The “Manyi lü” 蠻夷律 (Statutes on the Manyi) in Han Slips from Hujia Caochang and the Household Registration of Regional Ethnic Groups

In the early Western Han, the “Manyi (zhu)lü” 蠻夷 ( 諸 ) 律 (“Various Statutes on the Manyi”) was specifically formulated in order to register Manyi 蠻夷 (Southern Barbarians) living in local counties and marches into households, distribute land, collect household cong -tribute ( 賨 ), and conscript Manyi for corvée labor and garrison duty. The term cong referred to a kind of household tax levied by the Qin and Han on Manyi households. The Qin and Han established a relatively systematic and in-depth direct rule over those Manyi who had submitted that consisted of a threefold process of household registration, provincial administration, and Sinicization.