Tuntian

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Tuntian (屯田) or tunken (屯墾) was a type of frontier "military-agricultural colonies"^[1][2] in the history of China. Troops were sent to harsh landscapes at the Chinese frontier to turn uncultivated land into self-sustained, agrarian settler colonies. In other words, the soldiers doubled as farmers. The system was also adopted by other regimes throughout the Chinese cultural sphere.

The tuntian system or "Strategy of military farms" evolved during the famous victorious campaign of 61–60 BC by Zhao Chongguo [de] against the Qiang people.^[3]

While the tuntian system was made famous by Cao Cao's administration (c. 196–220 CE), Cao Cao's writings show that the system had been instituted as early as the Western Han dynasty during the reign of Emperor Wu (r.  141–87 BCE), where soldiers on distant expeditions were set to work converting and farming the conquered land, both to provide food for the army and to convert the conquered land into agricultural land.^[4] After the death of Emperor Wu, however, the system was only used sporadically and therefore less effectively.

The final years of the Eastern Han dynasty (c. 189–220 CE) witnessed great economic disruption and widespread devastation, particularly through the Yellow Turban Rebellion of 184 CE; agricultural production in particular was severely disrupted, and population movements from war-ravaged areas led to massive flows of refugees. It was under these circumstances that Cao Cao's use of the tuntian system made its impact on the economic revival of China after the damage suffered previously.

The mechanism of the 'civilian tuntian' system as implemented by Cao Cao had its basis in government organisation, encouragement and, to some extent, coercion. Peasants without land, refugees and soldiers were assigned to plots of land which they were to farm, while the implements required (such as ploughs and oxen) were provided by the government at a low price. In exchange for this, the peasant was to give over half of his harvest to the government.

The tuntian system had its origins in the military, and for much of the Han dynasty the land in question was farmed by soldiers on orders of the military authorities; in this case all of the crop harvested was to be kept by the military for supply uses, following the example set by Emperor Wu. Cao Cao's innovation was the introduction of the 'civilian tuntian' on a large scale both for common people and for soldiers during peacetime, whereby he successfully solved two great economic problems facing his administration: the large number of unemployed refugees, and the great tracts of land abandoned by big proprietors in the preceding chaos.

The tuntian system was to have far-reaching effects, both for Cao Cao himself and for the overall economy of China. Once the scheme had proven successful initially, Cao Cao wasted no time in extending the scheme to all areas under his control; as a result the positive effects of this organised farming was soon felt all over northern China, which he reunified.^{[citation needed]}

In the short-term, meanwhile, the tuntian system was also instrumental to the success of Cao Cao's campaigns, many of which were long-range offensives across the plains of northern China; with a massive and efficient agriculture to support his army, he was able to sustain these offensives and gain victory. Overall, the tuntian system, along with the repair of irrigation works, were among the foremost contributions of Cao Cao to the economy of the Han dynasty, and contributed to the enduring strength of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period.^{[citation needed]}

The tuntian in Ming dynasty had two variants, known as tunpu (屯堡) and weisuo (衛所制).^[5]

Tuntian was widely practiced to fight the Dungan Revolt (1862–1877).^[6]

Tuntian was known as tuanchang (团场, literally "Regiment farms"), a military-run polity established by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps since 1953. A large amount of other P&C Corps were established in 1968-1970 and all were disbanded by 1976.^[7]

The general concept of fully government-owned agricultural developments in the PRC is known as nóngkěn (农懇). A Ministry of Nongken [zh] is part of the State Council of the People's Republic of China during the periods of 1956–1970 and 1979–1982. It controlled state-owned farms including tuanchang. Nóngkěn in a broader sense would also include smaller-scale farms managed by government assets such as schools; these are outside of the Ministry's scope.^[8]

The term tuntian was adopted by other regimes in the Sinosphere, forming their own readings, some of which are Sino-Xenic.

The Han-led Kingdom of Tungning practiced a variant of the Ming-era tuntian system. The system was established by Koxinga immediately after landing in 1661 to supply his troops. Many places in southwest Taiwan retain their tuntian names.^[9]

The Sino-Vietnamese reading is đồn điền in Vietnamese. During the Nam tiến (March to the South), Khmer and Cham territory was seized and militarily colonised by the Vietnamese. The Nguyen Lords established đồn điền after 1790.^[10]

The South Vietnamese and Communist Vietnamese colonisation of the Central Highlands have been compared to the historic Nam tiến of previous Vietnamese rulers. The South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem sponsored colonisation of Northern Vietnamese Catholic refugees on Montagnard land. The now Communist Vietnamese government introduced to the Central Highlands of "New Economic Zones".^[11]

Tuntian is pronounced tonden as a Sino-Japanese word. It was most notably practiced during the Meiji Restoration in frontier Hokkaido under the name tondenhei ("tonden-soldiers").^[12]

The Sino-Korean reading of tuntian is dunjeon (or tunjŏn in the North Korean Romanization). Dunjeon was a core part of the Korean military supply and was notable in the following instances:

• During the Qing invasion of Joseon, at Namhansanseong. This system supported a population of 25,000, 10,000 of which were combatants.^[13]
• During the Imjin War, under Yi Sun-sin. He managed dunjeon both as part of his repeated demotion (due to court politics) and on his naval base of Hansando.^[14]

Places with a history of tuntian cultivation may be named after the practice.

• Tonden, Kita-ku, Sapporo [ja], Japan
• Higashi-Tondendori Station [ja], Chūō-ku, Sapporo, Japan
• Dunjeon station, Yongin, South Korea
• Tunjon station, South Hamgyong Province, North Korea

The following areas contain place names derived from a systematic tuntian designation:

• Various place names in Taiwan, under Koxinga's rule, commonly ending with 營 or 庄.^[15]
• Various place names in China, especially Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Heilongjiang.^[16]

Look up 屯田, 屯墾, or 农墾 in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Agriculture in China
• Economic history of China
• Theme (Byzantine district)

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (April 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

• Chen, Shou. Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi).
• Pei, Songzhi. Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi zhu).
• Sima, Guang. Zizhi Tongjian.