Xiaogan immigrants in Xiaogan town, Macheng

The migration movement in Ming and Qing Dynasties is one of the most important parts in China's migration history. Macheng is one of the "eight migration birthplaces" in ancient China, and it is the origin and distribution center of "Huguang filling Sichuan". For thousands of years, the descendants of Macheng immigrants have spread all over Sichuan and Chongqing, and there is a saying that "Huguang fills Sichuan and Macheng is over half". Every year, Sichuan and Chongqing people come to Macheng to find their roots and ask their ancestors. As the gathering place and transit point of the two great migration movements of "Jiangxi filling Huguang" and "Huguang filling Sichuan", "Xiaogan Township" has been hidden in the depths of historical fog, and its true situation has been unknown to the society and academic circles for more than 500 years.

In recent years, local scholars and experts in Macheng confirmed that Xiaogan Township in Macheng is located in the southwest of Macheng, with an area of 1.200 square kilometers. In the eighth year of Chenghua in Ming Dynasty (AD 1472), it was merged into Xianju Township of Macheng due to household registration consumption. Xiaogan Township in Macheng (including the merged Xianju Township) continuously immigrated to Sichuan and Chongqing from the end of Yuan Dynasty to the early Ming Dynasty to the middle of Qing Dynasty, becoming one of the eight famous immigrant distribution centers in China. Macheng regards the development of immigrant culture as an important measure to build cultural soft power, and the construction of immigrant culture is in full swing. Macheng has successively established a research society on Xiaogan Township Phenomenon, restored the Gaoan River Immigrant Wharf, developed Shenjiazhuang, the capital of Xiaogan Township, planned and built an immigrant museum and an immigrant park, and expanded the Wunaoshan tourist highway.

20 1 1 From July 22nd to 25th, an academic seminar on migration and social changes in Ming and Qing Dynasties-"Xiaogan Township Phenomenon in Macheng" was held in Macheng, Hubei. Fifty experts and scholars from Sichuan, Hubei, Chongqing and other provinces and cities discussed the "Xiaogan Township Phenomenon in Macheng" around the migration and social changes in Ming and Qing Dynasties.