State, Regions And Society

During the climax of the Boxer Movement, the government of the Qing Dynasty adopted a new policy named "enlisting boxers to be against foreign aggression", using the power of boxers to fight against foreign invasions. Since then, people in the north area were bogged down in the wartime hardships and social upheavals. At the same time, government officials in south such as Liu Kunyi, the governor-general of Jiangnan and Jiangxi provinces, Zhang Zhidong, the governor-general of Hubei and Hunan Provinces, etc., were introduced to each other by some gentry elites like Sheng Xuanhuai. Exploiting the loophole of divergent opinions in the central government, with rich political, economic, military and foreign resources dominated by them, these officials refused to execute the imperial edict of declaring wars on foreign powers, instead, they signed "Treaty on Protecting the Southeast" nine articles and "Rules on Protecting the Inside and Outside Areas of Shanhai City" ten articles, and finally confirmed the fundamental policies of "Mutual Protection" and "Mutual Non-interference" which exactly are the so-called "Mutual Protection in the Southeast".The Mutual Protection in the Southeast is not only an important political event during the time of the Boxer Movement, but also a regional social movement with a fixed social foundation and strong social reflections. It was a special policy adopted by the Southeast to maintain the whole society relatively stable in a certain period of history. It was formed, maintained, and finally went into bankruptcy, but why and how? This period of history highlights a multi-type of social ideology, and also reflects a complex and interactive relationship among the nation, the regions and the whole society during the transition phase in the late Qing Dynasty. Based on the former researches, this thesis is intended to review and reinterpret that historical event from a regional history perspective and it mainly consists of six chapters.Chapter One, "Mutual Protection in the Southeast" as Regional Social Movement: Additionally on Some Relevant Initial Theories. As the introduction part and also a point of penetration to the following research, this chapter provides a new perspective and research trend from the definition, properties and various opinions on the "initial advocate" of the movement. A historical event occurs usually in a certain space, which is always closely connected to the geographic environment, social structure and political atmosphere. Elements in the space thus are relatively in a stable order. When challenged by some inside or outside factors, the space order will be continuously maintained, adjusted or even restructured. In this way, multi-type of social ideologies will emerge in the process. As an important political event, the "Mutual Protection" movement shows a distinct regional feature and also great influences on the society. It also reflects an interaction among the late Qing Dynasty government, the regions and the whole society. Such a movement cannot be organized by a certain person even with tremendous intelligence and capabilities. Not should it be brought about by foreign powers. It was originally spontaneous but not organized. Compelled by the social situation at that time, elites in different areas and fields went separately to find supporters and accidentally came together at the same time forming such a movement. In this sense, either the so-called "consciousness in the Southeast" or the various "Mutual Protection" activities could be taken as a spontaneous groups action arising in the process when the special politics, economy and culture in the south and the east were challenged in the late Qing Dynasty.Based on the aforementioned, we should categorize this event into the regional social history researching area, throwing off the chains of "conception of history as determined by individual heroes" and "conception of history centered by foreign countries". The research emphasis also should be shifted to the analysis of different social classes and the special structure of authoritiy resources appeared in a certain region. The complex and multi-type of social ideologies based on that should be analyzed as well. Only in this way can the complicated interactive relationships among the nation, the local regions and the whole society be revealed effectively.Chapter Two, Political Situations before the Mutual Protection in the Southeast, mainly an analysis about the national and international background of the movement. Mostly, the "Mutual Protection" can be taken as an opposition to the central government advocated by the unison of local political power and some social elites, appearing as an unparalleled deviation between the nation and the local society. In fact, this deviation tendency had been completely exposed in the "deposition and enthronement" disturbance caused by the "enthronement in 1899" after the Reform Movement of 1898. People in the south and the east, especially the working and trading classes, the overseas Chinese, rose to resist the scheme of deposition planned by the empress party. Governors in the south and the east like Liu Kunyi also definitely and openly opposed the deposition of Emperor Guangxu, though they agreed with the dynasty to adopt a new heir for succession. At the same time, with the Boxers event going to a climax, the Qing government became more and more tending to appease rather than suppress the Boxers, which caused a lot of complaints from various classes in the south and the east. Having the same interests, the local governors and social elites appeared more deviated to the Qing government. Besides, imperialists' policies on the world and the Far East are the important external conditions for the formation and maintenance of this movement. As a decisive power in protection, imperialists led to the formation and also failure of the movement directly. It was just because of the utilization of the checks and balances featured by the imperialists' policies on the world and the Far East, restricting foreign powers using their own policies that the planners of the movement could struggle to maintain the mutual protection in the Southeast.Chapter Three, the Structure of Authority Resources in the Southeast.Based on a fixed social foundation, the "Mutual Protection Movement" was deeply rooted in the regional society, and it was caused and motivated basically by the special The structure of authority resources in the south and the east. Floating social classes during the transition period of the late Qing Dynasty deepen the pervasion in various classes such as governors, gentries, businessmen, and scholars, etc., forming a complex and interactive authority resource network. Later after Qing Emperor Xianfeng and Emperor Tongzhi, the relationship between the Qing government and the local regions appeared to be a pattern of duality, with the inside being light and loose, and the outside severe and tight. Powers and authorities of the local governors expanded greatly and even could influence the policies of the whole country to a great extent. Politics, economy, diplomacy, military affairs and information resources condensed in this authority resource network effectively guarantee the formation and maintenance of the mutual protection in the Southeast.Chapter Four, the Whole Process of Mutual Protection in the Southeast.mainly about the way in which the authority resource network works in practice and the way it functions. The movement progressed from "self-protection" to "mutual protection", experiencing a process from imagination to practice, from formation to the failure. In this process, southern and eastern governors like Liu Kunyi and Zhang Zhidong played roles as top decision makers, and Sheng xuanhuai as the general terminal. From its plan to the liaison and negotiation, it was the social elites of various classes in the south and the east who utilized all the resources and carried it out.Chapter Five, Interaction between Social Ideologies in the Southeastern Society and Politics.National policies will have great influences on local political powers and people, along with which so will the whole society. Multi-type of social ideologies and complex social and political actions thus appear. During the period of the Boxer Movement, various social ideologies intermingled and merged to become a strong stream of "southern and eastern ideology", advocating and mobilizing for the mutual protection. A variety of political factions and organizations existed in the south and the east, such as "the Emperor's party", "the Empress's party", "the Bourgeois reformists", "the Pro-government camp", and "the Revolutionary school". All of them longed for policies which were beneficial for themselves and conducted a series of political activities under the cover of chaos in 1900. For instance, while revolting in Huizhou, the Bourgeois Revolutionary School led by Sun Yat-sen also instigated Li Hongzhang to declare the independence of both Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. With the aid of foreign imperialists, the Bourgeois reformists inspired governors like Liu Kunyi and Zhang Zhidong to set up a "new government", practicing a so-called "self-governing commonwealth". In collusion with the Bourgeois reformists, the Pro-government camp, and the other organizations in the Yangtze Valley, the Independent Baptists led by Tang Caichang launched armed uprisings in the name of "Cleaning of the Crafty and Fawning" and "Revolting for Salvation". However, all of them were finally repressed by the local powers just because their activities and thoughts were contradicted to the "Mutual Protection" movement in basic principles. Despite the failure, the influences on the movement and the political situation in the early 20^th century are tremendous.Chapter Six, Division and Identification: a description on the sacrificial offerings to the "Three Loyal Ministers in Zhejiang Province" in the Southeast with the remarks in the Shanghai newspapers of the time as clues. Being the barometer of social ideologies in the late Qing Dynasty, newspaper remarks could be taken as an important medium to propaganda and to mobilize. In this chapter, with the remarks in the Shanghai newspapers of the time (Shen Bao, Universal Gazette, Xinwen Bao ) as clues and the murdering of the "Three Loyal Ministers in Zhejiang Province (Yuan Chang, Xu Jingcheng, Xu Yongyi)" as a study case, people's attitudes and reflections on the triple relationships among the nation, local regions and the society after the murdering case will be analyzed. These series of reflections showed clearly the division pattern between the South and the North, while at the same strengthened the southern and eastern sense of regional identification and centrality created elaborately by the gentries, comprador and bureaucratic classes. This kind of identification and centrality is no other than the social ideological base for the formation and development the mutual protection movement. What should be noted is that both division and identification are relative but not absolute, regional but not national, reformational but not revolutionary.A restudy on the "Mutual Protection Movement in the Southeast" from a regional history perspective can make up the drawbacks and rectify the former researches. Besides, it is also of great significance for us to comprehensively and deeply recognize the social changes in the late Qing Dynasty and the rule of interactive relationships among the nation, local regions and the society in the transitional period.