Lùquàn

Luquan lies in the mountain country north of Kunming, in the wider Wuding region of Yunnan. Before the Mongol conquest, the Luowu people formed one of the powerful groups in this upland region. In 1255 their leader submitted to Khubilai and received authority over an area that included Luquan and Wuding. Under the Ming, Luquan was a subprefecture of Wuding, where the hereditary Feng family held local authority. The Ming court also appointed centrally assigned officials as it changed the administration of Wuding. In the Qing period further reform brought the hereditary rule of the Feng family there to an end; by 1770 Luquan was a county under Wuding. The region's steep valleys and uplands were home to Yi and other communities whose local traditions continued through these changes.