Military And Political Governance Of The Southwestern National Region In The Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty was the last feudal dynasty established by the Han nationality.It was in the second half of the feudal society of China,when all political systems and governance measures were relatively mature.The Southwest China is a large number of ethnic minorities,and was located in the remote areas,which hindered the central management.Previously,the policy of mollification,coupled with canonization and tribute,was implemented for a long time so as to maintain the regional stability.This governance underwent the fundamental change in the Yuan Dynasty.After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty,the rulers recognized the importance of the southwestern ethnic region.The proactive governance and management policies was conducted in the region by inheriting some old systems of the former dynasty,then developing new ones.Focusing on politics and military,this dissertation aims to explore how the Ming Dynasty carried out ethnic governance in the southwest China to maintain the regional stability and development,and thus to promote the border unification and strengthen centralization.In addition to the introduction and conclusion,this dissertation is divided into three chapters.The first chapter discusses the southwestern reunification and the preliminary governance strategies in the Ming Dynasty.Firstly,briefly introduced the social background and situation of the Southwest in the late Yuan and early Ming when there were considerable ethnic groups and the great imbalances of them,as well as the frequently evolution of the relationship between the two major forces and the imbalance between the two major forces in these groups.Then it elaborated on the Ming’s unification process and system reforms in the southwestern provinces,which laid the foundation for the later military and political governance of the Ming Dynasty.The second chapter systematically discussed the Ming’s governance measures the southwest region in terms of official system,military control,the postal delivery system and treatment of minorities.In the Ming Dynasty,Tusi system was implemented in the southwestern region,and the central government also sent nonhereditary officials to engage in the local management.Such measures as establishing the Wei-so system,organizing and appointing local soldiers,official immigration from inland to border areas were adopted to enhance the ethnic control.The postal delivery system was also improved as a way of the central and the region as well as facilitating management.With respect to treating ethnic minorities,the Ming Dynasty advocated the principle of pacification and armed suppression towards different rebellious forces.The third chapter evaluated and analyzed the Ming’s governance of the Southwest region by summarizing its three features and reviewing the implications and limitations.