Beyond the Pass

Beyond the Pass examines the fiscal and ethnic policies that underlay Qing imperial control over Xinjiang, a Central Asian region that now comprises the westernmost sixth of the People s Republic of China. By focusing on a region of the Qing empire beyond the borders of China proper, and by treating the empire not as a Chinese dynasty but in its broader context as an Inner Asian political entity, this innovative study fills a gap in Western-language historiography of late imperial China. As analysis of the revenue available to Qing garrisons in Xinjiang reveals, imperial control over the region in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries depended upon sizeable yearly subsidies from China. In an effort to satisfy criticism of their expansion into Xinjiang and make the territory pay for itself, the Qing court permitted local authorities great latitude in fiscal matters and encouraged the presence of Han and Chinese Muslim merchants. At the same time, the court recognized the potential for unrest posed by Chinese mercantile penetration of this Muslim, Turkic-speaking area. They consequently attempted, through administrative and legal means, to defend the native Uyghur population against economic depredation. This ethnic policy reflected a conception of the realm that was not Sinocentric, but rather placed the Uyghur on a par with Han Chinese.