Governing those who live an “ignoble existence”: Frontier administration and the impact of native tribesmen along the Tang dynasty’s southwestern frontier, 618-907 A.D.

Date

2018-12-01

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Kansas State University

Abstract

As the Tang dynasty rose to power and expanded into the present-day provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan, an endemic problem of troublesome frontier officials appeared along the border prefectures. Modern scholars have largely embraced Chinese historical scholarship believing that the lawlessness and remoteness of these southwestern border regions bred immoral, corrupt, and violent officials. Such observations fail to understand the southwest as a dynamic region that exposed assigned border officials to manage areas containing hardship, war, and unreceptive aboriginal tribes. Instead, the ability to act as an “effective” official, that is to bring peace domestically and abroad, reflected less the personal characteristics of an official and rather the relationship these officials had with the local native tribes. Evidence suggests that Tang, Tibetan, and Nanzhao hegemony along the southwestern border regions fluctuated according to which state currently possessed the allegiance of the native tribesmen. As protectors and maintainers of the roads, states possessing the allegiance of the local peoples possessed a tactical advantage, resulting in ongoing attacks and raids into the border prefectures by China’s rivals. Local officials without the allegiance of the locals and encountering attacks succumbed to improper behaviors to maintain control.

Description

Keywords

Tang dynasty, Southwestern border, Frontier relations, Medieval China, Jiannan, Chinese administration

Graduation Month

December

Degree

Master of Arts

Department

Department of History

Major Professor

David A. Graff

Date

Type

Thesis

Citation