清末，趙爾豐因巴塘變亂，奉命進剿，並由此在川邊地區展開為期七年的興革經營，奠立了後來西康建省的基礎。故「巴塘事件」雖僅為邊陲一隅所發生的變故，卻竟成為中國近代史上深具意義的歷史事件，受到當時朝野與往後專家學者一致的重視。 但巴塘亂平之後，欲籌長治久安，並非一蹴可幾，就是在軍事方面，也尚有持續的努力。較小規模的戰鬥，可不必縷述，其中，鄉城之征戰堪可認為是日後所以能夠順利開展的關鍵性一役。就歷史演進的脈絡來看，趙爾豐此役的勝利，其建樹似並不下於平定巴塘。只不過因鄉城地位更為偏僻，又非軍政屯紮之要地，遂為人所忽略。為此，本人不揣譾陋，擬就此役的經過加以建構，雖以史料有限，無能涵蓋完整，仍期重現其輪廓，以免其或被湮沒，並裨益省察啟發。疏誤之處，勢所難免，敬祈方家同道補正。

　　　　　As soon as Chao Erfung received the order to put down the rebellion of Patang（巴塘）, he set off to construct this frontier region of Suchuan which lasted for seven years, and laid the foundation of the establishment of the Shikang Province. Because of this, though the Patang Affair was not a tremendous in the frontier, was nevertheless regarded as a significant event in modern Chinese history by the government and scholars. After the Patang Affair, the government made great military efforts. We may ignore those small scale combats, but we must pay more attention to the decisive warfare at Hsiangcheng（鄉城）. This paper argues that the significance of Chao's victory at Hsiangcheng should be as important as that at Patang. However, since the location of Hsiangcheng in the region is far remote than that of Patang, besides being neither a strategic point nor an administrative center, its role has usually been ignored. This paper intends to point out and reconstruct the process of the Hsiangcheng Battle by using available materials with a view to providing a new perspective.