Abstract
The Qing Dynasty’s system of governing the Mongols is called the League Banner System. This is understood as a vertical governing system consisting of leagues, banners, jalans, and sumus under the Lifanyuan (The Ministry of Mongolian Affairs). Before its submission to the Qing Dynasty, the Mongols had a segmented structure, typical of nomadic people, with numerous nomadic groups and a weak vertical system of governance. However, the Qing Dynasty is historically significant as it created a vertical governing organization under the emperor. Previous studies have merely described the organizational framework of the Banner League using official legal sources compiled by the Qing dynasty, and no case-by-case or dynamic research has been conducted based on the actual operational aspects of its governance. In this paper, we examine the state of governance in the Hangin Banner (the Ordos Right Wing Rear Banner) of the Yeke ǰuu League, using official documents of the Tongzhi period, including the Tob-yug, a list of accepted documents, and the filed copies of accepted documents and their originals. This will clarify the actual number of documents accepted by the Banner during the period recorded in the Tob-yug (January of the first year to January of the eleventh year of the Tongzhi era), the range of offices that issued the documents, and the number of days required to deliver the accepted documents. The study revealed that the Banner mainly exchanged documents with the League Chief’s Office, and the Qing’s garrison officials transmitted business via the League and rarely sent documents directly to the Banner. The exchange of documents with neighboring Banners, both within and outside the League, accounted for only 10% of the total. While there was not a significant difference in the number of days for documents to be delivered during normal and emergency times, the number of documents delivered dropped dramatically during emergencies.
