| Tusi | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Chiefdom of Lijiang's Palace Chamber | |||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Chinese | 土司 | ||||||||
| Hanyu Pinyin | Tǔsī | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Tibetan name | |||||||||
| Tibetan | ཐོའུ་སི | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Vietnamese name | |||||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | Thổ ty | ||||||||
| Chữ Hán | 土司 | ||||||||
| Manchu name | |||||||||
| Manchu script | ᠠᡳᠮᠠᠨ ᡳ ᡥᠠᡶᠠᠨ | ||||||||
| Möllendorff | aiman i hafan | ||||||||
Tusi, often translated as "headmen" or "chieftains", were hereditary tribal leaders recognized as imperial officials by theYuan,Ming, andQing dynasties of China, and theLater Lê andNguyễn dynasties of Vietnam. They ruled certain ethnic minorities in central China, western China, southwestern China, and theIndochinese peninsula nominally on behalf of the central government. As succession to theTusi position was hereditary, these regimes effectively formed numerous autonomous petty dynasties under the suzerainty of the central court. This arrangement is known as theTusi System or theNative Chieftain System (Chinese:土司制度;pinyin:Tǔsī Zhìdù). It should not be confused with theChinese tributary system or theJimi system.
Tusi regimes were located primarily inYunnan,Guizhou,Tibet,Sichuan,Chongqing, theXiangxi Prefecture ofHunan, and theEnshi Prefecture ofHubei.Tusi entities were also established in the historical dependencies and frontier regions of China in what is today northernMyanmar,[1]Laos,[2] and northernThailand.[3] The Vietnamese Later Lê and Nguyễn dynasties also implemented theTusi system.[4]
In 2015,UNESCO designated threeTusi castles (Laosicheng,Tangya, andHailongtun) as part of the "Tusi Sites" World Heritage Site in China, owing to the unique system of governance.[5] It has been described on at least one occasion as sharing similarities with the "U.S. federal government's recognition of someNative American tribes as in some ways sovereign entities."[6]
Thetusi system was inspired by theJimi system (Chinese:羈縻制度) implemented in regions ofethnic minorities groups during theTang dynasty.[7] It was established as a specific political term during theYuan dynasty[8] and was used as a political institution to administer newly acquired territories following their conquest of theDali Kingdom in 1253.[9]
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" (Chinese:大理總管,pDàlǐ Zǒngguǎn), and local leaders were co-opted under a variety of titles as administrators of the region.[10] Some credit theTurkoman governorSayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar with introducing the system into China.[10] Duan Xingzhi, the last emperor of Dali, was appointed as the first local ruler, and he accepted the stationing of a pacification commissioner there.[11] 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, ortusi, 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.[12]
Thetusi chieftains and local tribe leaders and kingdoms in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan submitted to Yuan rule and were allowed to keep their titles. TheHan Chinese Yang family ruling theChiefdom of Bozhou which was recognized by theSong andTang dynasties also received recognition by the subsequent Yuan and Ming dynasties. The Luo clan inShuixi 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 theShu Han era king Huoji who helpedZhuge Liang againstMeng Huo. They were also recognized by the Ming dynasty.[13][14]
In 1364,Zhu Yuanzhang conqueredHuguang. 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 manytusi 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.[15]
In 1381, Hongwu sent a force against the last remnant of the forces of the Yuan dynasty, led by thePrince of LiangBasalawarmi, 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.[16]
Local leaders were obliged to provide troops, suppress local rebellions, and pay tribute toBeijing annually, biennially, or triennially according to their distance. The post was hereditary as opposed to theexamination system inChina proper, but succession, promotion, and demotion were all controlled by the Ming administration which required eachtusi to use a seal and an official charter.[17] 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.[10]
Tusi chiefs could sometimes be female according to local customs and had full authority over their own tribesmen, but were kept under supervision by the MingMinistry of Personnel or theMinistry of War. Areas oftusi administration tended to explode into violence or turmoil intermittently and would invariably provoke Ming military intervention. However, these incidents are generally attributed to provocations by Chinese settlers or corrupt officials and not the fault of the tribes themselves.[9]
The native chieftain system was a mutual-beneficial cooperation between the central government and native chieftains. For a quite long time after the foundation of Ming, the rulers knew that the central government could only use limited amount of resources. Having a large number of armies stationed in southern borderland, an area with harsh natural environment and large number of Non-Han people, was too costly for Ming rulers. Thus, they decided to transfer part of ruling power to those local political rulers in exchange for their defense of the border zone.[18]
The Mingtusi were categorized into civil and military ranks.[19] The civilian tusi were given the titles ofTu Zhifu ("native prefecture"),Tu Zhizhou ("native department") andTu 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.[19] The central government gave more autonomy to those military tusi who controlled areas with fewer Han Chinese people and had underdeveloped infrastructure. They pledged loyalty to the Ming emperor but had almost unfettered power within their domains.
All the native chieftains were nominally subordinate to Pacification Commissioners (Xuanfushi,Xuanweishi,Anfushi). The Pacification Commissioners were also native chieftains who received their title from the Ming court. As a way of checking their power, Pacification Commissioners were put under the supervision of the Ministry of War.[20]
Throughout its 276-year history, the Ming dynasty bestowed a total of 1608tusi titles, 960 of which were military-rank and 648 were civilian-rank,[21] the majority of which were in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan. In Tibet, Qinghai and Sichuan, the Ming court sometimes gave bothtusi titles and religious titles to leaders. As a result, thosetusi had double identities. They played both the role of political leaders and religious leaders within their domains. For example, during the reign of theYongle Emperor, the leader of the Jinchuan monastery assisted the Ming army in a battle against the Mongols. The leader was later given the titleYanhua Chanshi (演化禅师), or "Evolved Chan Master", and the power to rule 15 villages as his domain as a reward.[22]
After a chieftain was recognized by the central government as atusi, he would receive a patent of appointment, a bronze official seal, a belt decorated with gold, and a formal attire as uniform.[23] The title oftusi was hereditary and passed down to an heir.
The entire clan of atusi enjoyed privileges within the domain. In Ming China, the clan of atusi was calledGuanzu ("official clan").[24] 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.[25]
Eachtusi could build and live in ayamen. Ayamen 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.[26]
The structure of government and way of adjudication varied in each domain because of the diversity oftusi's cultural backgrounds. Normally, there were no statute law in the domain. The will of the tusi was the law.[27] Atusi had court and jail in hisyamen 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.[28] Commoners ruled by tusi often called themTu Huangdi ("local emperor").[29] This analogy betweentusi and emperors in some way reflected the almost unfettered judicial power of atusi 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, eachtusi had right to disposal the property of his clan.[30]
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.
Thetusi 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 bytusi were calledTu Bing ("native soldier"). In the campaign against Annam, the Ming court recruited a large number of native soldiers from the southern provinces.[31]
Also,tusi were required to pay tributes to the Ming court. The periodic tribute goods sent by native chieftains contained various goods:
Tusi received no regular salary or stipend from the government but they were allowed to collect tax from their subjects. These taxes could be paid with crops, textiles and money. Sometusi required their subjects to pay them copper coin and chickens as gifts at some specific events of their clan. For example, in Anping of Guangxi, each household was required to donate 400 copper coins during weddings and funerals of members of thetusi's family.[32]
Tusi could get paid by the government for their assistance in the battles, but this did not happen regularly.[23]
In 1388 theMing–Mong Mao War was fought between the generalMu Ying and the semi-independenttusi ofMong Mao, Si Lunfa, located in what is nowTengchong in southwestern Yunnan.[33]
In 1397 the Ming intervened in a Mong Mao succession dispute, known as theMing–Mong Mao Intervention.
In the late 1300s,Đại Việt attacked the tusis on theGuangxi border. This in conjunction with the overthrow of theTrần dynasty by theHồ dynasty led to theFourth Chinese domination of Vietnam.[34]
In 1438 theMong Mao rebelled again and their leaderSi Renfa attacked local tusi along the Yunnan border. Si Renfa was defeated in 1442 and captured by theAva king, who turned him over to Ming custody, where he died in 1446.[35]
In 1621 theYi people instigated theShe-An Rebellion in Sichuan and Guizhou, which lasted until 1629 and took an astronomical toll on Ming resources before it was quelled.
Gaitu guiliu (改土歸流) was a policy of abolishing the rule of localtusi (土司) and replace (gai 改) them by a "mainstream" (liu 流) direct administration.Gaitu guiliu was heavily enforced during the Ming and Qing periods.
During the Ming dynasty, there were 179tusi and 255tuguan (Chinese:土官, "native civilian commanders") in Yunnan and titles were generally retained with the exception of punishment for severe crimes.[10] Thetusi were greatly reduced during the Ming-Qing era. By the time of theYongzheng Emperor, there were only around 41 left in Yunnan, includingCheli,Gengma,Longchuan, Ganya (modernYingjiang),Nandian,Menglian,Zhefang,Zhanda,Lujiang,Mangshi, Mengmao (Ruili), Nalou,Kuirong,Shierguan,Menghua,Jingdong,Mengding,Yongning,Fuzhou,Wandian,Zhenkang, andBeishengzhou.[10]
Under Ming administration, the jurisdictional authority of tusi began to be replaced with state territorial authority. Thetusi acted as stop gaps until enough Chinese settlers arrived for a "tipping point" to be reached, and they were then converted into official prefectures and counties to be fully annexed into the central bureaucratic system of the Ming dynasty. This process was known asgaitu guiliu (simplified Chinese:改土归流;traditional Chinese:改土歸流), or "turning native rule into regular administration".[9] The most notable example of this was the consolidation of southwesterntusi chiefdoms into the province ofGuizhou in 1413.[9]
Building upon the Yuan precedent, the Ming began its colonization of the southwest in the 1370s, and though its military strength waxed and waned, it was able to eliminate the largest autonomous kingdoms in the southwest by the early decades of the seventeenth century. By the time of theMing-Qing transition, what remained in the southwest were only a few small autonomous polities, and theRebellion of the Three Feudatories (sanfan zhi luan; 1673-81) did much to erase these from the landscape. In short, the Yongzheng Emperor's appointment of his trusted Manchu officialOrtai (1680-1745) and the aggressive campaign against tusi offices they initiated in the 1720s in the southwest should be seen as the end point, not the beginning, of China's colonization of the southwest.[36]
— John E. Herman
In sum,gaitu guiliu was the process of replacingtusi with state-appointed officials, the transition from jurisdictional sovereignty to territorial sovereignty, and the start of formal empire rather than informal.[37]
In Guangxi, theQingYongzheng Emperor took on a campaign to reform nativeZhuang following which 87 out of 128tusis were replaced by officials.[38] At the start of the 20th century, there were eighttusis remaining, all within present-dayDaxin County. In 1928,Xincheng, the last tusi in Guangxi was converted to a county, ending thegaitu guiliu reforms.[38]
On 23 January 1953, theP.R. China (PRC) established theXishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Region and ended the last Tusi system inSipsongpanna.
The native chieftain system also fit in the Nine Ranks system (Jiu Pin; "九品"). The Nine Ranks system is a system of gradations used by regimes from post-Han to Qing.[39] Under this system, all the officials in the bureaucracy were put into nine major categories: upper-upper, upper-middle, upper-lower, middle-upper, middle-middle, middle-lower, lower-upper, lower-middle, and lower-lower.[39] Each category was given a rank numbered from 1 to 9. The rank 1 is the highest rank and the rank 9 is the lowest. Each rank was divided into two grades: upper (正) and lower (從).[39]
The central government gave different titles to native chieftains and these titles had different ranks in the Nine Ranks system:
| Official name | Rank | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Junmin Xuanweishi(軍民宣慰使) | |
| 2 | Xuanweishi (宣慰使) | 3b[40] |
| 3 | Xuanfushi (宣撫使) | 4b[40] |
| 4 | Anfushi (安撫使) | 5b[41] |
| 5 | Zhaotaoshi (招討使) | 5b[42] |
| 6 | Xunjianshi (巡檢使) | 9b[43] |
| 7 | Tu Zhifu (土知府) | 4a[44] |
| 8 | Tu Zhizhou (土知州) | 5b[45] |
| 9 | Tu Zhixian (土知縣) | 6b or 7b[44] |
| 10 | Zhangguan(長官) | 6a[46] |
| 11 | Manyi Zhangguan(蠻夷長官) |
