During the Han Dynasty, it was collectively called the Western Regions. Of course, the concept of the Western Region is much larger than that of Xinjiang, and the Western Region refers to the "westernmost territory". Together, it is called the area west of Yangguan and Yumenguan in Gansu, and the Western Region is established behind it, which governs 36 countries in the Western Region, so the Western Region has always been the territory of China.
At first, the Qing Dynasty called many places Xinjiang. In particular, some remote places, such as Wumeng area in Yunnan, Guzhou area in southeastern Guizhou and Jinchuan area in Dadu River in Sichuan, are all old areas of the Central Plains, but they are a little new to the royal family of the Qing Dynasty, so they are called Xinjiang. So there were four or five Xinjiang in Qing Dynasty.
The Qing Dynasty can be said to have unified Xinjiang, which was divided into two parts in the Qing Dynasty. The northern part is called the Hui part, and the southern part is called the quasi part, collectively referred to as the Hui part. The Qing Dynasty set up Ili generals here. Its management style is different from that of eighteen provinces in Central Plains. Xinjiang belongs to the special administrative region of the Qing Dynasty, which is similar to Tibet at that time, but its management has been strengthened a lot. It can be said that the Qing Dynasty made great contributions to this land.
Finally, Zuo entered Xinjiang, won the battle and recovered Xinjiang. After the war, he urged Zuojian Province to directly administer the northern and southern Tianshan Mountains. He said in the throne that Xinjiang was "forced by other ethnic groups and returned to its native land". The Qing government also realized the importance of strengthening the management of Xinjiang. 1884, when Xinjiang was established as a province, it meant returning to its native land. The name of this province can be said to have been forced out by the great powers.
Since then, the name of Xinjiang has been officially confirmed and has been used ever since.
Extended information Xinjiang: the settlement of more than 20 ethnic groups
In ancient times, Xinjiang was called the Western Regions. Historically, Xinjiang was a channel for the migration of Eurasian population and the exchange of civilizations between the East and the West. Thousands of years of historical development and civilization accumulation have made Xinjiang a historical and cultural treasure house with profound connotations.
The close relationship between Xinjiang and the Central Plains has a long history. At the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, the former Western Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions on 138. 10 1 years ago, the Western Han Dynasty stationed troops in Luntai, Quli and other places in the southern Tianshan Mountains and set up local officials. In the first 60 years, the Western Han Dynasty established the Western Regions Capital Protection House, which indicated that the Western Han Dynasty began to exercise state sovereignty in the western regions, and the western regions became an integral part of China's unified multi-ethnic country.
Xinjiang has been a multi-ethnic area since ancient times, and many tribes and nationalities have lived in Xinjiang in history. After a long historical development, with the migration of ethnic groups, there have been extensive contacts between ethnic groups, and then they have mixed, assimilated and merged with each other, which eventually led to the integration of some ancient ethnic groups into other ethnic groups due to division and decline, while some ancient ethnic groups have developed into modern ethnic groups through mutual integration.
After continuous migration and mobility, by the end of Qing Dynasty, there were 13 ethnic groups living in Xinjiang, including Uygur, Han, Kazak, Mongolian, Hui, Kirgiz, Manchu, Xibe, Tajik, Daur, Uzbek, Tatar and Russian. Han nationality is one of the ethnic groups who settled in Xinjiang earlier.
Today, there are 22 ethnic groups living in Hotan, including Uygur, Han, Hui, Kazak, Mongolian, Kirgiz, Xibe, Tajik, Uzbek and Tatar. Among them, Uighurs account for more than 96%, and Han, Hui and Tajik have become ethnic minorities.