Law across imperial borders: British consuls and colonial connections on China’s western frontiers, 1880-1943 (Studies in Imperialism)

Law across imperial borders offers new perspectives on the complex legal connections between Britain’s presence in Western China in the western frontier regions of Yunnan and Xinjiang, and the British colonies of Burma and India. Bringing together a transnational methodology with a social-legal focus, it demonstrates how inter-Asian mobility across frontiers shaped British authority in contested frontier regions of China. It examines the role of a range of actors who helped create, constitute and contest legal practice on the frontier–including consuls, indigenous elites and cultural mediators. The book will be of interest to historians of China, the British Empire in Asia and legal history. __Law across imperial borders__offersnew perspectives on the complex legal connections between Britain’s presence in Western China in the western frontier regions of Yunnan and Xinjiang, and the British colonies of Burma and India. Bringing together a transnational methodology with a social-legal focus, it demonstrates how inter-Asian mobility across frontiers shaped British authority in contested frontier regions of China. It examines the role of a range of actors who helped create, constitute and contest legal practice on the frontier–including consuls, indigenous elites and cultural mediators. The book will be of interest to historians of China, the British Empire in Asia and legal history. Front matter Dedication Contents List of figures Acknowledgements Abbreviations Note on transliteration List of British representatives in Kashgar List of Tengyue consuls Maps Introduction Part I The Burma-China frontier Treaty-making and treaty-breaking: transfrontier salt and opium, 1904–11 On the move: people crossing the frontier, 1911–25 Consuls and Frontier Meetings, 1909–35 Part II Through the mountains and across the desert: Xinjiang Isolation and connection: law between semicolonial China and the Raj Administering justice and mediating local custom The British end game in Xinjiang: the decline of consular rights, 1917–39 Conclusion Key Terms Select bibliography Index This book is the story of British consuls at the edge of the British and Chinese empires. By embracing local norms and adapting to transfrontier migration, consuls created forms of transfrontier legal authority. -- .