Kòngwěi

Kongwei was a fortified settlement in the Zhenkang country of southwestern Yunnan, caught in struggles over allegiance between local chiefs and the Burmese kingdom. In 1605, the Mubang chief Han Sili sought to persuade Zhenkang's ruler Men Zhi to submit to Burma. When Men Zhi refused, Han Sili ordered his follower Hai Qing to seize Kongwei.

The attack belonged to a longer contest for control of Zhenkang's routes and chiefly office. Ming administration had made the region a prefecture in 1382 and a subordinate department in 1384, but local rulers continued to exercise authority. In 1622 Mubang troops and elephants advanced to the Zhali River, forcing Men Zhi to flee to Yaoguan. A Ming military officer sent an intermediary, and the Mubang forces withdrew. Kongwei's history thus lay within a frontier where control of individual strongholds could change amid pressure on the chiefs who governed the surrounding valleys.