Abstract

The dufu,or governorship system originated in Ming Dynasty and was fully established in Qing dynasty. As chief executive offi cers of a province, the governors and governor-generals were the nexus linking the Qing court and lower levels of administrative units such as prefectures, cantons, subprefectures, and counties. Their function is best described as an intermediary. In this book the author takes a close look at governors and governor-generals from three angles: as a group, by region and at the level of the individual. The thirteen topics covered in the book provide an empirically well-informed and analytically rigorous account of how the New Deal unfolded and the power structure in late Qing. The study has three major components. First, it offers a systematic overview of the development of the governorship system, examines the group structure and basic features of personnel appointment changes, and their relationship with the New Deal. The author argues that as the product of traditional Confucian teaching, most people who held these positions showed traits that hampered their ability to implement the New Deal effectively. Moreover, substantial heterogeneity within the group meant that the effectiveness of the implementation of the New Deal varied signifi cantly from region to region. Second, the book looks closely at both what the governors and governor-generals did during this period but also how their thinking changed over time. The author contends that not only did these offi cials participate in and exert some infl uence on policy-making in the Qing court in relation to the New Deal, but they were also the ones responsible for executing and implementing the resultant policies within their respective jurisdiction. The findings shed new light on the important role governors and governor-generals played in the process of the New Deal. Third, the author engages in an in-depth discussion of the evolution of the power structure of the Qing political system, especially the relationship between the provinces and the Qing court. According to the author, the commonly-held view that attributes dictatorial powers to the governors and governor-generals and sees local governments as stronger than the central government is unjustified. Instead, the author argues, after the Xinhai revolution Qing governments at both the central and the local levels were hemorrhaging power. The central government had effectively lost control over local governments, and the latter were not any longer capable of acting toward the former with uncompromised loyalty and obedience. The thorough dysfunction of the government at all levels was a key factor in the precipitous national decline during this period, and created the historical conditions conducive to the rise of warlords and militia groups in the early Republican era. The analysis contributes signifi cantly to new ways of understanding the origins of the Beiyang Warlords. Empirically rich and scientifically wellinformed, this work constitutes a signifi cant addition to the existent body of research on the history of the New Deal and politics in general in late Qing. Among other things, it has identifi ed a new vantage point from which future research on the subtle relationship between the central and local authorities in the late Qing dynasty, the evolution of power structure, and more broadly, the modernization of politics in China can be fruitfully done.