Abstract: The descendants of Tibetan Tubo loyal family in the pre-Hong period had largely left dbus gtsang areas by the time of the post-Hong period. Their aristocratic status often became the Charisma basis of the frontier chieftain system. Based on Gu Bao’s study of the Choni chieftain system， this paper offers a systematic analysis of power transition of Choni chieftain and its sociological mechanism. Xie Di， the first chieftain of Choni， relied on the power of witchcraft to obtain his throne， and through sacrifices to the local Mountain-God a myae brag dkar， gained the right to control the tribal warrior group. Choni chieftain system in this period was typical of the New-Age group of kingship. During the Kangxi Period of the Qing Dynasty， with the powerful legislative process of the central government in the frontier， Choni chieftain experienced a series of political and religious reforms such as the publication of the Tripitaka， thus turning its system to a more rational and judicial form of Old-Age group. After that， the chieftain consisted of patrimonialism and military fiefdoms. The former refers to the relationship between the chieftain and the twelve Zhang’ga （affiliated groups living in the county seat of Choni）， whereas the latter was the forty-eight highly autonomous military-production organizations named Qi. These two parts were linked together by means of the Qi electoral system. By comparing with other forms of kingships， this paper argues that it is insufficient to understand the kingship system just from tribal leaders and chiefs. The essence of the kingship lies in the encompassing of social diversity. The priest-based hierarchy and the judicial-based peace are the key to kingship. During the frontier peace movement in the Kangxi Period， Choni chieftain established a relatively complete hierarchical system by publishing the Tripitaka and expanding the diocese of Chanding monastery. However， it still failed to curb the tendency of the subordinate members to secede， and the judicial rulings of the central government were the fundamental basis for Choni chieftain to maintain power and status. Neither witchcraft nor judicial kingship could exercise full control of the warriors as kingship only a partial part of the political system. Lastly， this paper points out that， for any society， there are both the tendency of social integration and the tendency of secession by identity groups. It is the tension between these two tendencies that provides crucial evidences for scholars to understand social structure and its dynamics.

Key words: kingship, Choni chieftain, frontier peace, Charisma