Shìxī

Shìxī was a district in the mountain country west of the Lǐ River plain. The Yuan established Shìxī Zhou under Lǐzhōu, alongside neighbouring Cílì. Later local traditions connected the name with hereditary chiefs of the surrounding valleys, although the exact relationship between the Yuan zhou and later native offices was disputed by Qing gazetteer writers. Early in the Ming, imperial armies campaigned against Shìxī and other mountain communities as the dynasty consolidated its authority in the southwest.