Migrations in Chinese History and Their Legacy on Chinese Dialects
中国历史上的移民及其方言的继承
Zhenhe Zhou 周振鹤

Abstract 摘要
The history of migrations in China has had a key effect on the formation and distribution of the Chinese dialects, and this has intrigued more and more linguists as well as historians. However, there has not been any intensive research on the relationship between migrations and dialects until recently. Aside from other reasons, an important one is the lack of research on the migrations history itself. Although numerous migrations of various scales occurred throughout history, they were always disregarded. Even for major migrations, what are left in the historical literature are scattered and oversimplified records. The difficulties in researching individual migration activities certainly complicate the study on migration history as a whole. Consequently, this paper devotes only to a sketchy description of the Chinese migration history, particularly migrations which are important for the development and evolution of Chinese dialects. A more comprehensive study will have to be pursued in the future.

The history of the Chinese migration can be traced back to the early Qin dynasty (211-207 B.C.). There are roughly two kinds of migrations: voluntary movements on the part of the people, and systematic immigration plans by the government. The former kind was mostly the result of wars, famine, or population expansion whereas the latter one was designed to fulfill certain political, military, or economic purposes. The directions in which all migrations took place were primarily from north to south, and east to west. Instances in which migrations occurred in opposite directions were rare. This characteristic gave birth to various southern dialects and the distribution of dialectal geography of modern dialects.