Tusi is a kind of official title in ancient China, also known as local officials and local chiefs. In most cases, Tusi is used to appoint tribal leaders of ethnic minorities in northwest and southwest China.

However, there are two kinds of Tusi: the broad Tusi refers to the government agencies established by the leaders of ethnic minority areas within their sphere of influence and recognized by the Central Plains court, while the narrow Tusi refers to the local officials who have a place in the world, manage their people, unify their soldiers, perform their duties in a hereditary way, govern their place, enter the world and be sealed by them.

The chieftain system was established in Yuan Dynasty, and then reached its heyday in Ming Dynasty, which strengthened centralization, restricted and weakened chieftain power. However, as the saying goes, the toast system began to collapse in the Ming Dynasty.