The Outline Of Reclamation In Three Mongolia Banner On The Songnen Steppe In Late Qing Dynasty And The Early Days Of The Republic

In Qing Dynasty, the government implemented League-Banner system and the boundaries of Mongolia banner were defined. Mongolian had freedom in the realms of Mongolia banner. In the East of Mongolia, the prevalence of Lamaism had slowed down the population and the power of Mongolia banner. A lot of idle land provided conditions for farming. As the population grew rapidly in the late Qing Dynasty, the contradiction between people and land in North China intensified, many displaced persons moved to the nearby Northeastern of China to make a living, and many persons moved to the East Mongolia. In addition, in order to raise fund through reclamation and resist the invasion of Japan and Russia, the Qing government changed the policy of "no reclamation". A lot of land in Zhalaiteqi, Duerboteqi and Guoerluosihouqi had been developed. The set of government agency and continuation played an important role in reclamation. The uncultivated land in each banner area was measured by the local Board and Mongolian officials, the money received was split by Mongolian and local government. As each area was different in natural condition and communication, the condition of reclamation were different. The Guerluosihouqi had more extensive land been cultivated, while Zhalaiteqi had the least. In the early years of Republic of China, the government implemented clear policy in these areas for the cultivated land should been paid tax.Large influx of displaced persons in North China moved to Mongolia, which released the population pressure in North China and changed the demographic structure of the Mongolia banner. The Han people took major place in Mongolia. With the time went on, more and more Mongolian and Han mixed, and many Mongols moved from nomadic to farming. The habits of daily life of Mongols were affected by the Han. The reclamation of Mongolian put the grassland ecological environment destruction to some extent. With the increasing of grassland desertification and soil salinization, the area of high coverage grassland greatly reduced. In addition Mongols had repeatedly launched fights against reclamation, but those revolts had been repressed by the government. The failures of anti-reclaim arms converted to bandits, which seriously affected the social order in Northeast of China.