“Suppressing bandits”: Social policing of warlord government in Manchuria, 1918-1928

Banditry was a constant threat to the social security of Chinese society during the Republican period, Manchuria (Northeast China) was one of the regions that had been most seriously afflicted. In order to maintain social order in Manchuria, the Fengtian Clique Government, a warlord regime that ruled Manchuria from 1916 to 1928, launched a series of “bandit suppression” (jiaofei, 剿匪) campaigns to eradicate bandits within its territory. However, the number of bandits in Manchuria increased significantly under the high pressure of suppression during this time, which marked the failure of the Fengtian Clique government’s security apparatuses. This thesis will examine the factors that contributed to the eventual failure of the Fengtian Clique government’s “bandit suppression” campaigns by focusing on the institutional history of the Fengtian Clique government’s social policing system. I argue that the intense relationship between the Fengtian Clique government and Manchurian local societies, the factional divisions within the Fengtian Clique government, Japanese and Russian colonialism in Manchuria during the early twentieth century were the main factors that damaged the effectiveness of the security apparatuses of the Fengtian Clique government. The study of the Fengtian Clique government’s “bandit suppression” campaigns reflects the importance of a steady policing institution and independent national sovereignty in maintaining social security. Bandits were often accepted into the military or policing institutions by the government, they were also used by the colonial authorities in Manchuria to overthrow the rule of Chinese regime. Facing the power struggles among warlords, the conflicts within the government, and Japan and Russia’s encroachment of China’s sovereignty, the ability of the Fengtian Clique government to maintain social security was impaired. The “bandit problem” thus was never rooted throughout the Fengtian Clique government’s reign in Manchuria.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

E Asian Languages & Cultures

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Xu, Luming

Contributors dc:contributor

• Shao, Dan

• Bandit Suppression
• Manchuria
• Warlord Politics
• Security Apparatuses

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2022 Luming Xu

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/116279

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F116279