Zhang Wei: From the perspective of central-local relations, Xinjiang has been an inseparable part of China's territory since ancient times

From the perspective of central-local relations, Xinjiang has been an inseparable part of China's territory since ancient times

——Looking at "The Historical Imprint of China's Xinjiang", I have a feeling

The relationship between the central government and the local government is one of the most basic relations in the state structure, which originates from historical choices and will also directly affect national unity, economic development and social stability. Based on the structure of the state, the relationship between the central government and the local government is essentially a vertical division between the central government and local governments. In 221 BC, Qin swept away liuhe, unified the world, established the first feudal dynasty in Chinese history, and objectively promoted the formation of a unified national historical concept. The concept of a unified state, through the development of the Qin and Han dynasties and the consolidation of the Sui and Tang dynasties, laid the basic pattern of ancient Chinese dynastic history. China's history has naturally created the basic structural form of the country as a unified multi-ethnic unitary state. On the other hand, from the perspective of management, this innate and intrinsic connection between the central government and the local government is reflected in the government organization. A country can be represented by only one governmental organization. Both the central and local governments can only be part of this governmental organization. Therefore, from the perspective of management, the relationship between the central government and the local government is not an external relationship between two independent subjects, but an internal relationship between different parts of the same government, or rather a hierarchical relationship between the upper and lower levels. In the hierarchical relationship between the central and local governments in China, the central government as the superior is the dominant and the first, the local government as the subordinate is derivative and second, and the relationship between the central and local governments is a relationship of entrustment and agency. Therefore, whether from the perspective of state structure or management, the operation of the relationship between the central government and the local government is bound to be marked by the central government's jurisdiction over the local government and the formation of the concept of a unified state.

"The Historical Imprint of Xinjiang in China" premiered on CCTV, using a large number of historical facts to explain the history of Xinjiang in detail from the aspects of politics, economy, culture, ethnicity and religion. Facts speak louder than words, and in the face of objective history, any lies and fallacies will be self-defeating. In fact, the ethnic centripetal force and sense of national identity of the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are even more rooted in history. Therefore, after watching the large-scale historical records, "learning from the past and knowing the new" has a deeper understanding of the historical meaning of the phrase "Xinjiang has been an inseparable part of China's territory since ancient times".

Territory is the basic element of the state, and the jurisdiction and domination of the central government over the local area is the most obvious sovereignty. Xinjiang has been China's inherent territory since ancient times. In 121 BC, Huo went ill and attacked the Xiongnu twice, and set up four counties in Hexi. Two years later, Wei Qing and Huo Went Ill again marched west, went deep into the hinterland of the Xiongnu, and won the engagement with Shan Yu, so that "the Xiongnu were far away, and there was no royal court in the south of the desert", once again expanding the influence of the Western Han Dynasty in the western region. In 102 BC, the Western Han Expedition to Dawan won, and since then "the western regions are terrified, and all envoys are sent to contribute", and although the Xiongnu king dominates the Tianshan Mountains, it is difficult to be at ease. In 60 BC, the Xiongnu western Rizhao led a crowd to surrender to Zheng Ji, and the Tianshan Mountains were also attributed to the Han. The Han "and protected the Northern Province" and established the "Capital Protector", and Zheng Ji became the first Capital Protector, which marked the official incorporation of Xinjiang into the historical map of China and officially attached to the political jurisdiction of the Western Han Dynasty. In the "Book of Han And Zheng Ji Biography", it is recorded: "The trumpet of Han ordered Ban Xiyuyi. "In terms of the official system, the central dynasty authorized the local government, and the emperor appointed the capital protector, and the official positions below the capital protection were held by the local chief, but they had to be crowned by the central government before they could be effective. As the Book of Han and the Tale of the Western Regions says, "The fifties of the most mortal kingdoms." Self-translated chief, city chief, jun, supervisor, official, dalu, hundred chief, thousand chief, du wei, and canal, danghu, general, xiang, marquis, and king, all pei han yin silk. This also reflects the relationship between entrustment and agency, and the people of the Western Regions "do not admire the Xiongnu but enjoy the Han." At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world was divided into three parts, and although the Central Plains Dynasty was in a brief period of division, it still did not interrupt its jurisdiction over Xinjiang. The Cao Wei regime of the Three Kingdoms inherited the Han system, set up a lieutenant in the Western Regions, and re-sealed the leaders of various ethnic groups in the Western Regions, issuing seal letters to Wei, who "paid tribute to Wei without age, slightly like the story of the Han clan". During the pre-Liang period, when Gaochang County was established in Xinjiang and the Sui Dynasty, the three counties of Zhimu, Shanshan and Yiwu were added, which marked the emergence of the county system in Xinjiang and was also a sign that Xinjiang was on the same track as the local administrative structure in the interior. In 702, Wu Zetian established the Beiting Capital Protectorate, further strengthening the Central Plains Dynasty's jurisdiction over Xinjiang.

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the princes were divided, and history once again entered a brief period of historical division. In this complex historical environment, where local regimes such as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms and the Song Dynasty and The Jin Dynasty coexisted, the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang still have a strong sense of political identity and maintain close ties with the Central Plains. At the same time, tributary trade between Xinjiang and the interior was also constant. The Book of the Later Han Dynasty records: "Mo is not oriented, the size is happy, and the tribute is endless." In addition, in-laws are also the main spiritual bond. As early as the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Xijun and Liu Xieyou, two princesses, were married to the Western Regions, and the blood was thicker than water, and the ethnic relations between water and milk were caused by history. According to the "Song Shi Hui Biography", "First, the Tang Dynasty followed the marriage of a princess, so the Uighurs called the Middle Dynasty an uncle, and the Chinese Dynasty also called the nephew of each edict given by the Chinese Dynasty." Five generations later, this is the case. This scene of the local government in Xinjiang and the nephew of the Central Plains Dynasty also vividly reflects the historical relationship between the two. It is particularly worth pointing out that the leaders of the Qarakhanid Dynasty during this period also called themselves "Taohuashi Khan", which means "Khan of China", and referred to the area under his jurisdiction as "Lower Qin", meaning "territory of China". This strongly shows that Xinjiang is still an important part of China's historical frontier. In 1222, Chhagatai, the second son of Genghis Khan, established the Chagatai Khanate, and then Kublai Khan further established the provinces of Beyabali and Amu Darya Shangshu in Xinjiang to exercise jurisdiction over Xinjiang, which was also an early promotion and practice of the provincial system. In 1406, Zhu Di established Hami Wei in Hami, Xinjiang, sent local ethnic minority leaders to govern on his behalf, and made him "King Zhongshun". In 1680, the Dzungars in the north of the desert gradually rose and attempted to compete with the Central Plains Dynasty. After more than 70 years, the Qing Dynasty quelled the Dzungar rebellion and once again unified Xinjiang, and in October 1762, Qianlong set up the Ili General's Mansion to control 15 regions west of the Irtysh River, south and the tianshan mountains north and south of Aksu, Kashgar, Urumqi, Hami and other 15 regions, and also managed the administrative affairs of the whole of Xinjiang. In 1865, Agubai invaded Xinjiang, and then Tsarist Russia also tried to invade Xinjiang. In order to maintain the territorial integrity of Xinjiang, Zuo Zongtang took the oath in Suzhou in 1876 and sent troops to Xinjiang. After hard work, in 1878, the Qing army finally recaptured Hotan, achieved a complete victory, and smashed the British and Russian conspiracy to annex Xinjiang. Backed by the qing army' military might, Zeng Jize successfully negotiated the Treaty of Ili with Tsarist Russia in 1881 (the seventh year of Guangxu), and the Following year the Qing government recovered Ili. In 1884 (the tenth year of Guangxu), Xinjiang was established as a province, which means "the new return of the homeland", and Liu Jintang became the first inspector of Xinjiang in Gansu. During the Republic of China, Xinjiang was also under the jurisdiction of the central government. Therefore, Sun Yat-sen once said: "China is a unified country, and this point has been firmly imprinted in China's historical consciousness."

For two millennia, Xinjiang has been an inalienable part of China's territory. In the long-term historical process, China's territory has both a period of division and a period of reunification, and the cycle of reunification and division alternately, and the unified development of the country has always been the mainstream direction. In the history of the Western Regions, whether it is the Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Western Regions of the Han Dynasty, the Qarakhanid Dynasty of the Song Dynasty, the Uighur Kingdom of Gaochang, or the Chagatai Khanate of the Yuan Dynasty and the Yarkand Khanate of the Ming Dynasty, they are all forms of local political power within the territory of China, not independent states, but a form of early local social organization. Formally based on the needs of history, since the Western Han Dynasty, the Central Plains Dynasty has carried out the practice of political rule and jurisdiction in Xinjiang, and the central government has authorized local trusteeship and appointed ethnic minority leaders to manage Xinjiang's affairs.

Returning to the perspective of state structure and the relationship between the central and local governments, China is a unified multi-ethnic country with a single system, which is determined by its own history and national status quo, and has its own profound historical origins. Xinjiang has been An inalienable territory of China since ancient times, a historical fact that cannot be tampered with or denigrated. Under the unified leadership of the central government, empowering local governments, managing their own affairs, and giving full play to the enthusiasm of the central and local governments is both a historical imprint and a need of the times.

(The author is a master's student at the School of Political Science and Law of Xinjiang Normal University; source: Kunlun Ce Network [original] revised draft, authorized by the author)