The National Government Period Of Tibetan Studies In Beijing Office

The founding of the Tibet Office in Nanjing has important historical significance since it represents the improvement and development of the relationship between the Local Government of Tibet and the Central Government of China during the National Government period. However, owing to the considerable scarcity of the relative sources concerning the topic, there has been no single volume attributed to the Tibet Office in Nanjing which was initiated during the National Government period. An in-depth study of the Tibet Office in Nanjing has a considerable academic importance. It will undoubtedly fill the research gap in the field as well as greatly enhance our previous knowledge about the Office.I would stress, on the other hand, more strikingly, the Tibet Office in Nanjing is a better vantage point from which we can get a clearer sight of the relationship between the Local Government of Tibet and the Central Government of China during the formative period. The abnormal relationship between the Local Government of Tibet and the Central Government of China forms the most substantial theoretical basis which stimulates the so-called "Tibet independence" hypothesis prevailing outside China. This dissertation attempts to articulate the nature and the aspects of the relationship between the Local Government of Tibet and the Cental Government of China through a full demonstration and analysis of various archival documents to which the Tibet Office in Nanjing resorted to describe and defined the relationship between the Local Government of Tibet and the Central Government of China. From this point of view, an in-depth study on the Tibet Office in Nanjing also carries important practical significance.This study explores the Tibet Office in Nanjing during the period of National Government by providing a systematic outline of the entire historical evolution of it with attention given to its creation, development and dissolution. In order to reconstruct the historical process of it, this research will not only fully discuss the organizational constitutes, the status and salary, the management of the funds, personnel characteristics,key staff’s succession and etc, but also incorporates specific Tibetan affairs of this historical period including the Third Dispute between Tibet and Khams, Tibet and Qinghai Dispute, the return of Ninth Panchen Lama to Tibet, memorial ceremony for the thirteen Dalai Lama, the RwaSgreng Incident and so forth and as well as important national conference, the Anti-Japanese movement and other major political and historical events. By giving close examination of these Tibetan-related events occurred in this period, further exploration was carried out concerning the crucial question of historical role that the Tibet Office in Nanjing had played in terms of dealing with these important Tibetan affairs, participating in the country’s political activities, maintaining the national unity and so on. This research is mainly based on the textual study of the historical literature of this time period. Through collecting and organizing the related documents in Chinese, English and Tibetan languages, certain degree of comparison was given to these different kinds of literature which records different aspects of the Tibet Office in Nanjing. Besides this, in order to guarantee the authority and objectivity of the study, the relevant researches done by scholars in the field will be consulted and investigated.The Tibet Office in Nanjing shares a certain degree of similarities with other Nanjing-based Tibetan institutions in terms of administration and management. Considering the fact that the National Government made clear reference to the Government’s guidelines and administrations of other Nanjing-Based Tibetan Offices, this dissertation embraces a comparative historical study of these Nanjing-based Tibetan Offices, launches a robust comparison of the Government’s administrative strategies of the Tibet Office in Nanjing and other Nanjing-based Tibetan Offices.Meantime, through an analysis of the Central Governments’ administrative procedures of the Tibet Office in Nanjing, when comes to the question of the administration, this study examines the unexplored topic such as the Government’s application of its administrative traditions towards various Central sectors. It is hoped that such a comparative perspective of this study will benefit us to reach a holistic understanding of the administrative characteristics of the Tibet Office in Nanjing. In addition, interviews have been considered as a method to obtain as much as possible primary source in the hope of approaching a more accurate and comprehensive knowledge of the topic. The dissertation includes information gained from a number of significant interviews with relevant individuals.Comprehensive study on the Tibet Office in Nanjing reveals that its status is not surprisingly high and the officials appointed to it enjoy no political prominence in the Local Government of Tibet, as well as the fact owing to the extremely abnormal relationship between the Local Government of Tibet and the Central Government of China, the negative Tibetan related policies implemented by the National Government of this time period, the Tibet Office in Nanjing faces a series of challenges to fundamentally improve the relationship between the Local Government of Tibet and the Central Government of China. However, it is obvious that the existence of the Tibet Office in Nanjing undeniably facilitates the direct communication between the Local and Central government, minimizes the certain degree of the possibility of the misunderstanding and improves the relations between the two sides. The Tibet Office in Nanjing provides Local Government of Tibet the convenience of dispatching representatives within in the proximity to participate the nation’s important political activities, thus offered one of the most solid historical evidences of the Tibet’s Local Government’s appreciation and acceptance of the central status of the National Government.In general, although one should realize there is a considerable limit in the practical utility of the Tibet Office in Nanjing, but it generates a crucial historical significance in terms of the relations between Tibet Local Government and the Central Government of China. The appreciation of the Central Government of China by the Tibet Office in Nanjing and the Local Government of Tibet it represents symbolizes the most important aspects of the relations of Local Government of Tibet and the Central Government of China. The historical value carried by the Tibet Office in Nanjing can be examined when considering to the actual roles it played during specific historical period.This study is based on a wide survey of a variety of the literary materials with particular consideration given to the comparison and critical edition of different types of literature. By critical reading and investigation of the materials of different kind, the dissertation attempts to offer correction and supplementation towards the historical narrative provided by these various coipuses of literature. As a result of a comprehensive literary study, new approaches and insights towards some crucial historical questions are also articulated by this research.