U569  Inner Modern Mongolia
Lecture, Tuesday, Week 1

 

  1. General Aims of Course
    1. Lectures and discussions
      1. Begins more as lecture>>more as discussion
    2. Readings
      1. Aims:  every reading is local, with first or second-hand Mongol voice
  2. What is Inner Mongolia?
    1. Is it the "Inner Rulers" (Dotoodu jasag) of autonomous Mongol duchies?
    2. Is it Inner Mongolia (the part of Mongolia left in China)?
    3. Is it the 3 Special Regions, or part of N. China (Huabei)
    4. Is it "South Mongolia"/Öbör Mongol?
    5. Is it an Autonomous Region of a People's China?
  3. Mountains, steppes, deserts, rivers
    1. Climate
      1. Wetter is northeast, drier in southeast
      2. Major desert areas:  Alashan, Ordos, Chakhar
      3. Rains in winter and late summer
      4. Heavy winds blowing southeast (wind erosion)
      5. Short growing season and water problem main limit to agriculture
    2. High Steppe
      1. Khinggan to E, Yinshan/Dalan Khar to SW, Hunshandake to S
      2. Dryness and coolness accentuated on high steppe
    3. Low steppe
      1. Manchurian plains
      2. Chakhar
      3. Suiyuan area
  4. Historical Demography
    1. Inner Mongolia always a transitional region
      1. Always semi-agricultural, semi-pastoral
      2. Always ethnographically mixed population
      3. Oscillates between Han/nomad (Mongol) dmoniance
    2. Han dynasty:  Hetao, Tümed Plain, Ordos settled, nomads driven north
    3. 100 A.D.-600 A.D., Han population declines, nomads move south
    4. 900-1368:  Kitans, Jurchens, Mongols rule IM, Han move north
    5. early Ming, controls Suiyuan, influx of Chinese and sedentary Mongols
      1. 1449 Tumu defeat:  "wild" Mongols flood south to Ordos, Kharachin
      2. Mongols in southeast and southwest ruling a Chinese sedentary pop.
    6. Qing:  1800:  2.15 million, 1.05 million Mongols