Abstract: Anthropologists agree that kinship system is the rudimentary political system prior to the emergence of state authority. Although the power of lineages was broken down by the time of Roman Empire in the West, in Max Weber's view,China remained as a country where lineages were the basic social administrative units in society. Morris Freedman suggested that the reason for familial lineages being the major social institution in southeast China was due to lack of the government power in the area. However, recently some anthropologists and historians suggest that the “lijia” system exited in Ming and Qing is an evidence indicating that familial lineages were absorbed into the state governing system to become part of local administrative structure. Confucian rituals were observed and state commended gods were worshipped, a clear acceptance of mainstream Confucianism. In ethnic southeast China,Qing first allowed the local chiefdom system continue but later implemented land and tax policies that forced changes in local social structure and culture. Chieftains were replaced with court appointed officials,and serfs and chiefs all became “equal” subjects of the emperor. Qianlong period saw the change of abolishment of chieftains, government garrison establishment and land and taxation reform in Rgyalong society in Jinchuan county of Sichuan, however, lineage system, endogamy, and conscripted labor system kept the social stratification alive. Not until the 1950s did the people gain equal status as “citizens” of the state. Nevertheless, the new state acknowledged the authority of Tibetan Buddhism in Rgyalong, which made the region unique in comparison to other south and southwestern parts of China in state authority.

Key words: direct rule, indirect rule, rGyarong society, Jinchuan, local chieftain, hierarchy structure