Economic Development and Ethnic Integration: A study on the Relationship between Southwest Frontier’ Chieftain and the Ancient Tea-Horse Road: Case Studies of Mushi Chieftains and Mingzheng Chieftains

The Ancient Tea-Horse Road, with its core spanning Yunnan, Sichuan, and Tibet, encompassed numerous trade routes across the southwest frontier, extending its influence into South Asia and Southeast Asia. Within this intricate trade network, the chieftain system served as a localized political structure “governed by custom”, strategically employed by the central dynasty to maintain national unity in ethnically diverse regions. As regional rulers, the chieftains of Southwest China played pivotal roles in facilitating the emergence and expansion of the Ancient Tea-Horse Road. This study focuses on the distinctive characteristics of Yunnan Mushi chieftains and Sichuan Mingzheng chieftains, both situated along the Ancient Tea-Horse Road. These chieftains exemplify the broader chieftain landscape in the southwest frontier. Operating along the Yunnan-Tibet Tea and Horse Ancient Road, the Mushi Chieftains significantly contributed to the economic development of Lijiang and fostered cross-cultural exchanges between two ethnic groups. Conversely, the Mingzheng Chieftains established Guozhuang along the ancient Sichuan-Tibetan Tea and Horse Ancient Road, fostering the prosperity of the Dajianlu trade and laying the groundwork for Han-Tibetan integration. This study underscores the paramount importance of southwest frontier chieftains in managing the Ancient Tea-Horse Road, a role critical to the economic advancement of border regions and the historical process of integrating the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the southwest ethnic communities into the Chinese national fabric.