Study On Elephant Population Ecology And War Elephant In Yunnan During Ming And Qing Dynasties

Yunnan is located at low latitudes,with a mild climate,most areas are humid and rainy,with dense river valleys and dense forests.Parts of southern Yunnan,eastern Yunnan,western Yunnan and central Yunnan have superior natural conditions,which meet the survival requirements of Asian elephants with a large range of activities,abundant heat,abundant water resources,gentle terrain and low altitude,and provide the survival of Asian elephants.necessary habitat.From the Han Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty,historical materials have recorded the distribution of wild elephants in Yunnan.After the Ming and Qing Dynasties,with the increase of literature records and the development of Yunnan society,it is conducive to a detailed understanding of the evolution of the spatial and temporal distribution of wild elephants in Yunnan.From Hongwu to Tianshun,wild elephants could be found in Yidong,Yixi,Yinan and liangchudao in Yunnan;From Chenghua to the end of Ming Dynasty,wild elephants in some areas and grain storage roads in Yixi,Yinan and Yidong disappeared;In the Qing Dynasty,wild elephants disappeared in the area of Yongchang Prefecture in Yixi,leaving only some areas in Yixi and Yidong and Yinan.There are Dai residents in southwestern Yunnan and southern Yunnan where there are many wild elephants.The Dai people are closely related to elephants.In the Yuan Dynasty,many Xuanfu Sis were set up in the distribution areas of the Dai people.In the Ming Dynasty,the Tusi system was set up in these areas.Constant changes in relations with the central government set the stage for the large-scale use of elephants.The wild elephants were artificially captured and then domesticated to become domesticated elephants.During the Ming and Qing Dynasties,domesticated elephants were an important member of the royal guard of honor,and there were special elephant-raising institutions around domesticated elephants.The common way of using elephants in Yunnan is war elephants.in military operations.In the process of consolidating its rule,the Yuan Dynasty clashed with Myanmar and Annan,and the war elephant became an important force for Myanmar and Annan to fight against the Yuan army.In the early Ming Dynasty,the chieftain system was widely established in Yunnan following the previous generation.Some big chieftains relied on their geographical location and repeatedly invaded the mainland.As an important support for local chieftains,war elephants frequently appeared in wars.After the Battle of Luchuan and the Three Expeditions to Luchuan,the Ming Dynasty dealt with Luchuan by dividing it into several small chieftains,weakening their power and making them unable to compete with the Ming Dynasty.This in turn led to a power vacuum in western Yunnan,and the Dongwu Dynasty of Burma took the opportunity to send war elephants and soldiers to invade western Yunnan,and plundered strategic materials such as war elephants belonging to the chieftains of western Yunnan.As the scope of the spread increased,during the Wanli period,Deng Zilong and other generals went to Myanmar.At the same time,some chieftains led war elephants to launch internal battles and judgments due to internal strife or battles with other chieftains,resulting in social unrest.This situation became more and more serious with the weakening of national strength in the late Ming Dynasty.In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties,Yunnan was faced with the replacement of old and new forces.The chieftains became the guests of all parties and were constantly drawn in.The war elephants became the forces of all parties.The Tusi’s war elephant tactics have also been used for reference by many parties and continue to appear in the war.During the Yongzheng period,with the consolidation of the power of the Qing Dynasty,reducing the power of the chieftains was put on the agenda.The Qing government extensively reformed the land in Yunnan and strengthened the central power.The remaining chieftains were no longer able to fight against the central government,and the war elephants gradually gradually disappeared from people’s sight.In addition,Myanmar and Vietnam,which border the Yunnan area,had wars with the Ming and Qing dynasties.Compared with Yunnan,the number of war elephants existed in these areas,which became the support for their struggle against the Ming and Qing troops,and the war elephants also accompanied them.It changes with the continuous development of China-Myanmar and China-Vietnam relations.From the perspective of elephants,looking at the social development of Yunnan in the Ming and Qing dynasties from the distribution of elephants and the interaction between people and elephants,it helps us to further understand the rise and fall of the Tusi forces in the Ming and Qing dynasties and the mutual checks and balances between the central and local governments,and deepens the understanding of the local history of Yunnan.cognition.