Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T04:52:14.921Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

THE POLICING OF A SOUTH CHINESE COUNTY, 1929–1949

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 January 2015

Venus Viana
Venus Viana*
Affiliation:
The Nanyang Technological University E-mail [email protected]; [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In 1927, when the Nationalist Party under Chiang Kai-shek established a republic, they also established a list of urgent duties. One was to reform the government structure from top to bottom so as to show the rest of the world its capability to govern the country in a modern way. While big cities were the showplaces for modernization and state-building, down at the county level, Chiang Kai-shek proclaimed Zhongshan in Guangdong the “model county.” To maintain this honor and its benefits, the local authorities made special efforts to restructure the government; reforming and retraining the police force was one important aspect of this attempt. While it is commonly held today that in the 1930s and 1940s county governments in the Pearl River Delta had disintegrated and were dominated by “local bosses,” this article uses previously inaccessible local records to examine Zhongshan County government and reform to answer one particular question: whether Zhongshan was successful in forming a modern police force. It examines a number of problems related to inefficiency and ineffectiveness in government administration, but at the same time also discusses why many civilians were welcoming, rather than suspicious, of the police. The answers to these issues suggest that the overall structure and management of the Zhongshan government (and even social integration) was to some extent consolidated in this period.

Keywords

Nationalist governmentcounty administrationpolice system/policingZhongshanGuangdong
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , January 2015 , pp. 55 - 78
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Cheng 1989 Cheng, Shili 程十里. “Chen Jitang zhizao xianbing naoxiang shi bizou Tang Shaoyi bing luetan Zhongshan xian bing de shimo 陳濟棠製造縣兵鬧餉事逼走唐紹儀兵略談中山縣兵的始末.” Zhongshan wenshi 中山文史 2 (1989), pp. 49–51.Google Scholar
Ch'ü 1969 Ch'ü, T'ung-tsu. Local Government in China under the Ch'ing. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1969.Google Scholar
DZXBDongzhen xiangbao 東鎮鄉報. Zhongshan, 1948–1949.Google Scholar
Fu 2002 Fu, Yulan et al. , eds. Macau during the Sino-Japanese War. Macau: The Cultural Institute and The Museum of Macau, 2002.Google Scholar
Guangdong caizheng 1943 Guangdong caizheng 廣東財政. Guangzhou: Guangdong Shengzhengfu, 1943.Google Scholar
Guangdong Jingcha Xuexiao Jiaodaozu 1948 Guangdong Jingcha Xuexiao Jiaodaozu 廣東警察學校教導組 ed. Guangdong sheng jingcha xuexiao chengli jinian tekan 廣東省員警學校成立紀念特刊. Guangzhou: Guangdong Sheng Yuanjing Xuexiao, 1948.Google Scholar
Guangdong quansheng difang jiyao 1934 Guangdong quansheng difang jiyao 廣東全省地方紀要. Guangzhou: Guangdong Minzhengting, 1934.Google Scholar
Guangdongsheng Dang'anguan 1987 Guangdongsheng Dang'anguan 廣東省檔案館 ed. Minguo shiqi Guangdong sheng zhengfu dang'an shiliao xuanbian 民國時期廣東省政府檔案史料選編. Guangzhou: Guangdongsheng Dang'anguan, 1987.Google Scholar
Guangdongsheng gexianshiju difang zongyusuanshu huibian 1948 Guangdongsheng gexianshiju difang zongyusuanshu huibian 廣東省各縣市局地方總預算書彙編. Guangzhou: Guangdong Shengzhengfu, 1948.Google Scholar
Guangdongsheng Jingcha Xuexiao chengli jinian tekan 1948 Guangdongsheng Jingcha Xuexiao chengli jinian tekan 廣東省警察學校成立紀念特刊. Guangzhou: Guangdongsheng Jingcha Xuexiao, 1948.Google Scholar
Guangdongsheng Jingguan Xuexiao diyiqi xuesheng biye tekan 1942 Guangdongsheng Jingguan Xuexiao diyiqi xuesheng biye tekan 廣東省警官學校第一期學生畢業特刊. Guangzhou: Guangdong Jingguan Xuexiao, 1942.Google Scholar
Guangdongsheng sanshiliu niandu difang shuiru shuichu zongyusuanshu 1947 Guangdongsheng sanshiliu niandu difang shuiru shuichu zongyusuanshu 廣東省三十六年度地方稅入稅出總預算書. Guangzhou: Guangdong Shengzhengfu, 1947.Google Scholar
Guangdongsheng wei jiguan renyuan diaocha lu 1945 Guangdongsheng wei jiguan renyuan diaocha lu 廣東省偽機關人員調查錄. Guangzhou: Guangdongsheng Dangbu Xuanchuanchu, 1945.Google Scholar
Guangdongsheng xingzhengrenyuan 1937 Guangdongsheng xingzhengrenyuan ganbu gongzuo xuzhi 廣東省行政人員幹部工作須知. Guangzhou: Guangdong Shengzhengfu, 1937.Google Scholar
GZYBGuzhen yuebao 谷鎮月報. Zhongshan, 1947–1948.Google Scholar
HMXBHengmen xiangbao 恆美鄉報. Zhongshan, 1949.Google Scholar
Jianshe xin Zhongshan yanlunji diyiji 1930 Jianshe xin Zhongshan yanlunji diyiji 建設新中山言論集第一集. Zhongshan: Zhongshan Xianzhengfu, 1930.Google Scholar
JJYBJijiao yuebao 谿角月報. Zhongshan, 1947–1948.Google Scholar
LDQBLongdu qiaobao 隆都僑報. Zhongshan, 1947.Google Scholar
Li 1922 Li, Zonghuang 李宗黃. Xin Guangdong guancha ji 新廣東觀察記. Shanghai: Shangwu Yinshuguan, 1922.Google Scholar
Lin 2002 Lin, Alfred H. Y. “Building and Funding a Warlord Regime: The Experience of Chen Jitang in Guangdong, 1929–1936.” Modern China 28:2 (2002), pp. 177–212.Google Scholar
Lu 1989 Lu, Guanzhu 陸冠珠. “Gao Bao xiansheng huixiang tanqin” 高苞先生會鄉探親. Longdu Shaxi Overseas Chinese Quarterly 10 (1989), p. 34.Google Scholar
MacKinnon 1980 MacKinnon, Stephen R. Power and Politics in late Imperial China: Yuan Shi-kai in Beijing and Tianjin, 1901–1908. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980.Google Scholar
Mann 1987 Mann, Susan. Local Merchants and the Chinese Bureaucracy, 1750–1950. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987.Google Scholar
Minguo zhenxi duankan duankan 2006 Minguo zhenxi duankan duankan: Guangzhou juan 民國珍稀短刊斷刊： 廣州卷. Beijing: Quanguo Tushuguan Wenxian Suowei Fuzhi Zhongxin, 2006.Google Scholar
Park 1997 Park, Nancy. “Corruption in Eighteenth-Century China.” The Journal of Asian Studies 56:4 (1997), pp. 967–1005.Google Scholar
QSBYBDongzhen qiaosheng banyuebao 東鎮僑聲半月報. Zhongshan, 1936–1937.Google Scholar
Rhoads 1975 Rhoads, Edward. China's Republican Revolution: The Case of Kwangtung, 1895–1913. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1975.Google Scholar
SBYBShabian yuebao 沙邊月報. Zhongshan, 1947–1949.Google Scholar
Siu 1989 Siu, Helen. Agents and Victims in South China: Accomplices in Rural Revolution. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989.Google Scholar
Stapleton 2000 Stapleton, Kristin. Civilizing Chengdu: Chinese Urban Reform, 1895–1937. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Asia Center: Harvard University Press, 2000.Google Scholar
Stapleton 1997 Stapleton, Kristin. “County Administration in Late-Qing Sichuan: Conflicting Models of Rural Policing.” Late Imperial China 18:1 (1997), pp. 100–132.Google Scholar
Strand 1989 Strand, David. Rickshaw Beijing: City People and Politics in the 1920s. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989.Google Scholar
SXYBSanxiang yuebao 三鄉月報. Zhongshan, 1947.Google Scholar
T'ang 1935 T'ang, Leang-li. Reconstruction in China: A Record of Progress and Achievement in Facts and Figures. Shanghai: China United Press, 1935.Google Scholar
Wakeman 1995 Wakeman, Frederic Jr.Policing Shanghai, 1927–1937. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.Google Scholar
Wang 1985 Wang, Wenbing 汪文炳 et al. , eds. Xiangshan xianzhi xubian 香山縣誌續編, 1923. In comp. Yu, Bao et al. , Zhongshan wen xian, vol. 7 中山文獻, 第七卷. Taipei: Taiwan xuesheng shuju, 1985.Google Scholar
Wang 1984 Wang, Jiaxian 王家儉. Qingmo minchu woguo jingcha zhidu xiandaihua de lichen: 1901–1928 清末民初我國警察制度現代化的歷程: 1901–1928. Taipei: Taiwan shangwu yinshuguan, 1984.Google Scholar
Xiao 1989 Xiao, Baoyao 蕭寶耀 “Minguo jingji bengkui shi de Shiqi qingkuang” 民國經濟崩潰時的石岐情況. Zhongshan wenshi 中山文史 2 (1989), pp. 61–63.Google Scholar
Yee 1942 Yee, Frank. “Police in Modern China.” Ph.D. dissertation. Berkeley: University of California, 1942.Google Scholar
Young 1971 Young, Arthur. China's Nation-Building Effort, 1927–1937: The Financial and Economic Record. Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University, 1971.Google Scholar
Zelin 1984 Zelin, Madeleine. The Magistrate's Tael: Rationalizing Fiscal Reform in Eighteenth-Century Ch'ing China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.Google Scholar
Zhongguo Di'er Lishi Dang'anguan 1994 Zhongguo Di'er Lishi Dang'anguan 中國第二歷史檔案管 ed. Zhonghua minguo shi dang'an ziliao huibian di wu ji di yi bian: zhengzhi 中華民國史檔案資料彙編第五輯第一編： 政治. Nanjing: Jiangsu Guji Chubanshe, 1994.Google Scholar
Zhongguo Fagui Kanxingshe Bianshen Weiyuanhui 1948 Zhongguo Fagui Kanxingshe Bianshen Weiyuanhui 中國法規刊行社編審委員會 ed. Liufa Quanshu 六法全書. Shanghai: Chunming Shudian, 1948.Google Scholar
Zhongshan minguo ribao tekan 1947 Zhongshan minguo ribao tekan 中山民國日報特刊. Zhongshan: Zhongshan Minguo Ribaoshe, 1947.Google Scholar
Zhongshanshi wujia zhi 1987 Zhongshanshi wujia zhi 中山市物價誌. Zhongshan: Guangdongsheng Zhongshanshi Wujiaju, 1987.Google Scholar
Zhongshanshi zhengquanzhi 1989 Zhongshanshi zhengquanzhi 中山市政權誌. Zhongshan: Zhongshanshi Zhengquanzhi Bianji Weiyuanhui, 1989.Google Scholar
Zhongshanshi zhi 1997 Zhongshanshi zhi 中山市誌. Guangzhou: Guangdong Renmin Chubanshe, 1997.Google Scholar
Zhongshanxian Tudiju ershier niandu niankan 1933 Zhongshanxian Tudiju ershier niandu niankan 中山縣土地局二十二年度年刊. Zhongshan: Zhongshanxian Tudiju, 1933.Google Scholar
Zhongshan xianzheng huikan 1932 Zhongshan xianzheng huikan 中山縣政彙刊. Zhongshan: Zhongshan Xianzhengfu, 1932.Google Scholar
Zhongshan Xianzhengfu jikan 1930 Zhongshan Xianzhengfu jikan 中山縣政府季刊: 1929/11–1930/1. Zhongshan: Zhongshan Xianzhengfu, 1930.Google Scholar
Zhongshan Xianzhengfu niankan 1937 Zhongshan Xianzhengfu niankan 中山縣政府年刊: 1937. Zhongshan: Zhongshan Xianzhengfu, 1937.Google Scholar
ZSMA Zhongshan Municipal Archives.Google Scholar
ZSMBZhongshan minbao 中山民報. Zhongshan, 1942–1944.Google Scholar
ZSYKZhongshan yuekan 中山月刊. Zhongshan, 1946–1948.Google Scholar