本文主要以白人土官及其鄰近人群為主，從聯姻與繼嗣群的角度討論女性在地緣政治中的重要地位。中國西南曾經出現維持相當長久的政治體系，包括羅甸國、大理國、麓川王國等等。在帝國土官羈縻政治與華夏中心的歷史架構與視野下，我們往往看不到明清以來其地緣政治中結群模式之變化。文章透過還原地方社會之語境，討論帝國治理下地方政治適應的問題，將指出：一、姑舅表婚和從妻居是西南人群用以鞏固地緣政治的結群策略。二、土官政治衝突往往起因於給妻者與討妻者雙方對土官合法繼承權的競爭。三、為保護土官子嗣免於旁系干擾，給妻者的母親角色在地方政治愈來愈重要。四、母親為鞏固土官世系，採取擴大型的聯姻策略來建構給妻者聯盟陣線，其土官政治的重心也由白人土官轉到麼些土官。五、聯盟政治中扮演重要角色的女性身分由女兒轉而為母親。綜合來說，本文將從地方政治中給妻者的女性角色，來說明她們在政治聯盟與社會階層化時所扮演的重要性。此一過程的討論有助於我們重新檢視帝國邊緣社會吸納人群的政治機制，以及族群形成的內部條件。

Throughout much of Chinese history, various political systems were formed in the geographic area that now constitutes southwest China. Their histories were written either from a Chinese-centric perspective, or constructed in the framework of indigenous ideologies. This study examines historical accounts and fieldwork data from Dali, Lijiang, Yongsheng, and Yao’an to examine the question of how local peoples responded to and negotiated with imperial rules regarding legitimate succession that differed from the norms of indigenous politics. In this paper, I will focus on the rise of cross-ethnic marriages between Bai (nobles of Dali kingdoms) and their neighbors, discussing the process by which they adjusted themselves to Ming rule by utilizing kinship and marriage strategies. This paper will explore several cases to demonstrate the following points: (1) Cross-cousin marriage and matrilocal residence were commonly utilized to consolidate local political power and property. (2) Political conflicts surrounding the succession of legitimate heir to the native official position frequently arose between wife-takers and wife-givers. (3) To protect a legitimate male heir from contests of authority between brothers, the role of the wife giver, the chieftain’s mother, became more and more important in local politics. (4) Native officials adopted cross-ethnic marriage as a strategy to establish extensive political alliances and consolidate their political status. (5) Shaped by the imperial system, the importance of the wife-giver shifted from daughter to mother as the political center of the borderland shifted from Bai to Moso people. In concluding, I emphasize the historical role of women in native politics by demonstrating how the wife-giver played a key role both in political alliance and social stratification.