Engineering the state: The Huai River and reconstruction in Nationalist China, 1927-1937

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the Nationalist Government's (1927-49) attempt to establish central administrative control in China in the aftermath of the fall of the imperial government in 1911. Its focus is the Huai River Conservancy Commission established in 1928 to direct river management designed to reverse centuries of hydraulic deterioration in the valley.;As one component of the Nationalist government "reconstruction" agenda, the structure and policies of the Huai River Conservancy Commission reflected an institution committed to centralized planning, modern technology, industrial growth, and international technical and financial cooperation. Led by Chen Guofu the commission sought to integrate provincial and local political structures. Centralizing tendencies were carried further as the commission was incorporated into the National Economic Commission (1934) designed to coordinate all reconstruction initiatives in the agricultural sector of China. Policy preferences were heavily influenced by technical experts recruited as members of the commission. Formulated by professional engineers such as Li Yizhi, conservancy plans were premised on promoting modern industrial development by developing hydroelectric generation and expanding transportation capacity. Faced with fiscal problems the commission sought affirmation of its engineering plans by soliciting technical cooperation with the League of Nations to help secure financing from the Returned British Boxer Indemnity Commission to conduct engineering.;The ability of the Huai River Commission to control resources at the local level to carry out construction was limited. Difficulties in labor recruitment and organization mandated negotiation with local political structures. Although ultimately successful in coercing compliance of country and village officials, continued problems with managing conscripted labor frustrated the goals of centralized planning.;As reflected by the Huai River Commission, the record of the Nationalist period represents an important stage in reconstructing the state after the fall of the imperial government in 1911. The commission reflected the goals of creating institutional structures designed to more effectively control resources at the local level, provide the setting for patronage of modern science and technology, and introduce the notion of economic expansion based on modern industrial growth. These developments represented important departures from the imperial state and point to continuities with the state-building efforts of the People's Republic after 1949.