On Social Impacts And Immigrants Moving Into Wuwei Area During The Period Of Wei-jin And Sixteen Kingdoms

In Wei and Jin Dynasties as well as South and North Dynasties, regions around the Hexi Corridor in the northwest of China were a gathering place for minority nationalities where the various ethnic groups lived together, gradually forming a common economic system and sharing similar ways of life. During the turbulent period of Wei and Jin Dynasties, the ethnic groups and the Hans took power in turn in the Hexi area. However, no matter who was the ruler of the Hexi area, not only great contributions had been made in several aspects such as economy, culture, life and others but also the integration of various nationalities had been improved. Naturally,the area of Wuwei also obtained lots of benefits. With the increasingly powerful strength of their own, the immigrated minorities began to cooperate with the Hans during one of the most turbulent periods in Chinese history.The immigrants were actively involved in the local life or production activities, and even established their own regime. The thesis expounds the integration of ethnic relations within a region as well as the emergence of a newly united pattern with diversities based on Wuwei area.Wuwei was called Liangzhou Wuwei County in Wei and Jin Dynasties, playing as the gateway of the Silk Road into the Hexi Corridor, which once was a transportation fortress as well as an important commercial city. A famous Chinese poet named Ceng Sen once wrote“There are hundreds of thousands of households within seven miles of Liangzhou.”, indicating that the place had a large population and was very lively. Due to its special geographical location and the specific time,Wuwei had held a pivotal position from the 2nd century AD to the 6th century AD, or even into the 7th century AD. During this period, the various nationalities in Wuwei area integrated with each other very well and the religion also flourished in its diversities. Wuwei had become a big melting pot for the integration between ethnic groups and the Han people. In the Sixteen Kingdoms Period(the mid-fourth century),both the large numbers of refugees from the Central Plains and the numerical businessmen from the Western regions injected fresh blood to the local place.When the whole Hexi area was unified in the Northern Wei Dynasty, a lot of local people were removed from the area and Wuwei suffered a status of population vacuum,which had a profound influence upon the social changes.The thesis intends to discuss a new pattern between ethnic groups and the Hans emerged in Wei and Jin Dynasties under the rule of the Hans by a case study of Wuwei area.