From Resettlement to Empire Building: An Institutional History of Shuangcheng, Northeast China, 1882–1913

This paper examines the establishment of the civilian government in Shuangcheng county, Jilin, in 1882 as a way to gain a local history perspective on the transformation of Manchuria from the center of the Manchu state to a part of Chinese territory. Manchuria long differed from other Chinese frontier regions in its unique position as the place of origin of the Manchu, the ruling ethnicity of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Manchu rulers during this period endowed Manchuria with a special identity as their home, separating it from the rest of China proper. The settlement history of Shuangcheng, one of the first settlements in Manchuria established under a program for the state relocation of bannermen from Beijing, Rehe, and elsewhere in Manchuria between 1815 and 1830, exemplified the special character of the area. However, beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century, in response to the challenges of foreign invasion and the influx of Han-Chinese immigrants, Manchu rulers adjusted their policies and finally transformed Manchuria into a frontier region of the Chinese state. The establishment of civilian government is a pivotal point in this transformation. Drawing on archival documents in the central, provincial, and county archives, this paper examines both the establishment of civilian government in Shuangcheng and its consequences for local society. This study therefore fills the gap in previous scholarship by shedding light not only on state efforts in institution building, but also on the formation of a Chinese identity in local society in Manchuria.