Xikang
{{Short description|Nominal former province of the Republic of China}}
{{Coord missing|Tibet}}
{{Infobox former subdivision
|native_name = {{nobold|西康省}}
|conventional_long_name = Xikang Province
|common_name = Xikang
|demonym =
|subdivision = SUBDIVISION
|nation = China
|status_text = {{Flagdeco|Republic of China}} Province of the Republic of China (1939–1950)
|capital = Kangding (1912–1931)
Ba'an (1931–1935)
Ya'an (1935–1936)
Kangding (1935–1949)
Xichang (1949–1950)
|stat_year1 = Estimate
|stat_area1 = 451,521
|stat_pop1 = 1,748,458
|year_start = 1939
|year_end = 1950
|event_start =
|date_start =
|event1 = Fall of Xichang
|date_event1 = 27 March 1950
|era = 20th century
|image_map = ROC Div Xikang.svg
|image_map_caption = Xikang Province in the Republic of China
|p1 = Chuanbian Special Region
|flag_p1 = Flag of the Republic of China (1912-1928).svg
|s1 = Xikang
|flag_s1 = Flag of China.svg
|s2 = Chamdo Region
|flag_s2 = Flag of China.svg
}}
{{Infobox former subdivision
|native_name = {{nobold|西康省}}
|conventional_long_name = Xikang Province
|common_name = Xikang
|nation = People's Republic of China
|status_text = {{Flagdeco|China}} Province of the People's Republic of China (1950–1955)
|capital = Kangding (1950–1951)
Ya'an (1951–1955)
|stat_year1 = 1953
|stat_area1 = 451,521
|stat_pop1 = 3,381,064
|year_start = 1950
|year_end = 1955
|event_start =
|date_start =
|event1 =
|date_event1 =
|era = 20th century
|event_pre =
|date_pre =
|event_end =
|date_end =
|image_map = PRC-Xikang.png
|image_map_caption = Xikang Province (orange) in the People's Republic of China
|p1 = Xikang
|flag_p1 = Flag of the Republic of China.svg
|s1 = Sichuan
|flag_s1 = Flag of China.svg
|s2 = Tibet Autonomous Region
|flag_s2 = Flag of China.svg
}}
Xikang (formerly romanized as Sikang or Hsikang, {{literal translation|Kham-in-the-West}} or 'Kham to the west [of Sichuan]') was a nominal province
{{harvp|Lin, Boundary, sovereignty and imagination|2004|p=30}}: "Despite its almost entirely illusory nature, the so-called Xikang province was officially sketched out by Chinese map-makers, from whom it came to be known nation-wide.
formed by the Republic of China in 1939 on the initiative of prominent Sichuan warlord Liu WenhuiYajun Mo, "The New Frontier: Zhuang Xueben and Xikang Province", in "Chinese History in Geographical Perspective", edited by Yongtao Du and Jeff Kyong-McClain, p. 124, Lexington Books, 2013 and retained by the early People's Republic of China. The former territory of Xikang is now divided between the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and Sichuan province.
The idea behind Xikang province was to form a single unified province for the entire Kham region under direct Chinese administration, in effect annexing the western Kham region that was then under Tibetan control. Kham was entirely populated by Tibetan people called Khampas. The then-independent Tibet controlled the portion of Kham west of the Upper Yangtze River.
{{harvp|Lin, Boundary, sovereignty and imagination|2004|p=29}}: "According to the Kuomintang, the boundary of this new Xikang province encompassed, not only part of the southwestern province of Sichuan that was then dominated by the Han Chinese warlord Liu Wenhui, but also a huge portion of the ethnographic Tibetan area west of the Upper Yangtze River that was then effectively administered by the autonomous Tibetan government."
The nominal Xikang province also included in the south the Assam Himalayan region (Arunachal Pradesh) that Tibet had recognised as a part of British India by the 1914 McMahon Line agreement.
{{harvp|Lin, Boundary, sovereignty and imagination|2004|p=29}}: "In addition, the newly carved provincial boundary also extended deep into the Tibetan-Assam tribal territory, including areas south of the theoretically existing McMahon Line that had been signed away to British India by Lhasa in 1914."
The eastern part of the province was inhabited by a number of different ethnic groups, such as Han Chinese, Yi, Qiang people and Tibetan, then known as Chuanbian ({{lang|zh|川邊}}), a special administrative region of the Republic of China. In 1939, it became the new Xikang province with the additional territories belonging to Tibetan and British control added in. It was taken over by Chinese communist forces in 1949.
The provincial capital of Xikang was Kangding from 1939 to 1951 and Ya'an from 1951 to 1955. The province had a population of 3.4 million in 1954.{{cite web|url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16767.htm |title=第一次全国人口普查公报 |access-date=November 17, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805174810/http://www.stats.gov.cn/TJGB/RKPCGB/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16767.htm |archive-date=August 5, 2009 }} In 1955, its eastern half was merged into Sichuan, and its western half came under the administration of the TAR preparatory committee.
Overview
The idea of "Xikang" was to construct an independent province of China for the entire Kham region, which would be separate from Tibet as well as Sichuan. Even though it was defined in regulations and sketched out on maps, only the eastern Kham region was ever under the control of the Republic of China.{{cn|date=September 2024}}
History
File:Simla Convention and ROC control in Kham.jpg boundary that ROC turned down.]]
File:Xikang province in 1950 CIA map of Tibet.jpg, 1950)]]
Following the 1905 Batang uprising, Qing China appointed Zhao Erfeng as the Imperial Commissioner for the Sichuan-Yunnan Frontier.{{sfnp|Wang, China's Last Imperial Frontier|2011}} Zhao reduced all the autonomous native states in both the western and eastern Kham by 1910 and converted them into Chinese districts governed by magistrates.{{sfnp|Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon|1997|p=27}} He signed an agreement with the Tibetan government setting the border between China and Tibet at Gyamda.{{sfnp|McGranahan, From Simla to Rongbatsa|2003|p=43}} This paved the way for the formation of a Xikang province, proposed by Zhang's successor Fu Songmu.{{sfnp|Lawson, Xikang|2011|pp=2–3}}
Following the Wuchang Uprising in October 1911, which led to the downfall of the Qing dynasty, the region subdued by Frontier Commissioners was established as the Chuanbian Special Administrative District ({{lang|zh|川邊特別行政區}}) by the newly founded Republic of China.
In June 1930, eastern Kham (later Xikang) was invaded by the army of Tibet, precipitating the Sino-Tibetan War. With the district locked in internal struggles, no reinforcements were sent to support the Sichuanese troops stationed here. As a result, the Tibetan army captured Garzê and Xinlong Counties without encountering much resistance. When a negotiated ceasefire failed, Tibetan forces expanded the war, attempting to capture parts of southern Qinghai province. In March 1932, their force invaded Qinghai but was defeated by the local Hui warlord Ma Bufang in July, who routed the Tibetan army and drove it back to this district.{{which|date=January 2024}}{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}
The Hui army captured counties that had fallen into the hands of the Tibetan army since 1919. Their victories threatened the supply lines of the Tibetan forces in Garzê and Xinlong. As a result, part of the Tibetan army was forced to withdraw.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}
In 1932 Liu Wenhui in cooperation with the Qinghai army, sent out a brigade to attack the Tibetan troops in Garzê and Xinlong, eventually occupying them, Dêgê and other counties east of the Jinshajiang River. The 1934 Khamba Rebellion led by the Pandatsang family broke out against the Tibetan government in Lhasa. The Khampa revolutionary leader Pandatsang Rapga was involved.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}
In January 1939, the Chuanbian Special Administrative District officially became a province of the Republic, the Hsikang Province. Kesang Tsering was sent by the Chinese to Batang to take control of Xikang, where he formed a local government. He was sent there for the purpose of propagating the Three Principles of the People to the Khampa.{{cite book|access-date=2011-12-27|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rsLQdBUgyMUC&pg=PA95 |title=Modern China's ethnic frontiers: a journey to the west|author1-link=Lin Hsiao-ting|author=Hsiao-ting Lin|year=2010|publisher=Taylor & Francis|edition=illustrated|volume=67 of Routledge studies in the modern history of Asia|page=27|quote=area and spreading Sun Yat-sen's Three People's Principle among the Tibetan and Khampa minorities, Kesang Tsering set up a field headquarters in Batang (Pa'an). There he appointed his own Xikang provincial government staff and issued an|isbn=978-0-415-58264-3}}
In 1949, the People's Liberation Army took control of Xikang. In 1955, western Xikang was merged into Sichuan, and eastern Xikang came under the administration of the Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region.{{Cite web |last=国家人文历史 |title=消失的西康省、平原省……新中国初期为何要撤销这八个省？ |url=https://www.gjrwls.com/geography/20210126/538781603917201408.html |access-date=2025-02-11 |website=www.gjrwls.com}}
Administrative divisions
=1939–1950=
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;" align=center
! Name ! Administrative Seat ! Traditional Chinese ! Subdivisions ! Comments |
| First Administrative Circuit
|Kangding County |第一行政督察區 |4 counties, 1 bureau |Later the Xikang Province Tibetan Autonomous Region |
| Second Administrative Circuit
|Yingjing County |第二行政督察區 |7 counties |Later the Ya'an Division |
| Third Administrative Circuit
|Xichang County |第三行政督察區 |9 counties, 3 bureaus |Later the XIchang Division |
| Fourth Administrative Circuit
|Garzê County |第四行政督察區 |15 counties |Later the Xikang Province Tibetan Autonomous Region |
| Fifth Administrative Circuit
| — |第五行政督察區 |13 counties |Chamdo Region; de facto controlled by Tibet |
=1950–1955=
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;" align=center
!Name !Simplified Chinese !Hanyu Pinyin !Subdivisions |
| Ya'an (1951–1955)
|{{lang|zh-hans|雅安市}} |Yǎ'ān shì |1 city |
| Ya'an Division
|{{lang|zh-hans|雅安专区}} |Yǎ'ān Zhuānqū |8 counties |
| Xichang Division
|{{lang|zh-hans|西昌专区}} |Xīchāng Zhuānqū |13 counties |
| Xikang Province Tibetan Autonomous Region
|{{lang|zh-hans|西康省藏族自治区}} |Xīkāng Shěng Zàngzú Zìzhìqū |20 counties ---- Ganzi Regional Office (1951–1955) ---- Litang Regional Office (1951–1955) |
| Liangshan Yi Autonomous Region (1952–1955)
|{{lang|zh-hans|凉山彝族自治区}} |Liángshān Yízú Zìzhìqū |8 counties |
List of governors
{{legend2|{{party color|Kuomintang}}|Kuomintang (Nationalist)|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
{{legend2|{{party color|Chinese Communist Party}}|Chinese Communist Party|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
=Chairperson of the Provincial Government=
| class="wikitable" | |
| -
! No. ! Portrait ! width=150px|Name ! colspan=2 width=200px|Term of office ! width=100px|Political party | |
| - | |
| - bgcolor=#EEEEEE
! style="background:{{party color|Kuomintang}}; color:white;" rowspan=2| 1 | rowspan=2 align=center|80px | rowspan=2 align=center| Liu Wenhui | 1 January 1939 | 9 December 1949 |
| colspan=4|Defected to the Communists. | |
| - | |
| - bgcolor=#EEEEEE
! style="background:{{party color|Kuomintang}}; color:white;" rowspan=2| 2 | rowspan=2 align=center|80px | rowspan=2 align=center| Ho Kuo-kuang | 25 December 1949 | March 1950 |
| colspan=4|Fled to Taiwan via Haikou after fall of Xichang. | |
| - |
=Xikang CCP Committee Secretary=
| class="wikitable" | |
| -
! No. ! Portrait ! width=150px|Name ! colspan=2 width=200px|Term of office ! width=100px|Political party | |
| - | |
| - bgcolor=#EEEEEE
! style="background:{{party color|Chinese Communist Party}}; color:white;" rowspan=2| 1 | rowspan=2 align=center| | rowspan=2 align=center| Liao Zhigao | 1950 | 1955 |
| colspan=4|Province abolished. |
=People's Government Chairperson/Governor=
| class="wikitable" | |
| -
! No. ! Portrait ! width=150px|Name ! colspan=2 width=200px|Term of office ! width=100px|Political party | |
| - | |
| - bgcolor=#EEEEEE
! style="background:{{party color|Chinese Communist Party}}; color:white;" rowspan=2| 1 | rowspan=2 align=center| | rowspan=2 align=center| Liao Zhigao | 26 April 1950 | September 1955 |
| colspan=4|Province abolished. |
See also
- {{section link|Chinese irredentism#Taiwan}}
- Kham
References
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
Bibliography
- {{citation |last=Goldstein |first=Melvyn C. |title=The Snow Lion and the Dragon: China, Tibet, and the Dalai Lama |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LI-tIwxk4RAC |year=1997 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-21951-9 |ref={{sfnref|Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon|1997}}}}
- {{citation |first=Joe |last=Lawson |title=Xikang: Han Chinese in Sichuan's Western Frontier, 1905-1949 |publisher=Victoria University of Wellington |year=2011 |url=https://researcharchive.vuw.ac.nz/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10063/4449/thesis.pdf?sequence=1 |ref={{sfnref|Lawson, Xikang|2011}}}}
- {{citation|author1-link=Lin Hsiao-ting |last=Lin |first=Hsiao-ting |title=Boundary, sovereignty, and imagination: Reconsidering the frontier disputes between British India and Republican China, 1914–47 |journal=The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History |volume=32 |issue=3 |year=2004 |pages=25–47 |doi=10.1080/0308653042000279650 |s2cid=159560382 |ref={{sfnref|Lin, Boundary, sovereignty and imagination|2004}}}}
- {{cite book |first=Hsiao-ting |last=Lin |title=Modern China's Ethnic Frontiers: A journey to the west |year=2010 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-58264-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rsLQdBUgyMUC&pg=PA95 |ref={{sfnref|Lin, Modern China's Ethnic Frontiers|2010}}}}
- {{citation |last=McGranahan |first=Carole |title=From Simla to Rongbatsa: The British and the "Modern" Boundaries of Tibet |journal=The Tibet Journal |volume=28 |number=4 |date=Winter 2003 |pages=39–60 |jstor=43302541 |ref={{sfnref|McGranahan, From Simla to Rongbatsa|2003}}}}
- {{citation |last=Wang |first=Xiuyu |title=China's Last Imperial Frontier: Late Qing Expansion in Sichuan's Tibetan Borderlands |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XHOt--rbgJoC |year=2011 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-0-7391-6809-7 |ref={{sfnref|Wang, China's Last Imperial Frontier|2011}}}}
{{Defunct Chinese provinces}}
{{Defunct PRC provinces}}
{{Suspended ROC provinces}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:1939 establishments in Asia
Category:20th-century establishments in Tibet
Category:Provinces of the Republic of China (1912–1949)