Study On Frontier Control Of Jilin Generals In Qing Dynasty

General Jilin is another important military establishment set up in the northeast after General Shengjing,is the highest military and political officer to guard the Jilin area.In contrast to the Chinese and Yayi administrations of the Qing dynasty,the General of Jilin was in charge of the administration of one side of the country after the Qing dynasty entered China,implementing the principle of the Manchu-Mongolian-Han and other ethnic groups as ’one’,and implementing a unified and separate administration.Based on previous research,this article provides a more in-depth and systematic account of the Qing dynasty’s general administration of the Jilin frontier,including: a historical review of the pre-creation of the Jilin General’s Office,the creation and administrative establishment of the Jilin General,military defence,economic development,cultural development,the policies of the Manchu-Mongolian-Han peoples,and the ideology of frontier governance.The article is based on the idea of "great unity" and gives a new interpretation of the Jilin General’s governance of the frontier;it examines the practical activities of the Jilin General in terms of the degree of integration between the frontier and the interior,and gives a correct evaluation and due historical status.The text is divided into five chapters in addition to an introduction:The first chapter begins with a review of the history of General Jilin before its establishment.The geographical overview and ethnic culture are used as a starting point to illustrate the geographical location and natural ecology of the Jilin region,as well as its diverse ethnic culture,in order to highlight the frontier nature and uniqueness of the region,and to discuss the governance of the region in the Qing dynasty and before.Since ancient times,Jilin has been located on the frontier of China,and since the Xia and Shang dynasties,the central Chinese dynasties have set up various administrative institutions in Jilin to exercise their jurisdiction,as well as the ’barbarian’ dominated local authorities in the north-east.But the above-mentioned institutions since the Qin and Han dynasties are mostly adopted "tie up" management.It was not until the Qing dynasty that the administrative system of the Jilin region changed.The second chapter deals with the establishment of the General of Jilin and the military defence of the frontier.The General of Jilin was created to meet the needs of the situation to resist the invasion of Tsarist Russia and to prevent the Korean people from crossing the border.The General of Jilin was created to meet the needs of the frontier,and the duties of the General of Jilin were important from the very beginning,as he was responsible for repairing the garrison and organising the affairs of the barbarians.At the same time,in order to ensure the defence of the Jilin frontier,General Jilin established a dual defence system on the land and sea frontiers to unify the troops,the former including conquering,surveying the frontiers,setting up Karen,training the troops and quelling bandits,and the latter including governing the ’South Sea’ area and training the Jilin naval battalions.The establishment of a military defence system for the Jilin frontier was therefore of great importance in maintaining the integrity of China’s territory and the stability of its frontiers.The third chapter focuses on the civil administration of the frontier by the Jilin generals.With the establishment of the Heilongjiang generals,the administrative establishment of the north-east(the Three Generals system)was completely completed.Since the separation of the Heilongjiang General from the Jilin General,the focus of the Jilin General’s governance of the frontier was gradually shifted from defence against the Russians to civil governance,involving many issues such as the control of the flag people,the management of displaced people,the maintenance of the inherent Manchurian culture,the protection of imperial tribute,economic development,the construction of towns and the management of frontier peoples.It is a reflection of the characteristics of General Jilin’s "more complicated administration and huge appointments".The fourth chapter discusses the characteristics and main figures of the General’s frontier administration.By combing through the biographical data of the Jilin generals,it is clear that the Qing government attached unprecedented importance to the selection of the Jilin generals,which was not comparable to that of the general officers of the Eight Banners,nor to that of the generals stationed in other provinces.Even with the same three generals in the north-east,the administrative set-up of the Jilin generals differed from the two-track system of banners and people under the jurisdiction of the Shengjing generals and the single eight banners under the Heilongjiang generals.In particular,by examining the characteristics of their appointments in terms of ethnicity,background,length of tenure and frequency of transfer,it is clear that the personal qualities and ideas of the Jilin generals were often closely related to the effectiveness of frontier governance,and directly influenced the Qing government’s attitude towards appointments and dismissals.In particular,the 254 years of frontier governance saw the emergence of outstanding representatives of the Jilin generals who guarded the frontier,served the people,were diligent and public spirited,knew the language,and reformed and pioneered,and the policies and measures adopted by these Jilin generals during their tenure can be analysed to outline the achievements of this group.Chapter 5 focuses on the contribution of the Jilin generals to the governance of the frontier and its impact.The contributions are mainly drawn from three different periods of the Qing dynasty: firstly,the early Qing period when they garrisoned the frontier,fought off foreign invasion and revived the frontier economy;secondly,the mid-Qing period when they developed towns,united the frontier people,lifted the ban on reclamation and revived the culture;and thirdly,the late Qing period when they purged bandits,focused on new industries and deliberately developed the cause of modernisation in the frontier region.The impact of the General Jilin’s frontier administration is discussed.The establishment of the General of Jilin was in line with the joint rule of China and Yi under the idea of "Great Unity",and was more innovative than the mainland,free from "tie-up" management and in close contact with the central government.Although there are still some problems,but from the perspective of historical development,General Jilin’s rule of the frontier did bring far-reaching influence to the development of frontier society.