Shanxi Immigrants in Yongle Period of Ming Dynasty

Thousands of years ago in China, most people died in one place, and their parents didn't travel far, so the idea of moving to another place spread for nearly a thousand years. The ancients guarded their fields and ancestral houses and lived on a piece of land for generations. Only when they encountered natural and man-made disasters such as war and famine would they have to leave their homes. However, there have been many large-scale population migrations in the history of China, the largest of which was organized by the government during Yongle period of Ming Dynasty. This migration lasted from 1370 (the second year of Hongwu) to the fifteenth year of Yongle. In the past half century, Hongtong * * has migrated 18 times, and the number of people who have moved from here is as high as 65,438+10,000. Why did the Ming government emigrate on such a large scale in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China? Why did you choose Hongdong immigrants in Shanxi? This is going to talk about the history at that time. At the end of Yuan Dynasty, the whole country was in war and the people were displaced. Years of war have led to population decline and land waste. According to historical records, at that time, "the road was blocked and people were cut off", and the Central Plains region was a battleground for military strategists. The intensity of the war here can be imagined. In A.D. 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang unified the whole country and the separatist regime ended. After the war stopped, what remained was the next step, but after years of war, the spring mud went nowhere, and the bare land was sparsely populated, especially in Henan, Hebei and Shandong. In order to redevelop these places, it is necessary for people and labor to reclaim land in these places, which is also the reason why the imperial court wants to carry out population migration. As for the population of Shanxi, it is because there are many people here that they choose to emigrate. During the war at the end of Yuan Dynasty, Shanxi was a "paradise" in troubled times because it was surrounded by mountains. It not only has a large population, but also has a bumper harvest every year. By the Ming Dynasty, it had become a populous province. According to records, Shanxi had a population of more than 4 million in the early Ming Dynasty, when the national population was less than 60 million. This contrast shows how huge the population of Shanxi is, and Hongdong County is the most populous county in Shanxi. /kloc-in 0/370, hundreds of thousands of people gathered under the big pagoda tree in Hongtong County and were taken to an unknown place by soldiers nearby. When their relatives parted, in order to tell their children not to forget their hometown and remember the way home after leaving home, they took this big locust tree as a symbol. There is an old stork nest under this big locust tree, and they will rely on it to find their hometown in the future. Although the imperial court gave enough preferential policies to those who migrated, such as exemption from three years' hard labor and twenty taels of silver, it was difficult to leave their homeland, and many people would flee halfway. In order to prevent people from going back to their hometown, everyone's hands are tied with ropes, so when they go to the toilet, everyone will say "relieve themselves". According to later statistics, in the migration of 18 population, Sophora japonica in Hongdong took 8 12 surnames. These people went to 30 provinces and cities, 22 17 counties and cities. These people have branches all over the country and even overseas, and now there are more than 200 million people. I remember listening to a Malaysian Chinese once, talking about this period of history, saying that my ancestors came from the locust tree in Hongdong, Shanxi, and went back to seek roots to worship their ancestors every year. Have you heard of this history? Is your ancestor a big locust tree in Hongdong, Shanxi? Welcome to leave a message in the comments.