A Preliminary Study on Frontier Governance of the Changbai-Lingjiang Region during the Late Qing Dynasty

This paper focuses on the transformation of frontier governance in the Changbai-Lingjiang Region during the Late Qing Dynasty, centering on its historical development, geographical characteristics, and governance practices. Located upstream of the Yalu River at the foot of the Changbai Mountains, the Changbai-Linjiang area possessed both the historical attribute of being the "fundamental stronghold" of the Manchu people and a strategic location in the geopolitical competition among China, Korea, Japan, and Russia. It evolved from a forbidden land during the Qing Dynasty to a modern key border town. During the late Qing Reform, facing internal and external crises such as the infiltration of Japanese and Russian forces and border-crossing land reclamation of Korean immigrants, the Qing court broke through traditional governance models by adjusting provincial administrative divisions; established prefectures and counties such as Changbai Prefecture and Linjiang County; and constructing a hierarchical administrative control system. Border officials like Zhang Fengtai proposed policies such as securing river rights, stationing engineering troops, clarifying Korean residency status, improving transportation, and elevating administrative authority, forming a systematic governance approach that combined military and political measures. The study reveals the historical trajectory of late Qing  frontier governance shifting from passive defense to proactive planning, and from traditional loose control to modern management, analyzing its achievements and limitations in institutional adjustment, resource integration, and sovereignty maintenance.  Thereby, a historical reference for contemporary governance in cross-border ethnic regions and borderland development has been provided.