From Lang Soldiers To New Guangxi Clique: Research On The Evolution Of Military Force In Local Social Transformation Of Yulin

Lang soldiers and warlords in Guangxi province are both known in Chinese military history for their bravery and ability to fight.These two military forces were born in Guangxi one after another,often prompting people to assume the relevance and continuity between them.This thesis also attempts to explore this issue,but the author would like to ask more about the correlation between the evolution of these two different military forces and the social transformation from the Ming and Qing dynasties to the Republic of China.Therefore,This thesis takes Yulin region,where national armed forces like the soldiers of Lang and the soldiers of Guards and Battalions are stationed and where the Neo-Guangxi regime are nurtured as the entry point,try to use long time research theory and method of regional social history in the Ming dynasty to the republic of China’s social transformation as the background,discuss the evolution of military power of local society under the same area,and analyze the gradual transfer of state-controlled military forces and institutionalized military organizations to folk society.Scholars’ research shows that an important manifestation of the social transformation from the Ming to the Qing dynasty is the weakening of the state’s control over the local areas,the transfer of state power to local society and the strengthening of local autonomy.In Yulin,the local military forces in Ming Dynasty consisted of the soldiers of Lang and the soldiers of Guards and Battalions,who gradually integrated into the local society after settlement.By the Qing dynasty,national military power,which was dominated by the Eight Banners and the Green Camp,declined,and Lang soldiers who inherited his function had little influence on local society,replaced by the rise of the local military forces.This social transformation during the Ming and Qing dynasties was obviously visible in Yulin,manifested in the rise and strength of local social organizations with clan organizations as the core.In the middle and lateQing dynasty,social unrest,Local Gentry class strengthened the local military forces to safeguard the interests of the clan,and the Tuan’lien league rose up.Compared with national military forces such as the soldiers of Lang and the soldiers of Guards and Battalions in Ming dynasty,local military forces which proposed by the government and led by the local people have considerable autonomy power.In the period of the Republic of China,the old government collapsed,social unrest intensified,and after losing the control and shelter of the powerful central regime,local people chose to further strengthen and integrate the civil armed forces to safeguard their interests.This has created a better environment for the rise of warlords from all over the country.At that time,the warlord organization had already been a completely autonomous local military force established spontaneously and out of the control of the central government.In a word,this thesis thinks that the emergence of military power in Yulin region from the soldiers of Lang and the soldiers of Guards and Battalions in Ming dynasty to the Tuan’ lien organization in Qing dynasty and Gui clique in the Republic of China reflects the evolution of military power in local society from state control to local control,which is closely related to the transformation of local society.On the one hand,the change of the national military system is the main force that promotes the military force to move down.On the other hand,the regional natural environment,social environment,grass-roots social organizations,ethnic composition and local crowd interaction are also important factors that influence this change.In other words,the change of the form of the local social military forces also reflects the process of the interaction between the regional society and the state system in different historical periods.