【Extended reading】Tubert, the commander of the Xibo Battalion of the Great Qing Dynasty (1755-1823)
Tibetan (1755-1823), nicknamed Tukshan (Xibe for calf), Illarishi. Qianlong was born on the eighth day of the first month of May in the twentieth year of Qianlong (1755) in a Richie on the outskirts of Jianjing (present-day Shenyang). Qianlong was born on the eighth day of the first month of May in the twentieth year of Qianlong (1755) in a Xibe family on the outskirts of Shengjing (present-day Shenyang).
【About Tibet】
Tibet was an outstanding historical figure among the Xibe people. His life and deeds are well known among the Xibe people and have been passed down from generation to generation.
In 1755 (the twentieth year of Qianlong), the Qing government, after quelling the rebellion of the Dzungar leaders, then quelled the rebellion of The Great and The Great and Zhuo in southern Xinjiang. In 1762, the General's Mansion was established in Ili to rule Xinjiang (which at that time included the area south of Lake Balkhash). At this time, the Qing government was garrisoned in Xinjiang by Manchu, Han, Mongolian and Solun officers and soldiers. However, it is still felt that there are insufficient troops. Therefore, in 1764 (the twenty-ninth year of the Qianlong Dynasty), at the beginning of the fourth lunar month, the Qing government decided to transfer 1,020 Xibe officers and soldiers from Shenyang, Kaiyuan, Yizhou, Fengcheng, Xiongyue, Fuzhou, Jinzhou, Jinzhou, Xiuyan, Guangning, UglyZhou, Xingjing, Niuzhuang, Haicheng, Fushun, songlingzi and other seventeen cities and towns under Shengjing, including Shenyang, Kaiyuan, Yizhou, Fengcheng, Xiongyue, Fuzhou, Xiuyan, Guangning, UglyZhou, Xingjing, Niuzhuang, Haicheng, Fushun, and Songlingzi, and a total of 3,275 people with their families, to garrison the Ili area of Xinjiang to strengthen the defense of the Great Northwest.
【Life of Tibet】
On the 18th day of the 18th lunar month, thousands of Xibe men, women and children gathered together for a picnic outside the Beibaoguan Gate in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, northeast China, outside the Beibaoguan Gate. In this crowd of sorrows and joys, there is a teenager who is ten years old, physically strong, intelligent and clever, and is also ready to go with his parents. His nickname was Tu Keshan (Manchu: cow calf meaning), his scientific name was Tubert, his surname was Ilari, and he was born in the Xibe village tunli on the northern outskirts of Shenyang in the first eight days of May 1755. A few days ago he was still a naughty boy who herded cattle on the hillside with a group of teenagers, and today he will also go west with the army to guard the western gate of the motherland with his fathers.
The westward-adjusted team set off in two groups. The first group departed on April 10, 1764, arrived at Lucaogou on July 20 of the following year, the second group departed on April 19, 1764, and arrived at Lucaogou on July 22 of the following year. They all spent the winter at the foot of the north mountain northwest of Lucaogou. The place where they lived is still called "Xibotu" (that is, the meaning of the place where the Xibe people lived). For example, "Xibotu" in the northwest direction of Erdun County in Tacheng District, "Xibodu" in the upper reaches of the Irtysh River, etc., also mean this.
【History of Tibet】
In 1766 (the thirty-first year of Qianlong), on the first lunar month of the lunar calendar, the Xibe soldiers and civilians were transferred by the Ili general Mingrui to the south bank of the Ili River (that is, present-day Qabchar Xibo Autonomous County). Due to the death on the way, the number was greatly reduced, so the ten Zalans of the Xibo battalion in the western adjustment were reduced to six niulu (Manchu arrow meaning, the grass-roots organization of the integration of military and government under the Eight Banners system of the Qing Dynasty). In the thirty-second year of Qianlong, two banners were added, a total of eight banners, forming eight cattle records of the Xibo battalion. The Tibetan family was incorporated into the Zhenglan Banner.
At that time, the south bank of the Ili River was still a wilderness, and only next to the water streams in places such as Hojigelbrak (the site of present-day Jinquan Commune) and Hainuk, there were temples of the Dzungar era, ruins of palaces, and a small number of acres of land cultivated by Taranchi. The Xibe battalion chose a cultivatable area along the south bank of the river and settled down.
When the Xibe moved west to Ili, the Qing government promised to return to their original homeland after sixty years. After more than thirty years, all indications are that returning to one's place of origin after sixty years is a big hoax. This deception has been discovered by the Xibe people. Therefore, in order for the continued survival of the nation and the eternal defense of the sacred frontier of the motherland, in the long-term interests, they dredged a large canal in the Dzungar era that was more than one hundred and eighty miles long, that is, the Qihe Erdu, or Qihuo Luo Canal, to divert water to the fields. Because the large area of land along the canal is "the north of the canal is passed, worrying about no field, the south of the canal is blocking the cliff, and the problem is in the lack of water", so only more than 10,000 acres of land have been opened. By this time, the population of the Xibo camp had multiplied to more than 7,000 people, and it was no longer enough to meet the needs of rations by relying on more than 10,000 acres of land. The only way before the officers and men of the Xibe nationality is to open separate canals, expand the area of cultivated land, and develop agricultural production in order to maintain the livelihood of the whole clan. However, there are those who do not see this situation clearly and naively believe in false promises to return to their places of origin in sixty years.
【Tibetan Achievements】
After more than thirty years, The Tibetans who came west with the army at the age of ten have already grown up. By this time he was forty-seven years old. From the age of eighteen, Tibetan took the exam and became a man in armor (the Manchu name is Wuksin, the general name of the Manchurian soldiers). Because he was diligent in Niulu, he studied hard in normal times, paid attention to the study of history and geography, and engaged in farming in his spare time, so he gradually rose from the leader, defense, collar, and deputy general manager to the general manager of the Xibo battalion step by step.
Decades of life in the barracks tempered Tibet and enabled him to observe the situation with the keen eye of a statesman. With a scientific attitude, he analyzed and studied the terrain, soil and other self-heating conditions south of the Ili River. At that time, the situation in the Qabqar region was that there was no other source of water that could be used to irrigate the fields except for the few dozen springs and the flash floods in summer. Spring water and mountain floods cannot meet the needs of production. Proceeding from this actual situation, Tibet first listened to the opinions of the people, traveled to all places south of the Ili River, tried all kinds of soils, and chose the route of repairing canals, and finally made up its mind to adopt the opinions of the masses of the people, build water conservancy projects, and reclaim land for the benefit of future generations.
【Tibetan Contribution】
Tibet's predecessors, who had tried to open channels many times in the past, failed due to poor terrain selection, poorly organized plans, and especially due to disagreement within the bureaucracy. Therefore, when they heard the news that Tibet was about to build water conservancy again, the officials headed by the deputy governor Solday, who represented the interests of the Xibe ruling class, rushed to oppose it and wrote to General Ili to frame the governor of Tibet. But the visionary general manager of Tibet has the support of the masses of the people. He rightly and boldly appealed to the Ili general Songjun the great significance of building water conservancy and reclaiming land to defend the area around Gong and improving the people's livelihood, and guaranteed the completion within seven years with the guarantee of the nine ethnic groups, thus obtaining the consent of the general Songjun. In 1802 (the seventh year of Jiaqing), the thirty-seventh year after the Xibe people moved west to Ili, the Qabchar Canal was officially excavated in the tenth month of the lunar calendar.
The Qabchar Canal was dug into the Qabchar Pass and diverted the Ili River to the south. The canal repair project is very arduous. At that time, the total population of the Xibe ethnic group was more than seven gan people. In the absence of labor and the arduousness of the project, Tibet decided to divide the four hundred laborers of the eight cattle into two brigades, change the work in stages in the spring and autumn, and adopt the method of digging canals and planting land at the same time. In doing so, he not only solved the problem of testing the waters of the channel, but also solved the problem of rations for the labor force. After the excavation of the canal began, Tibetans personally came to the site. He commanded the labor during the day, and at night led some of the clerks, surveyed the terrain with incense, nailed the school, marked the route of the channel to be excavated the next day, and fought with everyone day and night, without fatigue. The masses witnessed The Tibetans were open and selfless, and they did not hesitate to work hard, and they were even more energetic. Under the leadership of The Tibetans, the Xibe soldiers and civilians made concerted efforts and after hard work, they finally dug into the Qabchar "Great Canal" in 1808 (the thirteenth year of Jiaqing), with a depth of one zhang, a width of one and two inches, a width of three zhang, and a length of more than 200 miles from east to west.
【Tibetan Exploits】
As soon as the canal was completed, the people rejoiced and the enthusiasm for production was very high, and soon 78,704 mu of land was reclaimed, which has increased year by year since then, and more than 200,000 mu of farmland has been reclaimed today. At this time, several cattle that lived along the south bank of the Ili River also moved to the north and south banks of the Qabchar Canal and built castles to settle down. Since then, in a deserted field, there has been a thriving scene of villages facing each other and connecting strangers. With the continuous development of production, the harvest is harvested every year, which greatly improves the lives of the Xibe soldiers and civilians.
After the Ili general Song Jun reported the merits of Tibet to the Qing Emperor, the Qing Emperor was very appreciative, and in 1809, he made him enter the capital for a pilgrimage and drew the Purple Light Pavilion. When Tibet entered Beijing, he brought more than ten kinds of soils from the Qabchar region and introduced to the Jiaqing Emperor the nature and use of various soils, as well as the long-term plan for developing agricultural production in the Xibe camp.
【Later years of Tibet】
After the Hajj, Tibet returned to his hometown in the northeast and reported to the villagers on the situation in Ili. On his way back to Ili, he was appointed minister of the Tarbahatai Barium Brigade. The five years of Tibet's tenure at Baluk were also five years of building water conservancy and developing agricultural production. Later, due to overwork, he suffered from joint inflammation and limited mobility, so he left his post and returned to his hometown. In 1823 (the third year of Daoguang), Tibet died at the age of sixty-nine at the home of the Xibe camp Zhenghuangqi (i.e., Erniulu).
【Tibet Evaluation】
The Qabchar Canal is the lifeline of the Xibe people in Xinjiang. The Xibe people praise it, sing it, compare it to their own mother. In order to commemorate the merits of Tibet in advocating the opening of the canal, the Xibe people automatically established the "Tugongsheng Ancestral Hall", and also established the Tugongke Hall in places such as longkou and Qiniulu (the original hometown of Tibet) in the Qabchar Canal, and until the early liberation period, sacrifices were held every spring and autumn.
[References] 1. Commander of the Xibe Battalion: Tibet (1755-1823) . Xinjiang Xibe Language Society[Cited on 2015-02-25]
The documents are reproduced from Guan Xiaodong's column