Many people may not know much about this. As we all know, the island of Taiwan was occupied by Zheng Chenggong for a period of time during the Qing Dynasty, and was later recovered by Shi Lang and officially incorporated into the territory. However, within the territory of the Qing Dynasty, there was an island that was larger and more mysterious than the island of Taiwan.
Although the island was incorporated during the Qing Dynasty, in practice the Qing court had very loose jurisdiction over it. The inhabitants of the island only need to pay tribute to the capital every year. With the changes of the times, foreign invaders took a fancy to this island, which was far away from the Central Plains, and coveted it repeatedly. Due to the decline of the Qing Dynasty's national power, it finally allowed foreign tribes to forcibly occupy this territory.
This island has witnessed the continuation of Chinese civilization in the remote cape, and also carries a painful history of land separation. Now it has been accepted as a copyright by foreigners, but on this island that once belonged to the motherland, there are still indelible traces of China. Which big island is it that let's go over and relive this humiliating history?
The history of Sakhalin's ownership
For 5,000 years, China has been divided and divided countless times, but the land that has been condensed by the blood and sweat of our ancestors has never been easily ceded to foreign people. Even that distant Sakhalin Island, in the long river of magnificent history, is sometimes shrouded in the shadow of the descendants of Yan and Huang.
Dating back to the Tang Dynasty, Sakhalin had been officially incorporated into the territory of the Central Plains Dynasty. At that time, the Tang army marched eastward and pointed its sharp mangs directly at the Japanese archipelago, and Sakhalin Island was naturally included in the territory of the subject countries. Although it is far away from the Central Plains, the Tang people have good governance, and the life of fishing, hunting, surveying and emptying on the island is orderly, and at the same time, it has also established a book and household registration for the people on the island, and the islanders have become a member of the Chinese nation.
After Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan dynasty, unified the world, the jurisdiction of Sakhalin was institutionalized. The Mongol cavalry gradually penetrated deep into Sakhalin, set up guards on the island, and garrisoned the garrison. The Mongols were also keenly aware of the potential of this vast island, and they incorporated the island's rich forest resources into the tax system, collecting mink from Sakhalin as a tribute every year. It can be seen that Sakhalin had become a territory in the true sense of the word during the Yuan Dynasty.
In the Ming Dynasty, the Han rulers paid more attention to Sakhalin. When Zheng He made seven voyages to the West, he personally led a fleet of ships across the ocean, arrived at the northern tip of Sakhalin Island, and erected a boundary monument for the island. After that, the Ming court set up a military town on Sakhalin Island, which was defended by thousands of permanent officers and soldiers. It was a major event of pioneering spirit and military strategic significance at that time.
By the Qing Dynasty, Sakhalin was given the exalted status of "the easternmost point of Chinese territory". Emperor Qianlong attached great importance to the ownership of Sakhalin Island in the imperial tour, calling Sakhalin "owned by the Celestial Empire". In order to highlight Dili, Qianlong Lao'er specially erected a stone tablet with his name on the island to show the sovereignty of Sakhalin Island.
It can be seen that although Sakhalin Island is geographically far away from the hinterland of the Central Plains, since the Tang Dynasty, successive central dynasties have regarded it as a sacred and inviolable territory, and have put various jurisdictions on it, and the remains of Chinese culture on the island still exist today. It was not until the middle of the Qing Dynasty that this island, which had been outlined by the Great Wall of China, became a bargaining chip for others to carve up.
The Qing Dynasty had loose jurisdiction over Sakhalin
Throughout the thousands of years of Chinese history, the imperial dynasty has always had a relaxed attitude towards the frontiers far from the Central Plains. Sakhalin, as a remote island, was even more so under the rule of the Qing court. Although the Qing Dynasty advocated "Sakhalin as a subordinate", in practice its jurisdiction over the island was very lax.
According to Qing historical records, the Qing court's management of the inhabitants of Sakhalin was limited to sending officials to the island every year to "collect tribute and reward" them. In other words, as long as the Fiyaka people of Sakhalin paid the required tribute on time, the Qing court did not exercise too much restraint and ignored the ecological and cultural order on the island.
Regarding this "tribute" system, there was a clear provision during the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty: "If the Kukha Feiyaka people who live on the island pay tribute mink, the three surnamed deputy capital commanders Yamen will send officers and soldiers to the agreed Qiji Kashan to collect tribute mink and reward Wulin." If they do not come to the agreed place, they will be ordered to seek the island, summon them to come, collect mink skins, and award Ullin. ＂
It can be seen that the Qing Dynasty's jurisdiction over Sakhalin was nothing more than a requirement for the islanders to pay annual tribute as a sign of submission. As soon as the islanders refused to pay tribute, officers and soldiers were sent to "summon them to come". In addition, the Qing court never exercised effective control over Sakhalin's internal affairs, and the island's production, life, and social order were all dependent on the islanders.
It is not difficult to see that this is a very lax and unpopular way of governing. The reason why the Qing Dynasty was like this was that Sakhalin Island was far away from the Central Plains and was located in a remote area, which made it quite inconvenient to travel back and forth. For a long time, the imperial court did not have time to take care of this small island, let alone send special personnel to be stationed on it for a long time, and a high degree of autonomy almost became the status quo of Sakhalin.
Even so, the islanders are still diligent in their work and live a subsistence life of fishing and hunting. They have their own unique management system, which follows the life etiquette of their ancestors and is in order. It can be said that this situation of loose jurisdiction has enabled Sakhalin to maintain its original life and culture and prevent it from being impregnated by foreign cultures.
However, this kind of negligent supervision far from the central government has caused a fatal hidden danger in the Age of Discovery. The greedy attention of the powerful countries to the overseas territories soon plunged the Pure Land into a crisis of partition. The decline of the Qing dynasty's power caused it to retreat in the face of foreign invasions, and eventually had to be slaughtered.
It was precisely because of the Qing court's overly careless management of Sakhalin that the root cause of the loss of land was sown in the future. Sakhalin's fall victim to the partition of the Central Plains by foreign nationalities was a complete failure of foreign policy on the part of the Manchu Qing dynasty, the last dynasty to divide the Central Plains.
Foreign invasions and land cessation
Although the Qing Dynasty exercised loose jurisdiction over Sakhalin, it was still de jure Chinese territory. However, as the times changed, the Western powers became increasingly ambitious in their colonial expansion, and they soon set their greedy eyes on the rich island.
Back in 1742, Russian explorers discovered the existence of Sakhalin. At that time, Tsarist Russia was in the golden age of territorial expansion, and naturally coveted this fertile island. Soon, Russia began to occupy the Chinese territory.
In 1803, for the first time, Tsarist Russia sent warships to Sakhalin Island and set up its own flag and outpost on the island. For decades, the Russian army has continued to expand its military facilities on the island in an attempt to completely occupy this territory. And the Qing Dynasty, which was declining due to its military strength, had no power to fight back, even if it had the intention to recapture Sakhalin.
It was not until 1855 that Russia completely declared Sakhalin Island as its own, naming it "Sakhalin". They drove out Chinese fishermen on the island and violently colonized the overseas territory by force. Although the Manchu government protested several times, it was to no avail.
Just when the Chinese government had no choice but to invade Russia, Japan was also eyeing Sakhalin Island. In 1905, the Russian-Japanese War began, and the Russian army fell under the Japanese offensive, and Japan took the opportunity to occupy Sakhalin Island in the north. At this point, the Chinese-owned island was completely reduced to a foreign colony.
During the decades of secession, foreign colonists ruthlessly drove and plundered the Chinese on Sakhalin. They have taken large tracts of land for themselves, leaving the island's fishermen without land to farm, depriving them of their livelihood. The Russians even built a large-scale prison on the island, where resisting Chinese were imprisoned and tortured.
What is even more odious is that the colonists turned a blind eye to all the remnants of Chinese culture on the island and allowed them to be destroyed and destroyed. The stone carvings of the Qianlong Imperial Book were arbitrarily defaced and destroyed, and the village monuments no longer existed. They generalized all the historical relics on the island in an attempt to completely erase the Chinese imprint of Sakhalin.
It was not until the middle of the 20th century that the Chinese and Russian governments reached an agreement on sovereignty over Sakhalin, and the island was finally settled and "legitimately" occupied by Russia. Regrettably, however, the Chinese government was in a difficult period of internal and external troubles, and had no time to care about the survival of this remote overseas territory.
After a hundred years of humiliation, Sakhalin Island has basically disappeared from the traces of Chinese culture. The territory that once belonged to the Motherland can now only be divided into "Russian territorial waters" by foreigners. One can't help but feel nostalgic for the sad history of the Qing Dynasty's shrinkage and weakening, allowing foreigners to wantonly invade China's territory.
There are remnants of Chinese culture on the island
Although Sakhalin is now occupied by foreigners and has become the territory of others, this place that once belonged to the territory of China still retains an indelible mark of Chinese culture.
The most significant is the stone carving of the imperial book of the Qianlong Emperor. In 1786, when Emperor Qianlong read the book "Brief Notes on Siam", he had a deep understanding of the belonging status of Sakhalin, so he personally inscribed the couplet "Haibo Zhizhi Si has the most, and the heavenly empire is magnificent", and instructed craftsmen to engrave on the island to show the empire's sovereignty over Sakhalin. Although the stele was defaced and destroyed during the foreign colonial period, it still stands in the village of Ao Luo Nuze at the northern tip of Sakhalin Island, indicating that it was once the territory of the Qing Dynasty.
In addition, the island's toponymic system also retains traces of Chinese Chinese dialects. For example, the Russian transliteration of the word Sakhalin is "Sakhalin", which is similar to the sound of "Giliya" in the mouths of the local population. There are also many of the island's mountain and river names, which can be etymically traced in the Sakhalin dialect. This undoubtedly proves that Chinese civilization has also left a deep imprint on this remote overseas region.
The living customs of the inhabitants of Sakhalin are filled with a strong Chinese cultural atmosphere. Historians have found that there are many living rituals and village layouts on the island, which are very similar to Chinese mainland. For example, when building a house, the Sakhalin people paid attention to the layout of the "quadrangle", and the main gate should be facing the main road; During the New Year's Festival, there is a habit of keeping the New Year and burning money, which is no different from rural China.
Even some extremely subtle details of life can see the shadow of Chinese culture from it. For example, the harpoons made by fishermen on the island are also modeled after the practices of Chinese mainland. The Sakhalin people also retained the ancient way of making fires, using two pieces of wood rubbing to burn for warmth. These Lingnan customs prove that the inhabitants of Sakhalin were descendants of the Chinese people in those days.
All of this shows that Sakhalin is by no means a strange place that has nothing to do with China. Obviously, hundreds of years ago, there was a spark of Chinese civilization here, and the Chinese took root on the island and formed their own unique living habits. This long-standing cultural gene, even if it is invaded and colonized by foreign races, will eventually be difficult to completely eradicate.
It is precisely because of the profound Chinese cultural heritage left on Sakhalin Island that this former territory of China, although once occupied by foreigners, still has a strong Chinese flavor. The stone carvings, place names, and folk customs on the island are like a mirror, reflecting the graceful figure of Chinese civilization in this remote cape. Only because of the withering of the imperial court's military strength did this territory be reluctantly divided and occupied by foreigners, so that Chinese culture in Sakhalin Island showed a scene of rupture and remnants.
China's historical claim to sovereignty over Sakhalin
Throughout history, the Chinese government's claim to sovereignty over Sakhalin has been unswerving. Although this territory was once occupied by foreigners, China has lodged resolute protests and claims on it at different times.
Dating back to the end of the Qing Dynasty, this is the case. In 1875, Russia began to colonize Sakhalin, driving out local fishermen and opening mines. Ding Ruchang, the commander of the Beiyang Navy at that time, immediately filed a grievance with the imperial court on the Russian occupation of Sakhalin. The imperial court also responded, ordering that "the island should be deported by Russians".
However, at that time, the Qing court, which was mired in internal and external troubles, had no time to care about the survival of Sakhalin. Over time, Russia's influence on the island gradually expanded, and what was once a Chinese territory eventually became a Russian colony.
Even during the Republican period, the Nationalist Government did not abandon the sovereignty of Sakhalin. In 1932, Wang Rongbao, then consul of the Harbin Embassy in Russia, made representations to the Soviet and Russian governments over the Russian occupation of Sakhalin Island, demanding that Russia return this territory that originally belonged to China. However, due to the disparity in strength, the negotiations were ultimately in vain.
Until the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in 1945, the government of the liberated areas also made many representations with the Soviet representatives on the issue of the ownership of Sakhalin Island. During this period, Premier Zhou Enlai personally made a statement in 1949 on China's sovereignty over Sakhalin, demanding that the Soviet Union unconditionally return Sakhalin. However, due to the constraints of the situation at the time, the matter was not fully implemented in the end.
Since entering the People's Republic of China, the Chinese Government has never given up its insistence on sovereignty over Sakhalin. In 1951, when Premier Zhou Enlai signed a treaty with the Soviet Foreign Minister, he once again made solemn representations on the ownership of Sakhalin Island. However, due to the special diplomatic relations between China and the Soviet Union during the honeymoon period at that time, the two sides were ultimately unable to achieve a breakthrough on the Sakhalin issue.
Until the 80s of the 20th century, with the growth of national strength and the increase of diplomatic discourse, China put forward the idea of negotiating with the Soviet Union on the Sakhalin issue. Finally, in 1991, China and Russia signed a joint statement confirming that Sakhalin Island is under Russian sovereignty.
Looking at the sovereignty dispute over the past century, it can be seen that China has never turned a blind eye to the sovereign status of Sakhalin. At different times, the Chinese government has lodged protests and representations with foreign occupiers on this issue. It is only due to the lack of national strength and the limitation of the diplomatic environment that it has not been able to use force to win over it.
end
In the end, in order to seek the overall situation of foreign-related relations, the new Chinese government could only make concessions on the sovereignty issue and permanently cede the territorial rights of Sakhalin to Russia. Although this is a helpless move, it also reflects the rational and pragmatic attitude of the Chinese Government on the issue of territorial disputes.