Research On The Disputes Of Chieftains In The Border Regions Of Yunnan Province In The Middle And Late Ming Dynasty

In the mid to late Ming Dynasty,the border areas of Yunnan were embroiled in chieftain disputes that lasted for over a hundred years.A series of chieftain disputes or border turmoil related to chieftain disputes erupted,including Meng Mi’s separation from Mu Bang,Qian Neng’s disturbance of Yunnan,the downfall of the Myanmar Military and Civilian Propaganda Commissioner’s Office,the invasion of the Dongwu Dynasty in Myanmar,the incident of Wu Xianzhong inciting anti Meng Tingrui’s tribe,Yang Rong’s unauthorized provocation at the border,and the incident of Wang Kang falsely opposing Pu Mingsheng.Despite a series of measures taken by the Ming court to pacify the outside and stabilize the border defense system,abolish the defense and reconstruction of border power,resist the internal invasion of Burma’s Dongwu and external security defense,it was still not effectively and fundamentally resolved until the Ming and Qing dynasties changed their dynasties.The chieftain dispute that lasted for over a hundred years not only caused the contraction of the relevant areas in the southwestern border of the Ming Dynasty,but also weakened the national strength to a certain extent,becoming one of the important reasons for the downfall of the Ming Dynasty,exposing the problem of "out of control" in the governance of the Yunnan border by the Ming Dynasty.However,there is currently a lack of systematic research on this issue in the academic community.In view of this,this research focuses on the chieftain disputes in the border areas of Yunnan Province during the mid to late Ming Dynasty.From the perspective of border governance history research,it systematically studies the chieftain disputes in the border areas of Yunnan Province for over a hundred years from the sixth year of the Zhengtong era(1441)to the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen era(1644).The content can be divided into three parts: The first part consists of the first three chapters,mainly exploring the geographical environment,division and establishment evolution,chieftain system,and so on in the border areas of Yunnan during the Ming Dynasty,the distribution of chieftains in Yunnan’s border areas and the main system of governance in Yunnan’s border areas,as well as the disputes among chieftain families,chieftains and chieftains,chieftains and officials in the mid to late Ming Dynasty in Yunnan’s border areas;The second part consists of the last two chapters,mainly exploring the reasons,impacts,and measures taken by the Ming court to deal with the chieftain disputes in the border areas of Yunnan during the mid to late Ming Dynasty;The third part is the conclusion,which summarizes the aforementioned issues and further explores the significance of this study in verifying and elucidating the historical facts related to the chieftain disputes in Yunnan’s border areas during the mid to late Ming Dynasty,as well as deepening research on the history of ancient Chinese border governance,regional chieftain history,and late Ming history.On the basis of previous research,this research has the following three main innovations and understandings: firstly,this research examines,sorts out,and restores the beginning and end of some chieftain disputes in the border areas of Yunnan during the mid to late Ming Dynasty,correcting previous false understandings of relevant historical facts: for example,the time when Nong Shixiang seized the seal and usurped power was in the tenth year of Zhengde(1515),rather than the end of Wanli;The competition for the position of chieftain between Dao Fengding and Dao Fengxing dates back to the end of the Wanli period;Meng Mi’s separation from Mu Bang marked the disintegration of Yunnan’s Outer Border Region;The internal invasion of the Dongwu Dynasty in Myanmar was to some extent a continuation of the territorial dispute between Meng Yang and the Burmese chieftains;Secondly,this research reveals the main reasons for the chieftain disputes in the Yunnan border areas during the mid to late Ming Dynasty: defects in the chieftain system,inadequate governance by the Ming court,limitations in the Ming court’s ethnic and border views,and a special discussion on the negative effects of the Ming dynasty’s governance tradition of "following ancestral traditions and adhering to the constitution" on the chieftain disputes in the Yunnan border areas during the mid to late Ming Dynasty;Thirdly,this research has the following academic value for deepening the research on the history of ancient Chinese border governance,regional chieftain history,and late Ming history: it provides a research perspective on the "failure lessons" of Ming Dynasty border governance,and believes that while paying attention to the successful experience of ancient border governance,the academic community should also review its failure lessons,In order to better fully leverage the historical value and significance of border governance history;This provides a holistic research paradigm for deepening the study of regional chieftain history,addressing the issue of fragmentation in chieftain research;For deepening the study of late Ming history,it corrects various false statements about "beautifying late Ming",in order to illustrate the historical trend and local presentation of the Ming Dynasty’s impending decline and downfall.