but no people—this is the greatest internal crisis.
—Zhang Shangxian, Memorandum on the Situation of Fengtian (Qing Dynasty)
"Guandong" refers to the area east of Shanhai Pass, mainly including the regions of Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang provinces today, and is usually known as Northeast China. The spontaneous migration movement from the Guandong area to Northeast China during the period of prohibition by the Qing Dynasty is often referred to as "breaking through the pass," which is naturally an important part of the migration movement to this region in the Qing Dynasty.
The vast Northeast Plain seemed to be out of the sight of the Central Plains scholars for a long time in history, and it was also a typical area inhabited by ethnic minorities. The white mountains and black waters had been silent for too long, as if they were the exclusive land of the "Donghu" or "Dongyi." The Central Plains people neither dared nor were willing to enter. However, one after another powerful ethnic groups that emerged from this area and dominated the Central Plains left an unforgettable impression on the Central Plains people. They include: the Tuoba Xianbei who emerged from "Gaxian Cave," the Khitan who rose between the Song and the Mohe, the Jurchen who swept southward from the white mountains and black waters, and the Manchus who broke through Shanhai Pass and became the founders of the new dynasty—the Qing Dynasty.