Museum of She Xiang

　　The Museum of She Xiang showcases the splendid history and culture of the ancient Shuixi Yi people, who were concentrated in the northwest of Guizhou with Dafang as their political, economic, and cultural center. The Yi people are an ethnic group with a long history and ancient civilization. After the Mu branch of the Di people migrated to Guizhou, they developed and thrived over a vast area west of Yachi River, historically referred to as the "Lulu tribe" or "Shuixi Yi." During the Three Kingdoms period of Shu Han, there was Tuojiaozhe, the King of Luodian, who established his capital in Dafang. In the early Ming Dynasty, Lady She Xiang served as the pacification commissioner of Guizhou and pioneered the construction of the Longchang Nine Posts, marking a golden age. Through a long process of social development, the Shuixi Yi people created a brilliant culture with their own unique characteristics. The museum has six exhibition rooms and houses a large collection of ancient Yi-language texts. She Xiang Tomb

　　She Xiang was a renowned female Tusi (local chieftain) of the Yi ethnic group in Guizhou during the Ming Dynasty. Her tomb is located next to the Museum of She Xiang. It features a circular stone enclosure with an earthen mound. The tomb skirt is adorned with nine high-relief stone carvings of dragons and tigers, decorated with Yi ethnic patterns. In front of the tomb, two terraced platforms are built along the terrain, and the entire burial site is enclosed by imitation ancient horse-head-shaped walls, with a central pool, pavilions, stone railings, small bridges, flower beds, and lawns. She Xiang Lady

　　She Xiang (1368–1396 AD)

　　She was the daughter of She Xiang from Yongning Qielin (today's Gulin County, Sichuan), a woman of the Mu branch ancestor Mu’awa, and a legendary and renowned female Yi politician.

　　In the eighth year of the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty (1375), she married Aicui, the pacification commissioner of Guizhou. In the 14th year of Hongwu (1381), when Aicui passed away, She Xiang took over his role as the pacification commissioner of Guizhou and was later honored as the Duchess of Shunde. Although she passed away young at the age of 38, she left behind a trail of remarkable achievements. When the Shuixi region suffered from natural disasters such as floods, she personally visited the affected areas to assess the damage, comfort victims, and provide relief, earning deep support and admiration from the people.

　　She Xiang also vigorously promoted the economic and cultural development of Shuixi. She mobilized the local people to establish two major post roads centered around Pianqiao (present-day Shibing County). One road ran westward, passing through Guiyang, Hezhang, and Weining to reach Yunnan. The other road went northward through Weng’an and Meitan, spanning over a thousand li, thus connecting the transport routes between Guizhou, Sichuan, and Yunnan. Zhu Yuanzhang remarked, “She Xiang’s submission is worth more than 100,000 elite soldiers.” Notably, in establishing the post roads and building postal stations, She Xiang implemented preferential policies akin to attracting investment—specifically, allocating large plots of land near each post station to be provided free of charge but conditionally to outsiders for development. Today, many people in Guizhou with ancestral roots in Jiangxi and Huguang provinces trace their origins back to that migration period.