How did the "Longxing Land" of the Qing Dynasty gradually turn into the territory of the Han people?

"Longxing Land" refers to the base camp where a dynasty originated and prospered. The supreme ruler of the Qing Dynasty was a Manchu from the Northeast, so the Northeast region naturally became the "Longxing Land" of the Qing Dynasty.

After the Qing Dynasty took over the Central Plains, the Northeast and the Central Plains areas were integrated and became part of China's territory. In the early Qing Dynasty, the Manchu rulers did not allow Han people to immigrate to the Northeast. But in the late Qing Dynasty, the three eastern provinces seemed to have become the territory of the Han people. What changes did they experience during this period?

After the Qing rulers took over the Central Plains, they quickly integrated into Han culture, but the Northeast became an exception. The rulers of the Qing Dynasty strictly prohibited Han people from migrating to the Northeast, and required the bannermen and tribal people in Fengtian (today's Liaoning), Jilin, and Heilongjiang to maintain Manchu culture and ancestral traditions. The rulers of the Qing Dynasty made such a decision mainly out of strategic considerations, because if the situation changed and forced them to withdraw from the Central Plains, at least the Northeast could still serve as their final base camp. Moreover, maintaining an Eight Banners Army in the Northeast that was not influenced by Han culture could also effectively maintain the Manchu Qing's rule over China. In addition, the Northeast is rich in ginseng, mink fur, and gold. Han people were prohibited from entering to maintain the Qing government's monopoly on these important materials.

However, times have changed, and by the early 19th century, the ban on Han people immigrating to the Northeast became a dead letter. With the rapid expansion of the empire's population, the land in the Central Plains became saturated, and a large number of poor Han people chose to "break into the Guandong". The Han people's northward migration movement developed into an unstoppable trend.

Of course, the most important reason for this phenomenon is that the Qing government chose to "turn a blind eye and close one eye" on the ban. The reason why the Qing court made major concessions on this issue was mainly due to several reasons: First, the Manchu Qing Dynasty had ruled China for more than 150 years, and the boundaries between Manchu and Han had become very blurred. The rulers of the Qing Dynasty It is no longer necessary to consider the issue of leaving a way out; secondly, the Eight Banners Army in Northeast China is even more degenerate than the Eight Banners Army in Guan Nei. They are good at drinking and gambling, but they lack training and equipment. They want to rely on such an army to maintain Rule is obviously unrealistic; the last and most important point is that the Tsarist Empire further north is about to move, and the best policy for the Qing government is to encourage the Han people to go to Heilongjiang to maintain the empire's control over large areas of no-man's land.

In addition to those Han people who worked diligently to "break through Guandong", many desperadoes among the Han people also regarded the Northeast as the best place to stay. Some of these people are serious criminals who were exiled to the Northeast by the imperial court and then escaped, some are bandits who fled to the Northeast after committing crimes in the customs, and some specially go to the Northeast to engage in high-risk and high-profit jobs such as poaching, digging ginseng, and gold mining. adventurer. These people are often organized into groups and engage in lawless activities in the deep mountains and forests of the Northeast. This is the reason why bandits were rampant in Northeast China in the late Qing Dynasty.

At that time, Northeast China was mainly composed of three groups: banner people, Han people and tribal people. As members of the founding Qing Dynasty, the bannermen seemed superior to others on the surface, but in fact only the senior officials among the bannermen had broad social influence and political authority. It is worth mentioning that the highest-ranking officials in the three northeastern provinces are often bannermen from Beijing. They are much more sinicized than their Manchu compatriots who have lived in the northeast for a long time, and are therefore more tolerant of the Han people who immigrated to the northeast.

The social status of the elites among the Han people is second only to senior banner officials. Some of them are former court officials who were dismissed and exiled to the Northeast, and some are wealthy Han businessmen. These people are either educated or wealthy, so they also have a place in the upper class society in the Northeast. Banner people with status are willing to make more friends with Han cultural people. At the same time, they need to rely on the management talents and business networks of wealthy Han businessmen in business, so they are very friendly to these two types of people.

There is not much difference in social status between ordinary Han people and ordinary banner people. They are all ordinary people and live their own lives. At the bottom of the "chain of contempt" are the Burakumin in the Northeast. These tribal people live in remote areas, are relatively isolated geographically, and have a low degree of Chineseization. Therefore, whether in the eyes of the bannermen or the Han people, the Burakumin are a group of rustic country bumpkins.

As more and more Han people pour into the Northeast, the sinicization of the three northeastern provinces has become an irreversible trend. The bannermen lagged behind the Han immigrants in terms of diligence and technology, so they were unable to compete with the Han people. Some bannermen with more flexible minds began to imitate the Han people in various aspects and humbly asked the Han people for advice. With the passage of time, almost all the banner people in the area south of Heilongjiang can speak a little Chinese. In places with a high degree of Chineseization like Shengjing (today's Shenyang), many banner people have even forgotten their native Manchu language. .

By the mid-19th century, not only the banner people in the Northeast had fully accepted Han culture, but also the tribal people began to learn Han culture. The Han people also had an overwhelming numerical advantage, and the "Longxing Land" of the Qing Dynasty subtly became the territory of the Han people.

Reference: "The Manchurian Frontier in the History of the Qing Dynasty"