Text Writing And Local Society

The sTong-‘Khor Tingzhi(《丹噶尔厅志》)is the first local gazetteer(地方志)of s Tong-‘Khor(丹噶尔)which was created by Yang Zhiping(杨治平),a local scholar in the later Qing Dynasty.Whether as text or historical materials,this book is very important.On the one hand,s Tong-‘Khor Tingzhi is a text produced by power.It’s production closely related to the context of the times of ethnic crisis and frontier crisis.It was also influenced by the establishment of the s Tong-‘Khor Ting and the order of the Qing government.Specifically,on“WHO”,s Tong-‘Khor Tingzhi embodied the efforts of the gentry(士绅)class represented by Yang Zhiping;on“IN WHICH CHANNEL”,the completion of the s Tong-‘Khor Tingzhi is a process of three drafts in roughly thirty years;on“TO WHOM”and“WITH WHAT EFFECT”,s Tong-‘Khor Tingzhi also aimed its audience at local officials and gentry,which is of great value.At the same time,this text has a sharp marginality and embodies the imprint of transformation.From the vertical perspective,traditional local gazetteer gradually turns into new local gazetteer in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China.Both in style and content,this book is both traditional and modern.From the horizontal perspective,s Tong-‘Khor Ting is located in the west of inland in Hehuang area,also adjacent to Qinghai where administered by Xining-amban(西宁办事大臣).Yang Zhiping not only wrote about the local characteristics of s Tong-‘Khor,but also left considerable space to write about the history and ethnic groups of the Qinghai Lake area.In addition,Yang Zhiping also shared his views on the current situation and border politics in test,so that s Tong-‘Khor Tingzhi expressed the statecraft thought(经世致用思想).On the other hand,the historical value of the s Tong-‘Khor Tingzhi is very high.Based on the materials of this text,supplemented by other historical materials,the following issues about local society will be discussed:the operation of state power in s Tong-‘Khor in the Qing Dynasty and the interaction between local ethnic groups.From the reign of the Yongzheng emperor(雍正时期),military and political forces were developing in depth in s Tong-‘Khor,especially in its response to the challenge of“Fanwu”(番务)and“Huibian”(回变).At the same time,Qing goverment spare no effort to develop agriculture and Han culture in s Tong-‘Khor.However,its development suffered a setback because of the limitations on local ecology and cultural tradition.In my opinion,s Tong-‘Khor relied more on the military and political forces of the Qing government for its jurisdiction,and showed a mixture of agriculture and animal husbandry and the intersection of Han,Mongolian and Tibetan culture.s Tong-‘Khor is situated between the Tibet and inland,so there are many ethnic groups,including the Hans,Mongolians,Tibetans and Muslims.In the meantime,there are various ways of inter ethnic interaction,such as conflicts between“Yefan”(野番)and other groups,exchanges in business among different ethnic groups and the integration between the Hans and Tibetans,like“Jiaxifan”(家西番).Ethnic groups in s Tong-‘Khor recorded a scene of communication,exchanges and integration(交往交流交融)together.