A Study On The Social Changes In The Ming Dynasty And The Hexi Area

Hexi area,located in the west of Gansu province,it has a long history.Due to its special strategic position,Hexi area has been in the frontier area of the han Nationality’s dynasties in history in central plains for a long time,and strategic point contended for by central plains dynasties and northwest minority regimes.After An Lushan Rebellion,Hexi area was occupied by Tubo(ancient name for Tibet),and then for a long time it was under the control of the northern ethnic regimes such as Tubo,Ganzhou Huihu,Xixia and Yuan dynasty.Hexi area located in the east fo Jiayuguan,was restored to Han nationality until the Hongwu reign.Since the existence of North Yuan,Hexi was remained at the forefront of the confrontation between Ming and Mongolia,one of the nine defense areas of the Ming dynasty.In order to better resist and control neighboring ethnic tribes such as Mongolia,Turpan and Xifan(ancient name for Tibet),the Ming dynasty established ten Wei(means garrison)and three Suo(short for thousand household bureau)in Hexi area,such as Liangzhou Wei,Yongchang Wei,Shandan Wei,Ganzhou Front Wei,Ganzhou Rear Wei,Ganzhou Left Wei,Ganzhou Right Wei,Ganzhou Centre Wei,Suzhou Wei,Zhenfan Wei,Zhenyi thousand household bureau,Gulang thousand household bureau and Gaotai thousand household bureau which all operated under the Shaanxi Itinerant High Commandery(陕西行都司),rather than administrative division and county under the civil administration system,and this made an administrative management system integrated of military and civilian in Hexi area.With better improvement of the military situation along the border,the increase of civil affairs and the changes of military command system,the shortcomings of the military management system gradually emerge.In order to strengthen the control of Hexi area,the Ming dynasty extented civilians and reformed management system,which caused significant administrative trend in the system of administrative control in Hexi area.After centuries of rule by the northern minority regime and the brutal wars between Yuan and Ming in the early Ming Dynasty,the originally prosperous and prosperous Hexi region was already a scene of a filthy,ruined and defeated land.In order to consolidate national defense and restore and develop the social economy of the Hexi region,migration to strengthen frontier defence has become an important measure of the Ming Dynasty.A large number of Han populations,including garrison sergeants,exiles,administrative resettlement,and spontaneous movements of the people flooded into the Hexi region.At the same time,under the attraction of the Ming Dynasty’s policy of appeasement and military strikes,there are a large number of former members of the Yuan and the people from the west of Jiayu Pass,such as many military fortress,Turpan and even Samarkand.In order to facilitate management,the Ming dynasty incorporated most of the immigrants of various ethnic groups into the Wei-Suo system(Defense System)and became the military households in the Ming Dynasty household registration system.These military families who migrated to the Hexi area in the early Ming Dynasty have proliferated with generations,and formed a large military family in the middle of the Ming Dynasty.At the same time,due to the reform of the military system,in addition to the military forces that replaced the military service,other military surpluses can participate in various social activities in a wide range.In addition to military and agricultural services,there have also been active in Confucianism and imperial examinations,enterprising scholars and traders.For a large number of ethnic minorities who are stranded and attached,Ming dynastry adopts the method of escrow and direct compilation into the Wei-Suo system for resettlement.Among them,the minority military attache who were incorporated into the Hexi Wei-Suo Institute and served at various levels were known as ‘local officials’.In the frequent wars in the Hexi area,the local officials who were able to levy good wars made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty,and there were emerged many famous senior generals in west towns such as Wu Yuncheng,Mao Zhong,and Da Yun.At the same time,in order to further enhance the family status and obtain the recognition of the Ming Dynasty,under the guidance of the national assimilation policy of the Ming Dynasty,most of the local officials were actively moving closer to the Han culture circle.The stationing of a large number of troops and the immigration of the population have created a huge military consumption circle in the Hexi area,which has brought a heavy burden to the originally poor Hexi area.In order to meet the supply of food in the early Ming Dynasty,it gradually formed a supply system of border grain on the basis of making tax payments in kind which made up by civil transport grain,Kaizhong grain(纳粮开中),material from capital and grain hoarded up against famine.Since then,with the changes in the military and political situation,and the development of silver monetization,the Ming Dynasty has continuously adjusted the military supply system in Hexi,so that it presents a general development trend of collection from natural grain to discounted materials and then discounted silver.The military horse is another important munitions material.The Ming Dynasty is supplemented by means of official animal husbandry,tea-horse trade,official purchase,and war capture.Focusing on the supply of military food and military horses,the extremely complex military supply system formed by the Ming Dynasty in the Hexi region has had a profound impact on the social and economic development and progress of the Hexi region.Due to the long-term rule of the northern minorities,the influence of the Central Plains culture represented by Confucian culture in the Hexi region has also fallen into a trough.After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty,the Han nationality culture was implemented in the field of ideology and culture.Through the development of school education,the implementation of the family table system,the National sacrifice system and the transformation of folk beliefs,the spread of Confucian culture in Hexi and Confucian ethics was promoted.The construction of moral values.At the same time,according to the different roles of Han Buddhism,Tibetan Buddhism,Taoism and Islam in the social life of Hexi,the Ming Dynasty formulated different religious policies,managed and controlled them,and relied on religion as a powerful force to restrain thoughts and stability in order to maintain and consolidate its rule.As a result,the Hexi region has seen a multicultural harmony and symbiosis in the cultural field.From above,this dissertation outlines the social trajectory of the Hexi region in the Ming Dynasty from four aspects,such as administrative management system,population,economy and culture,which generally shows the trend of internalization.As a joint product of territory management,national defense management system,the national relationship,the national defense situation and other issues,the trajectory of social changes in the Hexi region is a microcosm of the development of the northern borderland society in the Ming Dynasty.At the same time,it laid the foundation for the reform of the county system in the Hexi area in the early Qing Dynasty,and played a decisive role in the final formation of the regional culture and social structure in Hexi area.