A Study Of Hui People’s Immigration In Guanzhong Basin During The Rule Of Emperor Tong Zhi Of Qing Dynasty

Before the reign of Emperor Tongzhi of Qing dynasty, Xi’an, Tongzhou, Fengxiang municipal regions and Qianzhou, Fenzhou centrally administrated districts were the important habitations of Hui people. Their population in these areas reached between 700 thousand to 1 million. Generally speaking, the Hui and Han people in Guanzhong Basin formed a habitation pattern in which Hui people mainly lived in small groups among the majority of Han people. Due to a long period of exchanges, a harmonious ethnic relationship was established between Hui and Han people.In May 1862, the year that began the reign of Emperor Tongzhi of Qing dynasty, a conflict that was caused by a small incident broke out between the Hui people and local armed forces composed of Han people. As a result of improper handling of the incident by then Qing government, the conflict was escalated into a large-scale insurgency of Hui people. To keep themselves away from the conflicts, a large number of Hui people in Guanzhong Basin left from their original habitations and moved to neighboring provinces or other places even far away. Most of them, mainly from then Xi’an, Tongzhou, Fengxiang municipal regions, immigrated to today’s Gansu province, but a small number of them either went through the Qinling mountain to the south of northwest China’s Shanxi province or across the yellow river and north China’s Shanxi province to Baotou city in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. But for very complicated reasons, those Hui people did not come back to their original habitations when the resurgence ended. Therefore, the Qing government provided settlement for those Hui people who were displaced across the country due to the conflicts. The immigration of Hui people in Guanzhong Basin changed dramatically the geographic location of their habitations. It was also one of the largest immigration in Chinese history.Anyway,due to the measures taken later by Qing dynasty,the social order of Hui nationalities in the east of Gansu was restored,which had played a constructive role in the course of their development.