Northwest China 's History And Geography And The "Xinjiang View" In The Study Of The Frontier Government Of The Republic Of China

Since mid eighteenth Century, along with the changes of the world situation, Xinjiang transformed from a remote area in the imperial Qing Dynasty to a frontier of a nation-state system. Whether in the middle period of Qing Dynasty, or in the period of the Republic of China, researches of Xinjiang are always a big concern to the whole nation, which promoted "Study on the Northwest Historical Geography" flourished in Qing Dynasty, and then promoted the birth of "Study on Frontier Politics" in the nation-state construction period.On Waterways of Xiyu by Xu Song is one great book of "Study on the Northwest Historical Geography", and The Xiyu History of Chinese Strategies by Zeng Wenwu, a scholar of the Republic of China implies a profound sense of crisis, which was the most detailed study of the frontier politics of Xinjiang. On Waterways of Xiyu and The Xiyu History of Chinese Strategies represent two different knowledge paradigms and positions. The former from the position of the imperial Qing Dynasty, based on the Qianjia School, reflects the practical view of scholar-officials advocating the use of knowledge in the management of a country. The latter from the nation-state position, takes the knowledge of modern nation states as the background to complete the narration of Xiyu nationalization.From the study on the northwest historical geography to the study on frontier politics, a lot of changes have taken place from the perspectives of research methods, territory concepts, ethnicity concepts and nation concepts. This paper, based on Waterways of Xiyu and The Xiyu History of Chinese Strategies, compares the two models of Xinjiang Studies from Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China so as to present the cognitive transfer of those studying Xinjiang in Chinese on the viewpoints of territory, ethnicity and nation.