明朝長城邊外的東北地區，散處眾多羈縻衛所，其中以蒙古兀良哈三衛部落最大，為近邊主要勢力，其自明初受封後，即擁有朝貢貿易資格，並且日益向南遷徙、駐牧，影響明邊東段情勢甚巨。兀良哈三衛雖為明朝「屬夷」，但從未脫離與蒙古世界的聯繫，對明朝叛服不定，唯其勢力也從未能稱霸塞外，一直扮演著關鍵大部落的角色。十六世紀時，達延汗中興元裔，一統蒙古，兀良哈三衛同時向明朝稱臣，後被元裔勢力瓜分，僅朵顏衛持續興盛並成為三衛領導力量，直至明末。歷來的明史研究中，鮮見探究朵顏衛的來源、在明朝的發展，及其在晚明與元裔結盟的情況，這些問題尚有諸多不明之處。本文主要研究明朝朵顏的來源與發展，將先追溯明初「兀良哈三衛」之來源，再考察其首領部落朵顏衛的發展，進而釐清兀良哈部在明朝、河套平原俺答、察哈爾高原蒙古大汗等主要政權間扮演的角色。

There were numerous garrisons (weisuo) under the Ming dynasty’s ‘bridle and halter’ administrative system scattered across the northeast territory beyond the Great Wall. One garrison among them incorporated three tribes and was known as the Wu-Liang-Ha Garrison. The Wu-Liang-Ha Garrison was under Ming rule, but it also had close connections with Mongolian rulers and functioned as an autonomous military unit. It became the influential force residing in greatest proximity to the Ming border and possessed the right to trade with the Ming. When in the sixteenth-century, the Yuan descendant Dayan Khan reunited Mongolia, including the Wu-Liang-Ha Garrison, the latter were still a vassal of the Ming court. The Duoyan Garrison became the leading force among the Wu-Liang-Ha tribes up through the early 17th century, yet its history has rarely been studied. The primary aim of this paper is to flesh out the origin and development of the Duoyan Garrsion after 1600 and adumbrate the role it played between the northern tribes and Ming China.