The poet Gu Cheng once said: "The fish misses home on the plate." Immigration is like uprooting the roots of a tree. If modern people do this, how could the ancients do the same?
So why was there a large wave of immigrants during the Ming and Qing Dynasties? Are they willing to abandon the land where they grew up? What caused the situation in at that time?
The emergence of immigration waves Immigration waves are not uncommon in ancient Chinese history. There were four large-scale immigration waves before the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The Ming and Qing Dynasties were the closest to modern times.
"Huguang fills in Sichuan". From the Kangxi to the Qianlong period, a century-old immigration boom broke out, causing the original residents of the province to move to other places, and then the residents were all outsiders.
The reason why provinces are originally divided is because most residents are relatively stable. Although there are some people who keep changing their residences, they are only a minority. Why does this abnormal phenomenon occur? This has something in common with going to Nanyang.
Going to Nanyang is also called "excursion" in some places. It is not entirely a bad thing. After experiencing the social turmoil in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people at that time were unstable and the land was barren, so they tended to go more effectively. A place of opportunity for development.
As for Nanyang, that is, Southeast Asia and other regions, the economic circulation in those areas is faster and they are suitable places for doing business . Most people just want to make a living there and have a stable place to live for the poor and the elderly.
The reason why Nanyang has become a good place for doing business is due to the " Silk Road ". The Silk Road has connected maritime trade to this day, leading people to embark on the road of doing business more quickly.
What's more, the Silk Road was a road that the people of the Central Plains had traveled before, and ancestors had already practiced it. This means that this road is not unworkable, and maybe you can still encounter the business legacy passed down by the ancestors. way, This is the early manifestation of the immigration wave.
Forced by the situation
At this time, the official road to business was cut off, and various ways of contact with the outside economic circulation were no longer allowed. This was at the end of the Ming Dynasty , and this became the last thing that broke the camel's back. straw.
The policy of banning from sea not only blocked the rampant debauchery of pirates, but also gave the people a sense of panic. They cannot understand overseas, but it does not mean that they are not afraid. On the contrary, fear is growing day by day, and thus the trend of going to Southeast Asia is becoming more fierce.
Now not only the people who are running around looking for a way out can't stand it, but the residents who make a living by breeding at home are also living in panic, because panic is a different kind of plague. If you encounter it, you can't escape in the opposite direction, and most of the people who get it are infected. And spread to the next person at the same time.
The huge wave in the South Ocean was rough for a while. Even if it is forbidden by law, it will be done secretly.
"People on the edge of the sea often engage in private affairs, trade incense and lure barbarians into stealing." Such a situation that categorically does not allow others to negotiate is extremely unfriendly to the people on the edge of the coast.
Coastal fishermen live by the sea. What they fear most is not the so-called pirates, even if they encounter them, there is still a chance of escape.
What these people fear most is to completely strangle their means of survival. , So they can only flee to places that allow them to continue to display their survival skills, that is, to Nanyang. This group of people is also a large part of the immigration wave. .
However, these people who fled overseas were designated as defectors at the time. That was no different from the behavior of "abandoning Wang Hua". If they returned to the country again, they would be severely punished.
Therefore, people who went to Nanyang simply did not return to China. Since they would definitely be punished when they came back, it was better to stay there and work hard to find a way to make money. That is why so many immigrants went to their immigration places instead of returning to their hometowns. scene.
By 1893, the loss of domestic traffic was too heavy, and the original ban had to be abandoned.
There is another possibility for immigrants not to return along the road. Stowaways sneak out to sea secretly, which is prohibited by law. The energy consumed must be very huge. The whole process can be said to be very scary and not daring to turn back.
With the idea of fighting to the death, boarded a raised sailing boat and rode the waves, risking the boat capsizing at any time and being searched, so he did not dare to risk returning to a narrow escape situation again.
People who are unable to find a way out in the country
Furthermore, the domestic situation in is unstable. At the end of the Qing Dynasty , the Qing Dynasty was suffering from foreign invasions that it could not bear. This was not only the case for the officials, but also the common people were humiliated. After the policies were implemented, they were all People suffer.
The downfall of the dynasty and its closeness to extinction made people feel even more desperate . Common people who were originally content to keep themselves safe would only look for other ways when their survival was threatened.
Foreign enemy invasion, the destruction of domestic government and frequent natural disasters, the people who should have been comforted did not get comfort. lived in a stable place and had no food to eat. A choice to take a breather.
Due to the signing of various unequal treaties, overseas invaders became employees. They did not mind so much more cheap labor.
So In fact, some Chinese people do not take the initiative to go underground to Nanyang. It may just be because of the relationship between employment and being employed.
A large amount of labor was sold, and the workers at the bottom were miserable. This subsequently triggered a series of worker resistance movements. It was not until 1912 that this problem was solved.
At the same time, there are not a few workers or people who are doing business in Nanyang. They follow the situation and find a way to survive. Most of them are survivors in the great era, and they are pushed by fate and have no choice but to move forward.
And traveling across the ocean has actually given them a layer of gold . Domestic residents are still very curious and afraid of overseas people. Those who can go also bring the hopes and missions of their families, hope to win A glimmer of opportunity for rapid advancement.
Whether you like it or not, even if the voyage to Nanyang brings a large amount of people, the economic development will suddenly reach an unprecedented level.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Southeast Asia and other regions received a lot of support, various industries developed rapidly, and there was an influx of labor.
It was not until after the Second World War that things stabilized and China's fortunes recovered, that this huge wave of immigrants "to the South Seas" could continue.
Although there are still a large number of immigrants who have settled in the immigration areas, there is now a strange phenomenon that "Chinese people exist everywhere in the world".
It is undeniable that these overseas Chinese, regardless of whether they live in China or not, as long as they yearn for China in their hearts, they are all Chinese.
Summary
It can be said that the economy played a huge role in influencing the migration wave of ancient people "to Nanyang". 's behavior of going to Nanyang reflects the migration of economically developed areas.
There are no major changes without reason, only inevitable ones under the general trend. Residents of ancient China would choose to cross the ocean. It was just because they could no longer survive in their original place of residence, or the benefits were extremely low.
People with backward economies yearn to go to economically developed areas. This is the reflection and adjustment of certain economic laws. The only constant of is the spiral upward trend.
