A Study Of Immigration Of The Rehe Area In Qing Dynasty And Earlier Stage Of The Republic Of China

Inner Mongolia was once the area for housing and living of minority nationalities in history. The unification completed by Qing dynasty promoted the population flow between inside and outside of the Great Wall. In Qing dynasty and earlier stage of the Republic of China, the immigration from inland to the Rehe area, the immigration to the middle and west Inner Mongolia, the immigration to the Northeast had formed a noticeable immigration tidal current and brought the Rehe area into profound influence.In this paper, I have introduced the modern background for the immigration of the Rehe area; divided the immigration advancement into four period; elaborated the official policy towards immigration question; gave statistics of the immigrant in each period; summarized reasons for the immigration from inland to the Rehe area, including population pressure in inland, geographical superiority of Rehe, the pursuit function of famine and war, the absorption of industry and commerce, internal population flow and so on. Immigration and the seepage of agriculture had changed the original social structure of the Rehe area and expedited a series of new social classes. The relation between the Hans and local society was both adaptable and contrary. It displayed respectively by national fusion and national contradiction. National fusion was mainstream. Immigration and agricultural development had changed the industrial appearance of the Rehe area and promoted the economic development. On the other hand, population increased sharply and severe cultivation aggravated the burden of environment, and the local ecology was getting worse and worse.In the end, I drew the conclusion: generally speaking, the immigration was benign to the social development of the Rehe area. But it didn't have a overall plan in the immigration process because of the turbulence in modern times. Thus it bred a series of social questions and environment questions.