Antoine and historian's population moves from north to south

In the winter of 755 AD, An Lushan and his ministry Shi Siming launched alarge-scale rebellion, plunging the entire Yellow River into war. Althoughthe rebels were wiped out by the Tang Dynasty eight years later, the wounds ofwar caused by them will never be remedied. The ensuing large-scalepopulation movement once again saw areas outside the Central Plains as hopes ofescape.

1. The transition zone where the northerners moved southward was

close to the edge of the theater, and the disaster was basically avoided.

The Jiangbei region, mainly Huainan, did not belong to the war zone when theAnshi Rebellion broke out. Since the targets of the rebels were Shuo Fangand Guan Zhong, they could only launch small offensives with partialdivisions. Under the protection of Zhang Xun, the entire Jianghuai regionwas temporarily preserved. As a result, some northern refugees settledhere.

At that time, Huainan was the region with the most immigrants in eastern China,namely Yang and Hao. Next is the nearby Luzhou area. Because thereare canals connecting the Yellow River and the Huai River, immigration isrelatively convenient. This also caused Huainan to gather a large numberof southern refugees at several key moments in history for variousreasons. The internal complexity also covered almost all social classes atthe time.

Xiangyang has once again become a gathering place for northern refugees.

Located in the north of Hubei, west of the Jianghuai River, near Changan andLuoyang, it is a place where northern migrants are highlyconcentrated. History has repeatedly proven that Xiangzhou will be thecenter of most exiles. Xiangyang, the local administrative office, is theonly way out because it is located at the junction of the Han River andGuandao. However, unlike Huainan, most refugees choose to continue south,so the number of people who settle in the south is far less than Jingzhou.

Due to the dramatic increase in population, the court also established aspecial envoy in Jiangnan. In 760 AD, it established another Nam-gun andextended it to the Gangneung area.

Tang Xuanzong fled to Bashu

as far as the Bashu Basin in the southwest. Due to its long-term development,it has high agricultural production attributes. The three-layer basin-liketerrain of high school and junior high school also makes it an option for manyasylum seekers. When An Lushan and Shi Siming's army entered Guanzhong,Tang Xuanzong could only rush in with his family and officials. Before andafter, a large number of civilians fled to the southwest, forming a powerfularmy for a time.

Later, even if the royal family and officials returned to Beijing, many peoplestill chose to stay and settle. Similar incidents occurred during theHuang Chao Uprising in the late Tang Dynasty. Compared with many terraincomplex areas, the Central Plains is the place that attracts the most northernimmigrants. The capital Chengdu is also a major concentrationarea. Due to the overcrowdedness of the old city, Luo City wasspecifically built in the Tang Dynasty in 875, more than double the originalsize. Even Chongqing, the gateway to the east of the basin, has many newimmigrants.

Chengdu's Recovery Model in the Tang Dynasty

2.

Jiangnan, a region with a high concentration of refugees in thenorth, once again became a major gathering place for exiles.

As refugees crossed the Yangtze River, southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiangbecame more ideal gathering places. In particular, Zhenjiang, the capitalof the Tang Dynasty, Runzhou, was the main port where residents landed on thenorth shore. The population growth trend is very obvious. As aresult, the court once upgraded the state to Jiangning County. More peoplespread here through the entire Jiangdong area.

Located in the east of Taihu Lake, Suzhou is another important settlement forimmigrants. Refugees from the south make up a third of Wuxian where theylive, with more than 10 people. On the edge of Changzhou, due to theinflux of northerners and a large number of families working with people,Governor Fu Xiao was awarded the world's number one management position.

The restoration map of the ancient city of Suzhou is

in Yuezhou, south of the Qiantang River. Shangyu County has increased due to asudden increase in household registration. Hangzhou was not yet in thestatus of a city at the time. However, due to the rapid population growth,people spared no effort to develop wetlands along the Yangtze River, andeventually formed the capitals of Wu Yue and the Southern SongDynasty. The local population has increased by more than 14,000 householdsin a short period of time.

South Anhui, west of Jiangdong, rugged

As early as 669 AD, the "barbarians" in Zhangzhou, southern Fujian,began to fight the Tang Dynasty. Chen Zheng set out from his hometown ofHenan and was ordered to lead thousands of soldiers into southern Fujian tosuppress the rebellion. Later, his mother and brother led 58 militaryacademies to support him. After the matter subsided, Chen's children andtheir subordinates settled here. After the Anshi rebellion, a large numberof northerners moved to the area. In comparison, the migrant population inJianzhou and Quanzhou is much smaller.

Fewer refugees arrive in Guangzhou

Finally, the most reluctant area for refugees from the north isLingnan. Due to mountain obstacles and climatic differences, it has alwaysbeen considered a place full of radon. After the Anshi riots, the numberof people who entered the country voluntarily remained low, and most localimmigrants were criminals and demoted officials. Among them, Shaozhou hasthe most immigrants in Lingnan. Because it is close to Dakeng Ling, it isan important traffic route, so it is relatively easy to enter.

As for Hainan, which is also separated by the strait, there are not manymigrants traumatized by the war. The Tang Dynasty had almost nojurisdiction over these islands. Basically, it is better than nothing andhas become a paradise for spontaneous fugitives. Many local familiesgathered in Qiongzhou even became professional pirates, earning a living byplundering foreign merchant ships bound for Guangzhou.

Compared with the Yongjia Rebellion and Guanyi Dunan hundreds of years ago,this migration takes longer and has a wider geographical scope. Since theTang Dynasty never considered Jiangnan as its main military source, thepersonal burden of this wave of refugees was lighter than the originalancestors. It also allows them to integrate more quickly into local society,or in turn be influenced by indigenous peoples in their new homes. Afterthe Anshi Rebellion ended, the Tang Dynasty also organized many refugees toreturn to their original places and restore local production.

The southern line of the northern population during the Anshi Rebellion

4. North China's alternative route is

on the northern border, and the area controlled by the Khitan is also an optionfor refuge.

Of course, not all refugees can successfully reach the south. As theorigin of the Anshi Rebellion was close to the northern front, local residentswere also first affected by the war. Under the rule of Khitan, many peoplemoved north to northeast. This process did not stop until the middle ofthe Northern Song Dynasty.

This is mainly because An Lushan himself has a great relationship with Khitan,and there are many Khitan cavalry in his elite. When the war ended in thewest and south, their area of