The great changes in the national system and the shape of the frontier triggered changes in contemporary people's understanding of the status of the frontier and the resulting major changes in the frontier knowledge system. This is mainly reflected in two aspects: the frontier pl

Abstract: Modern China has experienced a transformation from the "tianxiaism" system of dynastic states to the world system of nation-states. With the emergence of nation-states, the historically blocky border areas between China and neighboring countries began to gradually shrink, and eventually became linear modern national borders through boundary treaties and demarcation, which is also the experience of China's territorial morphology. The transformation from a "boundless world" to a "limited country". The great changes in the national system and the shape of the frontier triggered changes in contemporary people's understanding of the status of the frontier and the resulting major changes in the frontier knowledge system. This is mainly reflected in two aspects: the frontier place - from being a useless place The changes in the frontier defense frontier from "Ishida" to "border preparation" and "resisting aggression"; the discourse transformation of frontier ethnic groups from "sebari" to "national".

For a long time, research on the history and geography of China's frontiers has been roughly centered on the following three themes: the formation and development of China's historical territories; the formation and changes of China's modern borders; and the study of China's frontier governance in the past dynasties. Generally speaking, the study of "the formation and development of China's historical borders" can be regarded as an important field of ancient history; the study of "the formation and changes of China's modern borders" is an important issue of modern history. From the perspective of academic history, previous research generally treated "the formation and development of China's historical territories" and "the formation and changes of China's modern boundaries" as two isolated topics, and rarely viewed the transformation process between the two from a connected perspective. The external changes in the border form and the reconstruction of the border governance system presented in

Based on the review and problem awareness of the above-mentioned prior research, this article intends to focus on the following three issues: first, sorting out the general process of transformation from the "historical territory" in the dynasty-state era to the "modern boundary" in the nation-state era; second, dynastic states How to reconcile the era's proposition of the "great unification" world view of territory and the modern territorial view based on the "scientific" natural boundary theory? Third, from the collapse of the fuzzy Ou Tuo dynastic territory to the clear and scientific modern boundary Behind the emergence of this "country-frontier" geographical form and the great changes in the value concept of "dynastic country-modern country", what changes have occurred in people's frontier cognition and frontier knowledge system?

1. Territory in the era of dynastic states Views and Frontier Political Practice

The term "frontier" is a concept in the context of the dynasty and state era in Chinese history. In official history books or private writings, it is often used in opposition to "the center", "the mainland" and "the Central Plains". Used to refer to the edge of the central dynasty: from a cultural point of view, this is a transition zone between civilization and barbarism; from a political point of view, it is a fence that maintains the security of the dynasty. The discursive construction of this "center-periphery" relationship was first reflected in the "Five Clothing Systems" of the Three Dynasties period: "the system of the former kings, Dian clothing within the state, marquis clothing outside the country, marquis Wei Bin clothing, barbarian Yao clothing, Rong Di clothing" Those who serve are those who sacrifice, those who serve are those who serve, those who want to serve, those who want to serve, and those who want to serve, the king. The sacrifices of the day, the sacrifices of the month, the tributes of the year, and the king's instructions. Mandarin·Zhouyu Part 1)

The "Five-Service System" is a world system centered on the "Kingdom of the Middle Kingdom". It divides the world into five circles, starting from the "Bang Neidianfu" in the core circle, through the transition in the middle circle , until the outer circle of "Barbarians are to be subdued" and "Rong Dihuang is subdued." There is no doubt that this concentric world system is centered on Wang Ji , which means that the surrounding areas are regarded as the source of central order: it weaves A differential order pattern, with "I" as the center to measure the closeness and distance between oneself and others, and oneself as the apex of world civilization, thus forming the basic framework of the tribute system, which can be said to be the concrete embodiment of ancient China's hierarchical worldview. The "five-service system" has deeply rooted in the cultural superiority of "China-centrism". From the perspective of the "self" in the center, the " Sibari " on the periphery are very different from China in terms of economy, culture, living customs and even clothing. In ancient times, the Central Dynasty naturally regarded itself as a "state of etiquette" and "a state of crowns and belts", thus giving rise to the concept of "discrimination between Hua and Yi".

The concept of "distinction between Huayi and Hua" emerged from the "Five-Service System". In order to effectively manage their vast territories, rulers of past dynasties often divided the territories into different parts and adopted different ways to rule them. The most common method is to determine the core area and the peripheral area, that is, the distinction between "mainland" and "frontier". The status of these two areas in the national territorial structure is different. The core area is often regarded as the foundation for the country's survival and development and has a dominant position; the peripheral area is due to long distances, different production and lifestyles, and heterogeneous culture. , is often regarded as a strategic area guarding the core area and is in a subordinate position. For this reason, the rulers of the dynasty mostly treated border areas as special areas, and implemented different governance strategies based on changes in subjective and objective environments. There were roughly two ends: one was "the king has no outsiders", and the other was " Yixia" Great defense.

The idea of ​​"the king has no outside" is an important theory in Confucianism. It emphasizes that the ideal "world country" should be a place where "sound teachings" are implemented without any regard for "outside" and everything is "inside", so it can ultimately Reach the realm of "one world, one family". The so-called "under the heaven, is not the king's land ; on the shore of the land, is it the king's ministers", is the best interpretation of the idea of ​​"the king has no outsiders". Confucianism emphasizes the tianxia doctrine of showing great unity under the whole world The territorial views and expressions of the rulers of past dynasties cannot conceal their ambition to expand territories and overlook the world. Therefore, when ancient China was in an era of strong national power, such as the prosperous times of the Han, Tang, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the rulers of the dynasties were usually confident. Picking up the ideal of "the king is king" and "the world is one family", the management of border areas often shows an aggressive attitude. Qin Shihuang attacked Qianhu in the north and dug across the country in the south; Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty conquered the barbarians in the south and settled in the sea in the east. He built the Shuofang County in the north; Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty crossed the Qi and the sea, garrisoned four towns in the west and Andong in the east; Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty showed his perfect martial arts, defeated Junggar, settled his troops, attacked Jinchuan, and settled Taiwan. Historical sites such as the surrender of Myanmar , Annan , and the Gorkha surrender can be evidence.

However, in the specific practice of border governance, "the king has no outsiders" is often considered an idealized state. Many times, dynasty states are unable to manage the frontiers. Therefore, in order to resolve this embarrassment, rulers will make use of the concept of "Hua Yi Difference", "Those who want to share the teachings will be governed, and those who do not want to be coerced will not be governed by force." , instead emphasizing "the great defense of Yi and Xia." Ban Gu in the Eastern Han Dynasty had a very insightful discussion on this: "The people of Yi and Di are greedy and fond of profit. If you make an oath, if you don't attack, if you make an agreement, you will be bribed and deceived; if you attack, you will waste your troops and attract bandits. Its land cannot be cultivated for food, its people cannot be ministered to but livestock, it is outside but not inside, sparse but not connected, politics and religion are not in line with the people, and Zhengshuo does not add to the country; when they come, they punish them, and when they go, they prepare them. Keep it. He admires righteousness and contributes, and then responds with courtesy and restraint, keeping the song there, which is the normal way for the sage king to control the barbarians.

Ban Gu's discussion presents a relatively complete and profoundly influential concept of "Yi Xia's Great Defense", that is, Yi and Di are like wild beasts, greedy for profit and cunning, and cannot accept the king's transformation at all. Under this rhetoric, those "barbarians" who did not obey the central dynasty's moral rule and kingly culture did not need to actively educate them and let them retain their existing customs. When the central dynasty's national power was weak and suffered from external When threatened, the rulers of dynasty countries would emphasize the "defense of the Yi and Xia" and the argument of "isolating themselves" and "separating the Chinese and the Yi" would become more popular.For example, when the Eastern Han Dynasty was weak, Ban Gu emphasized that the land of the Yi and Di countries "cannot be cultivated for food, and its people cannot be ministered for livestock" and "when they come, punish them and control them, and when they go, prepare and defend them"; after the "Anshi Rebellion" in the Tang Dynasty, Shi Chen likened the "country of Yi and Di" to a "stone field". This metaphor has an obvious background of farming experience. What is the harm of losing if you gain nothing? You must seek a false reputation and work hard to be useful." The implication is, " "Shitian" cannot be cultivated and cannot create wealth. Instead, the dynasty consumes national funds and there is no need to operate; The country in the Northern Song Dynasty was weak, Sima Guang called Lanzhou, Mizhi and other five villages "frontier" and "useless land," The ministers still see the small and forget the big, guarding the near and leaving the distant, cherishing this useless place, confusing the soldiers, and worrying about the country, so it is better to follow the invitation of the Xixia Kingdom.

"The king is without exception" and " The "Great Defense of Yi and Xia" seems to be distinct, but in fact, the basis of "The King is No Outside" is the "Five Clothing System" with clear internal and external levels. The "Great Defense of Yi and Xia" also has the meaning of dividing internal and external, so both are based on the center It is elaborated on the preset concept of constant relationship with the edge. Due to this concept, the territorial shape of historical China generally expanded outward in the shape of concentric circles, forming a regional separation between the center and the edge. Therefore, the frontier political practice of pre-modern dynasty countries generally showed two aspects: On the one hand, influenced by the concept of "Hua Yi differentiation", the rulers showed a strong sense of cultural and moral superiority towards the border areas, so there was a "since the cultivation of literary and moral virtue" On the other hand, it is shown as despising the frontier, emphasizing "serving the generalization of morality and not wandering into the wilderness" or "first come to China and then the barbarians", or "those who come will accept it, and then accept it" Do not pursue those who have gone. As a result, based on a pragmatic desire to maintain their own rule, dynasty countries lack the ambition to seize territories outside themselves. Due to the "swiveling and abandonment" of peripheral areas, the profit and loss of historical territories has become a norm.

2. The border crisis in the late Qing Dynasty and the delineation of national borders in modern times

Since the 17th century, with the rapid growth of their own populations and the need for new markets due to economic development, Western powers began to urgently seek foreign expansion. Until the first half of the 19th century, the West began to expand. The expansion of the great powers in the Eastern world has reached a saturation point: when other geographical spaces have been filled and national boundaries have been clearly defined, these old imperialist countries have begun to compete for the "land of decaying ancient civilizations." In their eyes, the Qing Dynasty was precisely such an object that could be cannibalized. In 1840, the "Opium War" broke out. Britain took this opportunity to open China's long-closed door, and other powers soon followed. At this point, China in the late Qing Dynasty experienced "changes unprecedented in thousands of years. Especially in the outermost areas - land and sea areas, both faced a geopolitical picture surrounded by great powers: To the north, Tsarist Russia continued to encroach. China's northeastern and northwest frontier territories also hope to include the Inner and Inner Mongolia regions in the north into its sphere of influence; in the southwest, Britain and France used the British Indian Colony and the French Indochina Colony as springboards to extend their invasion tentacles. and China's Tibet, Yunnan, and Guangxi, and took advantage of the passage to peek into the hinterland of China; in the eastern region around the China Sea, the demonstrations of the Western maritime power and the rise of Japan, the neighboring country, made the maritime territory turbulent. At that time, due to the border crisis, the traditional dynasty. The country's territorial view had a serious conflict with the border view of modern Western nation-states. As a result, as the weaker party, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty had to make some changes, one of which was "converting tradition into fuzzy frontiers into clear borders recognized by international law.

(1) All the vassal barriers are lost: the "independence" of the great powers and surrounding vassal states

In the pre-modern period of China, the central dynasty was willing to pursue the concept of "the emperor guarded the barbarians" in terms of etiquette and law. Influenced by this concept, the central dynasty, with the attitude of "the supreme kingdom of heaven", established a differential tributary-vassal relationship with the surrounding small countries from a high position.The suzerain state and the vassal states have a loose political alliance. Under normal circumstances, the suzerain state does not interfere in the internal affairs of the vassal state. Only when there is civil strife or foreign enemies in the vassal state, the suzerain state has the obligation to provide assistance. This is " The word is small; Correspondingly, the vassal states also have the obligation of "big things", that is, they assume the responsibility of defending the suzerain state, and at the same time pay tribute regularly in accordance with the established etiquette.

In the early and mid-Qing Dynasty, neighboring countries that maintained vassal relations with China. Mainly including Korea, Vietnam, Ryukyu and Myanmar, etc. This suzerain-vassal relationship is actually a historical inheritance. The ceremonial canonization and tribute procedures are still maintained between the suzerain and vassal states: when a monarch of a vassal state comes to the throne, the Qing court That is to say, special envoys were sent to carry out imperial edicts and seals for canonization; the vassal states were obliged to pay tribute to the Qing Dynasty. Specifically, Korea paid tribute once a year, Vietnam and Ryukyu paid tribute every two years, and Burma paid tribute every ten years. In their imagination, these vassal states were actually the barriers to China, that is, "Ryukyu defended the southeast, Goryeo guarded the northeast, Mongolia guarded the northwest, and Vietnam guarded the southwest.")

However, as the great powers moved eastwards, the surrounding vassal states were also guarded. The relationship with the Qing government changed. In 1872, Japan forcibly enfeoffed the Ryukyu King Shoutai as a vassal, creating Ryukyu as a Chinese and Japanese territory. Japan took this as the first step to invade Ryukyu. Two years later, Japan distorted the situation. The content of the " Beijing Treaty" between China and Japan was that the Ryukyu boat people were mistakenly called "Japanese nationals" in the treaty. Japan used this as the basis for the Qing government to recognize Ryukyu as a dependent country of Japan, annexed Ryukyu, and declared the abolition of feudal vassals and the establishment of counties. . Due to the Sino-French Treaty of 1885, the Qing government gave up its status as a suzerain in Vietnam, and Vietnam became a French colony. In July 1886, Britain and the Qing government signed the "Burma Articles of the Sino-British Conference", which weakened the vassal relationship between China and Myanmar to the form of "one tribute every ten years". Myanmar therefore became a province of British India. Completely colonized.

Due to the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki between China and Japan, Korea was adopted as a colony by Japan. Long before that, Britain had conquered the countries in the southern foothills of the Himalayas, such as Nepal (1816), Ladakh (1846), Sikkim (1861), Bhutan (1865), etc. The vassal states of the Qing Dynasty were successively brought under the rule. The "colonization" of the surrounding vassal states not only broke the traditional situation of the central dynasties "supporting the barbarians" in the past dynasties, but also changed the objects of exchanges with the Qing Dynasty from the original vassal state governments to the colonies of Britain, France, Japan and other countries. Since then, China's frontiers have become more troubled and the situation has become more critical.

(2) Border Territory Loss and Modern Border Demarcation

Since the "Opium War" in 1840, China's frontiers have become increasingly troubled, and large areas of territory have been occupied by foreign powers. , mainly in the following six times. In August 1842, the Qing government was forced to sign the first unequal treaty in modern Chinese history, the Treaty of Nanjing, with Britain. Hong Kong Island became the first territory that China was forced to cede in modern times. , with an area of ​​75.8 square kilometers. In 1860, Tsarist Russia forced the Qing government to sign the Treaty of Beijing, which stipulated that the Chinese territory north of Heilongjiang and east of the Ussuri River would be ceded to Russia. " Compared with the "Beijing Treaty", the division of the eastern boundary between China and Russia caused China to lose 1 million square kilometers of territory, including 600,000 square kilometers north of Heilongjiang and 400,000 square kilometers east of the Ussuri River. Representatives of the Chinese and Russian governments signed the "Treaty on the Dividable Northwest Boundary". Compared with the northwest territory established in the Qianlong Inner Palace Map of the Qing Dynasty, this unequal treaty will start from the Amuha Mountain in the north and reach Congling in the south. Stretching from the Aegos River, Lake Balkhash, and Talas River to the west, to the east of Ili Nine Cities and Talbahatai Appeasement City, China's western territory with a total area of ​​about 440,000 square kilometers is included in the Russian border. In 1881, China and Russia signed the "Revised Treaty", which stipulated: "The area west of Ili should be placed under the jurisdiction of Russia so that the people who abandoned their fields due to naturalization of Russian citizenship can be resettled there. At the same time, the boundary east of Zhaisang Lake was also regulated. Adjustment. About 70,000 square kilometers of territory west of the Horgos River in western Xinjiang were ceded. At the same time, due to unclear treaty provisions, more than 20,000 square kilometers of the Pamir area south of the Uzbeli Pass was left to be discussed.In 1895, Russia and Britain took advantage of China's defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1898 to sign the "Agreement between the Government of Great Britain and the Government of Russia on the Sphere of Influence of the Two Countries in the Pamir Region", which included more than 20,000 square kilometers to the west of the Sarekole Ridge. The Chinese Pamir territory was secretly divided into private parts. The British occupied the Wakhan Pamir , and the rest was occupied by Tsarist Russia. In July 1900, Tsarist Russia took advantage of the Eight-Power Allied Forces' invasion of China and sent troops to occupy Jiangdong No. 64. This place is located on the left bank of Heilongjiang River, with a length of about 75 kilometers from north to south and a width of about 40 kilometers from east to west, with a total area of ​​about 3,000 square kilometers.

Due to the above-mentioned loss of border territory, the Qing government had to face another problem, that is, how to demarcate borders with powerful Western powers. In fact, the earliest modern border demarcation in Chinese history can be traced back to the "Treaty of Nerchinsk between China and Russia" in 1689 and the "Treaty of Brunsky" in 1727. The two treaties settled the disputes between China and Russia in the Heilongjiang River Basin. territorial demarcation issues. In 1728, China and Russia signed the Treaty of Kyaktu, which resolved the border issue between China and Russia in the Outer Mongolia region. The Qing government instinctively resented accepting a fixed boundary imposed by the great powers and regarded it as a humiliation. Despite this psychological view, in specific political and diplomatic practices, the Qing government had to follow the treaty system imported from the West, conduct diplomatic negotiations with the neighboring protectorates that were once its vassal, and try to maximize its Boundaries are determined in the form of treaties, clearly demarcated, and maintained to protect national interests.

Not only the Chinese government has this demand, but the imperialist countries surrounding China also have similar demands. Regarding this point, Curzon, the then British Governor-General of India, once gave a lyrical explanation: "The border issue is still a daily and hourly top priority for our Foreign Office, Indian Affairs Department, and Colonial Office. It is the most important matter of life and death for our colonies and dependent countries. It is It was an arduous, endless job that required the sharpest wisdom and sturdiest energy of the Anglo-Saxon nation. It goes without saying that after having made huge territorial gains, the British needed to establish a stable and effective country. The border system was used to protect their vested interests, and then on this basis, they further expanded their borders in the hope of obtaining greater and more benefits. As far as the border strategy implemented by the British government in India is concerned, as Curzon said, Its goal is to construct a "three-tiered frontier" for the British Empire : the inner edge is the frontier area under the administrative jurisdiction of the British and Indian Governor-General; the " Duran Line " in the middle zone, or the frontier for active defense; as the external or high-level frontier The Afghanistan border of strategic borders. In Curzon's view, the border system with India as the core implemented by him is currently the most effectively organized border system in the world, and it can be compared with the corresponding case and prototype in ancient times - Rome. The border system is comparable to that of other countries.

originated from the different demands and common goals of both parties. In specific diplomatic and political practices, the central government of the late Qing Dynasty conducted border demarcation with neighboring countries (or colonial powers), and roughly formulated them in the form of treaties. The territory of modern China was determined. Here we list the names of the relevant treaties and boundary treaties that demarcated the borders between China and neighboring countries in the late Qing Dynasty (see Table 1).

Table 1: Relevant treaties and delimitation treaties on the border demarcation between China and neighboring countries in the late Qing Dynasty

Carefully sort out the border demarcation process between China and neighboring countries during this period. It can be roughly seen that the demarcation of bilateral boundaries is full of many issues. Artificial factors, or to some extent, "artificial boundaries," that is, the selection of a particular place as a boundary does not depend on natural factors on the earth's surface, but is a dividing line drawn artificially or arbitrarily. This kind of boundary demarcation is mostly based on rules adopted for political convenience, ignoring traditional customary lines formed based on natural geography , ethnic factors, etc., and is applied to political communities or new areas where tribal rights have not yet been finalized. in the country. In fact, the so-called "political convenience" is more reflected in the power of the big country. The weaker party often has to succumb to the established interests of the big country and demarcate the boundaries between the two sides in accordance with the wishes of the big country. Regarding this point, Curzon once pointed out, "In Asian countries, the demarcation of borders occurs only under the pressure of Europeans or the intervention of political representatives." Here, Curzon describes the significant influence of power on border demarcation with a plain but arrogant realism. . In his view, the demarcation of borders was largely unilateral - only strong empires could create perfect borders between countries.

At least before the First World War . The determination of boundaries is mainly based on the concept of "power politics", that is, the determination of boundary lines depends on strength factors.As Nicholas John Spackman and Abby A. Rawlings describe it, "the particular boundaries of any given historical period may well become the political geographical expression of the existing balance of power." There is no doubt that as far as the border demarcation process between China and neighboring countries in the late Qing Dynasty was concerned, the concept of border lines was an asymmetric "contractual" regulation based entirely on power politics. At that time, the demarcation process between China and its neighboring countries until the final demarcation of the border was not always determined by itself; in more extreme cases, it was determined by two powerful countries whose spheres of influence may be adjacent or within it (or A powerful country) formed a boundary demarcation committee to carry out the demarcation work. In 1895, Russia and Britain bypassed the Qing government and privately established the boundaries of the Pamir region. This can be used as evidence.

(3) Changes in Border Governance Thoughts and Practices

With the collapse of the "Chinese World Order" in the mid-to-late 19th century, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty gradually realized that China was only a middle-class country in the modern world during their contact and confrontation with the modern Western world. "One of the Nations". If traditional Chinese border governance ideas were still able to maintain the affiliation between dynastic states and border areas and their historical territories in a relatively closed historical time and space of the pre-modern Chinese world, then when we enter a more open modern nation-state At this time, the border management idea of ​​"keeping the four barbarians" is obviously no longer able to effectively deal with the coveting and robbery of the border by foreign powers. With the impact of the treaty system and the nation-state system on China, the Qing Dynasty at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries began to examine border governance within the discourse system of the modern nation-state.

Judging from the actual situation, the Qing government gradually abandoned the traditional concept of border governance that emphasized internal affairs over external affairs, and began to adjust the "center-frontier" relationship with the goal of building a modern nation-state, and promoted the "homogenization" of border areas and inland areas. policy, hoping to strengthen direct control over border areas. In 1884, Xinjiang was governed as a province like the mainland. The following year, Taiwan was upgraded from a prefecture to a province. Later, the Qing government changed the general system into a provincial system in Northeast China and established a special administrative region with provincial characteristics in eastern Tibet. At the same time, by immigrating to the border areas of Inner and Inner Mongolia, they began to directly intervene in the economic, cultural, and educational undertakings of Inner and Inner Mongolia. In Inner Mongolia, with the increase of immigrants from the mainland, states, prefectures, and counties were established one after another, and the territories of leagues and banners were gradually compressed. Taking the three regions of Outer Mongolia, Tibet, and Xinjiang as examples, judging from the implementation effects of various policies, although they are located on the same frontier, due to different geographical and ethnic characteristics, the degree of "homogenization" in the early Qing Dynasty was different. Therefore, the results of the "homogenization" implemented by the Qing Dynasty in various places were different: Xinjiang's "homogenization" initiative was the most successful, and the provincial system was finally established; During the New Deal in the late Qing Dynasty, Outer Mongolia and Tibet had many plans There was a proposal to establish a province, but it could not be implemented due to various reasons.

Changes in border governance practices have laid the foundation for the central government to implement political integration of border areas and the construction of nation-states. This is mainly reflected in the fact that through the establishment of a provincial system, the administrative management system in border areas has gradually been integrated with that of the mainland. Central power has penetrated into various border areas, and the channels for the transmission and execution of government orders have been smoothed. In Xinjiang, the original pluralistic administrative system with the military system as the main body was changed, and the administrative system with the state and county system as the main body was implemented, so that Xinjiang is no longer a special "vassal"; in Taiwan, the previous administrative system was changed In the loose situation under the jurisdiction of the governors of Fujian, the governor of Taiwan was established, under the direct jurisdiction of the central government, and prefectures and counties were established in some mountainous areas and southeastern coastal areas where administrative divisions were not originally established, so that the central power covers all regions of Taiwan; in the northeastern border areas, the Northeast was abolished The Three Generals ended the military and political management system that had lasted for more than 200 years, and the region was transformed from a special zone in the Qing Dynasty into a province that was homogeneous with the mainland.

3. The formation of the modern frontier knowledge system and the changes in frontier cognition

In the era of pre-modern dynasties, the Central Plains region had a close relationship with the border areas. However, in the eyes of some "Central Plains centrists", this connection is in some way The degree shows a one-way dimension, that is, in most cases, the Central Plains benefits the border areas, and the border areas often receive favors and asylum from the Central Plains. Such frontier knowledge can be found in sufficient evidence in Chinese historical materials. Most official history books have also constructed a similar frontier knowledge system, believing that these geographically remote areas are nothing more than barbaric lands. Generally based on a similar stance, the ancient people's understanding of the border did not go beyond the traditional "Central Plains centrism" stereotype. They all took the Central Plains dynasty or the Central Plains civilization as the axis, and the borderlands were intentionally or unintentionally placed in a subordinate or foil position; and, even in the border areas, Entering the Central Plains' perspective, they are often regarded as the backward party that destroys the "advanced" economy and society of the Central Plains. Specifically, when the country is strong, the rulers of the dynasty always have a noble mentality in culture and firmly believe that there is a certain connection between the etiquette and customs system and social governance. As the saying goes, "If you want to control the nature, you must first break the customs. "It's just to make them Han", so Han customs are promoted in the border areas, hoping to achieve the goal of border governance of "wisdom and virtue spreading all over the world"; when the country is weak, the ambition of dynastic rulers to manage the border is usually restrained, and they instead adopt the method of "unifying and spreading". The conservative strategy of "don't cure" and "defend the barbarians". Correspondingly, the social intellectual elites in the heartland of dynastic countries are accustomed to looking at the frontiers and frontier peoples from an "exotic" perspective. Although they are aware of the many differences between "them" and "us", they are not eager to view "them" "To educate.

By the Qing Dynasty, modern China had experienced a transformation from a unified dynastic state system to a world system of nation-states. Affected by this, at the border level, on the one hand, there has been a change from "fuzzy dynastic territory" to "clear national boundaries". On the other hand, we can observe the historical scene of the country's efforts to integrate border areas. So, behind this huge change in the geographical form and values ​​of "country-border", at the social level, what changes have occurred in people's frontier knowledge system and frontier cognition? Here, the author intends to briefly review the mid-Qing to late Qing Dynasty The writings on the frontier during the Qing Dynasty hope to outline the development and evolution of the frontier knowledge system during this historical period, so as to present the changes in the people's frontier knowledge system and frontier cognition to the maximum extent.

It is generally believed that Qi Yunshi in the mid-Qing Dynasty was the founder of what was later called the "Northwestern School of History and Geography". During his exile in Xinjiang, Qi Yunshi wrote the book "Synopsis of the Western Frontier". When describing the original intention of compiling the book, Qi Yunshi mentioned that "Xinjiang is more than 20,000 miles apart, and it is an area uniquely created by Emperor Gaozongchun Shenwu, which has never been seen in the ages." It can be seen that the book examines the history of Xinjiang's territory, mountains, rivers and place names. , is to praise Emperor Qianlong's martial arts in managing the frontier. Different from the previous "trivial talks, hearings and records" about Xinjiang that focused on "curiosity and strangeness", Qi Yunshi emphasized the need to "believe in the present and verify the past" and not write "useless books", which shows his feelings about the world. What needs to be pointed out in particular is that "The Essentials of the Western Frontier" writes about Xinjiang as a "national history", which is broadly consistent with the gist of another work "The Essentials of the Imperial Dynasty". The "Summary of Imperial Vassals" established the "vassal" system with different tribute systems, incorporated the history of Mongolia, Xinjiang, Tibet and other places into "national history", clarified the territorial ownership of these border areas, and established the unification of China. The intellectual pedigree of a multi-ethnic country is of epoch-making significance. Xu SongThe book "Waterways of the Western Regions" presents the martial arts of the early Qing Dynasty in opening up territories and praising the grandeur of the Qing Dynasty's unification of the territory. As the saying goes, "the country originated in the east and caressed the Khalkha in the north. Zhasa "Ke, Nanxian Taiwan, Siweizang, open to Yili in the west, and Dinghui Xinjiang are so vast that they cannot be left without books to record their beauty." According to the autobiography of Zhang Mu, one of the representatives of the Northwest School of History and Geography, the purpose of writing "Mongolian Nomads" was to "connect the past and the present, compile historical records, and clarify border defenses" to make up for the "inner and outer Mongolia's territorial expansion which has not been completed for more than 200 years". It is a pity that there is no special book.”Qi Zhuozao pointed out in the preface to "Mongolian Nomads": "The territory of Mongolia discussed in this article is connected with the Chinese frontier, and the strength of its tribes is related to the rise and fall of China. It is not like a remote area overseas that can be left alone."

If the writings of Qi Yunshi, Xu Song, and Zhang Mu can be roughly regarded as a background of border writings in the transitional period from the mid-Qing to the late Qing Dynasty, then these various border writings, compared with the previous dynastic and national border knowledge systems, are already There have been changes, which are mainly reflected in two aspects: First, relevant borderland writings have begun to consciously include Xinjiang, Inner and Outer Mongolia, Tibet and other marginal areas that have always been regarded as "wild places" into the category of "national history", clarifying their As China’s territorial scope, such an idea is directly related to the Sino-Russian demarcation event in the early and mid-Qing Dynasty; secondly, as Qi Yunshi emphasized, the border writings of this period began to abandon the "curiosity and eccentricity" and became better at One result of textual research and emphasis on historical knowledge is that borderland researchers combine field surveys with literature research. The borderland knowledge they obtain is relatively reliable and their understanding of the borderland is deeper.

The “Opium War” in 1840 can be regarded as an important division in the reconstruction of China’s frontier knowledge system and frontier cognition. This war put the Qing Dynasty's dream of a "heavenly empire" on the verge of being shattered. Seeing that the southeastern coastal areas, which were the capital of the Qing Dynasty's wealth, were so fragile in front of the once "minor barbarians", the elites of the empire suddenly felt that An unprecedented predicament. Obviously, compared with our ancestors who could enjoy the beautiful and stable life of "Dachuan Returns to the Road" and "Wangyi Civilization", the era they lived in was already the end of the late Qing Dynasty, which was approaching the end of the day and the tragedy was approaching. For a long period of time thereafter, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty and their intellectual elite gradually accepted the nation-state world system centered on Western countries in their collision and exchanges with Western powers. On the one hand, the border research that was launched after this period inherited the tradition of the Northwest School of History and Geography. On the other hand, due to the changes in the background of the times, new research fields, research materials and new problem awareness were also spawned, which made the frontier knowledge system more comprehensive. Both width and depth have been expanded.

1. Spatial scope: from China to the borders and outside the territory. Since the 1840s, Western learning has spread eastward. Under the influence of the "Westernization Movement" trend, social elites have had extensive contact with Western academics, gained a better understanding of the political and cultural forms of relevant Western countries, and gained a better understanding of frontier research and frontier cognition. had an important impact. According to Wang Guowei's observation, the Northwest School of History and Geography during this period, as a branch of Sinology, still occupied an important position in the overall academic structure of the late Qing Dynasty. However, with the gradual penetration of Western learning, the old academic structure was gradually broken. This makes the study of Chinese frontier history and geography have some new characteristics, thus creating a "new science".

Generally speaking, the border research at this time was based on the goal of Bibian. The spatial scope of the research continued to extend from the mountains and rivers of China to border geography, and from the border to outside the territory. "Hai Guo Tu Zhi" and "Shuo Fang Bei Cheng" can be said to be two representative works on the study of foreign affairs. Liang Qichao mentioned in his book "The Academic History of China in the Past Three Hundred Years" that in the late Qing Dynasty, "the trend of geography has changed, and its focus has shifted from the ancient to the present, and from the inside to the outside." "There are Kyushu", and foreign geography flourished. The problem consciousness of these writings focuses on the "border" and aims to provide background knowledge for solving border issues. However, the spatial scope of the research has exceeded China's mainland, from the "border" to the "outside the territory."

2. Research materials: Break the limitations of traditional Confucian classics and make extensive use of foreign literature. Take Xu Jingcheng's "Pamir Illustrations" written in 1892 as an example. The book "is based on the Russian version of the sixth version, the English version of the third version, and the two French and German three versions as references." It has widely absorbed Western knowledge. The records and research results on the Pamirs hope to "clearly draw territorial boundaries" and "to resolve disputes."

3. Research field: Territorial delimitation gives rise to boundary research. In the first half of the 19th century, traditional social elites such as Wei Yuan and Xu Jishe still showed a certain degree of ambiguity when describing China's territory. In the book "Hai Guo Tu Zhi", Wei Yuan claimed that China is located in the southeast of Asia, with "a diameter of six thousand miles from north to south, and the east and west are roughly the same."Compared with the vague statement in "Hai Guo Tu Zhi", Wei Yuan clearly pointed out in "Shengwu Ji" that "the seventeen provinces and the three eastern provinces are China. From China, we return to the west, to the south to Tibet, and to the east Korea, and Northern Russia (Russia), its people are all indigenous people, and its countries are all city-walled countries." Others such as Mongolia, Hui, Tibet, Russia, Korea, Myanmar, Annan, etc. are all foreign vassals of China. Xu Jishe's view of territory was different from that of Wei Yuan. In his view, except for Russia, Japan, India, and some Muslim tribes in the far west, the entire Asia belonged to China's "territory." At that time, it was difficult for both Chinese and Western observers to determine whether China's borders were between the "China" described by Wei Yuan and the "foreign vassals" or between the larger "China" and Asia shown by Xu Jishe. among other regions. The common approach adopted by Western mapmakers is to include Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang and Tibet within the scope of the "Chinese Empire", while using a line to separate them from the so-called "China proper". Therefore, the crabapple leaf-shaped map of China was first created by Westerners and represented the territory ruled by the Qing Empire.

By the mid-to-late 19th century, the Qing Dynasty’s surrounding vassal states had “lost all their borders.” The northern frontier, southwestern frontier, and southeastern sea frontier were also in crisis. Much of the frontier territory was lost, and demarcation disputes emerged one after another. Under this situation, a number of books specializing in the study of boundary issues have been published. Among the most famous works on the Sino-Russian boundary are Qian Xun's Notes on the Sino-Russian Boundary Agreement, Zou Daijun's Sino-Russian Boundary Notes, and Wang Shutan's Xinjiang Boundary Notes; on the Pamir boundary, Qian Xun "Private Discussions of the Pamirs" by Hai Ying, "Illustrated Notes on the Dividing of the Pamirs", Xu Jingcheng's "Illustrated Notes on the Pamirs", etc.; works on the Northeastern border mainly include Cao Tingjie's "Essential Notes on Siberia's Eastward Movement" and "Essential Notes on the Northeast Frontier Defense". ", Song Jiaoren's "Jiandao Issue", "Yanji Border Affairs Report" and other important achievements. British sociologist Anthony Giddens pointed out that in the process of transformation from traditional countries to modern nation-states, an important change is that "the mobile borders of the country are replaced by fixed borders." In other words, the demarcation of national boundaries of a nation-state can be regarded as an important part of the construction of the nation-state system of this country in modern times. The intellectual elites of the late Qing Dynasty keenly observed this and consciously strengthened the research on boundary issues. As a result, compared with the relatively vague dynastic territorial view of the intellectual elites in the first half of the 19th century, the intellectual elites of this period already had a clear modern national concept. Border awareness, they tried to examine the relationship between the central government and the border, and China and its surrounding areas through the study of border issues. In a sense, this further enriched the border knowledge system.

4. Results form: from personal writings to topical articles. Most of the frontier writings in the middle and late Qing Dynasty were private writings. The research approach focuses on the traditional geographical evolution research and origin analysis. At the same time, there are also many memorials on the response to the border situation based on the political needs of the times, such as Guan Tianpei's "Cao Hai Chu Ji", Yao Xiguang's "Cao Mongolia Brief Discussion", etc. By the beginning of the 20th century, especially after the implementation of the "New Deal" in 1905 and the "opening up of people's intelligence", there was a major breakthrough in the form of research results. With the development of the publishing and communication industries, newspapers and magazines sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and they were relatively short in length. A large number of articles on border issues emerged.

At that time, the content of border research was no longer limited to traditional forms such as border geographical history and maps. It encompassed all aspects of diplomacy, politics, culture, economy, society, and ethnicity surrounding border issues. It should also be noted that although the content of borderland studies has been greatly expanded, it is mostly the review of a specific hot event, and there is still a large gap with later normative academic research. Based on this, Wu Wenzao believes that “before the Republic of China, China had policy articles on border affairs, but no specialized knowledge in studying border affairs.”

5. Status cognition: from "a unique place" to "a borderland". After 1840, China witnessed the spread of Western powers eastward.In all the wars including the First Opium War, the Second Opium War, the Xin Chou Incident, the Sino-French Mawei Battle, and the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, the great powers without exception relied on an important means to go up the coast, from south to north. , using its powerful superior fleet to defeat the Chinese army, Li Hongzhang called this "a change unprecedented in thousands of years." Under this situation, people at the time observed: "Now the era of seclusion has turned into an era of transportation... In the era of seclusion, the trouble is vassals, and those who seek the country must focus on border defense. Those who defend the border clouds must defend the border people. Internal invasion. In the era of communication, those who are in trouble with the enemy's country must focus on border defense. They only use the border people to defend against foreign aggression. Therefore, they use the weakness of the border people. The border people used the strength of the border people to defend themselves against foreign aggression.” If we say that border management in the era of dynasty states (the “era of seclusion”) focused on “defending the border”, so that the border peoples were regarded as hostile parties, then in modern times, Border governance in the era of nation-states (the "era of transportation") has begun to focus on "border defense," and border ethnic groups have gradually become a force that the country can rely on to resist "foreign aggression." Therefore, while emphasizing the barrier function of the border, we should recognize its sovereign status in the country, actively manage the border with a "border defense" rather than "border defense" understanding, and strive to promote the balance between "border and the mainland". Qualitative governance.

analyzes the conceptual transformation from "foreign land" to "border preparation", which actually contains a metaphor. The dynastic rulers of pre-modern China used the "civilized view" as the standard to distinguish themselves from others, thus describing border areas as "foreign lands" and "foreign countries", and adopted the policy of "accepting those who have come and not pursuing those who have gone". "The ambiguous position. Well, in modern times when China has gradually integrated into the world system of nation-states, the concept of territorial sovereignty of nation-states has become clear. From the perspective of realist sovereignty interests, even if the border areas are remote frontier places, for the central government, they are a defense against aggression. , and the frontier positions in Beipian have immeasurable national defense value, so they turned to pursue the integration of border areas into "border areas in the core area of ​​​​a country" and "areas on the edge of the center of political power."

6. Problem awareness: from “geography” to “nation”. Traditional frontier research mostly focuses on frontier geographical knowledge, such as the geographical annals of official histories of the past dynasties, the travel chronicles of monks and envoys, and the "Illustrated Chronicles of the Western Regions", "Illustrated Chronicles of Xinjiang", and "Records of Waterways of the Western Regions", all of which focus on geographical research. , so that it has formed a bias of only focusing on the territory and ignoring the border people, resulting in the lack of flexibility in human activities, making it difficult to break the isolation of border areas. However, this situation has changed due to the changes that modern China has experienced from a dynastic state system "determined by one king" to a nation-state system "one of ten thousand nations". Due to the introduction of geographical knowledge from outside the region, the inherent "Huayi view" of some intellectual elites has changed. Wei Yuan pointed out that barbarians and Rongdi are used to specifically refer to people with cruel temperaments and unknown kings. "Every country with education is called barbarians, not just their own country." According to this standard, people from Western countries Those distant visitors "know etiquette and practice justice, understand the sky above, observe geography below, understand things from the outside, and connect the past and the present." They can be called "wonders from Yinghuan and good friends from outside the territory", so the name "Yang" should be changed from "Yang" to "Yi" . Xu Jishe's "Yinghuan Zhilue" implemented this concept, and the word "Yi" was no longer found in the writing. This shows that, compared with the concept and practice of pre-modern dynastic states that collectively referred to the people on the fringes of the country as "barbarians," the intellectual elites of this period had consciously differentiated the "barbarians within the territory" who were unknown kings from the "educated people" from outside the territory. To distinguish between "barbarians", "barbarians within the territory" are still called "barbarians", while "barbarians who are educated" are called "foreign". If the distinction between "barbarians" and "foreigners" is just a transformation and change of the "four barbarians" discourse system, then in 1861 the Qing government established the Prime Minister's Office for Foreign Affairs to undertake the foreign affairs that originally belonged to the Lifan Yuan, which shows that the Qing government A preliminary distinction has been made between the specious "barbarian affairs" at the institutional level - the Prime Minister's Office specializes in dealing with "foreign affairs", and the history of the Lifan Yuan handling all "barbarian affairs" has come to an end. "It is just a vassal management, there is no need for diplomacy." The concept tends to die out.

Influenced by the above-mentioned transformation of the "Hua Yi concept", some social intellectual elites began to think about a question: Should the status of "barbarians within the territory" be re-evaluated? The initiative of the slogan "Expelling the Tartars", coupled with the spread of Western learning to the east and the spread of nationalist ideas, in the comprehensive review of dynastic politics, people at that time proposed "anti-Manchu", "anti-Han" and "anti-Han" respectively due to their political stances. Slogans such as "Eliminate the Manchu and Han Dynasties". This political trend of thought greatly influenced the academic interests of the people at the time. Many commentators wrote articles to explore the connotation of "China" derived from the debate on Manchu-Chinese relations. At that time, "great nationalism" based on "pacifying the Manchu and Han territories" became the mainstream view. This view believed that the fundamental reason for the border crisis was that the traditional dynastic state system could no longer cope with the impact of the modern Western nation-state system. In response, relevant commentators advocate integrating into the world, establishing a constitutional monarchy, and at the same time unifying Manchu, Han, Mongolian, Hui and Tibetan people into one big nation. As the saying goes, "Those who want to unite more than two ethnic groups to form one country will not be able to become strong without first settling the internal strife. To eliminate the roots of internal strife, the only way is to make the ethnic groups forget each other and blend into one." Unify the border ethnic groups in the country and shape the "National", becoming a great and powerful country, and then achieving a harmonious world, has become the voice of the times. At that time, Liang Qichao advocated "new history", chronicling fragmented history in specific academic research, clearly describing the origin, development, and results of history, so as to recast it into a coherent process - the writing of history. It means constructing a grand narrative to support various programs related to nation-building or state-building. To this end, Liang Qichao wrote a series of articles explaining the connotation of "Chinese nation" and the core ideas of nation-state construction. In 1901, Liang Qichao first proposed the concept of "Chinese nation" in his article "A Narrative of Chinese History". He divided Chinese history into three eras: The history of the last century, from the Yellow Emperor to the unification of Qin, is the Chinese nation of China. ; Medieval history, from the unification of Qin to the end of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, is China in Asia; modern history, from the end of Qianlong to today (the end of Qing Dynasty), is China in the world. In his view, today's world is "an era in which the Chinese nation negotiates and competes with Westerners across Asia." In 1902, Liang Qichao wrote an article "On the General Trend of Changes in Chinese Academic Thought" and further proposed the concept of "Chinese nation". However, the "Chinese nation" here has more of a "Han nationality" meaning. In 1903, the article "The Doctrine of Political Science Master Bollen Zhili" differentiated the concepts of "big nationalism" and "small nationalism", "Who are small nationalists? The Han nationality is the same to other nationalities in the country", "Big nationalism" What is the ideal? To unite all the tribes within the country and to deal with the tribes abroad." "To combine the Han, the Manchu, the Mongolian, the Miao, and the Tibetan people to form a large nation." In 1905, the article "Observations on Chinese Nationalities in History" divided the Chinese nation into nine branches as a whole, namely Hua, Miao, Shu, Badi, Xuhuai, Wuyue, Fujian, Baiyue, and Baipu, and discussed The diversity and hybridity of the Chinese nation. Another concise explanation of the "nationality" framework can be found in Yang Du's "Jintie Doctrine", which also proposed the concepts of "the republic of five ethnic groups" and the "Chinese nation". Like Liang Qichao, Yang Du also adhered to the "national" framework and believed that "China is in today's world. The land of Han, Manchu, Mongolia, Hui, and Tibet cannot be lost, and the people of Han, Manchu, Mongolia, Hui, and Tibet must not lose any of it." , "The people cannot change, so the five nationalities of Han, Manchu, Mongolia, Hui and Tibetan people can be combined into one, but they cannot be divided into five. It is impossible to divide one into five, which has been discussed in detail. As for combining five into one, From now on, China will also be the most important government."

It can be observed from the writings of Liang Qichao, Yang Du and others that the border peoples in the narrative discourse of this period have evolved from the traditional "barbarians from all over the world" to the modern nation-state consciousness of "all citizens". At that time, although most researchers still viewed the borderlands and border people with the traditional "Central Plains-centrism", they at least broke through the shackles of the existing concept of "barbarian and Xia defense" and no longer focused on emphasizing "barbarians and cunning Xia" or "barbarians and cunning Xia". "China will not change."In the era of dynastic states, the rulers gave the people living on the edge of the empire the discriminatory title of "Barbarians", and the way to treat these people was to "continuously restrain the barbarians and make the music there, which is the normal way for the sage kings to control the barbarians"; In modern times, those people living in border areas are no longer dispensable "barbarians" but have become "citizens" who must be integrated.

4. Conclusion

Due to the dynasty's interest in the world and its concern for "tianxia", coupled with its relatively closed geographical environment, in ancient times, although there was a basic understanding of the four territorial boundaries, this understanding of "this territory and that boundary" did not exist. The knowledge is obviously very vague. Generally, a broad strip or area is used as the end of the territory of the dynasty, which is the so-called "Outuo land" in history books. Generally speaking, the ancients' understanding of dynastic territories and border areas often changed over time: on the one hand, the overall concept was guided by the territorial concept of "great unity", and they firmly believed that "under the whole world, it is not the king's territory; it is the territory that leads the territory" On the other hand, restricted by the development level of productive forces and the country’s political and military strength, the ancients most often regarded the edge areas of dynastic countries as “useless lands”, and their border governance behaviors were permeated with the dynasty-style Realistic considerations of "cost" and "benefit" with interests as the core. Based on a similar stance, the ancients’ writing and cognition of frontiers were centered on the Central Plains dynasty or civilization, thus placing the frontiers in a “marginal” position in the “differential order governance” generated by the “five-service system.”

From the end of the Qing Dynasty to the beginning of the Republic of China, due to a series of border crises, modern China experienced a transformation from the "tianxiaism" system of dynastic states to the world system of nation-states. This was what Levinson said was "a major milestone in the history of modern Chinese thought." In part, it is a process of making 'tianxia' into 'country'." With the emergence of nation-states, the historical blocky border areas between China and neighboring countries gradually shrank, and finally became linear modern national borders through boundary treaties and demarcation, which is also the experience of China's territorial shape. The transformation from "boundless world" to "limited territory". As some researchers have pointed out, in a sense, this transformation involves profound changes in world concepts and geographical landscape: by drawing clear boundaries for "borders", nation-states encircle themselves into a world that accommodates all container of citizens; it allocates roles to each citizen in it and stipulates corresponding obligations; therefore, at this time, the "center" can no longer abandon the "border", and the "border" also needs to bear the responsibility for the "border" center" responsibility.

The above-mentioned great changes in the national system and frontier forms triggered changes in people's understanding of the status of frontiers and the resulting major transformation of the frontier knowledge system. First, the border area: the change from the "stone field" as a useless land to the frontier of border defense as "border preparation" and "defense against aggression". In traditional official history books and the frontier notes of ancient literati, border areas are often described as "foreign lands" that receive the emperor's favor and as "extraordinary areas" where "state power and extravagant foreign objects" are spread. With the advent of the border crisis and the emergence of the “nation-state” discourse system, relevant border writings have begun to regard border areas as frontier areas to defend against foreign invasion. However, it needs to be pointed out that whether it is the frontier of "Ishida" or the frontier of "defense against aggression", these two frontier cognitions and the border places in the border knowledge system they formed are still based on the traditional "Central Plains Center" Starting from the "ism" historical perspective. Second, frontier ethnic groups: the transformation of discourse from “four barbarians” to “nationals”. The intellectual elites in the dynasty era often named the people living on the fringes of the dynasty as "Yidi", and often adopted the rule of restraint to treat these people. In the era of nation-states, intellectual elites have a clearer understanding and definition of "barbarians within the country" and "barbarians outside the country". For those barbarians who come from the "educated country", they no longer regard them as "barbarians" but instead call them "barbarians". As "foreign", as for those people living in border areas, they are no longer dispensable "barbarians", but have become "citizens" who must be integrated.