The history of migration and integration of Cantonese people

According to archaeological findings, since the Western Zhou Dynasty, Cantonese in Lingnan have been in contact with Han people in the Central Plains. However, due to the separation of five mountains, this kind of communication is extremely limited. In the twenty-fifth year of Qin Shihuang (222 BC), he sent troops south to Guangdong, and where he hit it was not recorded. According to records, in the 29th year of Qin Shihuang (2 18 BC), Cantonese in Ou (Xijiang area) opposed Qin, and the court sent 500,000 troops to make a conquest. The soldiers were divided into five roads: "One army blocked the city ridge, one army guarded the nine suspects, and the other army was stationed in Panyu County. One army defends the border of Ye Nan, and the other is responsible for the remaining dry water. ..... and the soldiers dug ditches to open the route for providing foodstuff to attack the Vietnamese. " (See "Huainanzi Human Training") The "Yucheng Ridge" mentioned here refers to the Yuechengling in Guangxi today; "Nine doubts" refers to the south of ningyuan county, Hunan Province; "Canal", that is, Lingqu. The two armies opened the Lingqu and then entered Lingnan via Lijiang and Hejiang. Lingqu connects Xiangjiang River and Lijiang River, becoming the first main passage for Han people in the Central Plains to enter Lingnan. In thirty-three years (2 14 BC), the war came to an end, and Qin "exiled 500,000 people to defend it" (Yongzheng's Guangdong Tongzhi). This 500,000 people was not a small number at that time, because until the Eastern Han Dynasty, the population of Lingnan counties rarely exceeded100,000, and it was even more sparsely populated in the Qin Shihuang era. The arrival of this large number of Han Chinese "disciples" was enough to change the situation that Guangdong people in Lingnan "unified the world", and then Chinese was brought into Lingnan. Where did these 500,000 "disciples" settle at that time? Opinions vary. But one thing is certain, that is, Panyu (now Guangzhou) was still dominated by Cantonese. At the end of Qin Dynasty, Zhao Tuo, a Han Chinese, established Nanyue State here. The officials he appointed were basically Cantonese, and even Zhao Tuo himself had to change his clothes, living habits and language, and alienated himself into Cantonese for the sake of rule. If the Cantonese were not very good, he wouldn't do that. However, in the middle of the Xijiang River, the situation there is completely different. After Qin Jun's conquest, most of the Cantonese people there escaped, thus becoming the best land filling and settlement place for the Han people. As a result, most of these 500,000 "disciples" settled in the middle of Xijiang River, where Central Plains Chinese first spread. In the sixth year of Emperor Gaozu Ding Yuan (1 1 1), South Vietnam was destroyed, and Lingnan was divided into Nanhai, Cangwu, Yulin, Hepu, Jiaodi, Jiuzhen, Rinan, Boer and Zhuyajiu counties. At the same time, the "cross-toe secretariat" was established to rule this place. (now Vietnam), but soon moved to Cangwu County in the middle reaches of Xijiang River to treat Guangxin. For the next 300 years, Guangxin has been the political, economic and cultural center of Lingnan. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Toe Toe Secretariat was changed to Jiaozhou, and its office was also in Guangxin. So, where is Guangxin? Mr. Luo Xianglin pointed out: "Now Fengchuan in Guangdong is Guangxin, the secretariat of Jiaozhou in Han Dynasty and the order of Cangwu County." (The Origin and Development of Guangdong Academics in World History).

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, feudal forces split, and Cao Cao, Liu Biao and Sun Quan all attempted to control Lingnan. Bu Zhi continued to advance eastward along the Yangtze River and captured Panyu (now Guangzhou). In order to avoid the influence of stone evil and consolidate the rear of Sun Wu's regime, in the 22nd year of Jian 'an (2 17), the state administration of Jiaozhou was moved from Guangxin to Panyu. Since then, Guangxin's 300-year history as the capital of Lingnan has come to an end. Panyu is located in the east, so it is difficult to control the vast area to the west of Jiaozhou. In order to facilitate governance, Wu Dong divided Lingnan into Jiaozhou and Guangzhou in the seventh year of Yong 'an (264). Jiaozhou governs Jiaozhi, Jiuzhen, Rinan, Bor and Zhu Ya, and the state governs Long Bian (now Hanoi); Guangzhou governs Nanhai, Cangwu, Yulin, Hepu and Panyu. After Panyu became a state, the influence of Han people extended to the lower reaches of Xijiang River and the Pearl River Delta. However, it was not until the Jin Dynasty that "Guangzhou Nanya traveled more than 6,000 miles, with more than 50,000 households refusing to serve, and only 5,000 households obeying official uniforms". (Biography of the Book of Jin and Tao) Since then, in Yongjia period, the "Eight Kings Rebellion" in the Jin Dynasty appeared in the Central Plains, followed by the "Five Rebellions in China", which led to the large-scale southward migration of Han people in the Central Plains and the sharp increase in the number of Han immigrants in Lingnan. From the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, the imperial court has always implemented the policy of "ruling slang with slang", and appointed a large number of local Cantonese as public officials, officials and officials. During the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shihuang sent 500,000 troops south to attack Lingnan. After the attack, 500,000 troops stayed in Lingnan. Later, 500,000 residents moved in, and the total reached1million. At that time, the Vietnamese people lived in scattered areas, and Baiyue's "white" was interpreted by Professor Luo Kangning as a transliteration of "ethnic group". At that time, the total population of the Han nationality was relatively small, but because they lived in the middle reaches of the Xijiang River, they appeared to be more. In the sixth year of Ding Yuan, Emperor Wudi sent troops to attack Nanyue and massacre Guangzhou. Residents in the middle reaches of the Xijiang River were able to move into the Pearl River Delta, but at this time there were very few residents. After Hanwu, the emperor took Lingnan as a place of exile, and many refugees moved in from the northwest.

When Qin Pingling was in the south, Qin Shihuang immigrated from the Central Plains on a large scale, that is, "migrating to the Central Plains" and "crossing the border". In addition to Qin Jun, many businessmen, relegated officials, criminals and a large number of women who sewed clothes moved to the south (according to historical records, Zhao Tuo at the end of the Qin Dynasty "made people write letters to beg for a widowed woman." Qin Shihuang has a population of fifteen thousand. ") There are probably hundreds of thousands of people. At that time, most people who moved from the Central Plains to Guangdong were exiled here because of the exclusion of North Korea, the lack of talents and the fatuity of the rulers. Officials relegated to Lingnan in past dynasties, such as Han Yu, Liu Yuxi, Su Shi and Qin Guan, were all cultural celebrities at that time, and here, many poets wrote poems to relieve boredom because of exile, thus creating many famous sentences throughout the ages. At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Han people who moved south were divided into three branches. One branch goes south to Lingnan by land via Jiangxi and Zhuji Lane, and the other two branches go south to Lingnan by sea. One is that Jiangdong immigrants finally merged into Guangfu, and the other is that Fuzhou immigrants finally merged into Minnan language group.