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{{Short description|Nominal former province of the Republic of China}}
{{Coord missing|Tibet}}
{{Infobox former subdivision
|native_name            = {{nobold|西康省}}
|conventional_long_name = Xikang Province
|common_name            = Xikang
|demonym                = 
|subdivision            = SUBDIVISION
|nation                 = China
|status_text            = {{Flagdeco|Republic of China}} [[History of the administrative divisions of China (1912–49)|Province]] of the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] (1939–1950)
<!-- General information -->
|capital                = [[Kangding]] (1912–1931)<br />[[Batang County|Ba'an]] (1931–1935)<br />[[Ya'an]] (1935–1936)<br />[[Kangding]] (1935–1949)<br />[[Xichang]] (1949–1950)
|today                  = [[China]]<br />[[India]]
|stat_year1             = Estimate
|stat_area1             = 451,521
|stat_pop1              = 1,748,458
|year_start             = 1939
|year_end               = 1950
|event_start            = <!-- Default: "Established" -->
|date_start             = <!-- Optional: Date of establishment-->
|event1                 = Fall of Xichang
|date_event1            = 27 March 1950
|era                    = 20th century
|image_map              = ROC Div Xikang.svg
|image_map_caption      = Xikang Province in the Republic of China
|p1                     = Chuanbian Special Region
|flag_p1                = Flag of the Republic of China (1912-1928).svg
|s1                     = Xikang
|flag_s1                = Flag of China.svg
|s2                     = Chamdo Region
|flag_s2                = Flag of China.svg
}}
{{Infobox former subdivision
|native_name            = {{nobold|西康省}}
|conventional_long_name = Xikang Province
|common_name            = Xikang
|nation                 = People's Republic of China
|status_text            = {{Flagdeco|China}} [[Provinces of China|Province]] of the [[China|People's Republic of China]] (1950–1955)
<!-- General information -->
|capital                = [[Kangding]] (1950–1951) <br />[[Ya'an]] (1951–1955)
|today                  = [[China]]<br />[[India]]
|stat_year1             = 1953
|stat_area1             = 451,521
|stat_pop1              = 3,381,064
|year_start             = 1950
|year_end               = 1955
|event_start            = <!-- Default: "Established" -->
|date_start             = <!-- Optional: Date of establishment-->
|event1                 = 
|date_event1            = 
|era                    = 20th century
|event_pre              = <!-- Optional: A crucial event that took place before before "event_start" -->
|date_pre               = 
|event_end              = 
|date_end               = 
<!-- Images -->
|image_map              = PRC-Xikang.png
|image_map_caption      = Xikang Province (orange) in the People's Republic of China
|p1                     = Xikang
|flag_p1                = Flag of the Republic of China.svg
|s1                     = Sichuan
|flag_s1                = Flag of China.svg
|s2                     = Tibet Autonomous Region
|flag_s2                = Flag of China.svg
}}

'''Xikang''' (formerly romanized as '''Sikang''' or '''Hsikang''', {{literal translation|[[Kham]]-in-the-West}} or 'Kham to the west [of [[Sichuan]]]') was a nominal province<ref>
{{harvp|Lin, Boundary, sovereignty and imagination|2004|p=30}}: "Despite its almost entirely illusory nature, the so-called Xikang province was officially sketched out by Chinese map-makers, from whom it came to be known nation-wide.
</ref>
formed by the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] in 1939 on the initiative of prominent [[Sichuan]] warlord [[Liu Wenhui]]<ref>Yajun Mo, "''The New Frontier: Zhuang Xueben and Xikang Province''", in "''Chinese History in Geographical Perspective''", edited by Yongtao Du and Jeff Kyong-McClain, p. 124, Lexington Books, 2013</ref> and retained by the early [[China|People's Republic of China]]. The former territory of Xikang is now divided between the [[Tibet Autonomous Region]] (TAR) and [[Sichuan|Sichuan province]]. 

The idea behind Xikang province was to form a single unified province for the entire [[Kham]] region under direct Chinese administration, in effect annexing the [[Chamdo Region|western Kham region]] that was then under Tibetan control. Kham was entirely populated by [[Tibetan people]] called [[Khampa (people)|Khampas]]. The then-independent [[Tibet (1912–1951)|Tibet]] controlled the portion of Kham west of the [[Yangtze|Upper Yangtze River]].<ref>
{{harvp|Lin, Boundary, sovereignty and imagination|2004|p=29}}: "According to the Kuomintang, the boundary of this new Xikang province encompassed, not only part of the southwestern province of Sichuan that was then dominated by the Han Chinese warlord Liu Wenhui, but also a huge portion of the ethnographic Tibetan area west of the Upper Yangtze River that was then effectively administered by the autonomous Tibetan government."
</ref>
The nominal Xikang province also included in the south the [[Assam Himalaya]]n region ([[Arunachal Pradesh]]) that Tibet had recognised as a part of [[British Raj|British India]] by the 1914 [[McMahon Line]] agreement.<ref>
{{harvp|Lin, Boundary, sovereignty and imagination|2004|p=29}}: "In addition, the newly carved provincial boundary also extended deep into the Tibetan-Assam tribal territory, including areas south of the theoretically existing McMahon Line that had been signed away to British India by Lhasa in 1914."
</ref>
The eastern part of the province was inhabited by a number of different ethnic groups, such as [[Han Chinese]], [[Yi people|Yi]], [[Qiang people]] and Tibetan, then known as ''Chuanbian'' ({{lang|zh|川邊}}), a [[Special administrative regions of China#Defunct SARs|special administrative region]] of the Republic of China. In 1939, it became the new Xikang province with the additional territories belonging to Tibetan and British control added in. It was [[Chinese Civil War#Pushing south|taken over by Chinese communist forces]] in 1949.

The provincial capital of Xikang was [[Kangding]] from 1939 to 1951 and [[Ya'an]] from 1951 to 1955. The province had a population of 3.4 million in 1954.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16767.htm |title=第一次全国人口普查公报 |access-date=November 17, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805174810/http://www.stats.gov.cn/TJGB/RKPCGB/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16767.htm |archive-date=August 5, 2009 }}</ref> In 1955, its eastern half was merged into Sichuan, and its western half came under the administration of the TAR preparatory committee. 

== Overview ==
The idea of "Xikang" was to construct an independent province of China for the entire [[Kham]] region, which would be separate from [[Tibet]] as well as [[Sichuan]]. Even though it was defined in regulations and sketched out on maps, only the eastern Kham region was ever under the control of the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]].{{cn|date=September 2024}}

== History ==
[[File:Simla Convention and ROC control in Kham.jpg|thumb|left|280px|ROC's control in Kham: Light blue line on the west represents the boundary in 1912–1917, after which the ROC was pushed back to the brown line during 1918–1932. By 1945, it arrived at the dotted red line. The dark blue was the [[Simla Convention]] boundary that ROC turned down.]]
[[File:Xikang province in 1950 CIA map of Tibet.jpg|thumb|left|280px|The Xikang province shown with a dark green line boundary ([[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], 1950)]]

Following the 1905 [[Batang uprising]], [[Qing China]] appointed [[Zhao Erfeng]] as the Imperial Commissioner for the Sichuan-Yunnan Frontier.{{sfnp|Wang, China's Last Imperial Frontier|2011}} Zhao reduced all the autonomous native states in both the western and eastern Kham by 1910 and converted them into Chinese districts governed by magistrates.{{sfnp|Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon|1997|p=27}} He signed an agreement with the Tibetan government setting the border between China and Tibet at [[Gyamda]].{{sfnp|McGranahan, From Simla to Rongbatsa|2003|p=43}} This paved the way for the formation of a Xikang province, proposed by Zhang's successor Fu Songmu.{{sfnp|Lawson, Xikang|2011|pp=2–3}}

Following the [[Wuchang Uprising]] in October 1911, which led to the downfall of the [[Qing dynasty]], the region subdued by Frontier Commissioners was established as the '''Chuanbian Special Administrative District''' ({{lang|zh|川邊特別行政區}}) by the newly founded Republic of China.

In June 1930, eastern Kham (later Xikang) was invaded by the [[Tibetan Army|army of Tibet]], precipitating the [[Sino-Tibetan War of 1930–1932|Sino-Tibetan War]]. With the district locked in internal struggles, no reinforcements were sent to support the [[Sichuan]]ese troops stationed here. As a result, the Tibetan army captured [[Garzê County|Garzê]] and [[Xinlong County|Xinlong Counties]] without encountering much resistance. When a negotiated ceasefire failed, Tibetan forces expanded the war, attempting to capture parts of southern [[Qinghai]] province. In March 1932, their force invaded Qinghai but was defeated by the local [[Hui people|Hui]] warlord [[Ma Bufang]] in July, who routed the Tibetan army and drove it back to this district.{{which|date=January 2024}}{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

The Hui army captured counties that had fallen into the hands of the Tibetan army since 1919. Their victories threatened the supply lines of the Tibetan forces in Garzê and Xinlong. As a result, part of the Tibetan army was forced to withdraw.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

In 1932 [[Liu Wenhui]] in cooperation with the Qinghai army, sent out a [[brigade]] to attack the Tibetan troops in Garzê and Xinlong, eventually occupying them, [[Dêgê County|Dêgê]] and other counties east of the Jinshajiang River. The [[1934 Khamba Rebellion]] led by the Pandatsang family broke out against the Tibetan government in Lhasa. The Khampa revolutionary leader [[Pandatsang Rapga]] was involved.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

In January 1939, the ''Chuanbian Special Administrative District'' officially became a province of the Republic, the '''Hsikang Province'''. Kesang Tsering was sent by the Chinese to Batang to take control of Xikang, where he formed a local government. He was sent there for the purpose of propagating the [[Three Principles of the People]] to the Khampa.<ref>{{cite book|access-date=2011-12-27|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rsLQdBUgyMUC&pg=PA95 |title=Modern China's ethnic frontiers: a journey to the west|author1-link=Lin Hsiao-ting|author=Hsiao-ting Lin|year=2010|publisher=Taylor & Francis|edition=illustrated|volume=67 of Routledge studies in the modern history of Asia|page=27|quote=area and spreading Sun Yat-sen's Three People's Principle among the Tibetan and Khampa minorities, Kesang Tsering set up a field headquarters in Batang (Pa'an). There he appointed his own Xikang provincial government staff and issued an|isbn=978-0-415-58264-3}}</ref>

In 1949, the [[People's Liberation Army]] took control of Xikang. In 1955, eastern Xikang was merged into [[Sichuan]], and western Xikang came under the administration of the Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region.<ref>{{Cite web |last=国家人文历史 |title=消失的西康省、平原省……新中国初期为何要撤销这八个省？ |url=https://www.gjrwls.com/geography/20210126/538781603917201408.html |access-date=2025-02-11 |website=www.gjrwls.com}}</ref>

==Administrative divisions==
===1939–1950===
{| class="wikitable"  style="font-size:90%;" align=center
! Name
! Administrative Seat
! Traditional Chinese
! Subdivisions
! Comments
|-
|First Administrative Circuit
|Kangding County
|<span style="font-size:125%;">第一行政督察區</span>
|4 counties, 1 bureau
|Later the Xikang Province Tibetan Autonomous Region
|-
|Second Administrative Circuit
|Yingjing County
|<span style="font-size:125%;">第二行政督察區</span>
|7 counties
|Later the Ya'an Division
|-
|Third  Administrative Circuit
|Xichang County
|<span style="font-size:125%;">第三行政督察區</span>
|9 counties, 3 bureaus
|Later the XIchang Division
|-
|Fourth Administrative Circuit
|Garzê County
|<span style="font-size:125%;">第四行政督察區</span>
|15 counties
|Later the Xikang Province Tibetan Autonomous Region
|-
|Fifth Administrative Circuit
| —
|<span style="font-size:125%;">第五行政督察區</span>
|13 counties
|Chamdo Region; ''de facto'' controlled by Tibet
|}

===1950–1955===
{| class="wikitable"  style="font-size:90%;" align=center
!Name
!Simplified Chinese
!Hanyu Pinyin
!Subdivisions
|-
|Ya'an (1951–1955)
|<span style="font-size:125%;">{{lang|zh-hans|雅安市}}</span>
|Yǎ'ān shì
|1 city<br>[[Yucheng District|'''Ya'an''']]
|-
|Ya'an Division
|<span style="font-size:125%;">{{lang|zh-hans|雅安专区}}</span>
|Yǎ'ān Zhuānqū
|8 counties<br>[[Yucheng District|'''Ya'an''']] (1950–1951), [[Baoxing County|Baoxing]], [[Lushan County, Sichuan|Lushan]], [[Tianquan County|Tianquan]], [[Yingjing County|Yingjing]], [[Hanyuan County|Hanyuan]], [[Mingshan District, Ya'an|Mingshan]] (1951–1955), [[Shimian County|Shimian]] (1951–1955)
|-
|Xichang Division
|<span style="font-size:125%;">{{lang|zh-hans|西昌专区}}</span>
|Xīchāng Zhuānqū
|13 counties<br>'''[[Xichang]]''', [[Yanyuan County|Yanyuan]], [[Yanbian County|Yanbian]], [[Huili County|Huili]], [[Ningnan County|Ningnan]], [[Dechang County|Dechang]], [[Zhaojue County|Zhaojue]] (1950–1952), [[Yuexi County, Sichuan|Yuexi]], [[Mianning County|Mianning]], [[Mianning County|Jinkang]] (1952–1955), [[Muli Tibetan Autonomous County|Muli]] (1952–1955), [[Miyi County|Miyi]] (1952–1955), [[Huidong County, Sichuan|Huidong]]<br>3 bureaus<br>[[Puge County|Puge]] (1950–1952), [[Xide County|Ningdong]] (1950–1952), Luoning (1950–1952)
|-
|Xikang Province Tibetan Autonomous Region
|<span style="font-size:125%;">{{lang|zh-hans|西康省藏族自治区}}</span>
|Xīkāng Shěng Zàngzú Zìzhìqū
|20 counties<br>''direct controlled''<br>'''[[Kangding]]''', [[Danba County|Danba]], [[Dawu County, Sichuan|Qianning]], [[Yajiang County|Yajiang]], [[Luding County|Luding]], [[Jiulong County|Jiulong]]<br>1 bureau<br>[[Kangding|Jintang]]
----
Ganzi Regional Office (1951–1955)<br>[[Garzê County|'''''Ganzi''''']], [[Sêrxü County|Shiqi]], [[Sêrxü County|Dengke]], [[Dêgê County|Dege]], [[Baiyü County|Baiyu]], [[Xinlong County|Zhanghua→Xinlong]], [[Luhuo County|Luhuo]], [[Dawu County, Sichuan|Daofu]]
----
Litang Regional Office (1951–1955)<br>[[Litang County|'''''Litang''''']], [[Batang County|Batang]], [[Dêrong County|Derong]], [[Xiangcheng County, Sichuan|Dingxiang→Xiangcheng]], [[Daocheng County|Daocheng]], [[Batang County|Yidun]]
|-
|Liangshan Yi Autonomous Region (1952–1955)
|<span style="font-size:125%;">{{lang|zh-hans|凉山彝族自治区}}</span>
|Liángshān Yízú Zìzhìqū
|8 counties<br>[[Zhaojue County|'''Zhaojue''']], [[Puge County|Puge]], [[Xide County|Ningdong]], [[Xide County|Xide]], [[Butuo County|Butuo]], [[Jinyang County|Jinyang]], [[Meigu County|Meigu]], [[Yuexi County, Sichuan|Puxiong]]
|}

==List of governors==
{{legend2|{{party color|Kuomintang}}|[[Kuomintang]] (Nationalist)|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
{{legend2|{{party color|Chinese Communist Party}}|[[Chinese Communist Party]]|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}

===Chairperson of the Provincial Government===
{| class="wikitable" 
|--
! No.
! Portrait
! width=150px|Name<br><small>(Birth–Death)</small>
! colspan=2 width=200px|Term of office
! width=100px|Political party
|--
|-- bgcolor=#EEEEEE
! style="background:{{party color|Kuomintang}}; color:white;" rowspan=2| 1
| rowspan=2 align=center|[[Image:Liu Wenhui.jpg|80px]]
| rowspan=2 align=center| '''[[Liu Wenhui]]'''<br><span style="font-size:125%;">劉文輝</span><br><small>''Liú Wénhuī''<br>(1895–1976)</small>
| 1 January 1939 || 9 December 1949
| [[Kuomintang]]
|-
| colspan=4|<small>Defected to the Communists.</small>
|--
|-- bgcolor=#EEEEEE
! style="background:{{party color|Kuomintang}}; color:white;" rowspan=2| 2
| rowspan=2 align=center|[[Image:He Guoguang (cropped).jpg|80px]]
| rowspan=2 align=center| '''Ho Kuo-kuang'''<br><span style="font-size:125%;">賀國光</span><br><small>''Hè Guóguāng''<br>(1885–1969)</small>
| 25 December 1949 || March 1950
| [[Kuomintang]]
|-
| colspan=4|<small>[[Republic of China retreat to Taiwan|Fled to Taiwan]] via [[Haikou]] after fall of Xichang.</small>
|--
|}

===Xikang CCP Committee Secretary===
{| class="wikitable" 
|--
! No.
! Portrait
! width=150px|Name<br><small>(Birth–Death)</small>
! colspan=2 width=200px|Term of office
! width=100px|Political party
|--
|-- bgcolor=#EEEEEE
! style="background:{{party color|Chinese Communist Party}}; color:white;" rowspan=2| 1
| rowspan=2 align=center|
| rowspan=2 align=center| '''[[Liao Zhigao]]'''<br><span style="font-size:125%;">廖志高</span><br><small>''Liào Zhìgāo''<br>(1913–2000)</small>
| 1950 || 1955
| [[Chinese Communist Party]]
|-
| colspan=4|<small>Province abolished.</small>
|-
|}

===People's Government Chairperson/Governor===
{| class="wikitable" 
|--
! No.
! Portrait
! width=150px|Name<br><small>(Birth–Death)</small>
! colspan=2 width=200px|Term of office
! width=100px|Political party
|--
|-- bgcolor=#EEEEEE
! style="background:{{party color|Chinese Communist Party}}; color:white;" rowspan=2| 1
| rowspan=2 align=center|
| rowspan=2 align=center| '''[[Liao Zhigao]]'''<br><span style="font-size:125%;">廖志高</span><br><small>''Liào Zhìgāo''<br>(1913–2000)</small>
| 26 April 1950 || September 1955
| [[Chinese Communist Party]]
|-
| colspan=4|<small>Province abolished.</small>
|-
|}

==See also==
* {{section link|Chinese irredentism#Taiwan}}
*[[Kham]]

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{citation |last=Goldstein |first=Melvyn C. |title=The Snow Lion and the Dragon: China, Tibet, and the Dalai Lama |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LI-tIwxk4RAC |year=1997 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-21951-9 |ref={{sfnref|Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon|1997}}}}
* {{citation |first=Joe |last=Lawson |title=Xikang: Han Chinese in Sichuan's Western Frontier, 1905-1949 |publisher=Victoria University of Wellington |year=2011 |url=https://researcharchive.vuw.ac.nz/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10063/4449/thesis.pdf?sequence=1 |ref={{sfnref|Lawson, Xikang|2011}}}}
* {{citation|author1-link=Lin Hsiao-ting |last=Lin |first=Hsiao-ting |title=Boundary, sovereignty, and imagination: Reconsidering the frontier disputes between British India and Republican China, 1914–47 |journal=The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History |volume=32 |issue=3 |year=2004 |pages=25–47 |doi=10.1080/0308653042000279650 |s2cid=159560382 |ref={{sfnref|Lin, Boundary, sovereignty and imagination|2004}}}}
* {{cite book |first=Hsiao-ting |last=Lin |title=Modern China's Ethnic Frontiers: A journey to the west |year=2010 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-58264-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rsLQdBUgyMUC&pg=PA95 |ref={{sfnref|Lin, Modern China's Ethnic Frontiers|2010}}}}
* {{citation |last=McGranahan |first=Carole |title=From Simla to Rongbatsa: The British and the "Modern" Boundaries of Tibet |journal=The Tibet Journal  |volume=28 |number=4 |date=Winter 2003 |pages=39–60 |jstor=43302541 |ref={{sfnref|McGranahan, From Simla to Rongbatsa|2003}}}}
* {{citation |last=Wang |first=Xiuyu |title=China's Last Imperial Frontier: Late Qing Expansion in Sichuan's Tibetan Borderlands |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XHOt--rbgJoC |year=2011 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-0-7391-6809-7 |ref={{sfnref|Wang, China's Last Imperial Frontier|2011}}}}

{{Defunct Chinese provinces}}
{{Defunct PRC provinces}}
{{Suspended ROC provinces}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1930s in Tibet]]
[[Category:1939 establishments in Asia]]
[[Category:20th-century establishments in Tibet]]
[[Category:Provinces of the Republic of China (1912–1949)]]
[[Category:Former provinces of China]]
[[Category:Tibet]]
[[Category:1950 disestablishments in China]]