CHAPTER 2 Emergence of the National Idea and National Agitation (1910s–1920s) The following chapter inspects the emergence of the modernist and national discourse of Turkic intellectuals in late Qing and early Republican Xinjiang. The fact that the national rhetoric was directly inspired by modernization and nation-formation processes that occurred at the turn of the twentieth cen- tury in several other contexts (namely inner China, the Ottoman Empire, and Russo-Soviet Central Asia) again underlines the age-old pivotal function of the modern Xinjiang territory as that of a crossroads of ideologies. By examining the flow of external modernist stimuli into Xinjiang and their coalescence with its local context, this research primarily observes projects in education, pub- lishing, and social organizations. The examination of writings of Nezerghoja Abdusémetov, Abdukhaliq Uyghur, and Memtili Tewpiq illustrates the emer- gence of the national idea, and specifically, the Uyghur national idea, both abroad and in its transfer into the Musulman community. This chapter elab- orates on what has been called the “intellectual interpretation” of national movement and nationalism, which views these phenomena as a search for cul- tural identity and a product mostly of intellectuals who are building on a com- mon linguistic, cultural, and political heritage and who are actively designing educational systems in order to inculcate nationalist values into their youth. It will be illustrated later in the text that the Xinjiang Turkic progressive intel- ligentsia’s literacy, education, awareness of modern developments, and other skills acquired in the first wave of new Xinjiang Turkic schools later enabled these figures to become outspoken communal political leaders. 2.1 The Late Qing (1878–1912) and Early Republican (1912–33) Administrations Simultaneous with the collapse of Yaqup Beg’s regime after the mid-1870s in Xinjiang, a debate over the profitability of the Xinjiang reconquest resounded in Qing military circles. The side in favor of giving up the vast, barren, and restive region, which moreover required regular central subsidy, was represented by Li Hongzhang (李鴻章, 1823–1901), the Governor-General of the Zhili (直隸) province and one of the leading promoters of the maritime © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���5 | doi ��.��63/9789004�88096_004 Emergence of the National Idea and National Agitation 61 defense of China. The opposing side represented by Zuo Zongtang (左宗棠, 1812–85), another leading figure of the modernization of the Qing army who gained merit by suppressing Taiping (太平), Nian (捻), and Tungan rebel- lions in the 1860s and 1870s, argued for the reconquest of Xinjiang in order to use the territory as a buffer against the territorial expansion of Great Britain and Russia in the direction of the capital (Millward 2007, 125–27). Ultimately, the reconquest faction won the dispute. Following several years of prepara- tions, Zuo Zongtang’s forces under the field command of Liu Jintang (劉錦棠, 1844–94) took advantage of the decomposition of Yaqup Beg’s regime and any indigenous Muslim defense and reconquered Xinjiang by January 1878. Under the provisions of the Treaty of St. Petersburg (1881), the Qing also recovered the eastern part of the Ili valley, which had been annexed by Russia in 1870. Subsequently, Xinjiang’s administrative status was changed from military pro- tectorate to regular civil province in 1884 (建省 jiànshěng). The new province was divided into prefectures and counties (郡縣 jūnxiàn) staffed exclusively by Han magistrates selected through a state examination system. The high- est ranking official was the newly established Governor (巡撫 xúnfǔ) based in Urumchi, although he formally answered to the Governor-General of Shaanxi and Gansu (陜甘總督 Shǎn-Gān zǒngdū), provinces based in Lanzhou (蘭州; Millward 2007, 124–48).1 Provincialization of Xinjiang brought about substantial changes. Apart from saving funds previously needed to maintain a sizeable military garrison, the new system also terminated the principle of indirect rule through begs and wangs. In order to repopulate the region and expand its taxation base, provin- cial government further facilitated the Han immigration by means of resettle- ment stimulation packages. New administrative divisions generated the need to establish institutes of Confucian learning throughout the province, which was, in turn, expected to enable cultural change in the indigenous popula- tion (化風 huàfēng). With these measures, Xinjiang was eventually to become culturally and demographically homogenous with China proper and, hence, 1 Similar to the reconquest of Xinjiang, its provincialization was a measure which had been debated previously within imperial policy-drafting circles. In an 1820 essay, Qing reformist scholar Gong Zizhen (龔自珍, 1792–1841) first stressed the eventual financial benefits of an initial investment into infrastructure, the resettlement of the populace from China proper, the abolition of military rule, and the introduction of the provincial system. Wei Yuan (魏源, 1794–1856), another influential Qing literatus, was also an advocate of the administrative uni- fication of Xinjiang with China proper by means of Han resettlement and the reclamation of land in the Southern Circuit (Millward 1998, 241–44, Newby 2005, 112–17). Zuo Zongtang himself was convinced of the need to provincialize Xinjiang long before the reconquest (Millward 2007, 132)..