Local Governors and the New Deal in the Late Qing Dynasty: a Re-study of the Power Structure in the Late Qing Dynasty
by Li Xizhu
About This Novel
The governor system originated in the Ming Dynasty and was formed in the Qing Dynasty. As provincial chief executives, local governors were the intermediate link between the Qing court and the grassroots political power of prefectures and counties, and had the operational function of connecting the previous and the next. During the New Deal in the late Qing Dynasty, local governors could not only participate in and influence the New Deal decision-making of the central government of the Qing Dynasty to a certain extent, but also were the actual leaders in promoting the specific implementation of the New Deal in each province. This shows that they played a vital role in the New Deal process. At the same time, as the Qing court worked to strengthen centralization through the New Deal, the power of local governors and their influence on the central decision-making of the Qing court gradually evolved, resulting in obvious changes in the power structure of the late Qing Dynasty. During the Revolution of 1911, the power relationship between the central and local governments became a power structure in which "both internal and external parties were underemphasized." The overall manifestation was that the authority of the central and local governments was lost together. The central government was unable to control local governments, and local governments were unable to be loyal to the central government. The direct consequence of the formation of a power structure of "both internal and external" was that neither the central or local governments of the Qing court could effectively respond to the revolution, leading the Qing Dynasty to its downfall. Another serious consequence was the rise of military forces who controlled the military, especially the New Army, and military interference in government, which led to warlord politics in the early years of the Republic of China.
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