Abstract:

In response to the special natural environment of the Frontier Yanzhang Land and Frontier governance needs, the Qing court created “The Post in Yanzhang Land” in the Kangxi period, according to the institutional principles of “Governor’s nomination” and “promotion priority” and taking into consideration of the “mutual adaption between officers and the frontier areas” in selecting officials to serve in the Yanzhang Land. The Posts in Yanzhang Land were mainly located in Frontier areas with the poor water and soil resources. In the process of deepening Frontier governance, unique spatial and temporal distribution characteristics are formed according to the characteristics of each region: Guangxi presents dual governance structure, which is the prelude and foundation of governance integration process; whereas in Yunnan the trend of distribution is along the border, which is the guarantee for the central administrative power to promote to the border. Hainan’s is a circular gradient distribution, which is a manifestation of national governance in response to the insular environment. From the perspective of officials to protect the Frontier Yanzhang Land governance system, the creation of The Post in Yanzhang Land enhanced local governance capacity.

Key words: Qing Dynasty, Positions in Yanzhang Land, spatial-temporal distribution