The history of thousands of years of Chinese civilization is like a beautiful picture, and the territorial map of successive dynasties is the background of the scroll.
History has no shortage of pioneering and enterprising dynasties, and the soldiers are keen to open up the territory and pursue the division of the land and the marquis; There are also times when they are weak and powerless, unable to resist the invading forces of all parties, and have no choice but to give up or be forced to cede their original inherent territory.
Today, let's take a look at the territory from the heyday of history to the existing territory, which of the most unfortunate territories has the greatest impact on us now. (The territorial area of the Mongolian Yuan period is not considered, its peak territory is in the period of the Mongol Empire, not in the Yuan Dynasty period, the Yuan Dynasty established in the later period is short, and many territories have not been effectively controlled for more than 50 years, which cannot be counted according to current international law)
Schematic diagram of the evolution of the territory area of each dynasty
The more well-known loss of territory was mainly in the late Qing Dynasty. Before the Opium War, the peak territory of the Qing Dynasty was generally considered to exceed 13.5 million square kilometers on maps produced by Western countries, and about 4 million were lost after the invasion of Western powers in modern times.
Of course, in addition to those lost in the late Qing Dynasty, there are actually some traditional core territories in the history of the mainland that were lost earlier.
Map of the territory of the Han Dynasty
Map of the territory of the Tang Dynasty
From the map of the territory of the two most powerful dynasties in ancient times on the mainland, we can find that although these two dynasties have a lot of uncontrolled territory compared to the peak territory of the Qing Dynasty, three areas have long been lost.
The three regions are: North Korea (formerly Mizi Korea), Northern Vietnam and Central Asia.
Of the three territories, Vietnam had the longest actual control.
Historically, after the Qin Dynasty unified the world, it sent generals Tu Yu and Zhao Tuo to lead an army of 500,000 troops to pacify the Baiyue tribe in the region at that time, and established Guilin County, Xiang County, and Nanhai County, after which this area was included in the territory of the Central Dynasty for a long time and was long regarded as the core territory of the Central Plains.
Map of the three counties of Vietnam during the Han Dynasty
Vietnam began to break away from the rule of the Central Plains Dynasty at the end of the Tang Dynasty, when the Central Plains was in chaos and the clans and towns were divided. Qu Chengyu, the general of Jiaojiao County, took the opportunity to call himself the envoy of Jiedu, and the area began to become a town of the Jiedu Domain.
After the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, Vietnam had established an independent Dinh dynasty at that time, and took the initiative to submit to the Northern Song Dynasty and request canonization. Emperor Taizu of Song made his chief the Prince of Jiaojiao Commandery, recognizing the vassal status of Vietnam.
Emperor Taizong of Song wanted to take advantage of the internal strife of the Dinh dynasty to restore his homeland, but after two failed crusades, he had to recognize Annan as a "domain", and Vietnam officially broke away from the rule of the Central Plains.
During the reign of Emperor Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty, he briefly pacified Vietnam and brought it back under the rule of the Central Plains Dynasty. However, due to the ineffective corruption of the officials sent to govern, it quickly caused the Vietnamese people to revolt, and soon left again.
However, until the Qing Dynasty, China maintained clan relations with Vietnam until the 9th year of Guangxu, when the two countries signed a treaty after the outbreak of the Sino-French War, recognizing Vietnam as a French colony.
North Korea has the longest history and is also entangled in constant wars.
First, as far back as the Western Zhou Dynasty, most of Korea's territory was under the control of the Chinese regime. Initially, the remnants of the Shang Dynasty established power under the leadership of the nobleman Jizi, and by the end of the Qin Dynasty, the Qin State destroyed the Yan State, and the Yan people Wei Man fled to Jizi Korea, and Houwei Man staged a coup d'état to establish Wei's Joseon.
After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, Wei's Joseon continued to invade the Han Dynasty in the early stage due to the lack of national strength. When a generation of strongmen Han Wudi came to the throne, he immediately sent troops to destroy Wei's Joseon and set up four counties, covering 4/5 of the territory of the Korean Peninsula.
Four counties of Korea during the Han Dynasty
From then until the 400 years before the Wuhu Rebellion at the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, the Central Plains Dynasty held stable control of the northern part of the Korean Peninsula.
Second, in the more than 300 years from the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the early Tang Dynasty, the Goguryeo Kingdom in northern Korea arose, not only occupying 2/3 of the Korean Peninsula, but also expanding southwest until it completely occupied the Liaodong Peninsula.
During the reign of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, the Tang Dynasty eliminated the peninsula Goguryeo and Baekje and once again occupied 4/5 of the peninsula, and Silla in the southern part of the peninsula took advantage of the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty to expand north and occupy 2/3 of the territory of the Korean Peninsula. By the Song and Kim dynasties, the Goryeo Dynasty, the second great unified dynasty of the peninsula, had occupied 4/5 of the territory of the Korean Peninsula and was about to unify the entire peninsula.
Third, after the rise of the Mongols, they launched a large-scale conquest of Goryeo, changing it to a province of Dongxing, and Goryeo only controlled half of the territory of the peninsula. At the end of the Mongol Dynasty, Goryeo took the opportunity to expand again, not only recovering the lost territory occupied by the Yuan Dynasty, but also expanding northward.
By the time the Ming Dynasty was first established, Korea established the last great unified dynasty, the Yi Dynasty, and continued to attack north, eventually completely occupying the Korean Peninsula. By the time of the Kangxi Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, the two sides had drawn national boundaries, and the border between China and North Korea was basically stable.
Central Asia was first brought under control during the reign of Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty, when the Han Shuangbi continued to conquer the Xiongnu in the west. In 60 BC, the "Western Regions Protectorate" was established, effectively controlling the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, and the boundary line up to Lake Balkhash.
During the Tang Dynasty, when all nations came to the dynasty, the Tang Dynasty went one step further, establishing the "Anxi Dufu" and the "Beiting Dufu" in the west and north, and the territory of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions was further expanded to the Aral Sea.
Unfortunately, the good times did not last long, in 751 AD, the Arab Empire invaded during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, and the "Battle of Henros" broke out between the two sides, followed by the "Anshi Rebellion", and the Tang Dynasty finally lost, and then the Central Plains regime lost control of the Western Regions for thousands of years.
Until 1755 AD, during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the Dzungar was defeated, and the Ili general was established, and the territory was restored to Lake Balkhash, and the northern part reached the Tangnu Wuliang Sea.
In addition to the above three territories, which were lost in historical times, the rest of the territory was lost in the well-known late Qing period, nearly 4 million territories, basically lost in all directions.
Among them, Tsarist Russia caused the largest loss of territory, directly cutting off more than 1.5 million northeast and northwest by treaty, plus the loss of Outer Mongolia and the Tangnu Wuliang Sea, due to the invasion of Tsarist Russia (Soviet Union), resulting in the loss of more than 3.6 million square kilometers of territory on the mainland.
In summary, the territories in which the mainland has lost control are divided into directions: 1. Outer Northeast and Sakhalin Island including northern Korea, 2. Outer Mongolia and Tangnu Wuliang Sea in the north, 3. Central Asia in the northwest, 4. Arunachal Pradesh in the southwest occupied by India and southern Tibet under actual control, Kachin State in Burma by Britain with the "McMahon Line", 5. northern Vietnam in the south and islands and reefs invaded by Southeast Asian countries, 6. the Ryukyu Islands in the east and Taiwan Province that has not yet been recovered.
So which part of these territorial controls has the greatest impact on the continent now?
Modern society is a sea power society, and sea power is particularly important for a country. Thus, although the loss of territory in the north and northwest is greater, it is far less far-reaching than the loss of territory in the northeast, east and south coastal areas.
Even now, although the disputed territory with India in the southwest is larger, the country's center of gravity has always been Taiwan Province in the east and the islands and reefs in the south.
1. The impact of the loss of control of the Outer Northeast and Northern Korea: The invasion of the Outer Northeast not only caused the mainland to lose a large area of territory, lakes, rivers, forests, and rich underground resources. The outer northeast region is extremely rich in biological resources, fishery resources, oil and gas resources, etc.
More importantly, the loss of the outer northeast and northern Korea has caused the mainland to lose a large area of sea, since then the mainland has no territorial waters in the North Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk, and the Sea of Japan, and the entire northeast region has no access to the sea.
2. The loss of Ryukyu and the impact of Taiwan Province's failure to recover it:
Ryukyu had several opportunities to be brought under the control of the mainland, but unfortunately they were missed for various reasons.
At present, the Ryukyu Islands and the Taiwan Islands constitute the "first island chain" that blocks the mainland navy, firmly locking in the mainland's navy's march toward the blue ocean, and is the biggest threat to the mainland's current territorial security and stability.
3. Loss of control in northern Vietnam and the impact of the occupation of islands and reefs in the South China Sea:
If northern Vietnam is still under control, the Gulf of Tonkin is the inland sea of the mainland, and the development of Guangxi Province will not be stuck in the shape of a coastal province.
Vietnam is still the country that has invaded the most mainland islands and reefs, and the South China Sea is rich in resources, especially oil and gas resources, known as the "second Persian Gulf". However, due to disputes with neighboring countries, coupled with too long distance, and insufficient control power, it has not been able to achieve any development, but has been continuously stolen by other countries.
If northern Vietnam remains, it will undoubtedly greatly reduce the distance from mainland influence to the South China Sea, better resolve disputes in the South China Sea, develop and manage the South China Sea at an early date, optimize the mainland's energy structure, and ensure the mainland's energy security.
Every territory is hard-won, it is the price of the blood of the martyrs, and the loss of every territory makes our hearts ache.
At present, we must remember history, remember that backwardness means being beaten, be self-reliant and self-reliant, cherish and protect our existing territory, and ensure our territorial security. #History#