Urban Development And Social Change Of Gansu In Qing Dynasty

Gansu, located in inland of China, is a bridge between the inland and the minority, such as Xinjiang, QingHai, XiZang and so on. Because of multinational interleaving, ruler of every dynasty attached importance to it. A series of county-cities had been established along HeXi aisle since Han Dynasty, and went to its peak in Tang Dynasty. With the northwest-southeast transfermation of economic core and deterioration of development environment from overladening exploiture, GanSu was in decline after Song Dynasty, and its cities had been influenced seriously too.In Ming Dynasty, owning to feeble domination that Ming government was to Xinjiang, GanSu was looked as the frontier, where has formed a series of military cities. To Qing Dynasty, as the government strengthened its administration and domination to XinJiang, Gansu had become a hinterland, which had enormous influences on it. With reconstructing and stabilizating of social order, Qing Dynasty strengthened its administration and domination to GanSu by some measures, that is, migration reclamation, setting up county, constituting new services. Based on these actions, a better administrative system came into being. But spatial distributing of cities took on some characteristices: they were excessive in south and east and short in north and west, and clustered mostly on the east of HuangHe. Compared with standing out of administrative function, economic and cultural functions were weak in functional structure and didn't form obvious subarea. In the economy, along with the commodity economy development which had scoped in Qing Dynasty nation, and the merchant and the external director positively impels, as well as in the eastern part developed area radiation impetus inside and outside of Gansu region, where the multi- nationalities interlocks which lives together with different nationalities, the city industry and commerce also gradually has its rosperity. Not only each main city appeared all kinds of specialized commodity markets, moreover the area connected in the nationality also formed many small prosperous trade town. In these cities' commodity exchanges, the national trade becomed the important trade content. Besides the traditional hand-planted, in Gansu's cities there still appeared the modem big machine production in the late Qing Dynasty, thus presented the aspect which new old coexists. Regardless of the preliminary national trade or the later period modern times industry introduction, Gansu's urban economy in Qing Dynasty all have gotten the obvious political rule and the control brand mark.Compared with other regions, the biggest characteristic of Gansu's urban population constitution in Qing Dynasty is the multi- national coexistence and inhabitant's polytropism. This kind of more unique inhabitant constituted has had the enormous influence to the city social life, this not only displayed for the line of multiplex tendency in the clothes, the food, the lives, but also displayed for the rich content day by day such as the religion, the folk belief, the holiday custom, the entertainment and so on.With the stability of politics and the development of economy, the education of Gansu province's cities, having the characteristic of diversity and nationality that other regions had scarcely progressed to some extant In Qing Dynasty. Political school of all levels,college,social compulsory education and so on worked up, distinctive religious education was also gradually perfect in part of cities. Moreover, because of the new deal in late years of Qing Dynasty, Gansu province, with a remote location, appeared new-type vocational education and schooling, thereby modern transition was produced in the field of culture. Although was not perfect, this transition still had far-reaching historical effect. However, increasingly severe natural and geographic environment, and the upheaval resulting from the mismanagement of local government in the ethnic issue have greatly restricted the development process of Gansu's city in Qing Dynasty. Especially, along with the modern China's forced opening to the outside world, Gansu, locating in the hinterland, is far away from China's economic center, but also from an increasingly developed markets at home and abroad. Therefore, Compared with the the process towards the modern social of coastal areas, along river regions and open areas in the edgeways, the degree of the changes of Gansu's city is obviously weak, and the social transformation is extremely insufficient and remarkable delay. Generally speaking, the causes of this situation is the objective natural reasons, as well as the human's deficiency of subjective activity. Thus, it will be beneficial to the futural development to avoid repeating the same mistakes by fully generalizing historical experiences.