Native Chieftain System

Tusi (Chinese: 土司; pinyin: tǔsī) often translated "headmen" or "chieftains", were hereditary tribal leaders recognized as imperial officials by the Yuan, Ming, and Qing-era Chinese governments. They ruled certain ethnic minorities in southwest China and Indochinese peninsula, nominally on behalf of the central government. This arrangement is generally known as the "Tusi System" or "Native Chieftain System". It has been described on at least one occasion as sharing similarities with the "U.S. federal government's recognition of some Native American tribes as in some ways sovereign entities." Tusi were located primarily in the province of Yunnan and in the regions of Guizhou, Tibet, Sichuan and Chongqing, Xiangxi Prefecture of Hunan, and Enshi Prefecture of Hubei. Tusi also existed in the historic dependencies of China in what is today northern Myanmar,Laos, and northern Thailand.Vietnam also implemented a tusi system under the Nguyễn dynasty (1802–1945).

The Tusi was inspired by the Jimi system (Chinese: 羁縻制度) implemented in regions of ethnic minorities groups during the Tang dynasty. It was established as a specific political term during the Yuan dynasty and was used as a political institution to administer newly acquired territories following their conquest of the Kingdom of Dali in 1253.

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