Xikang Expressway

HOME

TheInfoList

Click Here for Items Related To - Xikang Expressway

OR:

Xikang Expressway on: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Amazon]

Xikang (formerly romanized as Sikang or Hsikang, or 'Kham to the west f Sichuan">Sichuan.html" ;"title="f Sichuan">f Sichuan) was a nominal province formed by the Republic of China (1912–1949)">Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

in 1939 on the initiative of prominent

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

warlord

Liu Wenhui Liu Wenhui (; 10 January 1895 – 24 June 1976) was a Chinese general and warlord of Sichuan province ( Sichuan clique). At the beginning of his career, he was aligned with the Kuomintang (KMT), commanding the Sichuan-Xikang Defence Force from 1 ...

and retained by the early China, People's Republic of China. The former territory of Xikang is now divided between the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and Sichuan, Sichuan province. The idea behind Xikang province was to form a single unified province for the entire

Kham Kham (; ) is one of the three traditional Tibet, Tibetan regions, the others being Domey also known as Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The official name of this Tibetan region/province is Dotoe (). The original residents of ...

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 Tibetans () are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group Indigenous peoples, native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 7.7 million. In addition to the majority living in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, sig ...

called Khampas. The then-independent

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

controlled the portion of Kham west of the Upper Yangtze River. The nominal Xikang province also included in the south the

Assam Himalaya Assam Himalaya is a traditional designation for the portion of the Himalaya range between the eastern border of Bhutan, on the west, and the Great Bend of the Tsangpo River, on the east. The highest peak of this range is Namcha Barwa. Other hi ...

n region (

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

) that Tibet had recognised as a part of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

by the 1914 McMahon Line agreement. The eastern part of the province was inhabited by a number of different ethnic groups, such as

Han Chinese The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...

, Yi,

Qiang people The Qiang people (Qiangic languages, Qiangic: ''Rrmea''; ) are an List of ethnic groups in China, ethnic group in China. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognised by the People's Republic of China, with a population of approx ...

and Tibetan, then known as ''Chuanbian'' (), 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 Kangding ( zh, c=康定), also known as Dartsedo (), is a county-level city and the seat of Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan province of Southwest China. Kangding is on the bank of the Dadu River and has been considered the his ...

from 1939 to 1951 and

Ya'an Ya'an ( zh, s=雅安, p=Yǎ'ān, w=Ya-an) is a prefecture-level city in the western part of Sichuan province, China, located just below the Tibetan Plateau. The city is home to Sichuan Agricultural University, the only Project 211, 211 Project ...

from 1951 to 1955. The province had a population of 3.4 million in 1954. 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

region, which would be separate from

as well as

. 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 Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

History

Simla Convention and ROC control in Kham

Following the 1905

Batang uprising The Batang uprising () was an uprising by the Khampas of Kham against the assertion of authority by Qing China. The uprising began as an opposition to the new policies of land reclamation and limits of the monastic community. The policies were im ...

Qing China The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the Ming dynasty ...

appointed

Zhao Erfeng Zhao Erfeng (1845–1911), courtesy name Jihe, was a late Qing Dynasty official and Han Chinese bannerman who belonged to the Plain Blue Banner. He was an assistant amban in Tibet at Chamdo in Kham (eastern Tibet). He was appointed in Marc ...

as the Imperial Commissioner for the Sichuan-Yunnan Frontier. 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. He signed an agreement with the Tibetan government setting the border between China and Tibet at

Gyamda Gyamda (; ) or Ngapo Zampa () is a village in modern-day Gongbo'gyamda County of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China on the upper Nyang River at an altitude of 3,200 metres.Dorje (1999), p. 242. The Neu Dechen Gon Monastery sits above the town. ...

. This paved the way for the formation of a Xikang province, proposed by Zhang's successor Fu Songmu. Following the

Wuchang Uprising The Wuchang Uprising was an armed rebellion against the ruling Qing dynasty that took place in Wuchang (now Wuchang District of Wuhan) in the Chinese province of Hubei on 10 October 1911, beginning the Xinhai Revolution that successfully overthr ...

in October 1911, which led to the downfall of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

, the region subdued by Frontier Commissioners was established as the Chuanbian Special Administrative District () 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 Sino-Tibetan (also referred to as Trans-Himalayan) is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. Around 1.4 billion people speak a Sino-Tibetan language. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 ...

. With the district locked in internal struggles, no reinforcements were sent to support the

ese 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 Qinghai is an inland Provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. It is the largest provinces of China, province of China (excluding autonomous regions) by area and has the third smallest population. Its capital and largest city is Xin ...

province. In March 1932, their force invaded Qinghai but was defeated by the local

Hui The Hui people are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the northwestern provinces and in the Zhongyuan region. According to the 2 ...

warlord

Ma Bufang Ma Bufang (1903 – 31 July 1975) (, Xiao'erjing: ) was a prominent Chinese Muslim Ma clique warlord in China during the Republican era, ruling the province of Qinghai. His rank was lieutenant-general. Life Ma Bufang and his older brother ...

in July, who routed the Tibetan army and drove it back to this district. 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. In 1932

in cooperation with the Qinghai army, sent out a

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

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 Pandatsang Rapga (; 1902–1974) was a Khampa revolutionary during the first half of the 20th century in Tibet. He was pro-Kuomintang and pro-Republic of China, anti-feudal, anti-communist. He believed in overthrowing the Dalai Lama's feudal regi ...

was involved. 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 The Three Principles of the People (), also known as the Three People's Principles, San-min Doctrine, San Min Chu-i, or Tridemism is a political philosophy developed by Sun Yat-sen as part of a philosophy to improve China during the Republi ...

to the Khampa. In 1949, the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

took control of Xikang. In 1955, western Xikang was merged into

, and eastern Xikang came under the administration of the Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Administrative divisions

1939–1950

1950–1955

List of governors

Chairperson of the Provincial Government

Xikang CCP Committee Secretary

People's Government Chairperson/Governor

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{Authority control 1930s in Tibet 1939 establishments in Asia 20th-century establishments in Tibet Provinces of the Republic of China (1912–1949) Former provinces of China Tibet 1950 disestablishments in China