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Abstract In sync with the delimitation of Western European countries in the 17th century， the Qing Dynasty successively delineated boundary between Monan and Mobei starting from the fifth year of Shunzhi， so that the inner and outer Mongolia were separated by the Hanhai Gobi. However， this was still the traditional “boundary” of the dynasty， not the modern product of “border”. Corresponding to the maps of Kangxi， Qianlong， and Yongzheng with no national borders to other countries nor boundaries between Inner and Outer Mongolia within the dynasty， it does not transcend the framework of ambiguous territorial sovereignty. In the middle and late Qing Dynasty， as the government divided Mongolia into inner and outer Mongolia， the maps drawn by scholars showed the national border and the boundary between Inner and Outer Mongolia. Then， in the first year of Xuantong， the metaphor of “Begonia leaf” appeared for the first time， prompting the court to pay attention to the sovereignty boundary represented by the map. However， due to the cultural deviation of Mongolian orientation and the fact that the boundary between Inner and Outer Mongolia had not been surveyed， the maps in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China all misplaced this boundary， and thus could not accurately represent the scope of Inner and Outer Mongolia. The unclear boundary also forced the court in the late Qing Dynasty to divide the boundaries of the vassal states according to the traditional world model. The lack of direct control over the border became the internal cause of Russia’s infiltration into Outer Mongolia. In this sense， the transition in the Qing Dynasty from the traditional world order to the modern concept of sovereignty did not begin with the Treaty of Nerchinsk， but began in the late Qing Dynasty and was not completed until the end of the Qing Dynasty， reflecting the duality of the Qing Dynasty’s territorial model.
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Received: 04 December 2024
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2024, Vol. 63 
