Ming Perceptions of Xifan and Tea Policy in Ming–Mongol Relations in the Sixteenth Century

This article reexamines Ming–Mongol relations in the sixteenth century by focusing on the Tibetan communities of Qinghai and Gansu, known in Ming sources as the Xifan garrisons, and analyzes the strategic significance of tea within Ming frontier policy. From the early Ming onward, these Tibetan groups were regarded as a buffer zone against the Mongols, and the Ming court sought to secure their loyalty through the tea–horse trade and a highly regulated tea control system. Tea was not merely a commercial commodity but a strategic resource essential to the livelihood of the Xifan population and thus central to Ming border management. This framework, however, was fundamentally challenged by the southward expansion of Mongol forces in the early sixteenth century and their occupation of the Qinghai–Gansu region. Under Altan Khan, the Mongols not only exerted military pressure on the Xifan garrisons but also sought ideological legitimacy through renewed ties with Tibetan Buddhism. Despite the potentially threatening nature of Mongol–Tibetan religious cooperation, the Ming court actively supported Altan Khan’s requests for Buddhist images, scriptures, and clerical exchanges, viewing Tibetan Buddhism as a civilizing force capable of moderating Mongol aggression. In contrast, the Ming consistently rejected or strictly limited Mongol demands for the establishment of regular tea markets. This selective refusal reveals that tea was perceived differently from other tribute goods or religious items. Because the survival of the Xifan communities depended heavily on access to tea, the Ming regarded its controlled distribution as a crucial means of maintaining influence over the frontier and preventing Mongol consolidation in the region. By analyzing tea as a strategic resource embedded in military, political, and religious contexts, this study situates Ming tea policy within the broader framework of frontier governance and reconsiders its role in shaping sixteenth-century Ming–Mongol relations.