As we all know, in the long history of 5,000 years, as many as a dozen unified regimes have been born in China. Among them, according to the land and territory, the Qin and Han Dynasties basically laid the general framework of the Han-ruled areas in China, which is also known as the "Central Plains".
Compared with now, the territory of China at that time did not include today's Xinjiang, Tibet, Northeast China, Inner Mongolia and other regions. At best, it only established the Western Regions (now Xinjiang, Gansu and other places) and established counties in some areas other than Shanhaiguan in the northeast, but it also recognized the political status of small countries in the Western Regions and tribes in most parts of the northeast, and they were only vassal relations with them, not directly under their jurisdiction.
After the Qin and Han Dynasties, China experienced a period of scuffle between the East, the West, the Jin and the Southern and Northern Dynasties. During this period, the territory of China was basically stagnant or even fragmented, and did not develop until the Sui Dynasty stabilized and expanded outward.
The Tang Dynasty after the Sui Dynasty was undoubtedly the most glorious period in China's history. China was the largest country in the world at that time from the second year of Emperor Taizong's Zhenguan to the middle period of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty 100 years, and its influence still exists today.
According to historical records, Tang Gaozong was incorporated into the territory of the Tang Empire and controlled by it for two years, covering an area of about 6,543,800 square kilometers. This is not only the most extensive period when the Han people actually controlled the territory, but also the most influential period in the history of China, which is called the golden century in the history of China.
However, it should be noted that although the Tang Dynasty was brilliant, it was too far away from us now and had little to do with the present territory of China. If the territory of the Tang Dynasty is taken as the basis of China's present territory, it will obviously not be recognized by neighboring countries. It was precisely the Qing Dynasty, the last feudal dynasty in China, that made great contributions to China's present territorial demarcation.
Because in the thousand years since the Tang Dynasty, China has gone through the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the Song Dynasty, the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty. Among them, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms were the era of separatist forces, not a unified dynasty. Although the territory of the Mongolian Yuan regime is vast, it is ruled by Mongols, and Mongolia still exists, so the territory of the Yuan Dynasty cannot be completely counted as a traditional territory in Chinese history.
Although the territory of Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty can be used as the basis of China's ancient traditional territory, the area of these two dynasties is not large, and the actual control area is only the Central Plains of China.
Among them, the territory of the Ming Dynasty was only within the Great Wall, south to the coastal areas of Guangdong and Fujian, west to Sichuan and Yunnan-Guizhou, including Taiwan Province Province and Hainan, with a maximum area of only 765,438+10,000 square kilometers. The Song Dynasty was smaller, and it coexisted with Liao, Jin, Mongolia, Xixia, Dali and other countries. Counting separately, even in the heyday of the Northern Song Dynasty, there was only about 5 million square kilometers of land, but in the Ming Dynasty, it was only 3.5 million square kilometers, which is far from the current land of 9.6 million square kilometers.
The Qing Dynasty left 1 1, 077,380 square kilometers to the Republic of China, while the area in its heyday was 13,100,000 square kilometers.
Therefore, in the recent dynasties, only the Qing Dynasty was most qualified to represent the traditional land in ancient China.
The reason for all this still has to start from its geography and national history.
Manchu has been on the historical stage of our country as a Sushen nationality since 3000 years ago, and has lived in the present northeast and eastern Mongolia for generations. Later, it evolved into the Jurchen nationality, which developed and expanded for the first time in the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty, and established the Daikin Empire, which coexisted with the Northern Song Dynasty and merged with the Central Plains culture for the first time.
At the end of Ming Dynasty, it rose again, established the post-Jin regime, that is, the later "Qing Empire", and officially became the last feudal dynasty in China. At the same time, it officially merged with all ethnic groups in the Central Plains.
Different from the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, Manchu, as an important part of 56 ethnic groups in China, belongs to China completely in terms of ethnic affiliation and birthplace, and no independent country has been established. Therefore, the history of Manchu is naturally a part of China's history, and the territory of the Qing Dynasty is natural, which can be used as an important historical basis for the demarcation of China's territory today.
Therefore, whether during the Republic of China or after the founding of New China, the territory of China was largely demarcated with neighboring countries according to these historical bases left by the Qing Dynasty. The vast territory created by the Qing Dynasty has made great contributions to the present territory of China.
What specific contributions did the Qing Dynasty make to China's current territorial demarcation?
The Qing Dynasty was different from the Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty in political system. It is not completely ruled by any nation, but a feudal dynasty ruled by Manchu, Han and Mongolia, and its Eight Banners system is also divided into Manchu, Han and Mongolia.
In other words, this relatively balanced power system makes the military strength of the Qing Dynasty far less than that of the Yuan Dynasty, but its land area is almost the same as that of the Yuan Dynasty, and it is much wider than that of the Song and Ming Dynasties. It includes not only the Central Plains, but also the Manchus' hometown of Northeast and East Mongolia and the Mongols' hometown of Mobei Grassland.
During the reign of Kangxi, the Qing Dynasty defeated Zhungeer in the northwest, recovered all the territories of the western regions and western Mongolia lost since the Yuan Dynasty, and after the Sino-Japanese War, it kept the area north of Daxing 'anling in the northeast, strengthened the governance of Taiwan Province Island in the southeast and southwest provinces, and made China's land area reach another heyday for hundreds of years since the Yuan Dynasty. Even after the demise of the Qing dynasty, this territory was largely inherited by the government of the Republic of China and recognized by neighboring countries.
It is worth mentioning that although the Qing Dynasty was far inferior to the Tang Dynasty in military strength and international influence, and could not represent the most glorious period in China's ancient history, it made great historical contributions in territory that even the Tang Dynasty did not. That is, after the Yuan Dynasty, Tibet was once again incorporated into the territory and directly under its jurisdiction.
Although Tibet has always had a suzerain-vassal relationship with the Central Plains of China since the Han Dynasty, it was not formally incorporated into Chinese territory until the Yuan Dynasty due to the barrier of high mountains and mountains. Although it was not formally incorporated into Chinese territory until the Yuan Dynasty, yuan dynasty history cannot be regarded as the history of China because Mongolians still exist.
However, during the Kangxi period, the Qing Dynasty formally incorporated Tibet into China's territory for the second time, and officially sent ministers stationed in Tibet to govern Tibet, which provided an important historical basis for China's ownership of Tibet.
So the Qing Dynasty laid the present territory of China! Of course, it contributed a lot to the Qing Dynasty in China, but it can never be said that the contribution of the Qing Dynasty is unique, let alone that the 9.6 million square kilometers of land were all contributed by the Qing Dynasty.
Moreover, the 9.6 million square kilometers after the founding of New China, when the Qing Dynasty had perished for nearly 38 years, during these 38 years, China's territory remained intact, which had little to do with the Qing Dynasty, let alone made any contribution.
Map of the Republic of China
No matter the warlord scuffle during the Republic of China or the efforts made by people with lofty ideals of all parties to unify and safeguard territorial integrity during the Anti-Japanese War, it cannot be denied.
Therefore, China's land area of 9.6 million square kilometers today is the result of the joint efforts of countless people in China. Of course, the Qing dynasty contributed, but it was not the most important, let alone the only one.