Study Of The Regional Distribution Of Important Military And Political Figures In Early Republic Of China

The Revolution of 1911 (Xinhai Revolution) overthrew the Qing dynasty and produced great political, economical, ideological and cultural impacts on Chinese society. The establishment of the Nanjing provisional government of the Republic of China opened a new epoch in which China leaped into a modern democratic republic. It was also a period of great political turmoils, with the worst political situations in history. Nonetheless, it produced its own heroes. A large number of talents appeared in different areas such as the political and the military, ideology and culture, literature and art, science and technology education and so on. Never before had there been so many talented peopole from so many areas that this period became the sar-studded heyday in the history of China.This thesis chooses as the research objects the important political and military figures in the early Republic of China between 1912 and 1916, a unique transitional period from the imperial Qing dynasty to the Republic. These figures, due to their different political positions and political views, held different attitudes towards the historical development of the Republic of China. Some of them were influenced by or had the background of certain political groups or revolutionary organizations. Their radical anti-Manchu thoughts and strong national awareness drove them to participate in revolutionary activities. Some were inspired by western thoughts, hated the corruption and tyranny of the Qing government and yearned for setting up a capitalist democratic republic in China. So they devoted themselves into the revolution with their democratic revolutionary ideals. Some of them, such as the soldiers in the newly recruited armies of Qing government, were awakened and encouraged by the revolutionary thoughts and became the mainstay of the revolutionary cause and key to the success of the revolution. These people were indispensible in the establishment and development of the Republic of China and they had left their indelible marks in their time. However, among those figures, there were also speculators who cared only about their own interests and took a profiteering attitude towards the revolution; bigots who stubbornly identified themselves with the feudal Qing government and couldn’t understand the trend of their time and keep up the pace. These people were obstacles to the establishment and development of the Republic of China. Another capitalist group, the petty bourgeoisie, were weak, short-sighted, indecisive and self-contradictory. Their political stand varied in different times so that they could hardly be trusted.By studying the regional distribution of the major military and political figures of the time, this thesis tries to find out the regularities of their distribution (statistics and analysis are done from 3 aspects:the place of birth, the place of growth, the place of their native home) and the correlation with their political views and political paths. This thesis even tries to explain such distribution regularities. At present, there is still a big gap between the regional allocation of talented people and the rapid growth of regional economy. In regional economic development, many problems demand prompt solutions. For example, how to reasonably allocate talents in the regional talent structure? How to attract the most needed talents so that more could be attracted? How to take advantage of the scale? Besides, the study of the regional distribution of the military and political figures of the early Republic of China can provide lessons and experiences for the exploration of the law of the regional distribution of the political, economical, and cultural factors, which in turn, will contribute to the social, political and cultural development of the regions. To be specific, the study of the regional distribution of those historical figures in early Republic of China aims at finding and differentiating the factors in the talent accumulation process, and the pattern of talent accumulation so that these factors can be used to formulate China’s talent strategies and to attract more talents to the region.