Chiefdom of Shuidong

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Chinese. (December 2019) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Chinese Wikipedia article at [[:zh:水東土司]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|zh|水東土司}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Chiefdom of Shuidong 水東土司
975–1630
Status	Native Chiefdom of China
Capital	Shuidong (present day Kaiyang)
Common languages	Chinese, Bouyei, Hmong
Government	Monarchy
Chieftain
• 975–?	Song Jingyang (first)
• 1623–1630	Song Siyin (last)
History
• Established	975
• Annexed by Ming China	1630
Succeeded by Ming dynasty
Today part of	China

Chiefdom of Shuidong (simplified Chinese: 水东土司; traditional Chinese: 水東土司; pinyin: Shǔidōng Tǔsī), ruled by the Song clan, was an autonomous Tusi chiefdom established by Song Jingyang (宋景陽) during the Song dynasty. After he conquered the Manzhou Prefecture (蠻州, centred on modern Kaiyang County) from the Yi people, Song Jingyang was recognized as the hereditary ruler of the region by the Song court in 975.^[1]

Shuidong was one of the most powerful clans in Southwestern China; Bozhou, Sizhou, Shuixi and Shuidong were called "Four Great Native Chiefdom in Guizhou" (贵州四大土司) by Chinese.^[2] Shuidong joint the She-An Rebellion in 1623. After the rebellion was put down, Shuidong was annexed and ruled directly by Ming China.

The Song clan claimed to be the descendants of a Han Chinese named Song Ding (宋鼎) in their genealogy book; however the authenticity needed to be verified. Modern scholars stated that Song Jingyang was a Han Chinese, Bouyei or Miao.^[3]

In 1303, Song Achong of Shuidong surrendered to the Yuan dynasty, Shuidong came under the Chinese tusi system. In 1371, Song Mongoldai of Shuidong surrendered to the Ming dynasty.^[1]

During the Ming conquest of Yunnan, Liu Shuzhen (劉淑貞) was the female regent of Shuidong, while Shuixi (Mu'ege) was ruled by the regent mother She Xiang (奢香). In 1382, She Xiang decided to rebelled against Ming China because she was tortured by the Chinese general Ma Ye (馬曄). Liu Shuzhen persuaded her not to do. Liu came to Nanjing to reported Ma's behavior. An investigation was carried out, Ma was rebuked and recalled in 1384.^[4]

In 1413, the province of Guizhou was created. The capital of Shuidong, Guizhou City (present day Guiyang), was chosen the site of the province's capital. Thirty thousand Chinese soldiers were settled in eastern Guizhou Province.

Since 1373, each Shuidong rulers held the title Guizhou Xuanwei tongzhi (貴州宣慰同知); while each Shuixi rulers were granted the title Guizhou Xuanweishi (貴州宣慰使), both were highest aboriginal governors of Guizhou Province.^[1] However, the rank of Shuidong rulers were lower than Shuixi rulers'. Initially, the official residences of Shuixi and Shuidong rulers were in Guizhou City, Shuixi rulers were not allowed to go back to his chiefdom freely. This rule was abolished by Ming court in 1479, since then, Shuixi rulers spent most of their life in Shuixi. The power of Shuidong rulers soon expanded rapidly, Shuixi prolonged conflict with Shuidong.^[4]

A Miao rebellion against Shuidong ruler broke out in 1513. Song Ran (宋然) of Shuidong was defeated and fled. Though Ming court ordered Shuixi to suppress, An Guirong (安貴榮) of Shuixi was unwilling to do so, because the rebellion was tacit backed by Shuixi. Finally, An Guirong put down the rebellion, since then, Chiefdom of Shuidong went into a slow decline.^[4]

The Shuidong ruler Song Cheng'en (宋承恩) was a son-in-law of Bozhou chief Yang Yinglong (楊應龍).^[5] When Yang rebelled against Ming China, Song Cheng'en refused to joint the rebellion. He was captured and imprisoned in Hailongtun until the rebellion was put down.^[6]

The Shuidong ruler Song Wanhua (宋萬化) joint the She-An Rebellion, he was captured and executed in 1623. His son Song Siyin (宋嗣殷) rebelled against Ming China, but was put down in 1630. In the same year, Shuidong was fully annexed into the central bureaucratic system of the Ming dynasty.

Below are Shuidong chieftains^[7]