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Early Qing Dynasty Yunnan Governors, Road System With Frontier Governance Research

Posted on:2012-08-16Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:J D ZouFull Text:PDF
GTID:1115330371465033Subject:Historical Geography
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Du-Fu System and Dao System were two important local administrative systems with their respective features in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Up to now, there have been separate studies on the two systems but very few scholars have made a contrastive study of them. The author of this paper has given a summary review of the previous studies on the two systems and concluded that not only the development of the two systems had some connection and similarity but also the administrative officials of the two systems had some shared features. In the institutional perspective, the first establishment of Du, Fu, and Dao administration aimed at supervising the local administration and their officials were temporary supervisors. Through a reform of one hundred years in the Ming and Qing dynasties, these systems became established in the early Qianlong Period though some of its functions like temporary supervision remained. In the Qing dynasty, Du, Fu and Dao as important local officials had all the authority over the local affairs, both military and civil. Their organizations were very effective and controlled a large territory. The Governor ruled Guizhou and Yunnan provinces while Xunfu Official administrated one province with Dao Officials managing different Fu and Ting (prefectures) though they were not an official administrative area in the strict sense of the term, or an area of quasi-governmental administration. Du, Fu and Military Dao combined to form an administrative system at the provincial level with different military and civil responsibilities and played an important role in the local administrationThis research is a comprehensive study of Du-Fu System and Dao System in Yunnan in the Qing dynasty and covers three major aspects as follows:First, it gives a summary review of the establishment and development of Yunnan-Guizhou Governor, Yunnan Xunfu Official and all kinds of Dao Officials. Second, from the historical and geographical perspectives, it analyzes the relations between the borderland politics of Yunnan and the establishment of Yunnan-Guizhou Governor, Yunnan Xunfu Official and East Yi Dao. West Yi Dao and South Yi Dao that indicated administrative division as well as their respective administration and management of the borderland of Yunnan. Third, through an analysis of the administration of Yunnan in the Kangxi Period, the Yongzheng Period and the Qianlong Period of the Qing dynasty, it expounds the roles and achievements of Du-Fu System and Dao System with the features of the interior of China in the management of the borderland of Yunnan.Yunnan is a border province with differences in social development. The Yuan and Ming dynasties established Provincial Administrative Areas and "Three Si" for effective administration, which narrowed the gap between Yunnan and the interior of China. During the Qing dynasty, the Central Government put Yunnan in the interior "Fifteen Provincial Administrative Areas" or "Eighteen Provinces". In terms of its management of Yunnan, the Qing Imperial Court did not adopt the same policies as those applied to the northeast, the north, the northwest and Tibet of China. Its administration of Yunnan was similar to that of the interior of China with Yunnan-Guizhou Governor, Yunnan Xunfu Official and Dao Officials in charge of different affairs. It took a long and difficult time to establish, adjust and perfect the hierarchal management by different officials in Yunnan, which had the features of both the interior of China and the borderland of Yunnan. With the establishment of such system, Yunnan-Guizhou Governor and Yunnan Xunfu Official became the agents of the Qing Imperial Court with the Dao Officials at the lower level, all of whom were in fact the cornerstone for its comprehensive management of Yunnan. Like Junfu System in northeast China, Mengqi System in Inner Mongolia of China, Yili General System in Xinjiang of China, Executive Officials in Xining and Tibet of China, such Du-Fu System and Dao System were an important type and inseparable part of the borderland administration by the Qing Imperial Court.Yunnan-Guizhou Governor had his office in Yunnan, which strengthened the management and control of the borderland of Yunnan and reinforced the military, political and economic connections between Yunnan Province and Guizhou Province since the establishment of Guizhou Province in the early Ming dynasty. The two provinces were sometimes regarded as one in those days, which resulted in a change in the relations among the provinces in southwest China. In the perspective of Yunnan as a border province, this system helped form a regional concept of three levels, that is. southwest China, Yunnan-Guizhou area and Yunnan where the Qing Imperial Court implemented different administrative policies. The establishment and reform of various Daos in Yunnan aimed at meeting the needs of the provincial administration of different areas with the military and civil affairs under proper control of Yunnan-Guizhou Governor and Yunnan Xunfu Official.The Kangxi Period, the Yongzheng Period and the Qianlong Period of the Qing dynasty saw dramatic changes in Yunnan, and correspondingly they had different policies towards Yunnan in different periods which were formed by the changing situations. In terms of local administration, the Qing dynasty gave Yunnan-Guizhou Governor, Yunnan Xunfu Official and Dao Officials some tasks and goals different from those of other provinces in China. Due to its geographical position, Yunnan Province had some special affairs of its own such as border defense, border affairs, bronze affairs and ethnic affairs like Tusi chieftain affairs. As for the affairs like those in the interior of China, Yunnan had different ways of management. Besides, in this historical period, some major events or incidents like the Three-Province Uprising in the Kangxi Period, the Replacement of the Local Tusi Chieftains with Han Officials in the Yongzheng Period, and the Transport of Yunnan Bronze to Beijing and the Military Expedition to Myanmar took place in Yunnan, which exerted great influence not only on Yunnan but also on the Qing Imperial Court. The local officials at different levels in Yunnan, especially Yunnan-Guizhou Governor, Yunnan Xunfu Official and Dao Officials, played a crucial role at the critical moments with their conspicuous achievements through hard work and diligence. Their role and work exerted far-reaching influence on the socio-economic development of Yunnan, and their borderland administration produced some of the best results in this period, which can shed much light on today's management of the borderland of China.
Keywords/Search Tags:The Qing dynasty, Yunnan, Du-Fu System, Dao System, Borderland administration
PDF Full Text Request
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