关键词: 武定, 罗婺部, 羁縻, 凤氏土司

Abstract: Situated between Kunming and Chengdu, Wuding County, Yunnan Province has been a transportation hub in north Yunnan ever since the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368). Culturally speaking, it is located in the buffer area between the Yi and the Han cultures. Politically, administration of the heartland dynasties could reach it, but just hardly, thus its influence here was only indirect. In terms of transport, it is neither easily accessible nor completely isolated. The Luowu Tribe of the Yi people originated around the Dahei Mountain, Fawo Township, Wuding County. In the late years of Nanzhao Kingdom (738-902), it became a powerful local influence together with other “36 eastern barbarian tribes” and its sovereign was officially recognized by the Dali Kingdom (937-1253) during the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of the Song Dynasty (1174-1189). In 1381, Shang Sheng, a tuguan or local administrator pledged allegiance to the Ming Dynasty, surrendering his official seal, and was officially established by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang as the local governor with both civil and military titles. In 1488, his descendants were given an imperial surname – the Fengs – by the Ming Emperor. The Nas were another story. The transformation from local chieftains to circulating governors of this comparatively minor family represented continuation of the restriction policy of the heartland dynasties.

Key words: Wuding, the Luowu Tribe, restriction, the Feng chieftains