A Study On The Geography Of The Settlement Of Jinzhai Fort In The Ming And Qing Dynasties

Historical Rural Settlement Geography is a significant but also weak part of Historical Settlement Geography. Campared with the booming researches on Historical Urban Geography, Historical Rural Settlement Geography is still on its way exploring theoretical construction and methodological innovation, as well as filling blank research areas. As a typical type of historical rural settlement, the stockaded village, with rich information related to nature, society, ethnics and architeture, has become a focus of diverse displines. There are some notable features of existent studies on stockaded village. The first one is that they regarded the stockaded village settlements as individual buildings from the perspective of architecture. The second one is that emphasis is given to typical periods and regions. The third one is that different kinds of stockaded village settlements are not distinguished from each other. These studies have, to some extent, helped deepen researches on stockaded village settlements, but also result in a fragmentation. Specifically, the lack of researches on stockaded village settlements of untypical periods and regions leads to an incompleteness of this field. Furthermore, it is also not comprehensive because notice is only given to the construction and distribution of existent buildings, with no analysis given to their developping routes.Indeed, settlements and residents come first when people mention stockaded village settlements. Researches on stockaded village settlements could not ignore the impact from residents on the vicissitude and distribution of the settlements. It would not be lively, comprehensive or clear if residents are not included in researche.This dissertation takes Ming and Qing dynaties as the targeted period and the Southeastern Shanxi the objected region, focusing on the ordinary rural stockaded village settlements. In addition, it analysizes their historical background, development process, temporal and spatial distributions, forms, types and influences from different factors. It attempts to comprehensively analysize the rural stockaded village settlements of the Southeastern Shanxi in Ming and Qing dynasties by looking at a holistic geographical unit and a continutive temporal scale, in order for revealing its internal rules and characteristics.In terms of the materials, this dissertation is based on official hisory, chorogrphy, stone inscriptions, collected works, ancient and modern maps, gazetteers and others. In terms of methodology, it majorly employs the method of Historical Geography, integrating Sociology, Anthropology, Toponymy and Arhitecture, and stressing on Geographical Information Technology and field survey, by which it tries to unveil the real situation of the stockaded village settlements of Southeastern Shanxi in Ming and Qing dynasties from multiple dimensions.The rural stockaded villages were turned from the rural villages. In addition to the general living functions as other rural villages, the rural stockaded villages also possessed functions for defense. The evolution of stockaded villages took place mainly in two periods. One was during the Jiajing and Longqing’s reigns, and the other one was the end of Ming dynasty and the beginning of Qing dynasty. In the fisrt period, these villages mostly defended against the Chen Qing uprising army in the early years of Jiajing’s reign, as well as the invasions from Mongols between the Jiajing and Longqing’s reigns. In the second period, they primarily defended against the peasants’ uprising that lingered at the Southeastern Shanxi at the end of Ming dynasty. In the beginning of Qing dyansty, the anti-Qing campaign was raised by Jiang Xiang, and the defense goal was then turned to armies of the campaign and the Manchrians.Thus it is clear that in different periods, due to the diffences of the defense objects and the areas that were impacted, there also appeared spatial discrepancy in how stockaded village settlements were distributed in the Southeastern Shanxi.Distribution of the stockaded village settlement could be analysized from two layers. In the macro layer, they were restricted in Qinzhou and Lu’an prefecture in Jiajing and Longqing’s reigns in Ming dynasty, and spread to the whole Southeastern Shanxi at the beginning of Qing dynasty. In the micro layer, they were distributed along rivers and roads in Jiajing and Longqing’s reigns, but had covered the whole region with specific centers at the beginning of Qing dynasty.Statistics show that not every rural settlement in unrest would build a stockaded village. As a matter of fact, whether people built stockaded villages or not was in linkage with residents’attitudes, demographic scale, local gentry’s power, topographical foundations and traffic location.Furthermore, the dissertation unveils that the size of stockaded villages were decided in concideration of the agressors, the size of settlements, the relationship between stockaded villages and settlements, and the power of gentry and merchants in the settlements. The forms and spatial constructions of stockaded villages were also influenced by topographical conditions and the forms of the villages they belonged to.The shape of the stockaded villages of village settlements in Southeastern Shanxi in Ming and Qing dynasties was concentrated in Jiajing, Longqing’s reigns, the end of Ming dynasty and the beginning of Qing dyansty. The direct inducements were Chen Qin’s uprising, Mongol invasions, peasants’uprising, and Jia Xiang’s uprising against the Manchurians. The temporal and spatial discrepancies of distributions and types of stockaded villages were not only the consequence of topographical foundation, but also of the defense objects, settlements’ sizes, gentry’s power, and residents’ attitudes, which represented the multiple and complicated communications of stockaded village settlements, nature, humanities and society.