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Great Clearance

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Great Clearance
Traditional ChineseThiên giới lệnh
Simplified ChineseThiên giới lệnh
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional ChineseThiên hải lệnh
Simplified ChineseThiên hải lệnh
Literal meaningCoastal Evacuation Order

TheGreat Clearance(traditional Chinese:Thiên giới lệnh;simplified Chinese:Thiên giới lệnh), also translated as theGreat EvacuationorGreat Frontier Shift,was caused by edicts issued in 1661, 1664, and 1679,[1][2]which required the evacuation of the coastal areas ofGuangdong,Fujian,Zhejiang,Jiangnan,andShandong,[3][note 1]in order to fight theTaiwan-basedanti-Qingloyalist movement of the erstwhileMing dynasty(1368–1644).[2]

The edict was first issued by theShunzhi Emperorof theQing dynastyin 1661, the last year of his rule. With the Shunzhi Emperor's death in the same year, his son, theKangxi Emperor(1661–1722), succeeded this edict under aregencyled byOboi(1661–1669). The ban on human settlement of those coastal areas was lifted in 1669, and some residents were allowed to return. Yet, in 1679, the edict was issued again. In 1683, after Qing defeatedthe Kingdom of Tungningin theBattle of Penghuand took control ofTaiwan,the people from the cleared areas according to the edict were allowed to return and to live in the cleared areas.[4][5]

Purpose[edit]

The goal was to fight theanti-Qing movementbased in Taiwan, begun byMing dynastyloyalists under the leadership of Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga), who used his influence on the coastal areas to support the movement. The measure was in accordance with a five-point plan to deal with Koxinga, suggested by one of his former lieutenants who had gone over to the Qing. Its adoption was due to a conviction that Koxinga's campaigning against the new dynasty could not be continued if aid and supplies were denied him in this way.[3]

A study of Haijin in Xin'an County[edit]

Enforcement[edit]

Enforcement of this drastic measure was extended to theXin'an County(which covered roughly the territory of modern-dayShenzhenandHong Kong) and adjacent counties of Guangdong in 1661. Two inspections determined the areas to be cleared. At the time of the first inspection up to a distance of 50lifrom the coast, it was calculated that two-thirds of the territory of the County would be affected. A year later the boundary was extended further inland, and what remained of the County was to be absorbed into the adjoining Dongguan County. By the 5th year of Kangxi, Xin'an had ceased to be a separate administrative county. When the new boundaries were fixed, the inhabitants living outside them were given notice to move inland. These orders were enforced by troops. The result was that whole communities were uprooted from their native place, deprived of their means of livelihood and compelled to settle where they could. The rural people risked their lives if they ignored the government edict to move, or ventured back into the prohibited area. It is recorded that about 16,000 persons from Xin'an were driven inland.[3]What is now the territory of Hong Kong became largely wasteland during the ban.[6]

End of the ban[edit]

The ban was lifted in 1669, following a request by theGovernor-General of Guangdong and GuangxiZhou Youde(Chu hữu đức) and Governor ofGuangdongWang Lairen (Vương lai nhậm), and residents were allowed to return to their original homes.[7]Only 1,648 of those who left are said to have returned when the evacuation was rescinded in 1669.[3]

When the ban was lifted in 1668, the coastal defense was reinforced. Twenty-one fortifiedmounds,each manned with an army unit, were created along the border ofXin'an County,and at least five of them were located in present-day Hong Kong.

  1. TheTuen MunMound, believed to have been built onCastle PeakorKau Keng Shan,was manned by 50 soldiers.
  2. TheKowloonMound onLion Rockand
  3. theTai Po TauMound northwest ofTai Po Old Markethad each 30 soldiers.
  4. TheMa Tseuk LengMound stood between present-daySha Tau KokandFan Lingand was manned by 50 men.
  5. The fifth one atFat Tong Mun,probably on today'sTin Ha ShanPeninsula, was an observation post manned by 10 soldiers.

In 1682, these forces were re-organized and manned by detachments from theGreen Standard Armywith reduced strength.[8][9]

Legacy[edit]

TheChou Wong Yi Kung Study HallinShui Tau Tsuenwas erected in 1685 by the Tang Clan in honour of Zhou Youde and Wang Lairen.

The evacuation of the coast followed prolonged earlier years of miseries and had a profound effect on the lives of the population and on the pattern of future settlement. The survivors' hardships did not end when they returned to take up their interrupted lives in their old homes, for it is recorded that destructivetyphoonsin 1669 and 1671 destroyed the new houses in many places. The Evacuation has had a great impact on the minds of local people and their descendants. It is recalled in the genealogies and traditions of some of the longsettledclansof the County: it is commemorated in the construction and continued repair of temples to the two officials who strove to have the order rescinded.[3]An example is theChou Wong Yi Kung Study HallinShui Tau Tsuen,inKam Tin,Hong Kong,which was erected in 1685 by theTang Clanin honour of Zhou Youde and Wang Lairen.[10]The event was also remembered centuries later by the manufacture and sale by pedlars of images of the two men, as recorded for theYuen Long Districtof theNew TerritoriesofHong Kongat the end of the 19th century.[3]

Hakkadialect-speaking communities are thought to have arrived in the Hong Kong area after the rescinding of the coastal evacuation order.[11]Their immigration into the area was assisted by the government after the order was rescinded.[3]The formerly establishedPunticlans also came back, expanded their ancestral halls, built study halls and set up market towns inYuen Long,Tai Po,andSheung Shui.[6]

Beacon Hillin Hong Kong was named after abeacon,where a garrison was stationed to enforce the decree.[12]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^Jiangnan was divided into two provinces ofJiangsuandAnhuiand ceased to exist inQianlongera of Qing dynasty.

References[edit]

  1. ^Wang, Rigen (2000)."Nguyên minh thanh chính phủ hải dương chính sách dữ đông nam duyên hải cảng thị đích hưng suy thiện biến phiến luận"(PDF).The Journal of Chinese Social and Economic History(in Chinese (China)) (2): 1–7 – via COnnecting REpositories.Moreover, three times of the Great Clearance, which happened in the 18th year of Shunzhi (1661), 3rd year of Kangxi(1664), 18th year of Kangxi(1679) respectively, caused 'what used to be busy and prosperous streets to become ruins, and the people who used to gather in the same place as family to separate. The documents that recorded family bonds got incomplete, classic books got lost, brothers were separated and ancestors were no longer worshiped. ' (Chinese:Lánh ngoại thuận trị thập bát niên (1661), khang hi tam niên (1664), thập bát niên (1679) tam thứ thiên giới, dã tạo thành liễu "Tích chi lư lí phồn thịnh giả, hóa nhi vi khư hĩ, tích chi cưu tông tụ tộc giả, hóa nhi tinh tán hĩ, hộ khẩu điêu tàn, điển tịch thất hĩ, huynh đệ ly tán, thần chủ di chi.")
  2. ^abWang, Yuesheng (Sep 1, 2015).Chế độ dữ nhân khẩu: Dĩ trung quốc lịch sử hòa hiện thật vi cơ sở đích phân tích hạ quyển(in Chinese (China)). Beijing: Beijing Book Co. Inc.ISBN9787999012092.In the early era of the Qing dynasty, in order to cut the connection between the coastal residents in Southeast China and the regime of Zheng retreated to Taiwan, the Qing government issued a clearance order in the 18th year of Shunzhi (1661)...(text omitted)... In the 3rd year of Kangxi (1664), the Government forced the residents to migrate again, giving the reason that "the coastal defense was an issue while the incomplete evacuation was worrisome." (Chinese:Thanh sơ vi đoạn tuyệt đông nam duyên hải dân chúng dữ thối cư đài loan đích trịnh thị tập đoàn đích liên hệ, vu thuận trị 18 niên ( 1661 niên ) hạ lệnh thiên hải.…… Khang hi tam niên ( 1664 niên ) chính phủ dĩ "Dĩ hải phòng vi sự, dân vị tẫn không vi lự", tái thứ thiên dân.)
  3. ^abcdefgHayes, James(1974)."The Hong Kong Region: its place in Traditional Chinese Historiography and Principal Events since the Establishment of Hsin-an County in 1573"(PDF).Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch.14.Hong Kong:108–135.ISSN1991-7295.
  4. ^"Khang hi triều thật lục · quyển chi nhất bách thập tam".Wikisource.Thanh thật lục (in Chinese).Retrieved2019-04-14.The Emperor told the Minister Du Zhen and other officials who were assigned to open the border along the coast in Fujian and Guangdong, 'It is of great importance to relocate the people. You should investigate into the ownership so as to give things back to who they originally belonged to. You should work with the local high officials to make sure soldiers and civilians be in the right place. You should be self-disciplined, and do not behave like the previous officials being rude and impolite. ' (Chinese:Thượng dụ soa vãng phúc kiến quảng đông triển duyên hải biên giới thị lang đỗ trăn đẳng viết, thiên di bách tính, sự quan khẩn yếu. Đương sát minh nguyên sản, cấp hoàn nguyên chủ. Nhĩ đẳng hội đồng tổng đốc tuần phủ an sáp, vụ sử binh dân đắc sở. Tu liêm khiết tự trì. Vật tự tòng tiền soa vãng nhân viên, sở hành bỉ tỏa dã)
  5. ^Wang, Rigen; Su, Huiping (2010)."Khang hi đế hải cương chính sách phản phục biến dịch tích luận".Jianghai Academic Journal(2).doi:10.3969/j.issn.1000-856X.2010.02.024– via Wangfang Data.In October 1683, the Kangxi Emperor ordered Du Zhen, Vice Minister of Personnel and other officials to go to the four provinces of Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to measure the coastal lands, recruiting people to farm in the previously deserted land, to make the civilians back to their original homeland. (Chinese:Khang hi nhị thập nhị niên (1683) thập nguyệt, khang hi đế mệnh lại bộ thị lang đỗ trăn đẳng vãng phúc kiến, quảng đông, giang tô, chiết giang tứ tỉnh khám tra duyên hải biên giới, chiêu khẩn hoang địa, nhượng lão bách tính môn hồi đáo nguyên lai đích thổ địa thượng tòng sự canh tác.)
  6. ^abHong Kong Museum of History: "The Hong Kong Story" Exhibition MaterialsArchived2009-04-18 at theWayback Machine
  7. ^"Towards Urbanisation: Shuen Wan and Plover Cove Reservoir"Archived2009-07-18 at theWayback Machine
  8. ^Liu, Shuyong (1997).An Outline History of Hong Kong.Foreign Languages Press.p. 18.ISBN9787119019468.
  9. ^Faure, David;Hayes, James;Birch, Alan.From Village to City: Studies In the Traditional Roots of Hong Kong Society.Centre of Asian Studies,University of Hong Kong.p. 5.ASINB0000EE67M.OCLC13122940.
  10. ^"The incredible journey of Yuen Long – Chau Wong Yi Kung Study Hall".Archived fromthe originalon 2014-07-14.Retrieved2009-06-20.
  11. ^Hase, Patrick(1995). "Alliance of Ten". In Faure, David; Siu, Helen (eds.).Down to Earth: The Territorial Bond in South China.Stanford University Press.pp. 123–160.ISBN0-8047-2434-2.
  12. ^Andrew Yanne, Gillis Heller (2009).Signs of a Colonial Era.Hong Kong University Press.p. 119.ISBN978-962-209-944-9.
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