James A. Millward. Beyond
the Pass: Economy, Ethnicity, and Empire in Qing Central Asia, 1759-1864. Stanford, California: Stanford University
Press, 1998.
The setting is
Qing Dynasty Gansu in 1805. An intimidated traveler pauses to stare at the
Jiayu Guan and contemplate the significance of the boundary through which he is
about to pass. The protagonist, a Qing
official banished to Yili, grits his teeth to make the journey despite his
reluctance to leave the familiarity of “China Proper.” Thus begins James A. Millward’s excellent
study of the Qing imperial enterprise in Xinjiang, Beyond the Pass: Economy, Ethnicity, and Empire in Qing Central Asia,
1759-1864. Through a wide source
base including military histories, official archives, statecraft writings,
legal sub-statutes relating to Xinjiang Muslims, local gazetteers, and merchant
route books, Millward traces what he calls the “mechanics and ethos” of the
Qing empire in Xinjiang—economic and ethnic policy.
The disgraced official’s
hesitation towards crossing into “unknown” Xinjiang is symbolic of the gap in
scholarly treatment of Qing Inner-Asia, a short coming which Millward’s work seeks
to correct. John Fairbank’s deep
influence on generations of Chinese historians emphasized nineteenth-century
maritime contacts with the West, thus tilting historiography towards the
sea. In particular, Millward problematizes
Fairbank’s sinocentric “Chinese world order” framework, arguing that the
Qianlong Emperor’s vision of empire is more applicable to the Qing in light of
its Inner-Asian roots. Instead of
concentric rings of decreasing levels of civilization, Qianlong presented the
empire as five distinct ethnic/cultural blocs connected by the Aisin Gioro
ruling house. Although reviewers called
for more compassion towards previous historiography and questioned Qianlong’s
theoretical contribution (China Review International 7.1),
Millward’s points are well taken in light of high Qing policy in Xinjiang.
The bulk of the
book traces the Qing imperial endeavor in Xinjiang from 1759-1864. Initially
the Qing pursued policies of ethnic segregation and a dual legal system to
shield locals from the destabilizing influence of Han Chinese merchant
communities. As time passed and
innovative fiscal policies aimed at making Xinjiang self-sufficient repeatedly
failed, however, Han mercantile penetration was encouraged as a tax base. Fiscal woes, official mismanagement, and
increasing ethnic strife fomented a series of Muslim rebellions through the
first half of the nineteenth century. The final chapter on mid-nineteenth century
statecraft discussion on Xinjiang presages the Han-oriented, increasingly
colonial policies of the latter half of the nineteenth century. Although one
reviewer felt a detailed discussion of the jade and gold trade in Xinjiang was
lacking (AHR 104.5), political, economic, and social
facets of Qing Xinjiang come to life in this work.
By offering new
insights into themes of center versus periphery, fiscal innovation, imperial
ideology, and ethnic interaction, Beyond
the Pass is a bold move toward a holistic understanding of Qing frontier
policy. More work on the Inner Asia
borders is needed for the latter half of the nineteenth century, as is a
reinterpretation of coastal frontier policy in light of new perspectives on
Inner Asia. One intriguing question at
which Millward hints is the fiscal burden of administering Xinjiang in relation
to the drain of silver from the opium trade in the nineteenth century. For
scholars of modern and contemporary Chinese history alike, the study of the
mechanics of Qing imperium in Xinjiang is essential in that it laid the
groundwork for China’s current political boundaries.
Brent Haas
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