Research On The Military Forces In The Southwest Of The Yuan Dynasty

This thesis mainly discusses three different military forces in the southwest of the Yuan Dynasty:Yuan Army, Native Chief and Powerful Surname's forces and lower masses'armed forces, taking Yao's turmoil in Huguang(湖广)province as an example.Due to different times and locations, the institutions in Sichuan(四川), Huguang(湖广)and Yunnan(云南)provinces are not the same. In order to maintain the rule in the Southwest, Yuan Dynasty arranged a large number of military forces in three provinces. Military supplies are also important problems which Yuan government has to solve. In order to raise rations, Yuan government mainly took four measures.Native Chief and Powerful Surname is a force which can't be neglected and plays a important role in the history of the southwest. Native Chief and Powerful Surname has some political rights under Tusi System(土司制度). They can train guardians, appoint officers and recommend officers. And also they have their own military forces. Taking advantage of special environment in the southwest, they use toxic arrows, speeding javelins and other weapons, so their combating capabilities are strong.From the middle and late period time on, the domination of Yuan dynasty in the southwest began shaking. The problem of Yao's turmoil which was sporadic previously stated to be prominent, and this problem became a important factor influencing the stability of the southwest. The rioting masse has many remarkable characteristics. In order to suppress the turmoil, Yuan government took many measures. However, all these efforts couldn't suppress the turmoil in the southwest.