In China's ancient historical books, Xinjiang has long been commonly known as the Western Regions. Ever since the Western Han government set up the Western Han Dynasty capital in 60 BC (the second year of Emperor Xuan of Han), Xinjiang has always been part of the territory of the motherland, and the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are members of our unified multi-ethnic motherland.
Following the "Book of Han and the Biography of the Western Regions" and the "Later HanShu of the Western Regions", there are a large number of records about the Western Regions in China's public and private works. What needs to be pointed out here is that this traditional concept of the western region actually includes two parts, one part of which is the area directly under the jurisdiction of the central dynasties or regional regimes of our country, and the other part refers to foreign countries. For the former we call the western region in the narrow sense, and for the western region, including the latter, we call it the western region in the broad sense.
For example, in the "Book of Han and the Tale of the Western Regions", ruoqiang, shanshan, jimu, Xiaowan, Jingjie, Ronglu, Hanmi, Quli, Qule, Khotan, Pishan, Xiye, Puli, Yinai, Shache, Shule, Weitou, Gumo, Wensu, Guizi, Weili, Yanqi, Wusun... And so on, are the "xingguo" (nomadic industry) and "juguo" (subsistence on settled agriculture) under the jurisdiction of the Western Regions. Although they are called states, they are all countries within a state under the rule of the Western Han government, that is, local government. This is exactly what the Book of Han says in the Biography of the Western Regions: "Self-translated chief, city chief, jun, supervisor, official, Dalu, Hundred Chief, Thousand Chief, Du Wei, And Qu, Danghu, General, Xiangzhi Hou, Wang, all Pei Han seal, all three hundred and seventy-six people." ”
As for some countries outside the jurisdiction of the Western Regions, they refer to foreign countries. This is exactly what the Book of Han and the Tale of the Western Regions says: "And Kangju, the Great Moon Clan, and the Sabbath 、...... The genus is far from in the counting, and its contribution is reciprocated, and the general leader is not supervised. This also shows that the boundary between China and foreign countries is clearly demarcated in the "Hanshu Xiyu Biography".
In modern Chinese historical works, there is a rather popular saying that the western region "has two meanings; the narrow sense refers specifically to the east of the Onion Ridge; and the broad sense refers to the area that can be reached through the narrow western region." This statement is inaccurate, and its main drawback is that it does not clearly distinguish the historical boundaries between China and foreign countries. Historically, China's territory has changed, for example, the area under the jurisdiction of the Han and Tang Dynasties also included the area west of the Onion Ridge. Although the area west of the present Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County is no longer the territory of our country, in order to truthfully explain history and to correctly discuss the changes in the territory of our country throughout the ages.
Two
After the Qing Dynasty unified Xinjiang, it was used several names at one time; the use of four names, such as Xiyu, Western Xinjiang, Xi'an, and Xinjiang, was often seen in public and private works and official documents, such as: "Western Regions Atlas", "Western Outline", "Xinjiang Zhiluo", and so on. After the establishment of Xinjiang in 1884, it has always been used as a name for Xinjiang, and no longer uses the names of Xiyu, Xijiang, and Xi'an. The historical reasons for this need to be explained.
Before the Qing Dynasty entered the border, its territory was limited to the northeast region. After the Qing Dynasty unified China, several areas of the territory under its jurisdiction were once called Xinjiang, in addition to calling "the Umeng region of Yunnan, the area around Guizhou's Qiandongnan Guzhou, the area around Anshun and Zhenning in Guizhou, and the western region as Xinjiang", "there is also an area called Xinjiang, that is, the large and small Jinchuan area in the upper reaches of the Dadu River in Sichuan." "Judging from the entire history of China, the western regions, together with some areas of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and other provinces, have been China's territory since ancient times, and they are all the old frontiers of China. The Qing dynasty royal family named them Xinjiang only because they were the new ruling areas for the Qing royal family.
So, after the establishment of Xinjiang Province, why did the names of Xiyu, Xijiang, and Xi'an be abandoned, and the name of Xinjiang was used instead? This has deep historical roots.
Since modern times, the capitalist powers have aggressively invaded our country and greedily devoured and devoured our territory. For Xinjiang, which is located in the northwestern frontier of our country, the aggression of Tsarist Russia and Britain was particularly arrogant. In 1865, with the support of Tsarist Russia and Britain, the Agubai bandit gang of the Kokand State invaded Xinjiang and invaded a large area of territory north and south of China's Tianshan Mountains, and Tsarist Russia also seized the opportunity to invade the Ili region of Xinjiang.
At this serious moment when the territory was being ravaged and the people were devastated, under the pressure of public opinion throughout the country, the Qing government sent a large army with Zuo Zongtang as the commander to begin to recover Xinjiang. With the active support of the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang in eating pot paste and cooperating with the battle, the Qing army completely eliminated the Agubai bandit gang in 1878 and forced the Russian invading army to withdraw from Ili in 1882. This is a major historical event in China's modern history of resisting foreign aggression and winning victories, and it deserves a big book and a special book, and it is worthy of praise and praise.
After Gong Zizhen, a famous scholar of the Qing Dynasty in China, and others, Zuo Zongtang actively advocated the establishment of Xinjiang Province to consolidate border defense and resist foreign aggression. This correct proposition was finally adopted by the Qing government. In his 1882 speech to the Qing Dynasty government, Zuo Zongtang put forward the argument that "other tribes are forced to be punished, and the homeland is newly returned", which is of profound significance.
Why is it called "Homeland"? Because since the Han and Tang Dynasties, it has been an inherent territory of our country. Why is it also called "New Return"? Because it is the newly recovered lost land from the clutches of the Tsarist and Agubai bandits. Under the historical conditions of "new return to the homeland," after the establishment of the province, the name of Xinjiang was uniformly used, and the other names used before were abolished, which really has a profound meaning: it has the commemorative significance of recovering lost land; it has the commemorative significance of expelling foreign invaders. Therefore, in the minds of the people of all ethnic groups in our country who love the motherland, the name Xinjiang is indeed a very good name and a monument of historical significance.
Three
Tsarist Russia and Britain were not reconciled to the failure of their aggressive activities in Xinjiang. After the establishment of Xinjiang As a province, they also carried out aggressive and subversive activities on many occasions, all of which ended in shameful failures. In order to cooperate with its political and military aggression, the Russian and British invaders also carried out rampant cultural aggression against Xinjiang. Falsifying history, provoking national relations in our country and vainly attempting to undermine the unity of our country are their usual tricks.
The royal "scholars" of Tsarist Russia and Britain, and their trusted lackeys, are a striking example of the sinister distortion of the name Xinjiang. They say something nonsense: "Eastern Turkistan (i.e., Xinjiang) has been an independent country since ancient times, and it has only become a colony of the Qing Dynasty since the Qing Dynasty occupied Xinjiang. "Because it was a newly occupied place by the Qing Dynasty, it was called Xinjiang." The fabrication and dissemination of such demagogic rumors is not due to total ignorance of historical knowledge, but to the machinations of aggression and expansion.
As far back as BC, Xinjiang became part of China's territory. Although there have been some local regimes in Xinjiang that have been divided for a while in history, reunification has always been the mainstream of historical development. The Qarakhanid Dynasty, which existed for more than two centuries, was a local regime whose successive Khans (kings) were preceded by the names of "peach blossom stones" (meaning China), and at that time they also divided China into three parts: the areas under the jurisdiction of the Southern Song Dynasty were called Upper China; the areas under the jurisdiction of the Khitans were called Central China; and the areas under the jurisdiction of the Qarakhanid Dynasty were called Lower China. This historical example is enough to show that even under the historical conditions of the division of the country at that time, the Qarakhanid Dynasty considered itself to be part of China.
China has been a unified multi-ethnic country since ancient times, and in the long course of historical development, the close political, economic and cultural ties between the peoples of all ethnic groups in our country have created a solid relationship of mutual help and interdependence. Among the contradictions in our modern history, the contradiction between imperialism and the Chinese people of all nationalities is the most important contradiction. As a result of the aggression of the capitalist powers, the various minority nationalities in our country, which are located on the frontier, are the first to suffer from it, and in order to resist the aggression and defend the country, the people of all nationalities in our country have formed a close relationship of breathing and sharing a common destiny.
Xinjiang has been part of China's territory for more than 2,000 years. This is an ironclad objective fact, like the sun and the moon, the rivers and rivers, which cannot be erased by any rumor. All the rumors fabricated by foreign colonists and their lackeys on the word Xinjiang are in vain in the end, which can only show that their hard work is getting worse and worse.
In the early Qing Dynasty, the military and political leaders of Xinjiang, General Ili, ruled a much larger area than Xinjiang is now, because 510,000 square kilometers of land were occupied by Tsarist Russia. Lands that have been usurped under unequal treaties, which we recognize are fait accomplis created historically. But as a historian, of course, we still have to talk about this history of aggression, because it exists objectively.
……
Four
The two veteran colonists, Russia and Britain, made a big fuss about Xinjiang in order to piece together the ideological weapons for opening up colonies, which has long been a well-known thing. What is particularly appalling is that in the 1980s, in the books and periodicals of a great power, this rumor, which has long since been ruined, was still being repeated endlessly, and how can it not be thought-provoking? History is a great teacher, and the people of all nationalities in China have accumulated rich experience in the anti-imperialist struggle for more than a hundred years, and have learned enough about the fallacies of the aggressors. Time has passed, and today is not what it used to be, and the rumor family should understand that the fallacy of aggression, which could not be sold at all in old China, had no market at all in new China.