Northern Song’s Policies on the Tribes of Cheng and Hui Prefectures during Emperor Zhezong’s Period: Rethinking the “Land Abandonment” and “Opening of the Frontier” Issues

This study builds on existing research to verify the existing interpretation of the policy towards the tribes of Cheng and Hui prefectures during Emperor Zhezong’s reign. The results show that the abolition of several fortresses near the Cheng prefecture actually occurred in the third year of Yuanyou (1088), not in the third year of Yuanfu (1100). However, in the first year of Yuanfu, the Cheng prefecture was still not rebuilt, suggesting that “opening of the frontier” was not carried out in the Cheng and Hui prefectures during the Shaosheng and Yuanfu eras. In comparison with the northwestern border area, “land abandonment” appeared in both areas during the Yuanyou period, but unlike the northwest border, there was no “opening of the frontier” in the Cheng and Hui prefectures between the Shaosheng and Yuanfu periods. While the concept “land abandonment” may appear to be an ideological thesis, its implementation in practice may vary depending on factors such as strategic judgments about the region, historical events, and the degree of Sinicization. Moreover, the impeachment of Yuanyou’s “abandoning the land” theorists can also be seen as a reflection of the New Policies Party’s attitude towards “opening of the frontier” in the early Shaosheng period. However, the cases of the Tangut Xia and Qingtang show that the “opening of the frontier” could not only be a unilateral intention, but also had to take into account the counterpart’s attitude towards the Song dynasty and its internal situation. Since the Yang family of the Cheng and Hui prefectures maintained a pro-Song stance, at least during the Shaosheng and Yuanfu years, the Song dynasty expected them to become another Zhe family of the Fu prefecture, and thus the “opening of the frontier” did not occur.