Faced with a weakened center state after the 1911 revolution, ethnic mobilization occurred in various peripheral areas of China during the Republic of China period. The Miao people, a big ethnic minority group in Southwest China, experienced large scale ethnic mobilization in the 1930s. In contrast, the Yi people, another big ethnic minority group in Southwest China, showed no sign of ethnic mobilization through the Republic period. To explain the divergence between the Miao people and the Yi people in ethnic mobilization, I trace back to the Qing Dynasty and pinpoint the role of elite structure of ethnic minority in ethnicizing the frontiers. Elite structure of ethnic minority shaped the outcome of ethnicization through two mechanisms. The first is a long-lasting and society le...[ Read more ]

Faced with a weakened center state after the 1911 revolution, ethnic mobilization occurred in various peripheral areas of China during the Republic of China period. The Miao people, a big ethnic minority group in Southwest China, experienced large scale ethnic mobilization in the 1930s. In contrast, the Yi people, another big ethnic minority group in Southwest China, showed no sign of ethnic mobilization through the Republic period. To explain the divergence between the Miao people and the Yi people in ethnic mobilization, I trace back to the Qing Dynasty and pinpoint the role of elite structure of ethnic minority in ethnicizing the frontiers. Elite structure of ethnic minority shaped the outcome of ethnicization through two mechanisms. The first is a long-lasting and society level mechanism, in which elite structure determined the pattern of local relations in the frontier, laying the bedrock of ethnic confrontation. The second happens during the empire to nation conjuncture and is state-centered. Ethnic elite structure decided political opportunity for the ethnic minority elite in power rivalry and the consequent political coalition pattern. This thesis makes use of extensive primary archives collected at the No.1 Historical Archive of China as well as various secondary sources. My theory combines the classical center-periphery model and the local-relational approach in the study of empire to nation transition. It also has implication on ethnic politics all over the world.