The Comparative Study of Xinjiang’s Tuntian System before and after the Founding of the People’s Republic of China

Abstract

China’s frontier society is in the process of social transformation. Take Xinjiang as an example, there are two parallel governance modes: local governance and corps governance. The proposal of “the Belt and Road Initiative” strategy reshaped the shape and status of Xinjiang, and made Xinjiang a center of two-way opening to the outside world, which had a far-reaching impact on the stability and development of border areas. In this discourse situation, it is necessary to look at the diachronic changes around “the Belt and Road Initiative” in Xinjiang from the comparison of history and modernity. Taking wasteland as the breakthrough point, this paper discusses the influence of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps on Xinjiang’s modern social transformation in the ways of ethnic communication, regional development, world trade system, social domination, etc. by combing the comparison of Xinjiang’s wasteland and frontier defense, ethnic exchanges, agricultural development, trade and social development before and after the founding of the People’s Republic of China.