Between truth and imagination: Special envoys on mission to Tibet during the period of Republican China, 1912--1949

This dissertation explores the problematic yet relatively unstudied topic of the relationship between Chinese government and Tibet during the Republican period, 1912-1949. Drawing on the abundant English and recently declassified Chinese archival materials, as well as plentiful travel records of some individuals who traveled to the Tibetan areas during that time, this dissertation firstly presents a historical narrative of officers whom the government of the Republican China sent to Tibet, and thus attempting to reconstruct an objective picture of the Republican China's relations with Tibet.;Among the officers sent to Tibet by the government of Republican China, fifteen were investigated in detail in this dissertation based on their significant influences on Han-Tibetan relations. I refer to them as the "special envoys on mission to Tibet". After examining the background of the envoys' mission, their activities in Tibet, their perception about Tibet and the Tibetans, and their roles in Tibetan affairs, the author argues that there was a substantial discrepancy between the information obtained by these envoys "on the spot" for their central government and the reality that was happening in Tibet. It was the strong Han nationalist historical context in which the envoys and their government perceived and dealt with Tibetan issues that resulted in a more complicated and delicate development of Han-Tibetan relationships. The historically formed inequality between the Han Chinese and non-Han minorities who scattered around the frontiers still has impacts upon contemporary China's ethic agendas.