Gai Tu Gui Liu And Social Change In Wuding During The Ming And Qing Dynasties

The Wuding chieftain was established in the Yuan Dynasty.During the early Ming period,by virtue of its strength and repeated military achievements,the Wuding Feng became one of the most powerful chieftain in Yunnan Province.In the first year of the Longqing period(1567),the Ming dynasty carried out “Gai Tu Gui Liu” in the Wuding area,scattering and replacing traditional local power,and changing local politics and grassroots governance.Social and economic development and local culture all underwent further changes.This article takes the Wuding area as the research object,starting from the perspective of national demand,using document research methods and field investigation methods,and explores the following two aspects,starting from the opening of the Jinsha River in the Ming Dynasty and the development of the Dongchuan copper mine in the Qing Dynasty.First,during the middle and late Ming Dynasty,as the country’s demand,policy strategies,and changes in local economy and culture became more pronounced,the conflict and interest conflict between the central government and the Wuding chieftain became more serious,especially on the issue of opening up the Jinsha River,which the Wuding Feng family repeatedly thwarted.After experiencing multiple rebellions by the Feng family,the Wuding Feng chieftain was Twas dismissed and all of Wuding was converted to Liuguan.After“Gai Tu Gui Liu”,the Liuguan.were able to penetrate into Wuding society at the grassroots level,accelerating the transformation of Wuding’s local political structure and grassroots society.Second,after the Qing Dynasty entered Yunnan,on the one hand,it assisted the Liuguan in maintaining local order and supervising local financial affairs by retaining and supporting some surrendered chieftain,Tumu,and traditional local forces.On the other hand,due to the increase in copper demand,the Qing Dynasty increased the development of the copper mining industry in the southwestern region.Benefiting from the development of the Dongchuan copper mine,the copper mining industry in the Wuding region was included in the overall national planning for the region,and the local agricultural and commercial sectors were able to rapidly develop under this influence.Through research,it was found that the adjustment of the Wuding political system and the social changes and developments were based on the starting point and landing point of national needs.Although the “Gai Tu Gui Liu” in Wuding originated from internal rebellion by the Feng family,the root cause was the national need to strengthen control over the southwestern region and maintain local political and social stability.Similarly,the governance and changes after the “Gai Tu Gui Liu” were also helped by the active role of the Liuguan in Wuding.However,from the macro perspective of the development of the entire region,the rapid development of industry,agriculture,and commerce in Wuding is undoubtedly due to the national demand for increased copper mine production in the southwestern region,and the remaining chieftain and tumu were also allowed to exist to facilitate national considerations in governing grassroots society.Through the perspective of national needs at the macro level,it is beneficial to grasp the“Gai Tu Gui Liu”in Wuding’s and the subsequent changes in the way it was governed.