Border Counties And The Frontier Strategy Of The Han Dynast

With the establishment of the Han Empire,a new ruling class emerged in the Central Plains(中原)regime,which shaped a new way of external security guarantee and also faced a new frontier situation in the north.Liu Bang(刘邦)’s war experience between the Warring States(战国),Qin and Chu was precipitated into a kind of strategic culture in the early han dynasty.Influenced by this,Liu Bang used the old thinking to deal with the new situation,causing the failure of the Han Army in the battle of Pingcheng(平城).The central government of han dynasty determined frontier defense as the leading strategy of frontier governance after the war.The essence of the frontier defense strategy is that the border counties bear the risk of war,and the border costs are mainly borne by the hinterland,thus the strategic position of the border counties is highlighted.On the other hand,the border counties could gain benefits from security,military achievements,business and political activities in the cause of the imperial border governance.The residents in the border areas also had the local awareness of"home is country".The border counties’ participation in the border governance was led by the state,and its internal driving factors could not be ignored.As it is adjacent to the border in three directions,dunhuang is a typical form of border counties.Studying dunhuang’s participation in western Regions affairs will help us to understand the status and role of border counties in the border governance system of han dynasty.The first reason for the han empire to govern the western regions was to guarantee the security of the Huaxia region,and secondly for the establishment of the rule of the"internally owned" countries,and it often reflected the desire to recruit "distant aliens"(远夷)as "foreign ministers"(外臣).In response to the special geographical environment of the Western Regions,economic life and political organization,geopolitical patterns and other influencing factors,the strategy of the Han Empire focused on the control of political offices,military bases and traffic routes in terms of spatial logic.It shows the combination of points and lines.In the form of rule,the Western Duhu protect the regimes of the Tianshan Mountains,but rely mainly on the local leaders’ autonomy to implement the indirect rule with the lowest costs.In terms of engagement strategy,he is good at dividing and dissolving hostile camps,and making the most of alliances and subordinates.The Han Empire made three strategic designs with Wusun(乌孙),Duhufu(都护府),and Dunhuang as its fulcrum,relying on the strength of its allies,city-states,and border counties,with the goal of attracting distant aliens,stabilizing Tianshan,and consolidating Hexi(河西).Dunhuang is the ruling fulcrum of the small western design,and plays a basic supporting role for the large and middle western design.In the Eastern Han Dynasty,especially in it’s later period,the willingness and ability of the han empire to control the western regions were obviously weakened or even lacked.At that time,Dunhuang County played an important role in coping with the crisis in the Western Regions.However,different from the traditional "agency" theory,Dunhuang does not have decision-making authority in Western Region affairs,but still needs to report upwards and follow the Central government ’s orders.In consideration of border management strategies,Dunhuang has always complied with,but often surpassed local interests,and was able to define interests and calculate gains and losses from the standpoint of a integral part of the Han Empire rather than an isolated individuals.Technical and organizational advantages,Han’s early operations,and the hegemonic power of the border and county prefectures are the conditions for dunhuang to make great achievements in governing the western regions in the eastern han dynasty.However,dunhuang’s control over the western region is often incomplete and unstable due to its geography,organizational defects and coordination in the western wars.The han empire confirmed and-announced its ruling authority to the surrounding forces through the routes of visiting envoys,the etiquette on diplomatic occasions,the han architecture and the public space of the capital.As a window of Huaxia civilization,dunhuang bears the mission of "showing the prosperity of the han dynasty" to the western regions.Its landscapes such as place names,cities,schools,and postal systems contain the meaning of the Han Empire’s self-image construction.During the han dynasty,the geographical image of dunhuang experienced a transformation from a"barbarian land" to a " huaxia region".This change of image made the people in central China defend the border area with the consciousness of defending the country.