In the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

between 1912 and 1949, a Mobile Barracks of High Command () was a government regional special office opened on behalf of the military supreme commander in a particular region, where there was a high-ranking government or military official as the regional representative of the supreme commander in chief. The term was in use since the time of

ancient China The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...

. Generally speaking, a Mobile Barracks of High Command would have the operational authority over the affairs of military, civilians, and Nationalist Party within its area of responsibility, if it was military-related. For example, He Yingqin, a four-star army general of ROC, was once the director of Mobile Barracks of High Command at

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

. His official title was, in fact, "Director of Mobile Barracks of the Chairman of the National Government Office at Chongqing." Simply put: He spoke for the Chairman of the National Government of Republic of China in the great area of Chongqing. He was, de facto and de juro, the military governor over several provinces west of

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

(included). Hence, the director of Mobile Barracks of High Command functioned as a provincial governor in the Qing Dynasty. In wartime, due to military considerations, the Director of Mobile Barracks would take over the administrative power of civil affairs and therefore also known as military general governor. Similarly, there were other Mobile Barracks of High Command at

northeast China Northeast China or Northeastern China () is a geographical region of China, which is often referred to as "Manchuria" or "Inner Manchuria" by surrounding countries and the West. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of t ...

, Xifeng,

Xichang Xichang, formerly known as Jiandu, Jianchang and Ningyuan(fu), is a city in and the seat of the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, in the south of Sichuan, China. In 2012 it had a population of 481,796. History The Qiongdu were the local peop ...

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

, and so on. Equivalently, another kind of regional special office, "Forward Command Camp of the Chief of the

National Military Council The Military Affairs Commission (MAC) of the National Government, chaired by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II, directed the command of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China. ...

" would be in charge of the operational planning and command functions in its administrative district.

References

{{reflist Government of the Republic of China