明代 土司制度 운용의 실상 ― 鎭雄府의 改土歸流와 革流歸土를 중심으로 ―

Abstract

This thesis aims to present the multi-layered characteristic of the Chieftaincy System of the Ming Dynasty by examining the inheritance of the position of indigenous officials in Zhenxiong Prefecture, the geographically neighboring area of Yunan, Guizhou, Sichuan Provinces. The disputes over inheriting of the position of indigenous officials in Zhenxiong Prefecture led to the three time discussions about gaitu guiliu(改土歸流), the replacement of chieftaincy with officials, and the first attempt failed. The issue of gaitu guiliu was discussed for the first time in the third year of Jiading reign, 1524, when the Ming Dynasty designated Long Shou as the indigenous Prefect, which provoked antagonism from Long Zheng, the illegitimate son, who killed Long Shou. After suppressing Long Zheng’s rebellion, the Ming Dynasty implemented gaitu guiliu in the fifth year of Jiading era by presenting the nonexistence of his offspring as its reason. However, Cheng Guang, who was designated as the circulating official prefect, failed to pacify ethnic minorities, and in the seventh year of Jiading era, in 1528, Sha Bao rebelled. Sha Bao insisted on restoring the native chieftaincy by appointing Long Sheng, the posthumous son of Long Shou, as chieftain. Although there was the second discussion about gaitu guiliu being made at the time, about whether to persist on gaitu guiliu or to restore indigenous officials, the Ming Dynasty eventually abolished the circulating officials and established the return of chieftaincy by designating Long Sheng as the subprefectural magistrate. The third time was in the 35th year of Wanli era when An Yaochen from Shuixi became the indigenous prefect of Zhenxiong Prefecture and tried to annex, which caused local officials to discuss about whether to implement gaitu guiliu or to banish An Yaochen and appoint the descendants of the Long family. The Ming Dynasty whose power was in decline at that time was reluctant to use force, and succeeded in discovering a descendant of the Long family and designated him as the indigenous official. Although Mangbu indigenous region restored the indigenous officials through restoring the previous chieftaincy system after gaitu guiliu, there were continuous disputes over the inheritance of the position of indigenous officials. To remove the disputes, the Ming Dynasty proceeded to mend the regulations concerning the inheriting of chieftaincy. However, ethnic minorities kept putting the Ming Dynasty in trouble by falsely fabricating a successor. In these circumstances, the Ming Dynasty wanted to keep the Chieftaincy System under the reason of cost-saving, and the ethnic minorities also wanted to maintain their region and secure their political legitimacy. Ethnic minorities, who had the complicated inheriting system, and the Ming Dynasty, who had the right to acknowledge the inheritance, had developed the tug of war for power over their interests, which indicates the significance of the dynamics of the operation of the Chieftaincy System during the Ming Dynasty. At least judging from the case of Zhenxiong Prefecture, the unique aspect of ethnic minorities —their complicated disputes over the inheriting of chieftaincy— paradoxically became an effective means to actively negotiate with the Chieftaincy System which the Ming Dynasty had arranged to rule the ethnic minorities. Therefore, the Qing Dynasty who inherited the Chieftaincy System of the Ming Dynasty also had difficulty in solving these problems that the Ming Dynasty had to deal with. Eventually this struggle and the conflict between Ming Dynasty and the ethnic minorities who were involved in the power struggle between the central state and the peripheric region became the important factor for the implementation of gaitu guiliu at one sweep by the Qing Dynasty.