Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 7, 2024

 

The Geo-Structural Transformation of Ancient Chinese Agrarian and Nomadic Societies and the Construction of a Great Unified State

(Abstract)

 

Liu Zhuangzhuang

 

In the Han and Tang dynasties, intensive farming, overburdened animal husbandry, and changes in natural environment made it difficult for strong nomadic powers to emerge in the north and south of Yinshan after the mid-Tang period. Meanwhile, after years of cultural integration and joint development by various ethnic groups, the northern and southern areas of Yanshan became the new political center for northern nomadic regimes. As the nomadic political center shifted eastward, the political center of the agrarian societies of the Central Plains also proceeded eastward from the Guanzhong Plain to the Luoyang and Kaifeng areas. This created a geopolitical pattern of interaction and integration between agrarian and nomadic regimes, forming two successive north-south axes: “Yinshan-Guanzhong” and “Yanshan-Central Plains.” Under these two axes, successive dynasties explored the construction of a “great unified state,” encompassing both agrarian and pastoral regions. After the Liao Dynasty, the northern and southern parts of the Yanshan Mountains, situated in the transitional zone between agricultural and nomadic regions, became key areas for promoting integration and realizing the construction of a great unified state.