The Great Northwest accounts for about one-third of the country's total area. Before 1884, there were only two provinces in the entire northwest region, Shaanxi and Gansu. Why did it evolve into five provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai and Xinjiang within 50 years? The opening of provinces in Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Ningxia has a lot to do with Zuo Zongtang and the Hunan people.
Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang
Zuo Zongtang (1812-1885), also known as JiGao, was a native of Xiangyin, Hunan, a famous politician, military figure, and outstanding patriot in the late Qing Dynasty. In the summer and autumn of 1876, Zuo Zongtang recovered the northern region of Xinjiang. At this time, heavy snow was falling in the northern part of the Tianshan Mountains, and the roads were blocked, which was not conducive to the actions of officers and men and the transfer of grain and grass. Zuo Zongtang judged the situation and decided to send troops to southern Xinjiang when the spring of the following year was in full bloom and enter Agubai's lair. Unexpectedly, Agubai asked the British for help, and the British ambassador to China, Wittoma, and others put forward the so-called "compromise" proposal to the Qing government -- the Qing government ceded the southern region of Xinjiang to Agubai and made Agubai establish a state in southern Xinjiang to keep the two sides at peace.
Recover Zuo Zongtang in Xinjiang
Li Hongzhang actually agreed, but Zuo Zongtang resolutely refused to agree.
Zuo Zongtang replied to the British: "You British are great, give Agubai a land to establish a country, and London will be the capital." "The Qing government secretly ordered Zuo Zongtang to take full charge of Xinjiang affairs. In June 1877, Zuo Zongtang explicitly put forward his own proposal for the establishment of Xinjiang as a province for the first time in the "Overall Folding of the Overall Situation according to the Will" submitted to the imperial court. Zuo Zongtang said: To relieve the worries of the imperial court in the west, then (must) set up a province and change it to a county." Soon, the Qing government asked if the establishment of Xinjiang Province was ripe. Zuo Zongtang continued to state the reasons for Xinjiang's opening of the province.
The north and south of Xinjiang are bordered by the Tianshan Mountains
In January 1878, Zuo Zongtang announced the reconquest of Xinjiang. At this time, the Qing government once again replied to Zuo Zongtang, saying that the establishment of Xinjiang as a province must wait until Ili was recaptured. From 1879 to 1880, Zuo Zongtang proposed to the imperial court three times in succession to establish Xinjiang as a province. In the first month of the following year, Zuo Zongtang returned to the capital to take up his post. On the basis of Zuo Zongtang's proposal for the establishment of Xinjiang as a province, Tan Zhonglin and Liu Jintang, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, respectively proposed a plan for the establishment of a province in Xinjiang. Liu Jintang's plan has a detailed plan. In 1884, Xinjiang was ruled by a province, and Liu Jintang, a famous general of the Xiang Army, was ordered to serve as the first inspector of Xinjiang. The military government system has withdrawn from the stage of history in Xinjiang. Therefore, people also say that Xinjiang Province began with Zuo Zongtang and became Liu Jintang.
Grasslands in northern Xinjiang
Qinghai Province: The aspirations of a descendant of Zuo Zongtang Xiangjun
After the founding of the Republic of China, Qinghai produced a famous Daoyin.
At that time, Qinghai was under the jurisdiction of Gansu Province and was called the Ganbian Ninghai Region. Li Dan (1871-1938), the character Yumin, the number of no self, Hunan Xiangtan people, long served as Xining Daoyin. Li Dan, the grandson of Li Peijing, the governor of Yungui in the Qing Dynasty, was admitted as a deputy gongsheng in his early years and went to Gansu as an official in the late Qing Dynasty. The two wives died of illness and married the daughter of Huang Wanpeng. Huang Wanpeng (1832-1898), a native of Changsha Ningxiang, Hunan, was one of Zuo Zongtang's generals when he recaptured Xinjiang. It can be said that Li Dan is a veritable descendant of Zuo Zongtang's Xiang Army in the northwest.
Late life Li Dan (right)
In the early years of the Republic of China, Li Dan was invited by Ma Qi, the chief of Xining Town, to serve as Ma Qi's chief of staff. At that time, the local system of Qinghai continued the old system of the Qing Dynasty, and the three powers of Xining Province, Xining Province, and Qinghai Affairs Minister were established side by side, and each issued government decrees and fell on each other. With the help of Li Dan, Ma Qi used various means to make the Beiyang government dismiss the chief of the Qinghai office and was appointed as the guard envoy of Ninghai Town in Ganbian and the envoy of Qinghai Mengfan. Li Dan himself, With Xining Daoyin concurrently served as the chief of the General Affairs Department of the Town Guard Embassy. At this point, the political power of the Qingdao Navy was unified, ending the situation of the separation of the three powers and the different government decrees. In this process, Li Dan thought deeply and devoted himself to assisting Ma Qi, and found a new starting point for the development of Qinghai. The establishment of Qinghai Province has become their common dream.
Tibetan
At the beginning of the Republic of China, Li Dan resolutely resisted the British plot to split Tibet. He took out his salary and founded the Qinghai Tibetan Language Research Society in Xining, taking the lead in learning Tibetan. The purpose of this society is: "to learn the Tibetan script and to communicate with Sino-Tibetan culture." "This institution has recruited a group of young students and carefully cultivated them. Li Dan himself presided over the compilation of the "Great Dictionary of Han-Tibet" and the "Small Dictionary of Han-Tibet". After liberation, more than 20 of these young students became professors of Tibetan and Tibetan culture in colleges and universities.
A woman on the Qinghai Plateau
After 1920, Li Dan repeatedly wrote to the Beiyang government and proposed the qinghai province case. At the same time, people of insight in Qinghai have also put forward cases for the establishment of provinces. In 1929, the National Government of Nanjing approved the establishment of Qinghai as a province, and Li Dan's dream finally became a reality. To this day, Li Dan still enjoys an excellent reputation in the hearts of Qinghai people. The people of Qinghai still remember this Hunan man who loves Qinghai, the nation, and the plateau, and also says: Li Dan devoted his life to qinghai's pioneering work.
Xining Road, Republic of China, is now the ancient city of the plateau
The establishment of Ningxia Province is synchronized and parallel with the establishment of Qinghai Province.
In the Republic of China, Ma Fuxiang, a native of Hezhou, Gansu Province, served as the chief soldier of Ningxia Town and began the operation and development of Ningxia. At that time, Ningxia was called Gansu Ningxia. Ma Fuxiang himself is Ma Hongkui's father and the most important leader in ma Hongkui's family. In fact, Ma Fuxiang was a Confucian general, deeply educated, and had a certain political foresight. He came to Ningxia to take up his post, devoted himself to various constructions, and established the goal of establishing Ningxia as a province.
Ningxia Helan Mountain
The origin of the Ma Fuxiang family is related to Zuo Zongtang. During the reign of The Qing Dynasty, when Zuo Zongtang sent an army to pacify Hezhou, Ma Fuxiang's father, Ma Qianling, surrendered to Zuo Zongtang under the leadership of Ma Zhan'ao. In the late Guangxu period, Zuo Zongtang's former general Dong Fuxiang (東福祥) incorporated Ma Fuxiang and his brother Ma Fulu into the Gan army. In 1900, this group of people participated in the military operation against the Eight-Nation Alliance, personally experienced the battles of the garrison capital, and attracted people's attention and entered the career path. Immediately after the Xinhai Revolution, he became the ruler of Ningxia.
Ma Fuxiang, the envoy of the Ningxia Protectorate, later served as the governor of Suiyuan Province, the chairman of Anhui Province, and the chairman of the Mongolian and Tibetan Committee
In September 1925, Feng Yuxiang took the oath of the five original divisions, and the soldiers pointed directly at Gansu. Ma Fuxiang saw the situation and asked his nephew Ma Hongbin and son Ma Hongkui to give Feng Yuxiang the territory of Ningxia. Subsequently, Qinghai MaQi accepted the advice of the chief of staff Li Dan, and advocated calmness, Taoguang yang obscurity, and chose to submit to Feng Yuxiang. On the contrary, other local warlords in Gansu were all wiped out by Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army.
Feng Yuxiang slashed through the two provinces with one knife
In 1928, the Nationalist government in Nanjing formally unified China. In the same year, in order to prevent the division of the military and to achieve mutual containment, the National Government put forward the "theory of reducing provinces and regions". In September, a military deployment meeting was held and a national plan was proposed to retain 50 divisions of the National Defence Force. Feng Yuxiang, who was dominating the northwest, could only retain 12 divisions according to this plan. Therefore, Feng Yuxiang advocated the establishment of Ningxia and Qinghai provinces. If realized, the actual strength of Feng Yuxiang's troops could be retained to 300,000 people. Under the impetus of Feng Yuxiang, Ningxia and Qinghai were established as provinces at the same time. Ji Hongchang, a general of the Northwest Army, served as the first chairman of Ningxia Province, and Sun Lianzhong served as the first chairman of Qinghai Province.
After the End of the Central Plains War, Feng Yuxiang was forced to go to the wilderness, and the political pattern in the northwest underwent major changes. The Northwest Erma, which had previously bowed to Feng Yuxiang, was re-active in Ningxia and Qinghai. Soon after, Ma Hongkui, the son of Ma Fuxiang, was appointed chairman of Ningxia Province, and Ma Qi's son Ma Bufang was appointed chairman of Qinghai Province.
The great river flows eastward, and the past is like the wind
Conclusion: The Great Northwest has evolved from Shaanxi and Gansu provinces to five provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai and Xinjiang, which lasted for 50 years. The opening and administration of this vast area has both the lofty ideals of benevolent people and the muddy waters of indigenous warlords, and the whole process is full of twists and turns. Looking at this difficult process, we can see that the division of provinces in the northwest still has a lot to do with Zuo Zongtang and the people of Hunan. In any case, the opening of Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Ningxia has sought a new starting point for the development of the entire northwest region. In 1949, Peng Dehuai, a Native of Hunan Province, led our First Field Army to liberate the Great Northwest, which accounts for about one-third of the total area of the country. In 1955, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region was established; in 1958, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region was established. Despite the passage of time, people still have the habit of verbally referring to the Northwest Region as the Five NorthwestErn Provinces. (Text/Fan Forward)
References Zuo Zongtang: Zuo Wenxiang Gong Gong Manuscript; Wei Guangtao: Records of The Survey of Xinjiang; Humble Works: The Biography of Ma Qi