Erasing The Empire’s Internal Frontier:Bo-zhou Campaign Revisited

Yang Ying-long was the last overlord of Bo-zhou Xuan-wei-si,which was a autonomous state within the Ming Empire and controlled over the aboriginal peoples and Han-Chinese in the mountainous region bordering the three provincial administrations Hu-guang,Si-chuan,and Gui-zhou.Yang was a very special figure in the history of Southwest region of Ming China in late 16th century.He skillfully coped with his relationship with the central government of Ming 1570s and 1580s.But his anachronism over Bo-zhou aboriginal society made him unskillful at coping with relations with the governors and governor-generals of the bordering provinces and with some of the seven households through which Yang exerclised his overlordship."It is said that in 1587 Yang divorced his wife nee Chang,and replaced her with a concubine from the T’ien family.Subsequently he butchered his ex-wife,whose relatives then informed Chinese authority of Yang’s impending uprising.”As Ray Huang remarked in Cambridge History of China(volume 7,The Ming Dynasty,1368-1644,Part I)that "It more likely that the family feud upset the balance of power within the tribal structure and the Chinese decided to intervene.”In this thesis,the author would like research Yang’s "rebellion"in the context of his relations with central and provincial government officials.As many sources suggested that key officials in Beijing has never seen the event in Bo-zhou as a rebellion and never intended to intervene the things in Bo-zhou before the governors of Gui-zhou and Si-chuan province called for campaign against Bo-zhou with one voice in 1592.The governors of Gui-zhou and Si-chuan successfully“problemised"Yang’s internal event as a“rebellion" which threatened the regional security of Ming China.And the "problem" finally was solved by way of Bo-zhou campaign.In the campaign against Bo-zhou in 1600 eliminated Bo-zhou Xuan-wei-si led by Yang family for more than seven centuries.Ming China’s“internal frontiers" in late 16th century between the autonomous region and provincial administrations were finally erased.