The Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the
Beiyang government made a series of eight maps delineating the northwestern territories of the former Qing period, based on the court archives of documents associated with the
Protocol of Chuguchak and the
Treaty of St. Petersburg, as well as their relevant sub-treaties, maps, and charts. They afford us a further understanding of the successive boundary changes and vast expanse of territorial loss that happened during the Tongzhi and Guangxu reigns in the northwest, an estimate of totally over 500,000 square kilometers.
The Map of Uliassutai
Early years of the Republic
During the years of the
Beiyang government, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made a series of maps for seven segments in the northwestern territories of the former Qing period. The present map is oriented with north up and south down. According to the accompanying texts at the upper right, this map delineates the segment one, from Bogosuk
dabakha to Shabing
dabakha. The legends at the right lower corner state, "based on the Uliassutai border map attachments (with seals and signatures) made by Quichang, the Survey Official."
However, the representative on record for this segment was Rongchuan, the Grand Minister Consultant of Uliassuta. Kuichang, the Grand Minister Consultant of Kobdo, was in charge of the Kobdo segment. It seems that the
Beiyang editor made a mistake by claiming that the present map was based on the Uliassutai border map by Quichang. The map used as a reference for this one should have been the
Sino-Russian Signposting the Uliassutai Borders instead.
The Ili Borders – before and after (Map)
Early years of the Republic
Following on the
Treaty of St. Petersburg, Changshun, the Grand Minister Assistant Administrator of Hami, represented the Qing court to conduct a joint survey of the borders with Russia officials at the Ili segment from Khara
daban to Narin Khalga, and signed the
Boundary Protocol of Ili. The signed original having been lost, the present map is a
Beiyang government version based on the text of the treaty and a replicate copy made by Changshun, which was attached in his status report to the court (i.e.
The Sino-Russian Demarcation of the Ili Borders). According to the accompanying text, we know this map in part of the series of maps which provides a complete delineation of the Sino-Russian borders of Xinjiang. The present map is for the fifth segment.
