Research On The Han Immigration Culture In The Foothills Of The Tianshan Mountains In The Late Qing Dynasty And The Republic Of China (1875-1949)

After conquering Junggar Mongolia in 1721,Qing government began to organize,recruit and transplant a large number of Han people at the inner region of China to the new frontier,which was called Xinjiang at that time,but was called Western Region before.Most of them settled in the northern foot of Tianshan.They were the most main part of Han in Xinjiang from 1721 to 1864.Due to the war in 1864-1877,Han in the northern foot of Tianshan fled or were killed.After Zuo Zongtang reoccupied Xinjiang in 1877,a new wave of immigration to Xinjiang,mainly the northern foot of Tianshan,appeared and lasted to the whole Republic of China period(ROC,1911-1949).These Han immigrant were gathering and formed a special society in the northern foot of Tianshan,called immigrant society.The culture of immigrant society has been paid attention to by historians.This dissertation focuses on the culture of Han immigrant society in the northern foot of Tianshan from the late of Qing to the ROC.The colorful cultural phenomena of the immigrant society and their social functions were studied and interpreted comprehensively and systematically in this dissertation.The author also concerns the homogeneity and continuity of the culture of Han immigrant society in the northern foot of Tianshan.Firstly,this dissertation reviews Han immigration history in the northern foot of Tianshan from Qing to ROC,focuses on the number of immigrant and immigration motivation.It is the most important background and basement to study the culture of immigrant society.Secondly,the author studied agricultural technology,commerce and trade,Hall organizations,settlement names,marriage and funeral customs,festivals age,urban and rural festivals,religions and folklores carefully and systemically from different aspects of material culture,institutional culture,behavior and spiritual culture.And then the regional characteristic of the culture of immigrant society in the northern foot of Tianshan is revealed and its function in the constructing of immigrant society is confirmed.Finally,based on the theories and methods of the history,historical anthropology,sociology,geography and so on,this dissertation tries to reveal the traits of the culture of immigrant society in the northern foot of Tianshan from a long period of research and to confirm the function and role of the culture of immigrant in the form of local social morphology and Han ethnic identity synchronically.This dissertation is made up of five chapters.In the first chapter,the author studies the important contents material culture—the choice of farming method and establishment of commerce system,demonstrates the mode of production and living of Han immigrant in the northern foot of Tianshan from the late of Qing to the ROC.Besides,the author also analyses the regional characteristic of the material culture and the influence of natural environment on it.In the second chapter,the author examines the establishment and development of Hall Organizations on the level of institutional culture.It is reveals that regional worship in Hall Organizations belonged to different provinces played an especially important role in strengthening ancestral home sense of identity.And it is regarded that Hall Organizations,as a kind of civil social organizations,had a unique social function for this special immigrant society.This dissertation also points out that names of places are also a kind of cultural phenomenon.Their origins,types,and cultural characteristics reflected the transitional social features of this immigrant society.To sum up,institutional culture pays significant role in the forming of immigrant social structure and social order.In the third part,the author deals with marriage and funeral customs,festivals,temple fairs in cities and countries to study culture communication from the inner parts of China to Xinjiang by immigrant on the level of behavior culture.It is confirmed that typical activities of folk rituals in the Han immigrant society play consolidation function in constructing of social order and social running.In the forth part,taking religions and folklores in the northern foot of Tianshan as the core content of spiritual culture,the author regards that religions are the spiritual and mental comfort for immigrants and play a role in constructing of social order and strengthening social control.Besides,after sorting and analyzing the folklores,the author studies the relationship of folklore spreading and language environment of the immigrant society and explains that folklores have many functions on the aspects of ethical enlightenment,natural environment humanization and ethnic identity.Finally,this dissertation tries to conclude the general characteristics of the culture of immigrant society in the northern foot of Tianshan and discus the theoretical issue about how to define the type of regional culture in this area.The author believes that study on the culture of immigrant society in the northern foot of Tianshan has important theoretical and practical significance.