Spatial Change of Minqin Oasis in Gansu over the Last 2000 Years
近2000年来甘肃民勤盆地绿洲的空间变化

Minqin Basin was once a pastoral area for Hun people in Chinese Qin and Han dynasties 2000 years ago. Since the Hun people were banished and Minqin Basin became part of Han Dynasty, agricultural techniques were introduced. As a result, the quondam pastoral area evolved into an agricultural area gradually. With the acceleration of exploitation, great changes have taken place in the environment. Since then, the fecund land that was once suitable for cultivation and fishery became a scene of "deserts occupying 90% of the area" and "no irrigation, no planting". At present, Minqin Basin has become a typical example of environmental deterioration, and the sustainable development of this area is facing significant challenges. Based on a great many field investigations, the authors made use of integrated data, including historical literature, archaeology, remote sensing imageries and maps, collected extensively evolvement evidence of Minqin Basin about 2000 years ago, reconstructed and mapped the typical oasis distribution of historical times. The result shows that the exploitation of Minqin Oasis, which began in the Han Dynasty, brought prosperity in the Wei and Jin dynasties, declined from the Southern and Northern Dynasty to the Song and Yuan dynasties, rebounded in the Ming and Qing dynasties and reached a climax in modern times. As a whole, the spatial development of Minqin oasis experienced a transfer process from west to east.