In the heart of China's Hubei Province lies a chieftain grave that could be one of UNESCO's world heritage sites. (Photo : Xinhua/China Culture)
Situated in the mountainous areas of Hunan, Hubei, and Guizhou in southeast China, the chieftain heritage sites will be applying for a listing as world cultural heritage by United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The 39th session of the World Heritage Committee, which opened in Bonn, Germany, will take place from June 28 to July 8.
Authorities believe that the odds are in favor of the chieftain heritage relics to win major votes at the convention.
The antiques are very popular within the archaeological field in recent years, and stand witness to the undertaking of federal integration in Chinese history.
Also known as Tusi, the chieftains were tribal leaders recognized as imperial officials by the government of the Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644), and Qing (1644-1912) dynasties.
The central government back then made orders with local chieftains to rule the northwest and southwest borders and it showed a successful strategy.
Wang Wei, head of the Institute of Archaeology in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the chieftain could preserve their own military and rule accordingly, so long as they submit and pay tribute to the central government.
“The system helped the central government rule parts of the country that were very different from the central land though it later resulted in fights between the chieftains and had to be revised,” added Wang.
According to Liu Qingzhu, director of the history department of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the "chieftain system serves as a historical reference for us to unite the people and rule the country in a multinational context."
The relics cover chieftain city artifacts, chieftain military town sites, chieftain government building antiques, manor relics and graves, among other things.
