Yuan dynasty The
tusi system was inspired by the
Jimi system () implemented in regions of
ethnic minorities groups during the
Tang dynasty. It was established as a specific political term during the
Yuan dynasty and was used as a political institution to administer newly acquired territories following their conquest of the
Dali Kingdom in 1253. Members of the former Duan imperial clan of the Dali Kingdom were appointed as governors-general with nominal authority using the title "Dali chief steward" (,
p Dàlǐ Zǒngguǎn), and local leaders were co-opted under a variety of titles as administrators of the region. Some credit the
Turkoman governor
Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar with introducing the system into China. Duan Xingzhi offered the Yuan maps of Yunnan and led a considerable army to serve as guides for the Yuan army. By the end of 1256,
Yunnan was considered to have been pacified. Under the Yuan dynasty, the native officials, or
tusi, were the clients of a patron-client relationship. The patron, the Yuan emperors, exercised jurisdictional control over the client, but not his/her territory itself. The
tusi chieftains and local tribe leaders and kingdoms in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan submitted to Yuan rule and were allowed to keep their titles. The
Han Chinese Yang family ruling the
Chiefdom of Bozhou which was recognized by the
Song and
Tang dynasties also received recognition by the subsequent Yuan and Ming dynasties. The Luo clan in
Shuixi led by Ahua were recognized by the Yuan emperors, as they were by the Song emperors when led by Pugui and Tang emperors when led by Apei. They descended from the
Shu Han era king Huoji who helped
Zhuge Liang against
Meng Huo. They were also recognized by the Ming dynasty.
Ming dynasty In 1364,
Zhu Yuanzhang conquered
Huguang. Rather than building a bureaucratic system of his own in Huguang, Zhu chose to keep the native chieftaincy system implemented by the Yuan dynasty. He reappointed many
tusi to the same posts as they had during the Yuan dynasty. After reunifying China under the Ming dynasty and becoming the Hongwu Emperor, he brought this practice to the entire southern border zone of the empire. In 1381, Hongwu sent a force against the last remnant of the forces of the Yuan dynasty, led by the
Prince of Liang Basalawarmi, who committed suicide. This left Duan Gong, a successor of Duan Xingzhi, as the last representative of the remaining Yuan forces. He refused to surrender and attempted to have the former realm of the Dali Kingdom recognized as a tributary state. When he was defeated in battle, the surviving Duan brothers were taken captive and escorted to the capital. There they were given an insignificant office in the interior. From then on, "permanent chieftains were replaced by transferable officials," formally appointed by the Ming court. Local leaders were obliged to provide troops, suppress local rebellions, and pay tribute to
Beijing annually, biennially, or triennially according to their distance. The post was hereditary as opposed to the
examination system in
China proper, but succession, promotion, and demotion were all controlled by the Ming administration which required each
tusi to use a seal and an official charter. To establish legitimate successions,
tusi were ordered to list their sons and nephews in AD 1436, to redo the list in quadruplicate in 1441, and to renew the list triennially in 1441 and again in 1485. The Ming dynasty also took over regencies of children younger than 15 in 1489.
Civil and military tusis The Ming
tusi were categorized into civil and military ranks. The civilian tusi were given the titles of
Tu Zhifu ("native prefecture"),
Tu Zhizhou ("native department") and
Tu Zhixian ("native county") according to the size and population of their domains. Nominally, they had the same rank as their counterparts in the regular administration system. Throughout its 276-year history, the Ming dynasty bestowed a total of 1608
tusi titles, 960 of which were military-rank and 648 were civilian-rank, the majority of which were in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan. In Tibet, Qinghai and Sichuan, the Ming court sometimes gave both
tusi titles and religious titles to leaders. As a result, those
tusi had double identities. They played both the role of political leaders and religious leaders within their domains. For example, during the reign of the
Yongle Emperor, the leader of the Jinchuan monastery assisted the Ming army in a battle against the Mongols. The leader was later given the title
Yanhua Chanshi (), or "Evolved Chan Master", and the power to rule 15 villages as his domain as a reward.
Power and privileges of Tusi After a chieftain was recognized by the central government as a
tusi, he would receive a patent of appointment, a bronze official seal, a belt decorated with gold, and a formal attire as uniform. The title of
tusi was hereditary and passed down to an heir. The entire clan of a
tusi enjoyed privileges within the domain. In Ming China, the clan of a
tusi was called
Guanzu ("official clan"). Members of the official clan had higher social ranks than commoners and slaves. Only members of official clan, Han Chinese, and descendants of former officials were allowed to receive education and take examinations. Each
tusi could build and live in a
yamen. A
yamen was the headquarter of local officials that contained infrastructures, such as the courtroom, sacrificial altar, ancestral hall, granary, offices, and the living quarters of official's family. The structure of government and way of adjudication varied in each domain because of the diversity of
tusi's cultural backgrounds. Normally, there were no statute law in the domain. The will of the tusi was the law. A
tusi had court and jail in his
yamen and could imprison or punish his subjects as long as he thought it was necessary. For instance, Li Depu, the native official of Anping subprefecture in Guangxi province, brutally punished a serf for wearing white stockings because according to his dress rule only official clans were allowed to do so. Commoners ruled by tusi often called them
Tu Huangdi ("local emperor"). This analogy between
tusi and emperors in some way reflected the almost unfettered judicial power of a
tusi in his domain.
Tusi were given the power of collecting tax in their domain. For seasonal religious rituals or sacrifices,
tusi had rights to collect rice and copper coins from each local household. As the head of clan, each
tusi had right to disposal the property of his clan. Apart from bodyguards,
tusi were allowed to maintain a private military, the size of which depended on their domain's resources, to better defend the borderland and suppress rebellion.
Responsibilities of native chieftains during the Ming Dynasty The
tusi were considered vassals of the Ming emperor. They enjoyed autonomy or semi-autonomy in their domains, but were expected to maintain order and defend the border zones for the Ming dynasty. When the Ming court wanted to start any campaign near their domains, the chieftains were required to lead their private armies and assist the Ming army in the battle. Those soldiers supplied by
tusi were called
Tu Bing ("native soldier"). In the campaign against Annam, the Ming court recruited a large number of native soldiers from the southern provinces. Also,
tusi were required to pay tributes to the Ming court. The periodic tribute goods sent by native chieftains contained various goods: • animals, such as horses and elephants • products made from rare wild animals, such as elephant tusks and rhinoceros’ horns • medicinal herbs • incense • silver utensils • minerals, such as tin
Tusi could get paid by the government for their assistance in the battles, but this did not happen regularly. At the start of the 20th century, there were eight
tusis remaining, all within present-day
Daxin County. In 1928,
Xincheng, the last tusi in Guangxi was converted to a county, ending the
gaitu guiliu reforms. On 23 January 1953, the
P.R. China (PRC) established the
Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Region and ended the last Tusi system in
Sipsongpanna. ==Native Chieftain titles==