Page 26 - Ming_China_Courts_and_Contacts_1400_1450 Craig lunas

beyond the Ming was to change very soon thereafter. By 1380, role of the Chinese colonial armies as providing the military
Yunnan was considered to have ‘been China’s territory since ‘muscle’ necessary to ensure that economic expropriation
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the Han dynasty’, providing a moral basis for the invasion of could be carried out effectively.
the region. About 250,000 troops were then deployed in an The reign of the Yongle emperor was to see a major
attack on the polities of the region, taking Dali, Lijiang and advance in the Ming colonisation of Yunnan, prior to his
Jinchi in 1382. The Ming founder thereby took control of the invasion of the Vietnamese polity in 1406. The Ming
major urban centres of the northwestern part of what is today colonisation of the Tai areas of Yunnan during the 15th
Yunnan, including several Tai areas. These colonies were the century was attained and maintained either by the actual
first to be absorbed into Ming ‘Yunnan’. 3 use or the threat of military force. As such, the Ming
By 1387, the Ming founder had set his sights further and, established guards throughout the region to maintain
in preparation for an attack on the Baiyi 百夷 (Möng Mao) security and political dominance. Independent battalions
polity to the south of his earlier conquests, a military officer directly under the Regional Military Commission were
was sent to Sichuan to buy 10,000 ploughing cattle. These established in Tengchong 騰衝 and Yongchang 永昌 in
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were to be used to plough the fields necessary to feed the Yunnan in 1403, and these were to be the major control
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troops on a likely long-term expedition. When the invasion centres for Chinese colonisation of the Tai polities over the
did occur, under the commander Mu Ying 沐英 (1345–92), following century.
the Ming forces attacked the Baiyi with firearms, reportedly In the same year, new Chief’s Offices were ‘established’ in
taking 30,000 heads. Si Lunfa 思倫發, the ruler of Möng Yunnan, at Zhele Dian 者樂甸, Dahou, Ganyai, Wan Dian
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Mao, a polity with a Tai-speaking elite which extended over and Lujiang, and in 1406 a further four Chief’s Offices
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much of what is today Northern Myanmar and south- were established under Ningyuan 寧遠 Guard in what is
western Yunnan, was subsequently made to pay for all the today Sip Song Chau Tai in Vietnam. Mubang (Hsenwi)
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costs of the military expedition against him, as a quid pro and Mengyang were made Military and Civilian
quo for the Ming court recognising him as ruler of the Pacification Superintendencies in 1404. The recognition of
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Baiyi. When a minister rebelled against Si Lunfa in 1397, these polities by the Ming court came at a cost to their
the Chinese state gave sanctuary to the fleeing ruler, sent independence and when they did not accord with what the
troops against the rebel and restored Si Lunfa to his position, new Ming emperor required, military actions were launched
extracting vast tracts of land from him in exchange for this against them. In 1405, for example, the senior Chinese
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assistance. The Ming state also broke down his huge former representative in Yunnan, Mu Sheng 沐晟 (1368–1439),
territory into the polities of Luchuan 麓川, Mengyang 孟養, launched an attack on Babai (Lanna). The attempts at
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Mubang 木邦, Mengding 孟定, Lujiang 潞江, Ganyai 干崖, domination extended even to what is today Assam in India,
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Dahou 大候 and Wan Dian 灣甸, all under separate rulers. with envoys carrying threats being dispatched to Da-gu-la,
In addition, when engaged in military activities, the the Uttarakula which lay on the northern bank of the
Ming administration in Yunnan could call upon the Brahmaputra River. 18
military forces of the ‘native offices’ (tusi 土司). The new After some sort of recognition or acceptance of the
polities which were ‘created’ (or recognised) in Yunnan superior position of the Ming court, gained through military
under the first Ming ruler by the breaking down of larger action or threat, Chinese clerks or registry managers were
polities were known to the Ming as ‘native offices’, as they appointed to the ‘native offices’ to ‘assist’ the traditional
were controlled by non-Chinese persons. Initially they were ruler, and ensure that Ming interests were served. Chinese
usually left under the control of the hereditary rulers of the clerks were appointed to carry out Chinese language duties
respective polities, and it was through this means that the in the ‘native offices’ of Yunnan in 1404, while similar
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Ming exerted control and engaged in economic circulating official clerk positions (to be filled by Chinese
expropriation through tribute demands and other levies. persons) were established in seven Chief’s Offices in Yunnan
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This was the beginning of a policy which was to be pursued in 1406. Gradually, formal members of the Chinese
throughout the Ming, which had such profound effects on bureaucracy were appointed to assist these rulers, much like
the upland Tai polities, and which resulted in Yunnan the advisers appointed to the Malay States by the British in
becoming part of China. the 19th century. Here, then, we see the beginnings of the
In the process by which they were gradually absorbed by process by which formerly Southeast Asian polities were
the Ming, these polities were subjected to a wide range of gradually absorbed into the Chinese polity through a
tribute demands, labour levies and other levies, including process of colonisation.
troop provision. As an example, in the case of the Tai Mao The ‘native office’ polities were then subject to demands
polity of Luchuan (also called Luchuan-Pingmian 麓川平緬), in terms of gold/silver in lieu of labour, administered by the
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the Ming court demanded 15,000 horses, 500 elephants and Ministry of Revenue, and also required to provide troops
30,000 cattle from the ruler Si Lunfa in 1397. Subsequently, to assist in further Ming campaigns. Mubang, for example,
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large silver demands (silver in lieu of labour) were levied on was required to send its troops against Babai (Lanna) in the
this polity. The annual amount of 6,900 liang of silver was 1405 expedition mentioned above. This employment of
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initially set and then it was almost tripled to 18,000 liang. ‘native troops’ by the Ming colonisers reflected what was
When it was realised that this was impossible to meet, the being done in Đại Việt and what was to be done by later
levy was reduced to the original amount. Diverse other colonial armies in Southeast Asia.
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levies were applied to the other polities and enforced It was in the 1430s and 1440s that major Ming military
through the use or threat of military force. Again, we see the invasions of the Tai polities of Yunnan again took place. The

16 | Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400–1450