Study On The Frontier Governance Of The Frontier Executive Plan Commission Of Yunnan

After the start of total resistance, with the improvement of the strategic position of the southwest, central and local governments attached great importance to the southwest frontier, and the research on the southwest frontier of academia was also in full swing, which pushed the southwest frontier’s research and development to the climax. The Anti-Japanese War became a "golden opportunity to build Southwest Frontier." In this context, Yunnan local government sought to open a new situation for its governance actively, trying to put Yunnan’s frontier development into practice. Thus, the Frontier Executive Plan Commission of Yunnan came into being. The establishment of the Commission and the issue of Frontier Weekly through the The Justice were basically the main manifestations of Yunnan provincial government’s efforts in making some achievements in frontier governance.In this paper, a comprehensive collection of the relevant archives, diaries, biographies, anthologies, local chronicles, literary and historical texts and other materials were used. The establishment, organization, and primary task of the Commission were systematically investigated; the publication process, publication purpose, author group, and article content of the Commission’s Frontier Weekly were systematically sorted out; the new developments of Yunnan local government’s frontier governance before and after the victory of Anti-Japanese War were discussed, and the Commission’s role in the frontier governance was reviewed. Based on the study, this paper holds that:The appearance of the Commission and The Justice·Frontier Weekly reflected the efforts of local governments in Yunnan and the enthusiasm of scholars. Both were important results and signs of the upsurge in Yunnan’s frontier research and development, the product of the enthusiastic participation of people from all walks of life in the frontier affairs under the guidance of the government, and a chapter in the modern history of Yunnan’s frontier development which could not be ignored.The Commission’s work could be basically divided in three parts:the frontier research, the frontier development plan and the frontier administration. The investigation in border areas by the Commission for the purpose of frontier development provided important information for the government and the society to know and understand the Yunnan frontier, and it had an important reference value for the formulation of the government’s frontier policy. On the basis of these investigations, the Commission drew up development plans for the border areas individually. These plans combined scholars’research and officers’practical experience. They had very strong pertinence and high maneuverability and were an important manifestation of Yunnan provincial government’s frontier planning. The Justice·Frontier Weekly issued by the Commission published a large number of Commission’s investigations on the border areas, and also received social contributions, to discuss the problems of frontier development together, which was mainly limited to Yunnan, but also involved other border areas. As a publication of governmental frontier agency, TheJustice·Frontier Weekly served for the local government’s policy and practice of frontier development, while at the same time paid attention to social investigation and frontier introduction. It was the mouthpiece of the Commission, the show window of Yunnan government’s frontier work, and the bridge between the government and the public for frontier governance.During the War, the Commission’s work on the frontier governance had three major characteristics:the combination of politics and academic studies, the combination of theory and practice, and the academic studies serve the politics and reality. In the history of Yunnan’s frontier development, after the Yunnan Open up Frontier Supervise Department, the Commission was another high-level specialized governmental agency established by Yunnan provincial governmentwhich made overall plans. It was of landmark significance. In the history of southwest frontier research, TheJustice·Frontier Weekly was another research center for the southwest borderland studies after Southwest Borderland magazine presided by Fang Guoyu and Yi Shi Daily · Frontier Weekly presided by Gu Jiegang. It occupies an important position in the academic history of the borderland studies in China, especially in Yunnan.Limited by the times and objective conditions, the Commission’s work on the frontier governance had many limitations and shortcomings. But it was presided by the famous scholar Jiang Yingliang, and issued The Justice·Frontier Weekly for the public. It showed that scholars tried to influence the government’s policies and enlighten the public through academic studies during the War, which proved their willingness to serve the society with their expertise.