Tusi Sites

The tusi were hereditary chiefs of ethnic minority domains in south-west China whom the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties appointed as officials. The system tied these domains into national administration while letting their peoples keep their customs, and it grew out of systems of minority government going back to the 3rd century BCE. The title 'tusi' itself first appears in the Ming period.

The property has three parts. Laosicheng in Yongshun County, Hunan, was built in 1135 as the seat of the Peng clan and served until the administration moved away in 1724. Tangya in Xianfeng County, Hubei, a much smaller seat held by the Qin family from the 14th century, was abandoned when its tusi handed the domain to the central government in 1735. Hailongtun near Zunyi, Guizhou, was founded in 1257 as the mountain fortress of the Yang family of Bozhou; rebuilt in 1595 to 1600, it fell after a defeat by the Ming army in 1600 and was surrendered in 1601.

In the 18th century the Gaitu Guiliu policy replaced many tusi with officials sent from the centre, and the system ended in the early 20th century. The three sites were inscribed at the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee in Bonn, Germany, in July 2015.