Achang - Sociopolitical Organization

The Achang are politically subordinate to the Han and Dai. Before 1949, Achang society was still at the chiefdom level of political development. The Achang, along with other ethnic peoples (the Dai, Han, Jingpo, and Lisu), formed separate multiethnic political units, each governed by a Dai feudal lord or a localized Han feudal lord. The hereditary feudal lord possessed paramount power of administration, adjudication, and supervision of military affairs in the area under his jurisdiction. The village was the basic unit of administration, governed by a village head who was usually elected by villagers and approved by the feudal lord. Several villages were governed by an officer who was appointed by the feudal lord. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Communist central government has carried out the system of the regional autonomy of minority nationalities in the Achang areas.