A Study On Economic Development In Gansu-Qinghai Ethnic Corridor During Ming And Qing Dynasty

The Gansu-Qinghai ethnic corridor crosses the Gansu and Qinghai provinces,and it was the combination of nomadic culture and farming culture.Meanwhile,it was also an important multi-ethnic and multi-religious region in which was indulged with rich historical and cultural connotations.Since 1368,Han,Tibetan,Mongolian,Tu,Hui,Salar,Dongxiang,Baoan and other ethnic groups have settled in the ethnic corridor for a long time,in consequence,this kind of living pattern breeds the embodiment of an intersection of Han culture,Islamic culture and Tibetan Buddhism culture.And just because of its particular geographic position and ethnic pluralism,the corridor had received enormous attention from the Ming and Qing emperors.Effective administration and control system has been built by the Ming and Qing rulers in order to transform the corridor from “borderland” to “hinterland" and enhance its connection with the whole country.The continuous economic development has promoted the development of population,agriculture and animal husbandry,industry and commerce in the corridor,and a great impact has been made on the social structure,customs,culture and education within the region.Population growth and mobility are the driving force for economic development.At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty,the empire contributed a lot to the construction of corridor due to its strategic position.The establishment of Guarding Post not only laid a solid military roots for the Ming Empire,but also meant a massive immigration movement.A large number of immigrants have promoted population growth and promoted economic development within the region.In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties,the frequent wars throw the corridor into chaos,and the population was extremely depleted.Since 1681 with the help of political stability and social development,the population grew rapidly.The influx of migrants and the natural increase of the population flourished the Economic development of the corridor.After1862,the war broke out in the region against the Qing Dynasty,which not only caused a large number of casualties,but also seriously hinged the economic development.Agricultural development is the basis for the economic development of the corridor.Since the Ming Dynasty,due to the consideration of military,the empire has implemented a defending system based on Tuntian,The continuous development of agricultural development to the west has not only consolidated the western frontier,but also opened the process of regional agricultural integration.During the Qing Dynasty,the people of all ethnic groups launched a larger-scale reclaim movement on the basis of agricultural development in the Ming Dynasty.At this time,land reclamation is no longer concentrated in flat land,and even mountain,slope,and hillside corners are planted with hybrid plants,and the degree of land development has reached a record high.In addition,the introduction of new crops has changed the planting structure of crops in the corridor.With the development of tuntian,the distribution of wheat has been expanding.Some areas where only highland barley and beans were originally planted have also started to grow wheat.And ultimately,a conspicuous boundary between wheat growing areas and highland barley have been formed within the corridor,and this agricultural boundary also contributed the dividing line between the Han and the Tibetan.In the middle and late Qing dynasty,with the introduction of drought-tolerant and high-yielding crops such as corn and potatoes,alleviated food shortages and enriched the diet of all ethnic groups.During the Ming and Qing Dynasties,some achievement has been made with respect to the industrial and commercial sectors in the Gansu-Qinghai Corridor.First of all,on the basis of rich raw materials,the traditional handicrafts of the region in the Ming and Qing Dynasties have developed to varying degrees.By the time of the late Qing Dynasty,the trend of modern machine manufacturing began to appear,thus the corridor presenting the scene of the coexistence of traditional handicraft industry and modern large-scale machine production,especially the emergence of modern industry has had a profound impact on the local society.Second,In the Ming Dynasty,the tea-horse trade and the tribute trade dominated by the government promoted the economic exchanges among the various ethnic groups while strengthening the political and cultural exchanges between them.The handicraft industry such as the wool textile industry and the mining and metallurgy industry also expanded obviously.Since the Qing Dynasty,with the development of the commodity economy throughout the empire,the Corridor has gradually become a part of the market system of the empire.Driven by national trade,not only the specialized commodity market has been made but also the specialized trading towns have emerged.In the middle of the QingDynasty,a regional trade circle based on the Gansu-Qinghai Ethnic Corridor was formed.Sustained economic development has transformed regional societies on multiple levels.With the development of the economy,the state's forces gradually infiltrate the society,and the administrative area continued to expand.The land and population originally owned by the tusi.As an important civil organization form of grassroots society,the clan is inseparable from the regional economic development and has gradually become an important force for maintaining the local social order.In addition,with the prosperity of business activities,the natural economic structure dominated by agriculture and husbandry in the region has been destroyed,and the group represented by merchants and handicraftsmen came to attention.The development of Tuntian sustained by the Ming Empire implanted the new community form for the Corridor.The Tuntian garrison,Pushe?Ying were scattered in the ethnic areas,and based on that,the distribution pattern of multi-ethnic coexistence was formed.With the development of the regional economy,people's material life has been flourished.The content of food and clothing has been diverse,urban and rural life has become more and more abundant,and the improvement of living standards has also caused the luxury living trend to gradually spread everywhere.The stability of the society and the development of the economy have also made the education in the Ming and Qing Dynasties more successful than the previous times.The central government not only set up a large number of official schools,academies,and social studies,but also opened up Yixue in areas where ethnic minorities gathered,highlighting the unique characteristic nationality and diversity.This paper chooses the Gansu-Qinghai Ethnic Corridor,an intrinsically relevant human geography area,as the main research object,and analyzes the economic development of the corridor since the Ming and Qing Dynasties,in order to analyze the function of natural,social and historical factors in constructing the social and economic development and restraint,while analyzing the internal relationship between economic development and social change.It has significant importance in implementing the strategy of the Belt and Road,and realizing the sustainable development of there.