Yingjiang County History

History of Yingjiang County

Four Strategic Passes of the Ming Dynasty

In 22nd year during the reign of Wangli in the Ming Dynasty (1594), Chen Yongbin, governor of Yunnan applied with the central government to set up eight defending passes in the frontier areas of Yunnan, and four of them were within the territory of Yingjiang.

Ma Jiali Event
In 1875 during the reign of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, Ma Jiali, a grade-two interpreter with the English Consulate led English army to invade into Mangyun of Yingjiang and aroused so intense anger among local people that they killed him later. This was the world-shocking “Ma Jiali Event”. Later, the government of the Qing Dynasty was forced to sign with the British Government the Sino-Britain Yantai Treaty, which humiliated the Chinese Nation and forfeited its sovereignty.
The Ancient Zhina Blockhouse was one of the six stone blockhouses built along the important lines for frontier defense sake by Hu Qirong(in 1823 during the reign of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty), an official of Tengyue District after his application with the central government.

The Mother Rubber Tree of China grows on the hillside of the Phoenix Mountain of Xincheng City. It was introduced from Malaysia in 1904 by Dao Anren, a Dai forerunner of democratic revolution. It was the earliest rubber tree to be implanted in China.

Dao Anren (1872-1913), 23rd Magistrate Ganya of the 21st generation, once studied in Japan and joined the China Democratic League as a follower of Mr. Sun Yat-sen. He was one of the major leaders of the Tengyue Uprising. The Bill of the Xincheng Bank was printed by Dao Anren in 33rd year during the reign of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1907) when he studied in Japan in preparation for the establishment of agricultural and industrial entity in China.

Yingjiang county became part of Chinese territory for the first time in the Western Han dynasty. It was under control of Yizhou Prefecture (益州郡) (Yìzhōu jùn) in the Western Han dynasty. During the Eastern Han, the Shu Han, the Western Jin, and the Eastern Jin, it was governed by Ailao county (哀牢縣) (Āiláo xiàn), Yongchang Prefecture (永昌郡) (Yŏngchāng jùn), and then by Xicheng county (西城縣) (Xīchéng xiàn) from the Southern Qi dynasty in 479.

Actually, from 320s on, the Cuan (爨) (Cuàn) family began to control Yunnan. China was very unstable during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and the central governments had no force to control Yunnan. The Cuan family took the strategy by which they recognized the nominal sovereignty of the central governments while remaining themselves as the real local rulers. In this way, the Cuan family had controlled Yunnan for more than 400 years until it was conquered by Nanzhao in 769.

Yingjiang was ruled by Nanzhao and later by Dali from the 8th to the 13th century and hence was not governed by China during the Tang dynasty and the Song dynasty. It was conquered by the Mongols and again became part of the Chinese territory. During the Ming dynasty and the Qing dynasty, Yingjiang was governed by local chiefs under the “Tusi system” (土司制度) (Tŭsī Zhìdù), i.e. the Native Chieftain system, in which the central government had the nominal sovereignty.

 In early 1990s, Yingjiang was approved to be a provincial-level port (grade two at the national level) by the People’s Government of Yunnan Province.

For centuries, people of Han, Dai, Jingpo, Lisu, De’ang and Achang have lived in this piece of rich land prosperously. They nourished a special and colorful national culture of them. Here, visitors can witness the thousand-year-old but still unfailing Dai Opera, the breathtaking “Guangbang” Drum Dance, the lyrical “Wenbeng” Greeting Melody, and the boisterous Three-string Dance. In addition, there are several national festivals such as the Water-splashing Festival, Munao Zongge Festival and Kuoshi Festival that are like many bunches of blooming flowers and cups of intoxicating wine.