The Study On The Rule Of Yunnan In Yuan Dynasty Base On System Construction And Borderland Governance

This paper takes the historical process of Yunnan’s integration into the Yuan dynasty as a clue,and focuses on the history and characteristics of the construction of each system from the perspective of the interaction between local and central systems.First of all,before the establishment of the provincial system,the Yuan Dynasty’s system construction in Yunnan mainly included three aspects.The first was the establishment of 20 Wanhu Offices according to the ethnic distribution pattern in Yunnan,which was clearly recorded in Geographical History of the Yuan Dynasty and should be used as a basis.The second was to establish Marshal Mansions to be responsible for the town and garrison of Yunnan.The third was that the princes enfeoffed Yunnan and carried out political reforms in Dali to establish six ministries.At this time,the Yuan Dynasty implemented the traditional Mongolian political system in Yunnan,and the heavy burden led to the resistance of the thirty-seven tribes of Yunnan.The conflict between Kublai Khan’s centralization and the traditional Mongolian political forces led to the failure of the prince’s enfeoffment in Yunnan.Moreover,after Kublai Khan changed his country name and implemented Han law,the Yuan Dynasty’s system construction in Yunnan mainly included four aspects,namely,the provincial system,the xuanweisi(宣慰司)system,the prince of clansman(宗王)system and the supervision system.The multi-level management system of“provincesXuanwei-local department”was the basic system for the governance of Yunnan in the Yuan Dynasty.Except for Zhongqinglu(now Kunming),which was directly affiliated to the province,all other administrative divisions and counties in Yunnan were under the jurisdiction of different Xuanweisi or Xuanfusi(宣抚司).Xuanweisi(宣慰司)was an important institution in the Yuan Dynasty to manage ethnic affairs in the Yunnan frontier.The identity of the clansman in Yunnan was highly respected with greater control over the military power of the province.After the Cheng Zong Dynasty,it was influenced and controlled by the change of imperial power,and it was often difficult for the prince of clansman to play a great role in local governance.In other words,the prince of clansman“was entrusted with vassal territory but could not govern the vassal territory”.As one of the key supervision areas in the country,Yunnan established the supervision institution earlier.In addition to the duties of printing documents and impeaching officials in Yunnan,censorate officials also participated in crusades against local rebellions and cultural and educational construction.In addition,the provincial governance of Yunnan was mainly manifested in several aspects.The first was that Kublai Kahn levied taxes on the basis of demographics.Taxes in Yunnan were mainly in-kind taxes,including grain,gold,silver,copper,iron,wine,horses and so on.Yunnan Province set up tax confirmation officers in Zhongqing and Dali.The second was to vigorously promote Confucian education and inclusive religious policies.Yunnan Province established a Confucianism promotion department responsible for Confucianism education in the province.After continuous development,Zhongqing,Dali,Qujing,Chengjiang,Lin’an,Yongchang,Lijiang,Heqing,Yao’an,Weichu,Wuding and Jianchang all set up Confucianism.In Yunnan,not only Buddhism flourished,but Taoism,Islam,Nestorianism were also introduced.Officials at all levels in Yunnan Province actively built Buddhist temples and invited eminent monks to spread the Dharma in Yunnan.The third was to establish a complete military garrison system.Yunnan Province had a standing army of about 10,000 people,and the governor of the province had the right to lead the army.The military households in Yunnan’s lands were guarding the city defense,which was conducive to strengthening the stability of local governance.The smoothness of the post station not only facilitated the military travel,but also closed the exchanges between Yunnan Province and the mainland.The horses raised locally in Yunnan were more suitable for the mountain roads in the south,which was the key to the military advantage of the Yuan Dynasty cavalry in the southwest.Finally,the Yuan Dynasty frequently launched wars in the southwest,and successively launched large-scale expeditions against the Jinchi(金齿),ancient Myanmar(缅国),Lana Kingdom(兰那,八百媳妇)and other places.On the one hand,it had caused great consumption of the military power of the central government and Yunnan,and on the other hand,it had caused great damage and heavy burden to the local economy.The mighty Tianli Mutiny was the turning point of the province from prosperity to decline.Since then,the rise of local power had made the province unable to control,its authority had been weakened day by day,and it was no longer able to implement effective governance over the province.The disorder of power from the central to the local level is the root cause of the gradual weakening of the rule and the difficulty of maintaining the system construction.