Réndé

Rende belongs to the northern Yunnan uplands around the wider Wuding region, where cultivated valleys and mountain country supported communities with different languages and social traditions. Farming, livestock, woodland resources, and market exchange provided complementary livelihoods. Routes between settlements mattered for the movement of salt, cloth, tools, grain, and information across a terrain that could make neighboring valleys difficult to reach.

Rende lies in the Xundian area. Under the Yuan, the area formed Rende Prefecture; in 1382 the Ming reorganized it as Xundian Military and Civil Prefecture. The prefectural seat moved to Rende in 1533. The Ming also replaced hereditary local administration with appointed officials in the fifteenth century.