From Union To Opposition:Village Social Structure And State Frontier Construction Strategy

The construction of State frontier is an important part of the practice of forming and constructing a modern nation-state,and it is also a focus of discussion on state construction theories.Through the study of the practice of the construction of state borders in different countries and different periods,the discussion on the path of modern nation-state construction can be further expanded,and the understanding of the relationship between the state and society can be better enriched.The existence of China’s vast and varied frontier society and the complex process of constructing a modern nation-state provide a broad space for the effective conducting of this kind of research.Starting from the existing practice and related research on the construction of state borders,state power replaces border social power for direct rule and the indirect rule of the alliance between state power and border social power are the two main strategic choices for state border construction.However,judging from the practice of state construction in the Zagunao River Basin in the northwestern border of Sichuan Province in the first half of the 20th century,these two existing strategies do not fully represent all forms of state border construction strategies,nor do they reflect the formation and change process of these strategies.The country’s frontier construction strategy has never been established,nor is it a process in which the state moulds the frontier,but the result of continuous interaction between the state and the frontier society.In order to further enrich the relevant research on the construction of the country’s borders and its strategic choices,this article starts from the initial period of the construction of the modern nation-state in China,taking the Zagunao River Basin and the village society under its jurisdiction in the northwestern Sichuan Province in the first half of the 20th century is the main research object.It analyzes and summarizes the main construction strategies and changes in the region during different periods of time during this period,and explores the main factors that affect the state border construction strategy choices and changes from the interior of frontier society.From the research point of view,the state construction strategy in the region during this period has mainly undergone three phases of changes:the first is the "rule by custom" strategy formed by the connection between state power and the traditional authority of the village at the end of the dynasty state;In the second stage,the local state period,the alliance between the state power and the village economic elite formed a joint rule strategy;the third phase is the central state rule period,the state power seeks strong control over the village society to form a competitive rule strategy.Although from the state macro level,the change of state border construction goals is the main factor that affects the state border construction strategy choice,the state goal itself does not determine the specific state strategy choice.As the most basic unit of the frontier society in the Zagunao River Basin,the village is the main focus of the state frontier construction in the region.From the inside of the village society,it can be found that the choice and changes of the state frontier construction strategy during this period are in line with the village Changes in the social production structure are more directly related.The change of the village’s social production structure determines the internal power structure of the village.The self-power shaping of different power subjects in the village and the change of their own capabilities affect the choice and change of the state border construction strategy.In order to better reflect this connection,this article takes the development of the Hanfan trade in the Zagunao River Basin,the formation of the opium planting and trade network and the implementation of the national opium "ban policy" as the main clues,and presents the formation and changes of the social structural production of the villages in different periods.and the resulting impact on the country’s border construction and strategic choices.The study found that the construction of state borders is actually more rooted in border society than existing studies.The social production structure within the basic structural unit of border society and the power relations formed therefrom affect the construction of state borders and strategy choice.This also means that frontier societies often have more complex social characteristics,especially for traditional Chinese frontier societies,their historical,structural,and independent attributes have made the country in this period frontier construction with the goal of political "integration" is destined to not be simple and easy,and faces many challenges from within the frontier society.Although this article focuses on historical research,it has important reference value for understanding the history of China’s border construction and the changes in the relationship between the country and border society.