Yes, the "chieftain system" is the policy of the ancient central government towards southwest minority areas. It was formed in the Song Dynasty, flourished in the Ming Dynasty and collapsed in the Qing Dynasty, with a history of 1000 years. The "chieftain system" is indeed one of the important systems to objectively safeguard China's multi-ethnic and unified country. However, we must admit the historical fact that the feudal dynasties of past dynasties did not implement the "chieftain system" as a national policy, but had to make use of the hereditary rule system of local rulers in order to bring areas that were difficult for the central authorities to directly rule into the scope of their rule. The chieftain system not only has the rationality of its historical existence, but also has serious political drawbacks and backwardness that are out of step with historical development. It is very limited to evaluate the historical heritage value of Tusi site only as a political system itself.
As a matter of fact, the remains of these Tusi castles and official buildings are not only the administrative and living center of the Tusi, the local ethnic leader appointed by the ancient government, but also the historical remains of the social life and cultural customs of a minority, and witness to the historical changes of a nation's prosperity. Moreover, I think it is of outstanding universal value to look at and evaluate these toast sites from this angle.
This is because, in the history of China, the ethnic minorities represented by these "Tusi" were not regarded as a nation in the big family of Chinese nation from the beginning. Historically, the feudal dynasty called the ancestors of southwest ethnic minorities "barbarians" or "barbarians". For example, the site of Laosicheng in Yongshun, Hunan, and the site of Tangya Tusi in Enshi, Hubei. Before the Song Dynasty, these Tujia people living in Wuling area, together with other ethnic minorities, were called "Wu Lingren" or "Wuxi people". After the Song Dynasty, Tujia people were called "Tu Ding", "Tu Ren", "Tu Min" or "Tu Man". With the increase of Han immigrants, it was not until the Qing Dynasty and Yongzheng period that "returning home" was widely implemented that it was divided into "Ben" and "Ke". It was not until the government of the Republic of China that ethnic minorities were regarded as the big and small branches of the so-called "nation", so many ethnic minorities were not recognized.
Tujia nationality reflected in Tusi ruins is a nationality with a long history in China, living in Wuling Mountain area adjacent to Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing and Guizhou. Although Tujia as a national identity has long been formed, it was not officially recognized as a single nation until the founding of New China. With the implementation of the party's ethnic policy, some ethnic minorities who were not recognized or forced to conceal their ethnic composition in the past asked the central government to recognize their national identity. Therefore, the Central People's Government has decided to scientifically identify all ethnic groups in China, accurately define the Han nationality and ethnic minorities, and implement regional ethnic autonomy. 1956 10, the national ethnic affairs commission identified Tujia as a single ethnic group through ethnic identification. And in 1957, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Hunan Province was established. 1983, Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Hubei Province was established, and later Youyang, Xiushan, Shizhu, Changyang, Wufeng, Yinjiang and Yanhe Autonomous Counties were established. Only under such a national policy can the historical traditions of these ethnic minorities be restored and affirmed, and the Tusi site, as a side of their national history, has the greatest value of inheriting the world heritage. (Reference:
Sina Weibo)