Gǔlìn

Gulin lies in the mountain country between southern Sichuan and northern Guizhou. Much of this region belonged to the hereditary Yongning chiefs, whose jurisdiction extended across the country of present-day Gulin, Xuyong and Junlian. Their position joined local Yi authority to offices recognised by the imperial court. Routes through the hills connected settlements on both sides of the Sichuan–Guizhou frontier.

In 1621 the Yongning chief She Chongming rebelled against the Ming. His forces' campaigns reached beyond the local mountains into the great cities of Sichuan, and the ensuing conflict broke the power of the ruling house. The region was subsequently reshaped by warfare and migration. Local histories of Matitan describe Han and Miao families arriving during the late Ming and early Qing from Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan. Some came with armies, others escaped war or followed commercial opportunities. Their movements across the Chishui River and mountain passes added new settlements and family lineages to a country already shaped by native-chief rule.