Great Clearance
| Great Clearance | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 遷界令 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 迁界令 | ||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 遷海令 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 迁海令 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | Coastal Evacuation Order | ||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Qiānjiè Lìng |
| Wade–Giles | Ch'ien1-chieh4 Ling4 |
| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Qiānhǎi Lìng |
| Wade–Giles | Ch'ien1-hai3 Ling4 |
The Great Clearance, also translated as the Great Evacuation or Great Frontier Shift, refers to two edicts by the Kangxi Emperor of Qing (1644–1912), and his regent Oboi, in 1661 and 1662. It required the evacuation of the coastal areas of Guangdong in order to fight the Taiwan-based anti-Qing loyalist movement of the erstwhile Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Other provinces in southern China, including Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Fujian, as well as Shandong in the north, were also affected to varying degrees. The ban on human settlement of those coastal areas was lifted in 1669, and some residents were allowed to return.
The goal was to fight the anti-Qing movement based in Taiwan, begun by Ming dynasty loyalists 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 Manchus. 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.
Enforcement of this drastic measure was extended to the Xin'an County (which covered roughly the territory of modern-day Shenzhen and Hong 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 50 li from 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. What is now the territory of Hong Kong became largely wasteland during the ban.
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Wikipedia