Research On Urban Development And Social Changes In Urumqi In Modern Times (1884-1949)

The period of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China was an important stage which was the transition from tradition to modern society in Xinjiang.As the center of the region,the city is an important epitome of social and economic transition in Xinjiang.For the reasons of the historical,geographical,cultural,political,economic and other factors,the urban development and social change of Modern Xinjiang,which not only experienced a similar historical process with coastal,mainland cities,but also has its own unique evolution track.Due to the long war and invasion by foreign enemies in Xinjiang since Tongzhi Dynasty in the early years,the city's socio-economic caused serious disruption,all of this making the formation of good momentum during the Qianjia periods of Qing Dynasty appeared stagnation and recession.After the Xinjiang province was built in 1884,urban social economy has been rapidly restored and developed by Zuo Zongtang and Liu Jintang,who took series of new governance measures.Especially the opening of commercial port and the implementation of the New Policies Reforms in Xinjiang,which further promoted the frontier city modernization process.On the other hand,since the Mid-19th Century,western powers enhanced China's northwest frontier areas by political controlling and economic aggression through signing series of unequal treaties.The British and Russian imperialism as the representative external colonial forces,launched a severe game in order to bring Xinjiang into their own respective influence region,and the semi-colonial color in the cities of Xinjiang deepen constantly.After the Replubic of China,the influence and control force of national government in the northwest frontier areas declining increasingly,Xinjiang local government has been in a semi-independent,semi-state status for a long time.Each of the Xinjiang warlords has a dictatorship party in their areas,which branded a distinctive personal color for the development of frontier cities and changes in Xinjiang.It is undoubtedly important to broaden and deepen the field of urban history research,and provide some valuable experiences and lessons for the current urbanization and modernization of Xinjiang as well.This paper focuses on the theme of urban development and social change in modern Xinjiang,takingUrumqi as the regional object,and 1884 to 1949 as the time window.This paper starts with three perspectives that are space,economy and society,and reveals the characteristics,motivations,historical limitations and realistic enlightenment of the transition from traditional to modern society in Xinjiang city,on the basis of more objective,comprehensive and systematic analysis.Firstly,trying to draw the outline of Urumqi city structure from the "twin city" complex structure to the"one city multi-district" structure,And then draw the outline to the modern urban construction process of social space significant reconstruction of the evolution of trajectory and characteristics.Secondly,with the macro historical events as a clue,dividing the modern Urumqi city economic development history into three different periods and stages:the early stage of the late Qing dynasty(1884-1911),the early stage of development of the Republic of China(1912-1933),the tortuous development of the Republic of China(1934-1949).To describe the development of urban economy in different historical stages,we mainly bases on the aspects of the industry,commercial trade and finance.Finally,selecting the typical aspects of urban social change to carry out horizontal research,more specifically,mainly focus on the urban population,social class,basic necessities,custom etiquette,entertainment style,ideas,culture and education and medical and health aspects,which show the rich picture of modern urban social change in Xinjiang in all directions and angles.The conclusion mainly discussing the modern Urumqi city's development and transition through summarizing the characteristics,motivations,historical limitations of modern urban development and social transition in Urumqi.And taking history as a mirror,exploring the reality enlightenment of Xinjiang's urbanization and modernization.Generally speaking,In the context of internal and external strength,Multiple forces intertwined with each other,mutual influence,and jointly promote the modernization of the city of Xinjiang,The traditional social economy of the city has been transformed and changed drastically.But on the other hand,As a multi-ethnic coexistence of inland cities,the degree of social and economic modernization is still preliminary.partical,and the modernization model and path of different ethnic groups are variant.Refection on the urban spatial structure,the traditional urban spatial structure of Manchu and Han city coexisting was broken,the old space constantly reorganized,and the other new space,such as Uygur,Hui-based Muslim space and the Tsarina Russia capitalist colonial power space gradually generated.The heterogeneity and complexity of urban space were remarkable,and the urban social spatial structure has experienced a long and complicated history from isolation to fusion.