This book examines how the Ming state in the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries transformed the multi-ethnic society of Yunnan into a province. By focusing on changes in local society, the book casts off the idea of Yunnan as a border area far from civilisation.

Christian Daniels is Professor and Head of the Division of Humanities at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Jianxiong Ma is an Associate Professor in the Division of Humanities at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Introduction 1 Salt, Grain and the Change of Deities in Early Ming Western Yunnan ZHAO Min 2 Local Communities, Village Temples and the Reconstruction of Ethnic Groups in Western Yunnan, 14th to 17th Centuries Jianxiong Ma 3 The Lancang Guard and the Construction of Ming Society in Northwest Yunnan HUANG Caiwen 4 The Mu Native Official's Governance of the Tibetan World and His Sponsorship of Tibetan Buddhism YAMADA Noriyuki 5 Upland Leaders of the Internal Frontier and Ming Governance of Western Yunnan, 15th and 16th Centuries Christian Daniels