For most of its rule, the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) - whose historical homeland was in Heilongjiang - enforced a policy that prohibited Chinese immigration and settlement and maintained the region's reputation as the Great Northern Wilderness. Covering the period between the reversal of the anti-immigration policy in 1900 and the Japanese annexation of Heilongjiang into their Manchuko state in 1931, this book investigates a territory undergoing rapid and sustained change, and adds to the on-going scholarly interest in border and frontier studies.