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Did Myanmar belong to China?

Burma became China’s chieftain during the Yuan and Ming dynasties. However, after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Myanmar’s Xuanwei Envoys gradually became stronger and began to expand to other Tusi jurisdictions. Myanmar saw that the Ming Dynasty did not take action to save the foreign political regions, so it learned from the Ming Dynasty’s golden letter and red card system and adopted the method to win over the surrounding Tusi leaders. way of doing. “The chieftains of the Three Announcements and Six Consolations established in the early Ming Dynasty were mostly subordinated to them.” Pay tribute.

For the chieftains in the border and inner regions of Yunnan, the Toungoo Dynasty in Myanmar also continued to harass. In order to resist Burmese’s attack, Yunnan Governor Chen Yongbin set up eight passes including Tongbi Pass, Wanren Pass, Shenhu Pass, Jushi Pass, Tiebi Pass, Huzhu Pass, Tianma Pass, and Hanlong Pass on the border of Yunnan. Although the Eight Passes are “to control the chieftains outside the pass and prevent the invasion of Burma, it is not the boundary between Burma and Burma” (Note: Zhang Chengsun: “Boundary Issues between China, Britain, Burma, Burma”, p. 23.)

However, the Ming Dynasty followed With the decline of its own power, the control of the Tusi outside Guan is actually more and more loose. Some chieftains, deterred by the pressure of Burma, attached themselves to Burma one after another, or took the lead in both China and Burma. After the Qing troops entered the Central Plains, the Qing government was busy consolidating its own rule.

In the southwestern frontier, it only guarded the fortifications built during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty—Baguan, (Note: See Fang Guoyu: “An Interpretation of the History and Geography of Southwest China”, Zhonghua Book Company, 1987 edition , p. 775.) The foreign chieftains in Yunnan still adopted the policy of subjugating the barbarians, so the status of the border chiefs did not change, and there was no official contact with the Dongyu Dynasty for many years.

It was not until the fifteenth year of Qianlong’s reign (1750) that Wang Jin of Dongyu officially sent an envoy to China for the first time to pay tribute and ask for a seal, and was warmly received by the Qing government. In 1752, the Toungoo Dynasty was replaced by the Yongjiya Dynasty (1752-1885). As its power continued to extend to the border of Yunnan and interfered with the internal affairs of the chieftains on the border of Yunnan, it triggered the Qing-Myanmar War (1765-1769) during the Qianlong period. year).

In the early Qing Dynasty, troops were dispatched to Burma many times. In 1769, the Qing government sent Fu Heng, a great scholar, to Burma, and the Burmese king Meng refuted the fear and begged for peace. After the two sides negotiated peace, Myanmar sent envoys to pay tribute to the Qing Dynasty, expressing submission to China. In 1790, the Qing court sent envoys to Burma to confer Meng Yun the king of Burma.

During the Qing-Myanmar War, the Qing government once restored the rule of the chieftains of Meng Gong, Mubang, Menggen, and Zhengmai. Add question. “I don’t want to ask the three divisions, and let Myanmar handle it. I can still say that Myanmar has been submissive and obedient throughout the world. Although the land of Yanggong belongs to Myanmar, it still belongs to me.” Note: Li Genyuan: “Yongchang House Wenzheng” Chronicle Volume 25, p. 12. )

The Qing government’s concept of one’s own people is not a big problem if it can maintain its vassal system, but after the frequent invasions of Western countries and the annexation of the Qing Dynasty’s vassal states by foreign powers, it will inevitably lead to border territories. disputes, and made the Qing government fall into a passive position everywhere when it negotiated with the foreign powers.

From 1824. The British began to wage a war of aggression against Burma. In the process of the British government creating incidents and provoking the war of aggression against Burma, the Qing government once made representations. On the one hand, the British government said that it did not know China’s suzerainty over Myanmar in advance, and said that it would not harm China’s rights in Myanmar, but it also stepped up its aggression against Myanmar.

The British sent troops to capture the Burmese capital of Mandalay in December 1885, captured the Burmese king Xipao and the queen, and announced on January 1, 1886 that Upper Burma would be incorporated into British India, completing its annexation of the entire Burma. .

After British annexed Myanmar, the Qing government protested, and China and the United Kingdom negotiated. Since then, China and Britain began to have territorial disputes on the Burma border. Zeng Jize, the Chinese minister to the UK, once raised the issue of the Myanmar-Burma border. British Foreign Secretary Clay expressed to Zeng Jize that he is willing to make certain concessions in border affairs: first, “the land east of the Lujiang River (that is, the Nujiang River and the Salween River), from the southern boundary of Yunnan, to the south to the north of Siam.

In the world, the Lujiang River in the west, which is the so-called Salween River in Yangtu, reaches the lower reaches of the Lancang River in the east, and in the north there is the State of Nanzhang, and in the south there are all kinds of Shan people. Second, take the Great Jinsha River, the Irrawaddy River, as the “public river” between the two countries; third, identify a place near Bhamo to allow China to establish a port and “set up customs duties”.

(Xue Fucheng: “A Brief Situation of the Boundary between Yunnan and Burma”, Vol. 2 of “A Brief History of Missions”, pp. 28-29.) Since China and the UK have been deadlocked on the issue of the preservation of the Burmese, Zeng Jize Yu Before leaving office, he only exchanged abridged documents with the British Foreign Office.

In July 1886, the “Myanmar Clause” was signed in Beijing. The Qing government recognized the privileges of the British in Burma, and the British agreed that Burma would “promise” to China every ten years. Although the Qing government met the negotiating requirements of making Britain “not block the tributary”, in fact the relationship between the Qing Dynasty and Burma no longer existed.