Study of Institutional Culture in Ancient Tujia Society—Political System Culture (II)
Section 2: The Chieftain System. Based on summarizing past dynasties' governance policies toward southern ethnic minority areas—especially the pros and cons of the Jimi prefecture system since Tang-Song—the Yuan dynasty established and implemented a new ethnic governance policy: the chieftain system. In Tujia areas, it began in the Yuan, flourished in the Ming, and was abolished in...
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Section Two The Tusi System
On the basis of summarizing the experience of successive feudal dynasties in governing the minority areas of the south, and especially on the basis of summarizing the advantages and disadvantages of the Jimi prefecture and county system implemented since the Tang and Song dynasties, the Yuan Dynasty established and implemented a new ethnic governance policy—the tusi system. The tusi system in the Tujia region began in the Yuan Dynasty, flourished in the Ming Dynasty, and was abolished in the Qing Dynasty. Its main contents included two aspects: on the one hand, the central dynasty exercised indirect rule over ethnic areas through indigenous minority leaders; on the other hand, the leaders of various ethnic groups assumed certain political, economic, military, and other obligations toward the central dynasty.
I. The Historical Evolution of Tusi Establishments
The tusi system entered Tujia society beginning with the Yuan dynasty's rule over the western Hunan-Hubei region. According to the "Yuanshi: Shizu Benji" and the "Yuanshi: Ali Haiya Zhuan," in the fourth month of the twelfth year of the Zhiyuan era (1275), Ali Haiya led Yuan troops into the Lianghu region, breached Shashi, entered Jiangling, and then "dispatched envoys by separate routes to summon the unsubmitted prefectures and commanderies to surrender," issuing proclamations to Ying, Gui, Xia, Changde, Li, Sui, Chen, Yuan, Jing, Fu, Jun, Fang, Shi, Jingmen, and the various caves, "none of which failed to submit." Among them, "Zhao Zhen, the prefect of Xia Prefecture; Zhao Zai, the prefect of Gui Prefecture; Mao Jun, the provisional pacification commissioner of Li Prefecture; Lu Xiwen, the commander of the new city of Changde Prefecture; and Zhou Gongming, the provisional prefect of the old city, all surrendered their cities." At this point, the indigenous chieftains long settled in the Tujia regions of western Hunan and Hubei successively submitted to the Yuan dynasty. The Yuan court appointed a large number of native chieftains as officials, and "the native officials of the Yuan dynasty comprised seven ranks: zongguan, xuanfu si, anfu si, zhangguan si, tufu, tuzhou, and tuxian." This indicates that the establishment of native officials and tusi in the Tujia region during the Yuan dynasty had become "an institution of the age.
The Ming Dynasty was a period of strength in the development of the tusi system among the Tujia. The tusi at all levels who received investiture were all hereditary: "The xuanwei, zhizhou, and zhangguan that were established, regardless of worthiness or foolishness, were all hereditary posts." In the early Qing, because the national situation was unstable, the Qing court still adopted a policy of "using barbarians to rule barbarians" toward the Tujia tusi and retained all tusi in their original posts. But after vigorous management through the reigns of Shunzhi, Kangxi, and Yongzheng, the Qing court's national strength increased daily, and so it abolished all tusi in the Tujia region and replaced hereditary native officials with circulating officials, and the tusi system in the Tujia region came to an end.
During the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, the tusi in the Tujia region can be divided by regional distribution into four major natural areas, namely western Hunan, western Hubei, eastern Sichuan, and northeastern Guizhou. "According to statistics, in the Tujia region there were altogether eight xuanwei commissions, four xuanfu commissions, twelve pacification commissions, and forty-three zhangguan commissions."
(1) The Period of the Rise of the Tusi
The Yuan Dynasty was the period of the establishment and development of the tusi system in the Tujia region. In western Hubei, in the seventh month of the seventeenth year of Zhiyuan (1280), Yuan Shizu "bestowed clothing and satin on the officials of the Zhaoshou Sanmao and other caves," and the Sanmao native chief submitted to the Yuan Dynasty. Thereafter, the native chiefs of the various caves of western Hubei one by one attached themselves to the Yuan Dynasty. According to the History of Yuan: Annals of Shizu, in the sixth month of the twentieth year of Zhiyuan (1283), Xiang Shixiong and others were made grand pacification commissioners and pacification commissioners of the Youba Cave, which was the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty's conferral of tusi titles in western Hubei. The History of Yuan: Annals of Shizu also records, "In the fourth month of the thirtieth year of Zhiyuan (1293), Gou Dashiwang and others of the Shibi and Sanmao caves were each appointed as barbarian officials and granted sealed letters." The History of Yuan: Annals of Shizu XIII records that in the seventh month of the twenty-eighth year of Zhiyuan (1291), "seals were bestowed on the Shibi Cave Pacification Commission, the Shibi Zhenfu Office, and the Shiluo Thousand-Household Office." This was another pacification commission established by Yuan rulers in the Sanmao area. In the fourth month of the thirty-first year of Zhiyuan (1294), "Qin Shun and others of the Sanmao Cave in Sichuan came to present local products, and their cave was elevated to a prefecture." The Yuan Dynasty established a prefecture-level grand tusi in the Sanmao Cave area and appointed its chief Qin Shun as native prefect. This was the highest-ranking tusi office established by the Yuan Dynasty in western Hubei. The establishment of the Youba and Shibi pacification commissions and the Sanmao native prefecture played a certain regulatory role in stabilizing social order in the western part of western Hubei. In the eastern part of western Hubei, the various "barbarian" caves headed by the Rongmei Cave were the most influential. The frequent activities of the Rongmei Cave led the court to send troops to suppress them many times. In the second year of Dade (1309), the Yuan Dynasty established Huaide Prefecture in the Qingjiang area of western Hubei to pacify Rongmei and many other "barbarian" caves. Huaide Prefecture governed four departments, namely Ningzhou, Rouyuanzhou, Youyangzhou, and Fuzhou. The History of Yuan: Geography III also records this: Huaide Prefecture "governed four departments, missing. Lainingzhou, Rouyuanzhou, Youyangzhou, and Fuzhou, all missing."
In western Hunan, the earliest to submit to the Yuan Dynasty was the Peng clan of Yongshun. In the early Yuan, the chief Peng Wanqian made himself pacification commissioner, and the Yuan Dynasty recognized him. In the third year of Dade (1310), the Yongshun and Other Places Military and Civilian Pacification Commission was established, and in the eleventh year of Zhizheng (1351) it was changed to a xuanfu commission under Sichuan province. According to the Peng Clan Genealogy of Yongshun, "In the eleventh year of Zhizheng, Peng Wanqian changed Baojing Prefecture into the Baojing Pacification Commission, subordinate to the Yongshun Commission, with the former prefect Peng Shixiong as Baojing Pacification Commissioner." The History of Ming: Biographies of Huguang Tusi records, "When Ming Taizu first rose, Pacification Commissioner Peng Shixiong led his subordinates to submit, and was ordered to remain Baojing Pacification Commissioner." This shows that what the Peng Clan Genealogy records is true. In the early Yuan, the Yuan central dynasty also established the two native departments of Anding and Shixi in western Hunan, both conferring the post of xuanfu commissioner. From the above historical records it can be seen that the first establishment of these tusi was precisely the sign that the various "barbarian" cave forces of the Tujia were formally recognized by the central dynasty, and it preliminarily established the basic pattern of tusi establishments among the Tujia of western Hunan and western Hubei during the Ming and Qing periods, taking the first step in the initial rise of the Tujia tusi in the Yuan Dynasty.
In eastern Sichuan, "the Yuan established Youyang Prefecture under Huaide Prefecture; in the first year of Yanyou of Renzong (1314), it was changed to the Youyang Xuanwei Commission; when Ming Yuzhen occupied Shu, it was changed to the Youyang Frontier Caves Military and Civilian Xuanwei Commission." In what is now Xiushan County, Sichuan, south of the You tusi, in the early Yuan the central government separately established the Yimei Cave Tusi, Pingcha Cave Tusi, and Shiye Cave Tusi. In the northern part of southeastern Sichuan, in the early Yuan, the Shizhu Tusi was established to guard it. According to the History of Ming: Biographies of Sichuan Tusi, the Shizhu Commission was first a military and civilian prefecture, and Ming Yuzhen changed it to a pacification commission.
In northeastern Guizhou, in the Yuan Dynasty, in the fourteenth year of Zhiyuan (1277), the chief Tian Jingxian of Sizhou submitted, and the Yuan established a military and civilian pacification commission; in the eighteenth year of Zhiyuan (1281) it was elevated to a xuanwei commission, and later reduced again to a pacification commission. During the Zhizheng period, Tian Mao'an, prefect of Zhenyuan Prefecture under the Sizhou Pacification Commission, attached himself to Ming Yuzhen and separately established the Sinan Circuit Chief Military Command, and the Sizhou Tusi was therefore divided into two: the Sizhou Tusi governed Qingjiang, and the Sinan Tusi governed Anhua.
(2) The Period of Full Prosperity of the Tusi
In the first year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty (1403), the central dynasty adopted a series of policies and measures that clarified the position of the tusi (native chieftain) system within the state power structure. An edict declared that the heads of all pacification offices were to be designated as limu (clerks). The Ming Ministry of Personnel stated: "Within their functions, all pacification offices rank at cong wupin (the fifth rank, secondary grade), and each is to have one chief official, a zhishi (administrative secretary). During the Hongwu period, some had established limu; a memorial was submitted requesting fixed regulations, hence this order." From then on, regulations concerning tusi ranks, the official titles of each tusi, tusi subordination, joint administration by regular officials and native officials, tusi promotion, and tusi tribute and taxes were fixed in the form of state institutions, known in history as the "Yongle Regulations." The Yongle Regulations brought the development of the tusi system into its heyday. With the arrival of the heyday of the tusi system, the Tujia tusi also entered the golden age of their development. Therefore, some scholars hold that "the Tujia tusi, in the mid-Ming period when the tusi system was highly complete, and in the normal operation of the tusi system, became an important component of the bureaucratic apparatus of the feudal dynasty, began to possess a fairly stable political status, and their relationship with the central dynasty was at its closest and most active period, while their internal society, politics, and economy also reached the best stage in their history."
In the western Hubei region, from the second to the fifth year of the Yongle reign (1404-1407), Emperor Chengzu successively restored and established nineteen tusi offices, large and small, as follows: in the second year of Yongle, the Sanmao and Shinan two zhangguan si (chief's offices) were established, and two years later both were elevated to xuanfu si (pacification and soothing offices); in the fourth year of Yongle, the Longtan, Gaoluo, and Zhongdong three anfu si (pacification offices) and the Muce and Tangya two zhangguan si were restored; in the fifth year of Yongle, the Dongxiang Wulu, Zhonglu, Zhongxiao, and Jindong four anfu si and the Zhennan, Wufeng Shibao, Shiliang Xiadong, Jiaoshan Manao, and Shuijinyuan Tongtaping five zhangguan si were restored. The above sixteen tusi, plus the Rongmei, Zhongjian, and Dawang three offices, made a total of nineteen tusi. From the second to the third year of the Xuande reign (1427-1428), Emperor Xuanzong of Ming also established the Shiguandong, Jiannan, Yaobadong, Shang'aichadong, and Xia'aichadong five zhangguan si, and the Zhenyuan, Longfeng, Dongliu, Labi, and Xiping five manyi zhangguan si (chieftain offices for the barbarians). Thus, by the Xuande period, the western Hubei region had a total of twenty-nine tusi offices.
In the western Hunan region, the Yongshun and Baojing two xuanwei si (pacification and consolation offices) were preserved in the late Hongwu period. After the Yongle Regulations, the Yongshun xuanwei si governed three zhou (Nanwei Zhou, Shirong Zhou, and Shangxi Zhou) and established six zhangguan si under it (Lareidong zhangguan si, Maizhehuangdong zhangguan si, Lüchidong zhangguan si, Shirongdong zhangguan si, Baiyandong zhangguan si, and Tianjiadong zhangguan si). The Baojing xuanwei si established four zhangguan si under it, namely the Wuzhai zhangguan si, Ganziping zhangguan si, Liangjiangkou zhangguan si, and Maogang guandai zhangguan si.
In the southeastern Sichuan region, after the Yongle Regulations, the Shizhu, Pingcha, and Youyang tusi continued to be retained, but the subordination relationships of the tusi were slightly adjusted.
In the northeastern Guizhou region, the Sinan and Sizhou two xuanwei si had, since the early Ming, separately governed seventeen and twenty-seven zhangguan si, the vast majority of which were tusi of the Miao, Dong, and other ethnic groups. In the eleventh year of Yongle, the Sinan xuanwei shi Tian Zongding and the Sizhou xuanwei shi Tian Chen went to war over a dispute concerning the Shakeng land. The Ming court took the opportunity to "replace native officials with regular officials" (gai tu gui liu), dividing their territory into eight fu and four zhou. The Sinan and Sizhou two xuanwei si became Sinan Fu and Sizhou Fu respectively, each governing four zhangguan si. Among these, those related to the Tujia were the four zhangguan si governed by Sinan Fu, namely the Shui Dejiang, Manyi, Yanhe Youxi, and Langxi four zhangguan si.
(III) The Period of Decline of the Tusi
The tusi system possessed a strong character of local separatism. From the very day of its establishment, there existed contradictions between the tusi and the central dynasty in the redistribution of political power and social resources, thereby hindering the central dynasty's direct rule over minority regions. Therefore, in the early years of its founding, the Qing Dynasty was already contemplating how to abolish the tusi system when conditions matured. After vigorous management during the Kangxi reign, the Qing Dynasty further consolidated centralization of power and greatly strengthened its political, economic, and military strength. Conditions for abolishing the tusi system gradually matured. Thus, in the fourth year of the Yongzheng reign (1726), the court approved E Ertai's memorial: "To pacify the people, one must first govern the barbarians; to govern the barbarians, one must first replace native officials with regular officials," and began to abolish the tusi of various places one by one.
From the fourth year of the Yongzheng reign (1726), the Qing Dynasty carried out a nationwide, large-scale replacement of native officials with regular officials. Within less than seven years, the tusi in the southern minority regions were basically abolished, and the Qing Dynasty completed the historical task of replacing native officials with regular officials. The Tujia tusi system also declared its exit from the stage of history with the completion of the nationwide process of replacing native officials with regular officials.
The replacement of native officials with regular officials in the Tujia region proceeded in step with the nationwide movement, but compared with that in other minority regions, it had some rather prominent characteristics. First, the large-scale replacement of native officials with regular officials started relatively late and lasted a relatively long time. For example, the replacement of native officials with regular officials in the minority regions of Yunnan, Sichuan, and Guangxi began in the fourth year of Yongzheng (1726) and was basically completed in the ninth year of Yongzheng (1731). In the Tujia region, it began in the fifth year of Yongzheng (1727), with most areas concluding in the thirteenth year of Yongzheng (1735), while the "replacement of native officials with regular officials" for certain individual tusi concluded in the twenty-seventh year of Qianlong (1762), such as that of the Shizhu xuanwei si. Second, the replacement of native officials with regular officials adopted peaceful means. In the Tujia region, there were no large-scale wars like those in Yunnan, Guizhou, and other provinces; the vast majority of tusi accepted the court's peaceful pacification and were therefore properly resettled. They were extremely obedient to the Qing government: "There are very many tusi in Huguang; each cedes his territory, performs his duties, and pays taxes, no different from regular officials." Third, the replacement of native officials with regular officials was relatively thorough. In the course of the replacement, all the large and medium tusi in the Tujia region were abolished, and few small tusi remained. Except for the Langxi zhangguan si and the Yanhe Youxi zhangguan si, all the remaining small tusi were replaced by regular officials.
II. The Organizational Structure and Duties of the Tusi Regime
In the Tujia region, the tusi regime was a political organization combining military and administrative functions. This special form of political power continued through the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties without any change. "The tusi was not only a regional administrative chief appointed by the court, the head and chieftain of a lineage, but also the leader of military campaigns, and had corresponding ranks and official grades." The tusi regime in the Tujia region was a self-contained entity, and its organizational structure constituted a closed bureaucratic system with strict hierarchies and layer upon layer of subordination.
The tusi was the highest chief holding both military and administrative power. All the tusi subjects were soldiers in wartime and commoners in peacetime.
Within their own jurisdictions, the tusi could appoint administrative managers of different levels on their own authority. They were the concrete executors of the tusi's ruling policies, and were native officials at various levels who held key posts as the tusi's legitimate sons and kinsmen.
Zongli: also called qigu (banner and drum), was a senior manager in the tusi office, second only to the tusi in status. "When the state had campaigns, he was the great general, with life and death in his grasp." The post of zongli was generally held by the tusi's full brothers.
Jiazheng: an official one level below the zongli; this position was also held by the tusi's full brothers.
Sheba: also called sheren. Belonged to those who handled documents and litigation and ran errands to the capital or the provincial and prefectural offices. The post of sheba was generally held by the tusi king's collateral brothers.
Zongye: all official posts at various levels held by the sons and younger brothers of the tusi were called "zongye."
Qinjiang: the tusi's personal bodyguard.
Dongzhang: where several villages or one large village formed an administrative unit, it was called a dong, and a dongzhang was appointed.
Zhaizhang: the head of a village, responsible for managing the local affairs of his village.
Zongqi and qizhang: "Each tribe of the tusi was called a qi, and each qi had its chief, who governed the registered households." The qi was the grassroots organization of Tujia tusi society and had both military and administrative functions. Each qi had a qizhang, whose administrative duties were limited to household registration management. The post of zongqi ranked above the qizhang, and its duties were mainly military management.
The tusi system was a special mode of rule by which the rulers of the feudal dynasties of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing used the local power of hereditary headmen of the southern minorities to manage local affairs in ethnic regions. It was also a management system with a character of local autonomy. Under the control of this system, the obligations of the Tujia tusi regime to the central dynasty were mainly tribute, taxes, and military service. "What they rendered in return to the state was only tribute, only taxes, only soldiers."
Regarding tribute. In the Yuan Dynasty, the central dynasty regarded tribute as a way to examine the tusi's "heart of submission" and degree of loyalty; the political significance of tribute outweighed its economic significance. Throughout the Ming Dynasty, Tujia tusi paid tribute in the capital very frequently, ranking among the tusi with a relatively high number of tribute missions nationwide. "In the ninth year of Hongwu, (Yong)shun xuanwei Peng Tianbao sent his younger brother Xibao and others to present horses and local products, and were granted clothing and textiles of varying grades. From then on, tribute was paid once every three years." The central dynasty often gave generous "return gifts" to the tusi who came to pay tribute. By the Qing Dynasty, the tribute system had new regulations. "For all tusi tribute and taxes, either once a year or once every three years, according to each one's local products—grain, cattle, horses, hides, cloth—all were converted into silver and totaled in the Ministry of Revenue."
Regarding taxes. During the Yuan Dynasty, the Tujia tusi did not bear, or bore very little, the obligation to pay taxes to the court. By the Ming Dynasty, the central dynasty clarified the amount of taxes and levies to be paid by the tusi in the Tujia region, but compared with the interior, the amount due was correspondingly lighter. In the Qing court, based on the tax amounts of the Ming Dynasty, the fixed tax quotas were somewhat increased. "The Yongshun zhangguan si of Hunan annually levied grain converted into silver amounting to 83 taels and some fraction, and in leap years an additional 6 taels were levied." The main type of tax paid by the tusi was the land tax, and it was all converted into silver. When encountering special circumstances such as natural disasters or warfare, the court would also adopt tax reductions or exemptions to demonstrate the central government's solicitude toward the tusi. For example, the Ming History: Biographies of Tusi records: "In the second year of Chenghua (1446), because Baojing xuanwei Peng Xianzong had merit in campaigning against the barbarians, the tax grain of Baojing xuanwei and the various tusi, 853 shi, was remitted." It also records, "In the fifteenth year of Chenghua (1480), Baojing's rent and taxes were remitted because of disaster."
Regarding military service. The feudal central dynasty explicitly stipulated that the various tusi in the Tujia region had the obligation to obey central dispatch and lead troops on campaigns. The various tusi were willing to accept arbitrary conscription by the court mainly in order to obtain court rewards and regarded conscription as an excellent opportunity to gain rewards. Tujia tusi were repeatedly ordered to conscript soldiers and helped the feudal dynasties of the Ming and Qing suppress peasant uprisings in Han regions and other minority regions, achieving many military merits. For example, the Ming History: Biography of Xiang Zhong records: "In the second year of Chenghua (1466), there was a campaign against vagrants in Xiangyang. Zhong conscripted Yongshun and Baojing native soldiers to go to battle, and also entered the mountains to issue proclamations; more than four hundred thousand surrendered." At the same time, Tujia soldiers also achieved brilliant military merits in resisting Japanese pirates and in the war to aid Liaodong, and were repeatedly commended by the court.
III. The Impact of the Tusi System on Tujia Society
If we take the year 956, when Peng Shiyu appointed himself prefect of Xizhou, as the beginning of the Tujia tusi regime, then the tusi system existed in the Tujia region for nearly 800 years. As a basic political system suited to the needs of social development in minority regions, the tusi system triggered profound changes in Tujia society in politics, economy, culture, and other aspects, and changed the overall appearance of Tujia social development.
First, the effective implementation of the tusi system safeguarded the stability of Tujia society and the integrity of state sovereignty, and consolidated the unity of a multi-ethnic country. The hereditary succession system of native officials and the institutionalization of tusi official posts had a positive significance for stabilizing the ruling order in the Tujia region. On the one hand, when tusi chiefs accepted tusi posts granted by the central dynasty, they gained recognition in the unified concept of the state with the central government; when tusi and native officials accepted the court's confirmation of their posts, they also accepted the political concept of the great unity of imperial authority. On the other hand, when tusi and native officials became part of the central dynasty's bureaucratic system, they would realize from their own political gains the importance of maintaining peaceful and friendly relations with the central dynasty, and thus strive to maintain local stability and "peace between the Yi and the Han." Moreover, the balanced operation of the tusi regime enabled the central dynasty to grasp a great deal of information about the population, products, and other resources of the Tujia region, providing the necessary basic conditions for later direct political rule over this region.
Second, the effective implementation of the tusi system promoted the development of the Tujia region's social economy. It should be said that the tusi system provided a peaceful social environment for the economic development of the Tujia region. Because of large-scale immigration and military settlement, large numbers of Han soldiers and Han people entered the Tujia region. They brought advanced production tools and production techniques and helped the Tujia people reclaim wasteland and develop agriculture. It was precisely under the influence and impact of military and civilian settlement and farming that the social productive forces of the Tujia region developed to a certain degree, and feudal landlord economic factors began to grow and gradually replaced the feudal lord economy. At the same time, for the convenience of mutual exchanges, the tusi and the central dynasty opened up transportation routes, established post stations, and built roads. These measures not only facilitated connections between the Tujia region and other regions, but also benefited economic and cultural exchanges between the Tujia and the interior.
Finally, the effective implementation of the tusi system promoted the development of culture and education in the Tujia region. The long tusi period was also an important stage in the development of education in the ancient Tujia region. In the fourth year of Yongle of the Ming Dynasty (1406), the Huguang Youyang xuanfu shi Ran Bangxing "submitted a memorial requesting the establishment of schools according to the example of prefectures and counties in the Han region," and Emperor Yongle gladly approved his request. From then on, the first school in the Tujia region was founded—the Youyang xuanfu si school. Subsequently, many tusi followed suit and submitted memorials to the court requesting the establishment of si schools. These tusi schools successively established Confucian learning and invited Han Confucian scholars to teach their sons in the si schools to study Han culture, "establishing schools, gradually cultivating them with benevolence and righteousness, and refining them with rites and music." At the same time, Tujia tusi also attached great importance to cultural exchange with Han regions. For example, Tian Peilin "led his younger brothers by the same mother, devoted himself to learning, traveled among Jing, Li, and Huxiang, and whenever he met scholars of talent and promise, he humbled himself to make them comrades in the same society, discussing aspirations and lecturing on learning together." Therefore, during the tusi period, the development of education in the Tujia region not only improved the cultural quality of the Tujia people and cultivated a group of feudal talents, but also promoted the prosperity of culture in the Tujia region. All of this inevitably had a positive impact on the progress of Tujia society and the development of the ethnic group.
Of course, while affirming the historical role the tusi system played in the social development of the Tujia, we should not ignore the negative impact this system had on Tujia social development. For example, the tusi system strengthened the people's personal dependence on the tusi, thereby hindering the rapid growth of landlord economic factors; the separate rule of each tusi inevitably intensified serious confrontation and estrangement among the tusi, further affecting social stability in the Tujia region. Therefore, "replacing native officials with regular officials" and abolishing the tusi system became an inevitable choice conforming to the demands of historical development.