“Aboriginal Offices” in Ming Legal Order: The Central–Local Legal Dynamics on the Ming Southwest Borderlands

The Ming dynasty marked a significant period in Chinese legal history. From the founding of the ruling house, the imperial government developed an extensive and sophisticated legal system, including regulations, institutions, and enforcement mechanisms. To implement the centralized legal blueprint, the imperial court made substantial efforts to penetrate local society and transform daily life. These efforts were, to a certain extent, effective in Han-majority areas, as evidenced by numerous late Ming court records. However, the situation was different in the vast southwestern borderlands of the empire. Despite the Ming forces’ attempts to conquer and integrate non-Han societies using the imperial (Han) legal framework, they faced significant resistance and achieved only limited success. This paper examines the political institutions known as "aboriginal offices" (tusi) and explores how local non-Han communities negotiated the legal order with Han-dominated central authorities while striving to protect their own interests in the borderlands. It also investigates the legal consequences of these negotiations and the intellectual, social, cultural, political, and military factors that shaped the resulting legal order. By emphasizing the contingent nature of the justice system, this paper highlights the importance of non-Han resistance to Han-dominated imperial expansion.