晚清变局中的驻藏大臣

High Commissioners in Tibet of Late Qing Dynasty

西藏是清王朝的西南边疆重地,历代皇帝都高度重视驻藏大臣的选派。到了晚清时期,驻藏大臣及其藏事遇到了严峻的挑战,主要原因是晚清经历了太多的变局。由于帝国主义的侵略和对藏内上层分裂主义势力的精心培植,清朝末年西藏滋生出一股分裂的潜流,这些潜流随着形势的变化日益膨胀,而驻藏大臣由于缺乏清中央政府强有力的支持,无力应对帝国主义的讹诈和抑制分裂主义势力的膨胀,以至酿成了晚清驱逐清兵、拉萨满汉商民和驻藏大臣的悲剧。驻藏大臣及其制度到了晚清,已经不适应急剧变化的国内外形势,鼎革管理西藏的方式已势在必行。晚清变局中的驻藏大臣的遭遇及其驻藏大臣制度的终结,可以看到中国近代西藏的命运与祖国的命运紧密相联,同时也给后人昭示了改革驻藏大臣制度的迫切性和历史必然性。

Tibet was the important southwest border during the Qing Dynasty,so the emperors of the cen- tral government attached great importance to the selection of the High Commissioners in Tibet. In the late Qing Dynasty,the High Commissioners and their governance of Tibetan affairs encountered serious challenges due to the great changes of that time. The High Commissioners were unable to cope with the imperialist aggression and the expansion of some upper Tibetan separatists due to lack of the central government＇s strong support and their own ability shortage. The High Commissioner system didn＇t meet the rapid changes in domestic and abroad any longer in the late Qing Dynasty and needed to be re- formed imperatively. From the situation of the High Commissioners in Tibet and the end of the system during the Late Qing Dynasty,it proved that the fate of Tibet was closely linked to the fate of the motherland in modern times. Besides that,it made clear the urgency and inevitability to reform the system of the High Commissioners.