By Barbarians Control Barbarians: The Position of Tusi within Area of Liangshan

English Abstract This M.A. thesis analyses the politics of indirect rule within the peripheral area of Liangshan in southern Sichuan, which the imperial court tried to implement thru appointment of hereditary offices of indigenous chieftains (ch. tusi or tuguan). It uses primary sources in classical Chinese from official histories, local gazetteers, ethnographic studies and other documents, as well as secondary literature in Czech, English, French, German and Chinese. This thesis is divided into three interrelated chapters. The first chapter outlines the origin, changes and development of systems of indirect rule in Southwest China. The final stage of the development this political mechanism was a so-called "native chieftain system" (ch. tusi zhidu), through which the central court managed peripheral regions of its empire during Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. This chapter focuses on the development of these systems of indirect rule from the Warring States era (5th century BC) to the beginning of 20th century. The second chapter explores ethnographic, historico-political and ethnohistorical descriptions of Liangshan region. This chapter will then define the Liangshan region through geographical, political (the imperial court), and indigenous (ethnic) perspectives and therefore finalizes a theoretical..