(Something asks) Is "Xinjiang" a "new territory"?
China News Service, Beijing, January 17th, title: Is "Xinjiang" a "new territory"?
Author Liu Shanshan
"Xinjiang" is often misread as "new territory" in the understanding of some scholars. For example, Mi Huajian, a more important representative in the study of Qing history in North America, once put forward the view of "Manchurian colonialism".
Although this argument is based on a redefinition of "colonialism," the use of Western academic concepts to directly cover Chinese history often makes people feel that they are different from the facts.
Is "Xinjiang" the "new territory"?
Only from the superficial meaning of the word "Xinjiang", it denies the historical connection between Xinjiang and China, and believes that Xinjiang's inclusion in China is not necessarily or natural. This is obviously a conceptual misleading.
In the course of time, everything may undergo superficial changes, and whether its nature changes along with it should be discerned carefully; only by positioning and defining "Xinjiang" from history, can the interpretation of this place name not be superficial.
If you look back upwards, the earlier and more ambitious name "Western Regions" basically covers the vast area of Xinjiang.
"Western Regions" as a place name formally appeared in the Han Dynasty, and there are many records in the "Hanshu · Biography of the Western Regions". Before this, the Northwest Region was often referred to as the Northwest Kingdom.
Both the "Western Regions" and the "Northwestern Kingdom" were closely related to the Central Plains Dynasty.
Data map: Golden Autumn October, the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang are picturesque.
Photo by Yang Houwei
The use of "Xinjiang" as a place name in the northwest began in the Qianlong period.
Emperor Qianlong was known as the "Shiquan Old Man", and he was extremely proud of his ten achievements. "For those with ten merits, the level of Junggar will be two, the setback will be one, Jinchuan will be two, Jing Taiwan will be one, Burma and Annan will be one each. , That is, today’s surrendered by Gurkha, combined into ten.” The name "Xinjiang" was created after the rebellion of the Junggar, the size and the size of Hezhuo was settled in the 24th year of Qianlong (1759), and it was used as a collective name for the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains.
The intention was that Qianlong was to show off his "martial arts"; the other was to establish a new ruling order and administrative system to better manage the old post-war areas.
In fact, there is another reason for the ambiguity of the term "Xinjiang", that is, "Xinjiang" not only refers to the northwest region, but also frequently quoted in the southwestern Yunnan, Guizhou and other ethnic minority settlements, but the term northwest has been continued. .
However, in the eyes of some scholars, it seems that every place where ethnic minorities live in the Qing Dynasty can be called "Xinjiang".
This kind of thinking is obviously false. To be precise, the definition of "Xinjiang" should be "new return from the homeland". Xinjiang is actually an "old land" and has been under Chinese rule since the Han and Tang dynasties.
Since Qianlong was down to the end of the Qing Dynasty, "Xinjiang" and "Western Regions" were also mixed, showing the characteristics of the transition period. It was not until the tenth year of Guangxu (1884) that Xinjiang was established as a province and implemented the provincial system, which basically replaced the "Western Regions".
Why establish a province in Xinjiang?
In terms of geopolitical importance, Xinjiang is located in western China, its east, northeast, and southeast borders with Gansu, Mongolia, Qinghai and other places, south with Tibet, northwest and north with Russia, and west and southwest with Afghanistan, The border of British India shows that Xinjiang's geographic location is very important.
The international situation at that time was that Xinjiang was at the intersection of the British and Russian imperialist forces, and the consequences would be disastrous once it fell.
Data map: UAV aerial photography of the scenery of the Etuokesaier River Valley in Wenquan County, Xinjiang.
China News Agency issued Hu Weibin photo source: cnsphoto
The domestic situation is also facing severe challenges.
Xinjiang was the Ping Fan in northwest China, and it was the first guarantee for the capital at the time. Since the Shaanxi-Gansu Hui uprising in the 1860s, the war in the northwest has continued for decades. The city has turned to scorched earth and suffered heavy population losses.
It can be seen that Xinjiang’s recovery is extremely important for national unification, social stability, and maintaining Qing rule.
From the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, the vast areas including the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang were collectively referred to as the Western Regions. From Zhang Qian’s “cutting out” to the establishment of the Western Regions by Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, the Central dynasty established close political and economic relations between the Western Regions and the interior. , Cultural connection; even in the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the influence of Chinese culture in the Western Regions was not weakened. Turpan even established the same system of prefectures and counties as the inland regions; up to the Tang Dynasty, the Western Regions were completely under the rule of the Tang Dynasty .
In the Yuan Dynasty, the provincial system was implemented in the Western Regions, and institutions such as the Beiting Capital Marshal's Mansion and Xuanwei Division were established.
Hamiwei was established in the Ming Dynasty as an institution to manage the affairs of the Western Regions.
The Western Regions have been in the same political structure as the Central Plains since the Han and Tang Dynasties.
After quelling the Junggar rebellion during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, a more systematic governance policy was implemented in Xinjiang. General Yili was established in 1762 and the military government system was integrated, which effectively ensured local social stability.
Therefore, Xinjiang is not the so-called "new territory" that has nothing to do with China.
Despite its remote location, the culture and system of the Central Plains can always take root there.
Data map: In early winter, in Yuli County, Xinjiang, close to the edge of the Taklimakan Desert, natural Populus euphratica was dyed golden yellow and dotted in the vast desert, magnificent and beautiful.
Photo by Jiao Yinhui
However, since the middle of the 19th century, Tsarist Russia and the United Kingdom have been eyeing China's northwestern region, and their intention of aggression is clear.
In 1865, Akoub took the opportunity to invade Xinjiang with the support of Tsarist Russia and the United Kingdom. Tsarist Russia brazenly shouted the slogan "Recover on behalf of him" and seized the opportunity to seize Yili.
The Qing dynasty's rule in Xinjiang was in jeopardy. The rulers realized that Xinjiang was related to the stability of Northwest China and even affected the safety of the capital, so they agreed to Zuo Zongtang's expedition to the northwest.
From 1876 to 1878, Zuo Zongtang wiped out the forces of Aguba and successfully regained vast territories in the north and south. In 1881, Zeng Jize signed the Sino-Russian Ili Treaty and the Revised Land Trade Regulations with Russia, successfully regaining Ili and other places, but Large areas of territory west of the Khorgos River and north of the Yili River are still being ceded.
From 1877 to 1882, Zuo Zongtang proposed the establishment of Xinjiang province five times.
At the same time, Liu Jintang, who participated in the recovery of Xinjiang, and Tan Zhonglin, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, also jointly played and put forward a plan for building a province that meets real needs.
After Zuo Zongtang and others regained Xinjiang, the first priority was to quickly restore social order. Based on this goal, the provincial system became the best choice for Xinjiang at that time.
Xinjiang's establishment of a province in 1884 was the natural result of historical development
In 1884, the Qing court set up a province in the Western Regions, and changed its name to "Xinjiang", taking the meaning of "New Return of the Homeland".
But the proposal to establish a province in Xinjiang is not an unprecedented idea after Zuo Zongtang and others put down the rebellion.
As early as the early 19th century, Gong Zizhen, a famous poet and thinker in the Qing Dynasty, proposed to set up provinces in the Western Regions. He suggested in the "Proposals for the Establishment of Provinces in the Western Regions" to implement the system of prefectures and counties to ensure long-term stability in Xinjiang.
Later, the thinker Wei Yuan reiterated this matter and expressed his view that it is appropriate to set up counties in the northwest in "An Answer to a Friend's Questions About Northwest Border Affairs".
If you look back to history, the system of prefectures and counties in Xinjiang is not unique to the Qing Dynasty, and it existed in the Northern Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties.
It did not appear again in modern times. Before Gong Zizhen and others, Emperor Qianlong repeatedly emphasized that Xinjiang was “indistinguishable from the inland”. Therefore, when the "Unification History of the Qing Dynasty" was revised, he requested that the "Ili Road of East and West, return to the Ministry" Hami, Pizhan and Hetian wrote a branch in Xinjiang, second to the provinces." Dihua (now Urumqi) and Zhenxi (now Barkun) have also implemented the county system.
It can be seen that the establishment of Xinjiang in the late Qing Dynasty is undoubtedly the continuation of the Xinjiang concept during the Qianlong period.
The propositions of Wei Yuan and others are not only a natural extension of the Qing Dynasty's ruling policy, but also the continuation and development of the concepts of frontier governance in previous dynasties.
Data map: Winter is approaching, and herdsmen in the Altay region of Xinjiang are busy driving cattle and sheep from the alpine summer pasture to Shaerbulak. They will rest here until the end of October and will continue their nomadic migration to the valley.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Liu Xin
Before the provincial system, Xinjiang implemented a military-government system in the Qing Dynasty, and adjusted its specific operations according to the different conditions in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains. This is precisely the "customary rule" that China has ruled in this region since ancient times. The embodiment of the "ruling" tradition aims to strengthen centralized rule.
The successful establishment of the provincial system in Xinjiang at the end of the Qing dynasty was due to the fact that the Qing Dynasty implemented a relatively systematic governance policy foundation for Xinjiang. Under the premise that Xinjiang was a waste of time in the late Qing Dynasty, the relatively mature and complete provincial system became maintenance. The Qing government's best choice for ruling in Xinjiang.
Therefore, Zuo Zongtang’s idea of regaining Xinjiang and advocating the establishment of a province reflects a major country with a long history of thousands of years, rich cultural heritage and political wisdom, and a shift in its foreign strategy under the background of the modern border crisis—from a local one. The decentralized response model and the shift to an integrated external strategy are the natural result of historical choices following environmental changes.
The establishment of Xinjiang in 1884 fully demonstrated that in the long historical process, Chinese territory had both a period of separation and a period of reunification. Unity and separatism alternately cycle, and the unified development of the country has always been the mainstream.
There have also been cases of local regime separation in Xinjiang many times, but no matter how long these regimes have been separated and how serious the situation is, they will eventually be reunified.
(The author is a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Chinese Frontier Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and an assistant researcher at the Qing History Compilation and Research Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) (End)