| At the end of the Qing Dynasty,Western powers led by Britain and Russia intensified their aggression against Tibet in China,resulting in unrest in Tibet and increasingly serious border problems.The Chuanbian was closely connected with Tibet,and it was the front line for Tibetan governance because of its close geopolitical ties.The tense situation in Tibet triggered the unrest of some of the Chuanbian chieftains,and there were incidents such as Zhandui and other Fan-officers openly disobeying official decrees and killing and wounding court officials.In order to stabilize Tibet and stabilize Chuanbian,the Qing government carried out a large-scale reform to abolish the rule of local chieftains and replace them with regular direct administration,which is known as "Chuanbian reform" in academic circles.The reform of abolishing the rule of local chieftains and replacing them with regular direct administration in Chuanbian effectively consolidated the Qing government’s rule over Tibet and promoted the communication and unity between China and Tibet,which had a profound historical impact.Based on the historical background and its initiatives,this paper explores the Qing government’s administration of Chuanbian at the end of the Qing Dynasty and its influence based on a literature review,mainly from the following six aspects.Introduction.The author defines the geographical scope of Chuanbian and briefly explains the reason for the selection of this paper.The author also composes the historical documents related to the reform to abolish the rule of local chieftains and replace them with regular direct administration in Chuanbian at the end of Qing Dynasty,and analyzes the relevant research results in the academic field.It pointed out the historical significance and practical value of studying the reform of abolishing the rule of local chieftains and replacing them with regular direct administration in Chuanbian at the end of Qing Dynasty.Chapter 1: The distribution and characteristics of the Chuanbian Chieftains.The chieftains of Chuanbian had a huge population,and there were many "affiliated divisions" under the great chieftains,and many small chieftains were subordinate to the great chieftains.There were four major Chieftains in Chuanbian: Mingzheng,Litang,Batang,and Dege.These chieftains were influenced by Tibetan Buddhism.Once coerced by foreign forces,they would impact the stability of the southwestern frontier,since the Qing Dynasty,it had been given much attention by the imperial court.Chapter 2: History background of Chuanbian reform of abolishing the rule of local chieftains and replacing them with regular direct administration at the end of Qing Dynasty.At the end of the Qing Dynasty,Britain,Russia and other western powers invaded Tibet and alienated the relationship between Tibet and the central government of the Qing Dynasty,which weakened the foundation of the Qing government’s rule in Tibet.Under the change of internal and external difficulties,the Qing government realized that the invasion of Tibet by Britain and Russia threatened the security of the southwest border.And Tibet was connected with Chuanbian,so it was necessary to secure Chuanbian first and then stabilize Tibet.In addition,the confrontational behavior of some of the chieftains in Chuanbian also made the Qing government realize that it was urgent to abolish the rule of local chieftains and replace them with regular direct administration.Chapter 3:Feng Quan’s martyrdom and abolishing the rule of local chieftains and replacing them with regular direct administration.In order to stabilize Tibet,the Qing government sent Feng Quan,the minister in Tibet,to station in Qamdo,and he retook Zhandui and was planning to retake Jingbian.But Feng Quan’s practice of reforming temples in Batang and repatriating the financial right of gold mining led to his death.Feng Quan’s martyrdom opened the curtain on the massive action to abolish the rule of local chieftains and replace them with regular direct administration in Chuanbian.From the thirty-first year of Guangxu(1905)to the third year of Xuantong(1911),most stamps accredited to the local chieftains in Chuanbian were confiscated and the central government set up regular direct administration.Chapter 4: Zhao Erfeng’s management to rehabilitate and reestablish in Chuanbian.Zhao Erfeng,in order to consolidate the achievements of the Chuanbian of the regular direct administration,enhance the stability of Chuanbian,actively organized land cultivation,promoted industry and economy,set up a telegraph,postal service,opened up the governance of transportation,flourished culture and education and cultivated talents,and established a new administrative division.For the further development of the politics of the Chuanbian,he laid the ideological foundation and material basis.Chapter 5: The historical impact of the late Qing dynasty’s abolishing the rule of local chieftains and replacing them with regular direct administration in Chuanbian.Faced with internal and external problems,the late Qing Dynasty abolished the rule of local chieftains and replaced them with regular direct administration to consolidate the Qing government’s rule in Chuanbian,which strongly contributed to the Qing central government’s jurisdiction over Tibet and resisted the invasion of the Great Powers.And the policy of Zhao Erfeng led to the rapid development of culture,education and economy in Chuanbian,promoted the transformation of Chuanbian society,and promoted Sino-Tibetan cultural exchange and unity.Conclusion.It summarizes the major contents of this paper and concludes the lessons learned from the reform of abolishing the rule of local chieftains and replacing them with regular direct administration in the late Qing Dynasty,which is expected to provide historical reference for the construction,development and governance in frontier ethnic areas today. |
