著者

根無 新太郎

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 = The Toyo Gakuho (ISSN:03869067)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.99, no.4, pp.1-27, 2018-03

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There were two types of military force used to suppress rebellions during the late Qing period: bing (兵), or regular troops consisting of the Green Standard Army and the Eight Banners, and yong (勇), or temporary volunteer troops organized into Yongying (勇營), mainly under governors-general and governors, in addition to tuanlian (團練) units on the village level. In Zhili (直隸) Province during the outbreak of the White Lotus Rebellion of the 1860s, bing, yong and tuanlian forces were deployed together to quell the insurrection, but the lack of discipline on the part of the bing-yong troops during the operation merely added to the civil unrest caused by the Rebellion. The Qing Court, in consideration of the effects of the worsening law and order on the capital of Beijing, reorganized the Green Army at the hands of the governor-general of Zhili in order to strengthen the government's control, thus leading to the formation of Zhili Lianjun (直隸練軍).However, after the outbreak of the Nian Rebellion led to the further deterioration of law and order in Zhili Province, and as it became necessary to reinforce Zhili Lianjun with Yongying, the Court designed a new capital defense plan under which Yongying were deployed to limited areas, including southern and coastal areas of Zhili, either far away from Beijing or at the spot of the actual fighting, while Zhili Lianjun was stationed around Peking. This new capital defense plan was partly based on the Court's, especially its Board of War's (Bingbu 兵部), suspicion of Yongying, which included former rebels who had surrendered, and were thus deemed untrustworthy to serve around the Capital. This suspicion was further deepened due to the fact that Yongying also served as the governors-generals' militia. As well, the Board of War had intervened several times during the establishment of Zhili Lianjun, owing to its concern over its close relationship with the governor-general of Zhili. The author takes up the Board as an excellent example of how the center's attitudes toward the periphery began to change during the late Qing period.