Analysis On Governor-general And Governor In The Northwest Area After Tongzhi Period(1862-1911)

Abstract:After the middle of the Qianlong period in Qing dynasty, the central government gradually set up fixed Governor-general and Governor in the Northwest of China. In quite a long period, the majority of the two positions were Manchues. Enter the Tongzhi period, during the course of ending mess of Shaanxi and Gansu, and recovering Xinjiang, the setting-up and appointing of Governor-general and Governor in the Northwest were changed. Xinjiang became a province and was set up a Governor. There were more Chinese and more Hunan people appointed the three positions, and their terms of office were considerably long. In the historical background of enlarging the power of Governor-general and Governor, the Governor-general and Governor in the Northwest wielded enormous power. They had the initiative during the setting-up of Xinjiang province, and had the financial power, the personnel power and so on when they built the modern machinery industry. After declaring New Deal, the central government tried to strengthen its centralization. The appoints of Governor-general and Governor were again changed. Manchues increased and their terms of office were longer than Chinese. These changes influenced immensely the development of the Northwest area. The policies of the central government were executed smoothly. In the last 50 years of Qing dynasty, the power of Governor-general and Governor was always strong in the Northwest area. However, because the central government held the power of appointment, it could control the Northwest area, and there was no one set up a separatist regime though the Northwest area was far away from Beijing. By comparison of decentralization and concentration of power, analyzing the positive meaning of concentration was propitious to develop the Northwest area in contemporary China.