Enshi Tusi City

　　Enshi Tusi City, also known as Mowei Tower, is located 1.5 kilometers from the city center of Enshi, the prefectural capital. It is a cultural landscape and folk scenic area featuring historical relics, architecture, and garden design. This site is an ancient-style Tusi manor architectural complex in the Tujia ethnic region, designed by the Suzhou Institute of Landscape Architecture and constructed by local folk artisans. It was established to implement the development strategy of "ecotourism state and ethnic culture park" proposed by the Enshi Prefectural Committee and the People's Government, as carried out by the Enshi Prefecture Ethnic Affairs Commission. It is the largest, most magnificent, uniquely styled, and most beautiful landmark project showcasing Tusi culture in the Tujia region nationwide. It was named and inscribed "Enshi Tusi City" by Fei Xiaotong, the then Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and a renowned sociologist.

　　Enshi Tusi City is situated in the northwest of Enshi City, in a small locality called Duishanwan, just 500 meters from the municipal government seat. The site includes 12 scenic areas and over 30 attractions, such as the Gate Tower, Dong Minority Wind-Rain Bridge, Linjun Shrine, Drill Ground, Tujia Residential Houses, the Tusi King’s Palace—Jiujin Hall, City Walls, Bell Tower, Drum Tower, Hundred Flowers Garden, White Tiger Statue, Recumbent Tiger Iron Bridge, Tingtao Tea House, and Ethnic Art Garden.

　　The Tujia people have a long history and are descendants of the ancient Ba people. The Ba people originally lived in the Jianghan Plain area. Later, as the Chu people grew powerful and conflicts arose between the Ba and Chu, the Ba were defeated. They retreated to the region now known as the Qingjiang River, historically called the Yishui River, and advanced westward along the Yishui, extending their influence to eastern Sichuan. During the Spring and Autumn Period, they established the first slave-state of the Ba people, the Ba Kingdom. In 361 BC, they were conquered by the powerful Qin State. Some Ba people retreated to the Wuling region, which spans the borders of present-day Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, and Guizhou, where they integrated with local tribes and gradually formed the Tujia ethnic group. The Tujia people refer to themselves as "Bizi Ka" or "Beijin Ka." During the Song Dynasty, the Ba people living in this region were called "Turen" (locals), and later the Tujia referred to incoming Han people as "Kehua" (guest families) and themselves as Tujia.

　　The Tusi system was a political management system in Chinese history whereby the central feudal dynasties governed ethnic minority regions with a degree of autonomy under nominal central allegiance. The Tusi system in the Tujia region began in the Yuan Dynasty and ended in the 13th year of the Yongzheng reign during the Qing Dynasty with the "abolition of the Tusi system and establishment of the regular administration" (改土归流). It spanned the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, lasting over 450 years. The relationship between the Tusi and the central feudal court was one where the Tusi paid tribute and pledged allegiance to the central authority, while the court granted them hereditary rule and autonomy. Tusi-controlled lands were not included in the official maps of the central dynasty, and their populations were not registered in the imperial household records. They held life-and-death power locally and dominated their territories. The Tusi king was essentially a local tribal emperor.

　　The Tusi governance structure in the Enshi Tujia region changed over different dynasties. The Yuan Dynasty established 29 Tusi offices, the Ming Dynasty had 31, and the Qing Dynasty had 20. The areas under Tusi jurisdiction included today’s regions south of the Qingjiang River in Enshi Prefecture, as well as parts of present-day Changyang and Wufeng counties, which now belong to Yichang.

　　Address: No. 138 Tusi Road, Enshi City

　　Type: Folk Village

　　Rating: AAAA

　　Recommended Visiting Time: 2–3 hours

　　Phone: 0718-8458166

　　Opening Hours:

　　8:00–17:00

　　Information Source: Official Website of the People's Government of Hubei Province