Jimi system

Jimi system

Epitaph of Pugu Yitu, a Turkic chief and vassal of the Tang dynasty under the Jimi system, who died in 678 CE.^[1]

The Jimi system (Chinese: 羈縻制) or Jimifuzhou (Chinese: 羈縻府州) was an autonomous administrative and political organization system used in China between the 7th century and 10th century. It should not be confused with the Chinese tributary system.^[2] The term "Jimi" was first seen in the annotation of Shiji quoted by Sima Zhen from a book of the Eastern Han dynasty, which implied to a man directing a horse or ox by the use of rein.^[3] Jimi administrative divisions were used primarily during the Tang dynasty from the 650s until the 740s.^[4] It was subsequently used in the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties under other names such as the Tusi system (Chinese: 土司制) until around 1726, when a new civil order under the Qing government was established.^[5]