The Empire on the Miao Margins: Social Structure, Rituals and Ethnic Groups in Western Hunan in Qing Dynasty

In contrast to previous research which describes the development of the newly- opened southwestern frontier during the Qing dynasty as a simple story of sinicization, this paper argues that Qing rulers used different policies and strategies to construct imperial rule in the region. By distinguishing two kinds of frontier areas and comparing how the Qing imperial system was constructed in the two areas, this study shows that depending on how and whether the ruling instruments of the Qing government shifted or maintained the imperial frontier, the patterns of incorporation of regions that lay within or beyond the border could be quite different.