Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Overview — Regional Ethnic Autonomy (Part 2)
Section 2 Building of Autonomous Organs. Under the Constitution, the organs of regional ethnic autonomy in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture are the Prefecture People's Congress and the Prefecture People's Government. Their building began in 1952 and, over the 14 years to 1966, proceeded fairly smoothly from establishment to rapid development. During the Cultural Revolution it suffered setbacks...
This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.
Section 2 Building of Autonomous Organs
According to the provisions of the Constitution, the organs of ethnic regional autonomy in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture are the Prefectural People's Congress and the Prefectural People's Government.
The building of the autonomous organs of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture began in 1952. During the 14 years up to 1966, from establishment to rapid development, it was relatively smooth. During the "Cultural Revolution," it suffered setbacks, and ethnic regional autonomy was trampled upon. After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the CPC in December 1978, it gradually recovered and moved toward improvement.
I. Building of the Prefectural People's Congress
The Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture People's Congress was established along with the implementation of ethnic regional autonomy. In August 1952, in order to establish the Xiangxi Miao Autonomous Region, the first session of the first People's Congress of All Circles of the Xiangxi Miao Autonomous Region was held in Suoli (present-day Jishou). Because the bandit suppression struggle and land reform were still underway at that time, the masses had not yet been fully mobilized, and the conditions for universal suffrage were not yet fully in place, representatives to the meeting were produced through election, consultation, recommendation, and special invitation, totaling 550, including 312 Miao representatives, accounting for 56.73%. This meeting was approved by the Central People's Government in accordance with the provisions of the "Common Program of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference" and exercised the functions and powers of the People's Congress on its behalf. The meeting elected the members of the People's Government Committee of the Xiangxi Miao Autonomous Region and the Consultative Committee of the People's Congress of All Circles of the Autonomous Region, and adopted 3 regulations and 6 resolutions.
In 1954, in accordance with the provisions of the "Electoral Law of the People's Republic of China for the National People's Congress and Local People's Congresses at All Levels" and the "Resolution on Convening the National People's Congress and Local People's Congresses at All Levels," and on the basis of completing grassroots universal suffrage, the Xiangxi Miao Autonomous Region elected deputies to the first People's Congress of the autonomous region through the people's congresses of each county. A total of 214 deputies were elected, including 127 Miao, 1 Hui, with ethnic minority deputies accounting for 59.81%. In July, the meeting was held in Jishou.
To prepare for the establishment of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, from the end of 1956 to the beginning of 1957, each county successively held the first session of its second People's Congress. According to the principle that "ethnic minority deputies account for 60% and Han deputies account for 40%" and the ratio that "one deputy is produced for every 2,742 people of ethnic minorities and one deputy for every 5,619 Han people," and after repeated consultation, 449 deputies to the first People's Congress of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture were elected, plus 2 deputies from the prefectural military subdistrict, totaling 451. Among them were 271 ethnic minority deputies (142 Tujia, 127 Miao, and 1 each Hui and Yao), accounting for 60.09%, meeting the requirement of taking the two autonomous ethnic groups as the main body while ensuring that all other ethnic groups had appropriate representation. After the establishment of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, the numbering of the terms of the Prefectural People's Congress was recalculated. From September 15 to 20, 1957, the first session of the first People's Congress of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture was grandly held in Jishou. The congress summarized the construction achievements of the past five years, discussed future work tasks, adopted several important regulations and resolutions, and elected the members of the People's Committee of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture and the president of the Prefectural Intermediate People's Court. This congress fully embodied the policy of "overall planning and appropriate arrangement" and "mutual respect, each in its proper place, mutual help, and common development" among all ethnic groups, and realized the joint exercise by the Tujia and Miao peoples of the autonomous right to be masters of their own affairs and to jointly build and manage local affairs throughout the prefecture.
In December 1959 and August 1964, the first sessions of the second and third Prefectural People's Congresses were successively held.
In May 1966, the "Cultural Revolution" broke out, and the Prefectural People's Congress ceased activities. In March 1968, the Revolutionary Committee of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture was established. In accordance with the Constitution and the spirit of the CPC Central Committee that "local revolutionary committees established during the Cultural Revolution are regarded as one term of the People's Congress," it was listed as the fourth Prefectural People's Congress and lasted for more than 10 years.
In 1978, the First Session of the Fifth National People's Congress formulated the third Constitution, clearly separating local state organs of power from organs of execution. On October 24-28 of that year, the First Session of the Fifth People's Congress of the Prefecture was held in Jishou, and the Prefecture People's Congress resumed normal activities. In 1979, the Second Session of the Fifth National People's Congress stipulated that standing committees be established in local people's congresses at and above the county level, while abolishing local revolutionary committees at all levels and restoring local people's governments at all levels. From May 26 to June 2, 1981, the First Session of the Sixth People's Congress of the Prefecture was held in Jishou. The congress elected the members of the Standing Committee of the Prefecture People's Congress, the members of the Prefecture People's Government, the President of the Prefecture Intermediate People's Court, and the Chief Procurator of the Prefecture People's Procuratorate. The Standing Committee of the Sixth Prefecture People's Congress was composed of 35 members, including 7 Tujia and 10 Miao. It had 1 director, 8 deputy directors, and 26 members. From then on, the Prefecture People's Congress had a permanent organ. The Standing Committee of the Prefecture People's Congress is responsible to and reports on its work to the Prefecture People's Congress. Its establishment created favorable conditions for strengthening the work and development of the Prefecture People's Congress and for the synchronized development of socialist democracy and the legal system throughout the prefecture.
In December 1983, the First Session of the Seventh People's Congress of the Prefecture was held in Jishou. From this session onward, each term was five years, and the Standing Committee was composed of 29 to 31 members, with 1 director and 7 to 8 deputy directors. Those who successively served as directors of the Standing Committee of the Prefecture People's Congress
include Xiang Heyou (Tujia), Shi Yuanji (Miao), Wu Yuansheng (Miao), Peng Shilai, Jin Shufu, and Long Songjiang (Miao). In early 2003, it was the Eleventh People's Congress of the Prefecture. The Standing Committee of the Eleventh Prefecture People's Congress had 30 members, including 13 Tujia, 7 Miao, and 1 Bai, with ethnic minorities accounting for 70%. Under the Standing Committee were an office, an election, appointment and removal, and liaison work committee, and the committees for legislative affairs, finance and economics, internal and judicial affairs, education, science, culture and health, agriculture, ethnic, overseas Chinese and foreign affairs, and urban and rural construction and environmental protection of the Eleventh Prefecture People's Congress.
From 1957 to 2005, over nearly 50 years, the People's Congress of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture gradually moved toward standardization and institutionalization, and the self-development of the Standing Committee of the Prefecture People's Congress was gradually strengthened. It actively exercised various functions and powers, including the power of decision, appointment and removal, supervision, and legislation. In discussing and deciding major matters in all aspects of the work of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, supervising the work of the people's government, people's court, and people's procuratorate at the same level, appointing and removing state organ personnel at the same level, and formulating autonomous regulations and separate regulations, it played the role of an organ of power well and ensured that people of all ethnic groups could better exercise the power to manage state affairs.
II. Development of the Prefecture People's Government
The development of the People's Government of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture went through the People's Government of the Xiangxi Miao Autonomous Region, the People's Committee of Xiangxi Miao Autonomous Prefecture, the People's Committee of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, the Revolutionary Committee of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, and the People's Government of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. Except for the Prefecture Revolutionary Committee, all the others fully embodied the principle of regional ethnic autonomy.
In August 1952, the Xiangxi Miao Autonomous Region was established. The First Conference of People's Representatives from All Walks of Life elected the members of the People's Government of the Xiangxi Miao Autonomous Region. Shi Bangzhi (Miao) was elected Chairman of the Regional People's Government, and Cheng Huanxing and Long Zaiyu (Miao) were elected Vice Chairmen, with 19 committee members. Among the 22 government members, 15 were Miao, accounting for 68.18%. Under the Regional People's Government were 20 directly subordinate agencies and 3 dual-leadership agencies. In April 1954, the People's Government of the Xiangxi Miao Autonomous Region was renamed the People's Committee of Xiangxi Miao Autonomous Prefecture.
In September 1957, the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture was established. The First Session of the Prefecture People's Congress elected the People's Committee of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (First Term, September 1957-December 1959). Shi Bangzhi was elected Prefecture Governor. Peng Zugui, an outstanding son of the Tujia people, a veteran Red Army soldier, and a native of Guzhang, along with Zhao Dexin, Chen Yanbin, Long Zaiyu (Miao), Tian Jinggui (Tujia), Shi Yuanji (Miao), and Huang Muru (Tujia), were elected Vice Governors, with 37 committee members. Among the 45 members of the Prefecture People's Committee, 16 were Tujia and 15 were Miao, with ethnic minorities accounting for 68.89%. The directly subordinate agencies under the Prefecture People's Committee increased to 29, and there were 4 dual-leadership agencies. The Second Prefecture People's Committee served from December 1959 to August 1964, and the Third from August 1964 to January 1967. Shi Bangzhi was re-elected Prefecture Governor.
In May 1966, the "Cultural Revolution" officially began. On January 17, 1967, the "rebels" in the Jishou area responded to Shanghai's "January Storm" and announced the seizure of leadership power from the Prefecture Party Committee and the Prefecture People's Committee. The Jishou Military Subdistrict sent personnel to support the Left and stationed them in the Prefecture Party and government leading organs to support the Left. In April 1968, a "three-in-one" Revolutionary Committee composed of representatives of revolutionary cadres, the military, and revolutionary masses was established, and leading figures of the "rebels" became standing committee members and members of the Prefecture Revolutionary Committee. In October 1976, the Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary clique was crushed, and the factional leaders in the Prefecture Revolutionary Committee were immediately all removed. In October 1978, the First Session of the Fifth Prefecture People's Congress elected new leading members of the Prefecture Revolutionary Committee, and Wu Yunchang (Miao) was elected Director of the Prefecture Revolutionary Committee. The successive directors of the Prefecture Revolutionary Committee were Gou Xianxue, Li Guangxu, Chen Jun, Shi Bangzhi (Miao), Ning Sheng, and Wu Yunchang (Miao).
In May 1981, in accordance with the "Resolution on Amending Certain Provisions of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China" adopted at the Second Session of the Fifth National People's Congress and the "Organic Law of the Local People's Congresses and Local People's Governments of the People's Republic of China" partially revised according to that resolution, the First Session of the Sixth Prefecture People's Congress decided to abolish the Revolutionary Committee of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture and elect the People's Government of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (the Sixth Prefecture People's Government). The Sixth Prefecture People's Government successively established 52 directly subordinate agencies and 5 dual-leadership agencies. Afterward, the development of the Prefecture People's Government returned to legalized procedures, with a change of term every five years. In January 2003, the First Session of the Eleventh Prefecture People's Congress elected the Eleventh Prefecture People's Government. After May 1981, the successive governors were Wu Yunchang (Miao), Shi Yuzhen (Miao), Xiang Shilin (Tujia), Wu Jihai (Miao), and Du Chongyan (Tujia). By the end of 2005, under the Prefecture People's Government were 27 working departments, 1 directly subordinate special agency, and 2 department-management agencies.
III. Training and Use of Ethnic Cadres
If regional ethnic autonomy is the key to solving China's ethnic problems, then broadly and extensively selecting, training, and using ethnic minority cadres is the crux of solving China's ethnic problems and the core of realizing regional ethnic autonomy. Without a large number of outstanding ethnic minority cadres, it would be impossible to realize the concept of the "nationalization of autonomous organs," impossible to realize the aspiration of "all ethnic groups being masters of their own affairs," and impossible to achieve the goal of "political equality for all."
The first group of cadres in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture consisted of cadres transferred to local service from the 47th Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, cadres who came south, and cadres transferred from other places by the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee. Filled with revolutionary passion and a spirit of selfless dedication, they went deep into Xiangxi to open up the newly liberated areas and made tremendous contributions to the economic construction and social development of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, especially making painstaking efforts in the training and selection of ethnic cadres. The ethnic minority masses regarded them as their own kin.
In the early period after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Xiangxi vigorously trained ethnic cadres by opening short-term training classes, cultivating them in practical work, organizing visits and inspections outside, and sending them to formal ethnic colleges for study and improvement. In 1953, the number of ethnic cadres in the political power system of the Xiangxi Miao Autonomous Region increased from 402 the previous year to 911; among the departments of the autonomous regional government there were 40 Miao cadres, including 7 at the county level and 2 at the district level; among the 21 county heads and deputy heads in the whole region, 10 were Miao. By the end of 1957, the number of ethnic minority cadres in the whole prefecture had risen to 4,493, including 2,342 Miao cadres and 2,136 Tujia cadres. By the end of 1982, the total number of cadres at all levels in the prefecture reached 42,688, of whom 16,558 were ethnic minority cadres, accounting for 38.79%; there were 16,086 scientific and technical cadres of various types, of whom 4,983 were ethnic minority scientific and technical cadres, accounting for 30.98%. Since reform and opening up, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture has adopted various measures to actively select and train ethnic cadres. First, recruit and employ cadres from outstanding ethnic minority workers and peasants to strengthen the grassroots; second, actively create conditions for ethnic minority cadres and students to study in universities, colleges, and secondary specialized schools; third, actively strive for graduating students from universities, colleges, and secondary specialized schools to return to the prefecture to work; fourth, grasp training and continuously improve the political and professional quality of ethnic minority cadres; fifth, adopt various forms of practical training in a targeted manner, including taking temporary posts in higher-level organs, in economically developed coastal areas, and in grassroots units, transferring large numbers of cadres to participate in rural consolidation and poverty alleviation, carrying out post rotations, and encouraging cadres to go into business and establish entities.
After entering the 21st century, the CPC Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Committee further raised awareness, strengthened leadership, and truly took the training of ethnic minority cadres as an important strategic task. For Xiangxi to develop, the key lies in talent, and the key lies in cadres. Party committees at all levels planned and deployed the training and selection of ethnic cadres as an important part of cadre and talent work, and supervised and inspected it as an important indicator in the assessment of leading cadres. In 2000, the Prefecture Party Committee and Prefecture Government formulated the "Opinions on the Work of Training and Selecting Ethnic Minority Cadres in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture from 2001 to 2005," further clarifying the guiding ideology, work objectives, and measures for training and selecting ethnic minority cadres. In order to fundamentally improve the quality of selecting ethnic minority cadres and advance the building of the ethnic minority cadre contingent as a whole, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture worked from the foundation and started from the source, broadening the channels for the source of ethnic minority cadres and strengthening the cadre contingent. First, do a good job in the education of ethnic minority students and ensure that ethnic minority students complete primary education and receive higher education. In 2004, there were 9,638 college graduates with prefecture registration, of whom 6,806 were ethnic minorities, thus laying a solid foundation for the selection and use of ethnic minority cadres; second, give preferential treatment in examination recruitment and selection. From 2002 to 2004, through examinations, the whole prefecture recruited 245 ethnic minority civil servants from graduating students of universities, colleges, and secondary specialized schools, 107 public institution cadres, selected 37 ethnic minority selected graduates from outstanding university students in the province, and openly recruited 265 ethnic minority cadres from enterprises, institutions, urban unemployed persons, outstanding young farmers, and other social fields; third, strengthen the building of the reserve contingent of ethnic minority cadres. In 2003, among the prefecture-level reserve cadres determined by the whole prefecture, 17 were ethnic minorities, accounting for 85%; among county and division-level reserve cadres, 286 were ethnic minorities, accounting for 76%. In view of the reality that some ethnic minority cadres, especially grassroots ethnic minority cadres, had relatively low quality and weak abilities, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture persisted in focusing on training and education and adopted measures such as theoretical training, assignment to temporary posts, and exchange and rotation of posts to improve the overall quality of ethnic minority cadres. From 2001 to 2005, 2,450 ethnic minority cadres in the whole prefecture participated in training classes such as young and middle-aged cadre classes held by Party schools and administrative colleges at all levels. In 2005, 63.35% of cadres in the whole prefecture had a college degree or above. From 1992 to 2005, the whole prefecture sent 34 groups of prefecture and department-level, county and division-level, and township and section-level ethnic minority cadres to Party and government organs at all levels and coastal areas for temporary training; more than 1,100 ethnic minority cadres were exchanged between Party and government organs and economic departments. The purpose of training lies in use. On the premise of adhering to standards, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture actively created conditions and boldly selected and used ethnic minority cadres. Taking the opportunity of term changes and leadership team adjustments, it promptly selected ethnic minority cadres into leading teams at all levels. It innovated the personnel mechanism to create conditions for ethnic minority cadres to stand out. It persisted in "regarding them one level higher and loving them one point more," and boldly used ethnic minority cadres.
Today, a large number of ethnic minority cadres in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture who are both virtuous and talented, young and promising, and composite in ability are growing vigorously. First, the proportion of ethnic minority cadres and the proportion of the ethnic minority population are becoming reasonable. At the end of 2005, there were 69,053 cadres in organs and talents in state-owned enterprises and institutions in the whole prefecture, of whom 55,140 were ethnic minorities, accounting for 79.85%, 5 percentage points higher than the proportion of the ethnic minority population in the total population. Second, the quality of cadres and talents has gradually improved. Among cadres in organs and talents in state-owned enterprises and institutions in the whole prefecture, 43,734 had a college degree or above, accounting for 63.35% of the total; among talents in state-owned enterprises and institutions, 16,553 had senior or intermediate professional and technical titles, accounting for 29.64% of the total; among them, 12,718 ethnic minority talents had senior or intermediate professional and technical titles, accounting for 76.83% of the total number of senior and intermediate professional and technical talents in the whole prefecture. Third, a large number of outstanding ethnic minority cadres who are both virtuous and talented have entered leading posts at all levels. Among the 40 leading members of the four leading bodies of the Prefecture Party Committee, Prefecture People's Congress, Prefecture Government, and Prefecture CPPCC, 27 were ethnic minorities, accounting for 67.5%; in the whole prefecture, there were 775 cadres serving as principal or deputy county and division-level leading posts in organs and cadres managed as principal or deputy county and division-level in state-owned institutions, of whom 576 were ethnic minorities, accounting for 74.32%.