Mangshi
Mangshi, former name Luxi, is a county-level city and the seat of Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture in western Yunnan province, China. Mangshi has an area of, with an urban area of. Han Chinese, Dai people and Jingpo people are the major ethnic groups. Luxi County was established in 1949, and became a county-level city in 1996.
Etymology
Mangshi was originally called Luxi. The name "Luxi" originated in 1934 when the central government of Republic of China established the direct ruled government Luxi Administrative Bureau. The name means "west of the Lu River," referring to "Lujiang", another name for the Nujiang River.The name "Mangshi" evolved from the ancient tribal name Mangshi, which was used to refer to the ancestors of the De'ang people. The earliest known use of "Mangshi" as a place name appeared in 1443, in the tusi chiefdom title Mangshi Yuyi Zhangguansi.
Due to Mangshi's strategic importance as a stronghold in the China Burma India theater during World War II, and as the site where the Prime Ministers of China and Myanmar hosted the 1956, the name "Mangshi" became far more widely recognized than "Luxi". Additionally, major local landmarks were commonly named using "Mangshi" rather than "Luxi", such as, Mangshi Airport, Mangshi Conference Hall, and Mangshi Square. As a result, many visiting merchants and travelers were familiar with "Mangshi" but not "Luxi". The limited recognition of the "Luxi" name hindered the city's development. In 2008, a public opinion survey in Luxi showed that among 4,751 respondents, 96.96% supported restoring the historical name "Mangshi". On July 12, 2010, the State Council of China approved the renaming of Luxi to Mangshi, and on December 29 of the same year, an official renaming ceremony was held at Mangshi Conference Hall.
Mangshi is the only county-level city in China with a two-character name where the second character serves both as a proper noun and as a political division suffix.
In the Tai Nuea language, Mangshi is called Muang Khon, written in Chinese as "", meaning "City of Dawn."
The standard English transliteration of the city's name is "Mangshi" based on Hanyu Pinyin. Sometimes, the Wade-Giles romanization "Mangshih" is also used.
History
Prehistory–14th century
In the late Neolithic period, human activity had already emerged within the Mangshi region. Archaeological sites from this period have been discovered in villages such as Mangbing and Huangjiazhai in Zhongshan Township, which modern research identifies as part of the prehistoric culture of the ancestors of the De'ang people.During the Bronze Age, the Mangshi area successively fell under the domains of the and the. In 69 AD, Liu Mao, the king of Ailao, led 77 tribal chieftains to pledge allegiance to the Han court. In response, the Han Dynasty established Yongchang Commandery in the former Ailao territory, with Mangshi falling under the jurisdiction of within the commandery. The Shu-Han regime maintained this administrative structure during the Three Kingdoms period. In 271 AD, it was reassigned to. In the Tang Dynasty, the Mangshi area was inhabited by the tribes, and the tribe name "Mangshi" first appeared in historical records.
In the early 7th century, Mangshi was known as "Xieluo City" and was under the jurisdiction of Yongchang Jiedu during the Nanzhao period. In the Dali Kingdom, it was called "Numou" and belonged to Yongchang Prefecture. After the Yuan Dynasty conquered the Dali Kingdom, the was established in 1261, with Mangshi under its administration. In 1271, the Pacification Commission was divided into different Circuits, and Mangshi fell under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Circuit Appeasement Commission, which renamed the Appeasement Commission in 1275. In 1276, it was separated from Zhenkang Circuit, and was established under the Pacification Commission's jurisdiction, marking the formal beginning of Mangshi's administrative status.
At the same time the Yuan Dynasty established Mangshi Circuit, it also set up in what is now Ruili City, which the Dai/Shan people refer the regime as Möng Mao. During the First Yuan-Burma War, Luchuan Circuit served as an important frontline base for the Yuan army, and the Yuan Dynasty exerted strong military control and political rule over Luchuan during the conflict. In 1302, after the Yuan Dynasty abandoned its campaign against Myanmar, the military and administrative officials withdrew to the inland, and thereafter, Luchuan's influence began to expand on a large scale. The Mangshi region was actually under the administration of the local power in Luchuan, and by the end of the Yuan Dynasty, it had effectively become independented from the central government. The battlefield of the Battle of Ngasaunggyan within First Yuan-Burma War may have been located along the banks of the Mangshi River in the Mangshi area.
14th century–1911
Ming dynasty
After the Ming Dynasty entered Yunnan, the administrative system announced in 1382 included '. However, it did not recognize Luchuan's expansion or its control over Mangshi, instead classifying Luchuan as just one of many prefectures and circuits in western Yunnan. This decision led to dissatisfaction in Luchuan, which soon went to war with the Ming central court before eventually surrendering. In 1399, after the death of, the Ming Dynasty initiated split Luchuan's territory, dismantling Luchuan's control and establishing multiple Tusi regimes. Mangshi, located near Luchuan's core region, remained under Luchuan's control during this time. Under Si Renfa’s rule, Luchuan once again expanded outward, prompting the Ming court to launch a military campaign against it, known in history as the "Luchuan–Pingmian campaigns".In 1443, Si Jifa attacked Fangge, a former Luchuan chief who had aligned with the Ming Dynasty and was the leader of Mangshi. Si Jifa was defeated by the Ming army, and in response, the Ming court established the 'Mangshi Yuyi Zhangguansi, placing it under the jurisdiction of the. Later, it was directly administered by the Yunnan Province.
Following the, the Ming court split the original Longchuan Tusi Chiefdom territory and established the in 1584, headquartered in present-day Zhefang. In 1640, the Mangshi Yuyi Zhangguansi was upgraded to the Mangshi Appeasement Commission.
Qing dynasty
In 1656, the Yongli Emperor of the Southern Ming entered Yunnan and appealed to the Tusi chiefdoms to resist the Qing forces. Qing troops entered western Yunnan in 1658, and the Ganya Tusi of Yingjiang County led his forces to resist the Qing and assisted Emperor Yongli in fleeing to Burma, but his entire army was destroyed. In 1659, the Tusi chiefdoms of Dehong included Mangshi submitted to the Qing Dynasty, the new court retained their original positions, and were placed under the jurisdiction of.After Hsinbyushin succeeded as the king of the Konbaung Dynasty, Burma, he launched several raids into Yunnan. The Qing–Burmese War broke out, and in 1764, the Viceroy of Yun-Gui set up military checkpoints at Santai Mountain in Mangshi and at Mangkanqing in Zhefang, deploying troops for defense. In 1766, the Burmese army occupied Hsenwi State and Wanmaw State. The viceroy sent Wu-Er-Den with 3,000 troops to Zhefang, while viceroy Mingrui personally led 10,000 troops to meet E'erdeng'e in Hsenwi via Mangshi. By 1769, the conflict had ended, and Mangshi remained a key Qing military base, supplying over 30,000 Qing troops with a large amount of military provisions.
In 1770, was established, and both Mangshi and Zhefang were transferred under its administration from Yongchang Prefecture. In 1899, the Sino-British boundary demarcation of the Yunnan-Myanmar border resulted in the return of the Mengban region, which had been annexed by Hsenwi during the early Qing period. Due to its strategic importance, the was established to oversee the area.
1911–1949
In the Republic of China period, the Yunnan government appointed two "suppression commissars" to Mangban and Zhemao within the Mangshi area in 1913. Mangban suppression commissar administered Mangshi Anfusi and Mengban Tuqianzong territories, and Zhemao suppression commissar administered Zhefang Xuanfusi and Mengmao Anfusi territories. The two suppression commissars were replaced by an administrative commissar in 1915, and a district named Mangzheban Administrative District was established. At the same time, Mengmao Anfusi was separated from the district, thus forming the boundaries of modern Mangshi. As a transition before formally establishing a county, Yunnan government set a Shezhiju in Mangshi area named Mangzheban Shezhiju replacing Mangzheban District in 1929. The Administrative Bureau is a quasi-county level administrative division. Mengga is the seat of the bureau. It changed the name to Luxi Shezhiju in 1934. The Imperial Japanese Army occupied Luxi on 4May 1942 and retreated on 11 December 1944 when Counterattack of Western Yunnan started. In 1949, Luxi Administrative Bureau finally became Luxi County, with the seat of county government at the town of Mangshi, and the first county magistrate was the acting Tusi Fang Kesheng. The Tusi system and the central bureaucracy still coexisted.1949–present
Fang Kesheng refused to join People's Republic of China, preferring to remain neutral. Eventually the People's Liberation Army advanced into Luxi in April 1950, and Fang Kesheng fled to Taiwan. His brother Fang Keguang succeeded be the acting tusi, and cooperated with the Chinese Communist Party. The three tusi were killed during the land reform movement in 1955. Luxi County became Luxi City in 1996, and changed the name to Mangshi City in 2010.Geography
Mangshi has an area of. There are two main plains in Mangshi named Mangshi Ba and Zhefang Ba. The city of Mangshi is situated at the east of Mangshi Ba. Mountains are the primary landforms of Mangshi, making up approximately 84.48% of the territory. Mount Qingkou is the city's highest point, with an altitude of 2,889.1 meters. Manxin River's estuary is the lowest point, with an altitude of 528 metres in Zhongshan Township. The mountains are branches of western Gaoligong Mountains.Mangshi River is the "mother river" of Mangshi, and has a drainage basin of, about 61.3% of area of Mangshi. Longchuan River is the border river between Mangshi and Lianghe County and Longchuan County on the north and west. Salween River on the southeast tip of Mangshi marks the international border between Mangshi and Myanmar's Shan State.