晚清变局中的驻藏大臣

Minister Stationed in Tibet in the Late Qing Dynasty

西藏是清王朝西南边疆重地,清朝历代皇帝都高度重视驻藏大臣的选派。到了晚清时期,驻藏大臣及其藏区事务遇到了严峻的挑战,主要原因是晚清经历了太多的变局,驻藏大臣已难以恢复往日管理西藏的锐气。晚清后期,西藏地区遭受英帝国主义的两次入侵,西藏也滋生出一股股分裂的潜流,而驻藏大臣由于缺乏清中央政府的强有力支持和自身的心智短拙,无力应对帝国主义的讹诈和抑制分裂主义势力的膨胀,以至酿成驱逐清兵、拉萨满汉商民和驻藏大臣的悲剧。晚清变局中驻藏大臣的遭遇及驻藏大臣制度的终结,显示出中国近代西藏的命运与祖国命运的紧密联系,同时也昭示了改革驻藏大臣制度的迫切性和历史必然性。

Tibet was an important Southwestern border area in the Qing Dynasty. Qing Emperors all paid great attention to the selection of ministers stationed in Tibet. In the late Qing Dynasty, too many upheavals in Tibet posed a severe challenge to ministers stationed in Tibet. They could hardly restore their original edges in managing Tibetan affairs. In the late period of the Qing Dynasty, after two invasions of Tibet by the British imperialists, some separatists started to rise. Lacking powerful support from the Qing central government and personal intelligence, ministers stationed in Tibet were unable to deal with the blackmail of imperialists and curb the expansion of separatists, which led to the tragedy of expelling Qing soldiers, Manchu and Han businessmen and the minister stationed in Tibet from Lhasa. These bitter experiences and the ending of this system in the late Qing Dynasty show that the fate of Tibet in modern China is closely related with that of the motherland. Meanwhile, they also attest to the urgency and historical inevitability to reform the system of stationing minister in Tibet to later generations.