THE XINAN YUE

The Xin’an region (sheen-ahn) encompassed the Sichuan Basin and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in the interior of southern China (analogous to modern Sichuan, Chongqing, southwestern Hubei, northern Guizhou, and Yunnan). The northern half of Xinan—Sichuan, Chongqing, southwestern Hubei, and northern Guizhou—were dominated by ethnic Qiang groups, while Yunnan was home to various Mon-Khmer and Tai-speaking peoples. The Qiang of northern Xinan were related to the Qiang of western China (Qinghai and southern Gansu), although the Han often referred to them as Baiyue or Yue, and groups like the Yelang do appear to have been heavily influenced by their Mon-Khmer and Tai neighbors. The most prominent Bronze Age state of the Xinan region was the Kingdom of Tian/Dian, located in northern Yunnan and southern Sichuan, discussed on the gallery page, although Yunnan was also home to a dizzying number of different Baiyue peoples of the Mon-Khmer and Tai cultural-linguistic families, and we often do not know the specific names of the tribes because ancient Chinese writers usually did not differentiate between the different tribal polities of the Baiyue (i.e., to the Chinese, they were all “southern barbarians,” and the forced assimilation/Sinicization of these peoples was aimed at “harmonizing” (tiáo) these peoples with the empire, something that did not include respecting distinct cultural identities). Thus, generally only powerful, partly Sinicized states like Tian/Dian were considered important enough to write about in any kind of systematic fashion (and even the works describing these groups were terse). Nevertheless, we know of several modern indigenous groups whose traditional oral histories trace their origins to ancient Yunnan (yoo-nahn), and modern archeology and linguistics have in many cases corroborated this. Those that lived in Yunnan during the Bronze Age are believed to include the ancestors of the Miao (mee-ow, known to the Han as the Nanmiao, nahn-mee-ow), Bai (buy), Lahu (lah-hoo), Wa (wah), Yao (yah-ow), and Zhuang (choo-ah-ung) peoples. Many of these peoples were tributary allies of Tian/Dian, although the mountainous jungles of Yunnan and the fierceness of its warriors often kept outsiders at bay, and the hold of the Kingdom of Tian/Dian and the Han Dynasty on this region was always tenuous. For ease of reference herein, I use the collective term, “Yunnan Yue,” in reference to these peoples.

 

Qiang

Unfortunately, the Qiang peoples of Sichuan, Chongqing, and northern Guizhou are not as well-documented as their kin in Qinghai and southern Gansu during the Bronze Age. They are part of the Tibeto-Burmese cultural-linguistic family. The states of Ba (western Sichuan) and Shu (eastern Sichuan) had dominated Sichuan between them prior to the conquest of Sichuan by Qin (ca. 316 BCE). The Qin garrisons in Ba and Shu, like the men of Zhuang Qiao’s occupation of Tian, quickly assimilated with the local populace, and after the fall of Qin (ca. 206 BCE), these outposts became independent Sino-Qiang states. However, the nomads that inhabited most of the Sichuan Basin had only vaguely accepted the suzerainty of Qin, and after the fall of Qin more nomadic Qiang had migrated into Sichuan from the northwest. The states of Ba and Shu, as well as the Kingdom of Tian, tried to dominate these nomads, with varying levels of success. Ba and Shu also were sometimes dominated by Tian (as tributaries), although they were functionally independent. The Yéláng (yeh-long) were a coalition of Qiang tribes that inhabited northern Guizhou during the Bronze Age. They are believed to be the ancestors of the modern Zangke/Zina. They are mainly known in connection with the kingdoms of Tian/Dian (to the west of the Yelang) and Nanyue (to the south), both states having used Yelang mercenaries and at times forming an alliance with the Yelang federation. Unlike many of the other Qiang groups, who were generally nomadic herders or agro-pastoralists, the Yelang were primarily agriculturalists, they wore their hair in a top-knot (the other southern Qiang wore their hair in braided pig-tails), they fought primarily as shock infantrymen (the other Qiang groups usually had a mix of infantry and cavalry), and they buried their dead with their head removed and placed in a bronze pot next to the body (not usually a practice associated with the Qiang). This last tidbit is believed to have something to do with the fact that the Yelang, like the Tianyue and Yunnan Yue, seem to have been avid head-hunters and had an extremely ferocious reputation—indeed, the Han had an idiomatic expression regarding the Yelang and their perceived arrogance (Yèláng zì dà, “Yelang thinks too highly of itself”). The head-in-a-pot burial practice likely had something to do with a belief in the head as containing the animating spirit, and no doubt burial ceremonies included some sort of ritual that made placing the head in a pot a way to preserve the animating spirit of the individual (i.e., head-hunters usually believed that by possessing an opponent’s head, they captured his animating spirit, which gave them mystical power). The pot probably was imbued with magical incantations that were believed to prevent anyone from taking the head post mortem, and thus capturing the departed’s animating spirit.

 

THE YANGZHOU YUE

The Yángyuè (pronounced, yong-yoo-way) are the earliest historically attested group to have been given the appellation, Yue, by ancient Chinese writers. Their origins lie in the semi-mythical Xia (2070-1600 BCE) and Shang (1600-1046 BCE) periods, although by the time of the Zhou period (1046-481 BCE) the Yang Region (Yangzhou) was considered to be one of the Nine (core) Regions (Jiǔ Zhou) of ancient China, and thus the Yue peoples of this region were the most highly Sinicized of the Yue peoples from a much earlier date. Yangzhou was located along China’s eastern coastline, between the Huai River (Huai He) in the north and the South China Sea (Nánfang Hǎi) in the south (roughly analogous to the modern-day provinces of southern Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Jiangxi). To the west of Yangzhou, in modern Hunan, lay the territories of the Nanman. Sometimes the term, nánmán (“southern people”), was used synonymously with Baiyue, but herein I use it to distinguish between the Yangue and the Baiyue peoples of Hunan. Like the Yangyue, the Nanman were more highly Sinicized from a much earlier date—due once again to their geographical proximity to northern China and their involvement in the wars of the Warring States Period—and so I have included them here under the regional sub-set of the Yangyue, despite the fact that they were not actually part of Yangzhou (i.e., their socio-political development largely parallels that of the Yangyue).

 

Great Yue

By the beginning of the Warring States period (481-403 BCE), the tribes of the Yangyue that lived north of the Yangtze River (southern Anhui, Shanghai, and northern Zhejiang) had formed the Kingdom of Great Yue (565-333 BCE) (Yuyuè). Great Yue fought a series of wars against the Chinese Kingdom of Wu (585-473 BCE) that have been immortalized in Chinese literature and modern film (particularly involving the reign of the Yue king, Goujian, ca. 496-465 BCE). An alliance between Great Yue and the Chinese Kingdom of Chu eventually destroyed the Kingdom of Wu (473 BCE), and the Yuyue were able to annex most of Wu (Jiangsu). However, a later alliance was formed between the Kingdom of Chu and the Chinese Kingdom of Qi, and the allies defeated Great Yue and partitioned its territories (ca. 334-333 BCE). Two branches of the ruling Zou (soe) clan of the Yuyue fled south of the Yangtze River and established themselves at Yongjia (a settlement on the coast of southern Zhejiang) and at Ye (a settlement on the coast of Fujian). These royal foundations formed the nuclei around which the Zou built two new kingdoms among the Baiyue—the Eastern Ou Kingdom (333-112 BCE) in southern Zhejiang, and the Minyue Kingdom (333-111 BCE) in Fujian. Meanwhile, the second son (Mingdi, mee-ung-dee) of the last ruler (Wuqiang, woo-chee-ung) of Great Yue chose to remain in the conquered kingdom, and was named Minister of Wucheng by the king of Chu, tasked with administering the conquered Yangyue population as vassals of Chu. When Chu was defeated by the Chinese Kingdom of Qin in 223 BCE, the province of Wucheng was dissolved and re-formed into several commanderies (i.e., military provinces), and large numbers of Chinese colonists were introduced into the region (ca. 223 BCE-174 CE).

 

Shanyue

After the dissolution of Wucheng (ca. 223 BCE), the descendants of Mingdi remained important spiritual leaders of the conquered Yangyue population (the cult of Mount Ouyu), and colonization of Wucheng by the Han (ca. 223 BCE-174 CE) gradually pushed the Yangyue into the lands around Mount Ouyu in northern Zhejiang (the Yuntai Mountain range). These Yangyue were called Shanyuè (“Mountain Yue”) by the Han—a reference both to the importance of the cult of Mount Ouyu (oh-yoo) and the fact that they lived in the Yuntai Mountains (yoo-een-tie). The Shanyue (shahn-yoo-way) gained a reputation for being brigands, emerging from their mountain fastnesses in the Yuntai Mountains to raid the Han settlers in the lowlands. In 111 BCE, the Han re-settled Yangyue refugees from the Eastern Ou Kingdom in the vicinity, but this does not seem to have made the locals any more quiescent. In 172-174 CE, the Shanyue spiritual leader, Xu Chang (shoo chung), led a rebellion against the Han Dynasty. Although Xu Chang made his father, Xu Sheng (shoo shung), king of the restored Kingdom of Great Yue, it is clear that the rebellion included significant numbers of ethnic Han, and the remaining Yuyue/Shanyue population was by that time heavily Sinicized (i.e., the lines of the rebellion were not delineated by ethnicity, and there were Han and Yue on both sides). In 173 CE, the Han general, Zhang Min (chang meen), was tasked with destroying the rebellion. Using forces from the neighboring commanderies, Zhang Min defeated the army of the Yuyue/Shanyue and their Han allies (led by a general named Ju Kang (jer kung)), and captured and executed Xu Chang and Xu Sheng. Despite the defeat of the rebellion, the Shanyue remained restive. It was not until the Han warlord, Sun Quan (soo-an tran) (182-252 CE), declared his independence from the Han Dynasty and founded the short-lived Eastern Wu Kingdom (220-280 CE) that the Shanyue were brought fully into the fold of Han China—Sun Quon denuded the countryside around the Yuntai Mountains of anything useful (including food), knowing that the Shanyue had become accustomed to living as brigands and had lost the ability to grow their own food (they had also denuded the mountains of game), and when they surrendered, he recruited them into his army. They seem to have thereafter been dispersed, and the region lost its specific association with the Yue peoples.

 

Eastern Ou and Minyue

The original inhabitants of the southern Zhejiang (chuh-jee-ah-ung) region were a group known as the Ou (oh), while those that lived in Fujian (foo-jee-en) were known as the Min (meen). The Ou and Min had been tributary allies of the Kingdom of Great Yue, and when the Yuyue were overthrown by Qin, two branches of the ruling clan of the Yuyue—the Zou—led two large groups of Yuyue refugees south of the Yangtze River. One branch of the Zou settled at Yongjia (yu-ong-jah) in southern Zhejiang—which became the capital of the Kingdom of the Eastern Ou (Dong’ou, doh-ung-oh)(333-139 BCE)—while a second branch of the clan migrated even further south and settled at Ye (yee-eh) in Fujian—which became the capital of the Min Yue (Mǐnyuè, meen-yoo-way)(333-111 BCE). As with the Kingdom of Tian, these kingdoms were centered on a royal capital and its hinterland with a Sinicized population, and a number of semi-independent native tribes that were tributaries of the royal court but that were not directly administered by the state (they paid tribute on an irregular basis and at least sometimes resisted the dominion of the Sino-Yue royal court). The Min and Ou were divided into a number of matriarchal tribes of fisherfolk and rice farmers; they practiced animism in which snakes in particular were revered as totems; they lived in villages where most of the structures were raised off the ground on pilings (the villages were invariably located near bodies of water); they buried their dead in cave necropoleis carved high up on the sides of the cliffs of the mountains in the interior (the Wuyi Mountains); and they blackened their teeth, cut their hair short (similar in appearance to the modern page-boy haircut), and extensively tattooed their bodies, something that was usually on full display because they mostly only wore a short knee-length wrap (probably the ancestor of the southeast Asian sompot). Both kingdoms supported the Han rebel commander, Liu Bang (lee-oh bong), when he overthrew the Qin Dynasty, and as reward the first Han emperor (Liu Bang took the regnal name of Gaozu of Han) accorded the Zou ruler of Dong’ou—Zou Yao (soe yow)—and the Zou ruler of Minyue—Zou Wuzhu (soe woo-choo—the title of “border-ruler” (zhuhou, choo-hoe)(ca. 192 BCE). Nevertheless, the Dong’ou supported a rebellion against the Han Dynasty led by Liu Pi (lee-oh pee) in 154 BCE, and when Liu Pi was defeated, he fled to Dong’ou. Fearing Han retaliation, however, the Ou executed Liu Pi. Liu Pi’s son escaped to Minyue. In 138 BCE, the Minyue invaded Dong’ou and besieged Yongjia. The Ou appealed to the Han for aid, and the Han dispatched a fleet commanded by the admiral, Zhuang Zhu (choo-ung choo), to sail south to the relief of Yongjia. At the approach of the Han fleet, the Minyue lifted the siege and returned home unmolested by the Han. However, the king of Dong’ou—Wang (wong)—again appealed to emperor Wu of Han, asking that he and his people—it is likely he meant only the people of Yongjia and its hinterland—be allowed to migrate back to their original homeland (Yangzhou) within the Han Empire (the Minyue invasion had convinced him that his hold on Dong’ou was tenuous, and that his days as a ruler were numbered). Wu granted Wang’s request, and the Dong’ou retraced the steps of their earlier migration back across the Yangtze River. The refugees divided into groups and traveled to the regions where their ancestors had lived to settle down. By that time, Yangzhou had been divided into 15 different commanderies, and the Dong’ou refugees were assimilated into the local populace. The Dong’ou Kingdom thus dissolved, and the Han occupied its territory.

 

In 137 BCE, the Minyue invaded the Kingdom of Nanyue (see below), which lay along the coast to the south of Minyue (in modern Guangdong, Guangxi, and northern Vietnam). The king of the Nanyue appealed to the Han for aid, and emperor Wu sent another fleet south against Minyue. This time, the approach of the Han fleet led to a coup at the royal court of the Minyue. The king—Zou Wuchu (soe ew-choo)—was assassinated by his brother—Zou Yushan (soe yuh-shan)—who placed Zou Wuchu’s grandson, Zou Chao (soe chow), on the throne and surrendered to the Han. As the regent of the young king, Zou Yushan placed the kingdom under the protection of the Empire of China as a vassal state (zhuhou guó, choo-hoe gwuh, literally, “border-state”), and ordered the withdrawal of troops from Nanyue. The Han admiral remained in Minyue long enough to assure himself that the Minyue were in fact withdrawing from Nanyue, then he left a small garrison in Ye and sailed home. By 112 BCE, relations between the Han and the Nanyue had soured, and the Han planned an invasion of Nanyue in coordination with forces from Minyue. Zou Yushan remained the de facto ruler of Minyue, and he secretly conspired with the Nanyue. When a small force of Han (about 2,000 men) under the command of a general named Yang Pu (yeh-ang poo) landed on the coast of Nanyue, Zou Yushan failed to attack Nanyue in support (he was supposed to have drawn off the main army of Nanyue so that the Han force could make a surprise attack on the capital), and the Han forces quickly became over-matched and were forced to withdraw. Yang Pu returned to the Han court and asked for permission to raise a sizeable army in order to retaliate against Minyue. His wish was granted, although as he began to muster troops along the Han border with Minyue, Zou Yushan launched a preemptive attack (111 BCE), defeated the local commanders, and seized the cities of Baisha, Wulin, and Meiling along the frontier. In the winter of 111-110 BCE, the Han sent three armies against the Minyue under the dual command of Yang Pu and a general named Han Yue (hahn yoo-way). Han Yue’s troops reached the capital of the Minyue first, which led to another palace coup in which Zou Wushan was murdered. The architect of the coup had been a native Min noble named Wu Yang (ew yong)—he surrendered to the Han and was made the border ruler of Beishi (the new name of the kingdom of Minyue, which was to be a border protectorate of the empire). The Zou clan and most of the population of Ye was transported back to Yangzhou, and like the Zou of Ou, they were allowed to return to the places inhabited by their ancestors, where they were assimilated by the local populace. Wu Yang moved the capital of Beishi/Minyue to Dongye, and the region seems to have enjoyed good relations with the Han until the Jin Dynasty decided to embark on a massive program of colonization (266-420 CE) that erased much of the region’s distinct Yue character (as in most of the Yue territories conquered and colonized by the Han, small indigenous groups remained in remote locales).

 

Hengshan/Changsha

Northern Hunan and southern Hebei were originally inhabited by the Nanman (a.k.a., Man), who are attested as early as 741 BCE. They were divided into several tribes—the Pangu (pah-ung-oo), Linjun (leen-joo-een), Bandun (bahn-doo-un), and Zong (song). During the Warring States period, the Nanman were tributary allies of the State of Chu (741-613 BCE), rebelled against Chu (613-591 BCE), were again subjected by Chu (591-223 BCE), and when Chu fell to Qin, Qin folded the lands of the Nanman into the Qianzhong Commandery (chee-en-chong) (221-207 BCE). When the general uprisings against the rule of Qin began in 209 BCE, an ethnic Nanman magistrate named Wu Rui (ooh jway) raised a Nanman army, drove the Qin garrisons from Hunan (ca. 209-207 BCE), and then formed an alliance with Liu Bang of the Han (at that time, Liu Bang was a peasant rebel in Jiangsu). When Liu Bang emerged victorious and became emperor Gaozu of Han (ca. 202 BCE), he rewarded Wu Rui by naming him “King of Henshan” (Héngshan Wáng)—king of the Nanman. At that time, many of the former Warring States that had been conquered by Qin and incorporated into the Empire of China were given to the sons of Gaozu to rule as administrative “kingdoms” (wáng), whereas kingdoms of peoples who were considered to be foreign tributaries of the Han Dynasty were called zhuhou guó (choo-hoe gwuh). Thus, the fact that Wu Rui’s kingdom was called wáng (wong) rather than zhuhou guó, was a mark of the respect with which Liu Bang/Gaozu held Wu Rui. The fact that the Hengshan/Changsha Kingdom (202 BCE - 33 CE) proved to be the longest-lived of the administrative kingdoms of the Han Dynasty (the rest were eventually carved into provinces and commanderies within the imperial bureaucracy) attests to the fact that the Nanman remained staunch allies of the Han Dynasty, only falling out of favor with the usurper, Wang Mang (wong mong), and his short-lived Xin Dynasty (sheen) interregnum (Hengshan was disestablished by Wang Mang, ca. 9-26 CE, although it was then re-established under the Eastern Han, ca. 26-33 CE, before its final dissolution). The Hengshan Kingdom had two dynasties—the Wu (202-157 BCE) (woo) and the Liu (155 BCE-33 CE) (loo)—divided by a period of civil war (ca. 157-155 BCE). The Hengshan Kingdom was initially divided into five commanderies—Héngshan (hong-shan), Yùzhang (oo-chong), Xiàng (shee-ahn), Guìlín (gway-leen), and Nánhǎi (nahn-high)—in imitation of the Han Empire, with the royal court located at Linxiang (leen-shee-ahn), but the kingdom lost the Xiang and Nanhai commanderies to Nanyue (see below) in 183 BCE.

 

There were a number of unassimilated peoples living in Hunan during this period, alternately referred to as Nanman or Baiyue in period sources, although I tend to refer to them as Baiyue and reserve the term Nanman for the more Sinicized groups at the heart of the Hengshan/Changsha Kingdom. As with most of the Yue states mentioned in this gallery, the Sinicized court of Hengshan/Changsha was concentrated in urban centers that included broad agricultural hinterlands—in this case, the Nanman were concentrated in the capital of Linxiang and the central plains of Hunan, while the Baiyue were concentrated in the mountainous western, eastern, and southern areas of Hunan. Two circuits were established— Hé (huh) in the east and south, and Líng (lee-ung) in the west—each administered by a magistrate that traveled between the various settlements that served as the capitals of these Baiyue tribes to collect taxes, give justice, and in time of war to recruit mercenaries. Close to half of the overall population came to consist of ethnic Han, due to the fact that the kingdom had favorable immigration and agricultural policies that made it a popular destination for Han colonists that found circumstances within the empire too oppressive, and this led to the eventual extinction of the Nanman as a distinct ethnic group. The relative isolation of the Baiyue tribes, on the other hand, led to the maintenance of a much higher degree of cultural-linguistic distinction. Modern indigenous groups that trace their lineage to the Bronze Age in Hunan include the Miao (mee-ow), Bai (buy), Tujia (too-jah), and Yao (yah-ow).

 

THE LINGNAN YUE

Ancient Lingnan (lee-ung-nahn) encompassed the southern littoral of China between the Nanling Mountains in the north (lǐng nán means, “south of the Nanling mountains”) and the Red River basin in northern Vietnam in the south (analogous to modern Guangdong, Guangxi, southern Guizhou, northern Vietnam, and the island of Hainan). The peoples of Lingnan (Lǐngnányuè, lee-ung-nahn-yoo-way) were broadly divided between the Western Ou peoples (Pinyin, Ouyuè, oh-yoo-way, or Vietnamese, Âu Việt, ow vee-et) that inhabited the Pearl River basin (Zhujiang, choo-jee-ong) (Guangdong, Guangxi, and southern Guizhou) and the Lower Yue peoples (Luòyuè, loo-wah-yoo-way, or Lạc Việt, lah-vee-et) that inhabited the Red River basin (Hóng Hé, hoe-ong huh, or Sông Hồng, song hung) of northern Vietnam (Hanoi, Ha’nam, Hung’yen, Lao’cai, Nam’dinh, Phu’tho, Thai’bin, Vinh’phuc, and Yen’bai provinces). The Western Ou were, as the name implies, believed to be related to the Eastern Ou of Zhejiang, in the sense that both were considered to be Baiyue, but there were no direct ties between the two peoples. The Western Ou, like the Yelang to their north, seem to have been a federation of tribes until the rise of Khai Min (see below), the descendants of whom include the Bai (buy), Dong (pronounced exactly as it is spelled), Tujia (too-jah), Yao (yah-ow), Zhuang (choo-ah-ung), and Sui (sway) in southern Guizhou; the Dong and Yao in Guangxi; and the She (shuh), Yao, and Zhuang in Guangdong.

 

Western Ou and Luoyue

Beginning in about 754 BCE, the Au Viet/Luoyue peoples formed the Kingdom of Lạc Việt (lah vee-et)(754-258/257 BCE). The Au Viet have been identified today as members of the Dong Son bronze-age culture, characterized by agro-pastoralism (rice farming, fishing, and the keeping of water buffalos and pigs), bronze casting, sophisticated water-catchment systems (irrigation canals, rice paddies, aqueducts), the wearing of short knee-length wraps (the ubiquitous sompot), and stilt houses. The Hồng Bàng Dynasty (hung bang) of Lac Viet traced its origins far into the semi-mythological past (as early as 2524 BCE), at which time it was believed all of Lingnan was part of the state of Xích Quỷ (sik wee) (similar to the Xia Dynasty of China). Lac Viet was a sophisticated state, with the Hung Kings (the name used for the dynasts of the Hong Bang Dynasty) supported by a council of advisors (lạc hầu, lah how) drawn from the chiefs (lạc tướng, lah too-rung) of 15 regions (bộ, boe). There was extensive intermarriage between the royal dynasty and the families of these chieftaincies, which meant that the chieftains were very often all of the same extended kindred, and the kingship rotated between different branches of the family. Because the Hung Kings traced their lineage to the founding of the Xich Quy state, the dynasties of the Bronze Age Lac Viet Kingdom were considered to be the fifteenth branch/lineage (chi canh)(754-661 BCE), sixteenth branch (tân canh)(660-569 BCE), seventeenth branch (nhâm canh)(568-409 BCE), and eighteenth branch (qúy canh)(408-258/257 BCE) of the dynasty.

 

Less is known about the Western Ou than is known about the Au Viet/Luoyue, although there is substantial archeological evidence that the peoples of Western Ou and the Luoyue were trade partners for centuries, and the material culture of the Western Ou was similar to that of the Luoyue. An enigmatic leader named Khai Minh (hy min), who held the title of Thục Phán (took fan) of the equally enigmatic Nam Cương Kingdom, invaded Lac Viet from the north in 258/57 BCE, deposed and killed the last of the Hung Kings, Hùng Duệ Vương XVII (hung zway wu-rung), and declared himself An Dương Vương (an dur-rong wu-rung) of the Âu Lạc (ow lah) Kingdom (258/57-179 BCE). Thục Phán roughly translates as “Magistrate of Shu,” a reference to the legend that Khai Min was descended of refugees from the Kingdom of Shu in western Sichuan, which fell to the imperial state of Qin in 316 BCE. Khai Min’s father, prince Kaimeng He (ky-mee-ung huh)/Thục Chế (took chay) of Shu, was believed to have come to the lands of the Western Ou after the fall of his kingdom. His son, Khai Minh, is credited with uniting the tribes of Nam Cuong (nam koo-rong) in about 291 BCE, although the actual extent of that kingdom is unknown. The legend of his rise, however, contains some important clues about where the Nam Cuong Kingdom may have been located. The Tujia peoples of southern Guizhou are an ethnic Qiang group that is believed to have migrated into southern Guizhou after the fall of Sichuan to the Qin. Thus, it is likely that Khai Minh was a Tujia, and the kingdom that he united was likely located in southern Guizhou. Khai Minh is the only ruler (ca. 258/257-179 BCE) of the Thục Dynasty of the Kingdom of Au Lac, the heart of which continued to be the lands of Lac Viet in northern Vietnam, but which also probably included at least some portion of southern Guizhou.

 

The Qin Dynasty launched an invasion of Western Ou in 221-214 BCE—although the Qin managed to secure a foothold in Guangdong centered on the city of Panyu (pan-yoo-uh) and the main branch of the Pearl River, they made little headway against the tribes in the mountainous and heavily forested regions of its tributaries in the north (the Bei region), east (Dong region), and west (Xi region)—the Qin were said to have lost 10,000 men and one general in the campaigns against the tribes of Bei, Dong, and Xi. With the fall of Qin to the Han (ca. 206 BCE), the garrison commander of Panyu, Zhào Tuó (choo-oh too-uh), declared his independence from the Empire of China and founded the Kingdom of Nányuè (nahn-yoo-way, “Southern Yue”) (ca. 206-179 BCE). To strengthen his position, Zhao Tuo suggested a marriage alliance to Khai Minh of the Au Lac Kingdom, offering his son, Zhong Shi (choo-ung she)/Trọng Thủy (chun too-wee), as a suitable husband for Khai Minh’s daughter, Mỵ Châu (mee chow). Khai Minh refused, apparently viewing any kind of rapprochement with what he saw as a Qin upstart from the same people that had driven his father from their ancestral homeland in Sichuan as an unacceptable compromise to re-unite his kingdom (the Au Lac Kingdom had also been instrumental in helping the Western Ou to resist the initial Qin invasion of Guangdong). There is a rather fanciful legend, filled with magic, about how My Chau betrayed her father to Zhou Tuo for love of Zhong Shi/Trong Thuy, and thus allowed Zhou Tuo to take the capital of Au Lac in a surprise attack (her father is later told of her betrayal by a magic turtle, and after he slays her, he rides the turtle out to sea), but all we know for certain is that Au Lac was conquered by Zhou Tuo, which became part of the Nanyue Kingdom in about 179 BCE (when Zhong Shi discovers the body of My Chau, he jumps in the sea and drowns himself, apparently unable to call on the aid of any magic turtles).

 

Nanyue

Although the Han Dynasty initially recognized Zhou Tuo as the King of Nanyue (206-137 BCE), and from 196 to 183 BCE Nanyue was named a vassal state (zhuhou guó) of the Empire of China, the relationship steadily soured after 183 BCE, when Zhou Tuo began to style himself “emperor” (huáng dì, hoo-wong dee), and attacked the Changsha Kingdom in Hunan (see above). Presumably, by that time, Zhou Tuo seems to have reduced the formerly independent tribes of southern Guangxi and Guangdong to the status of tributary vassals (i.e., he would not easily have been able to make an overland attack on Hunan without going through Guangxi and/or Guangdong). Empress Lü (loo) of Han sent an army across the Fujian-Guangdong frontier to chastise Zhou Tuo (181 BCE), but the army fell victim to what may have been malaria and was forced to withdraw back to the north. Encouraged, Zhou Tuo then extended his war front to include Minyue in Fujian (at that time, Minyue was also a Han protectorate). In 180 BCE, Zhou Tuo and emperor Wen of Han reached détente, and Zhou Tuo agreed to stop using the title of “emperor” in his diplomatic correspondence in return for the resumption of the iron trade (Nanyue’s only source of iron was the Han Empire), which had been cut off in 183 BCE by empress Lü. He seems to have held on to the border regions he had conquered from Changsha, although he withdrew altogether from Minyue. This situation held until Zhou Tuo’s death in 137 BCE. The next four kings comprised the Triệu (choo) Dynasty of the Kingdom of Nanyue/Nam Việt (nam vee-et)—Zhou Mo (137-122 BCE), Zhou Zingqi (122-113 BCE), Zhou Xing (113-112 BCE), and Zhou Jiande (112-111 BCE). Upon the death of Zhou Tuo and the accession of his grandson, Zhou Mo (choo-oh moe-wuh), the Kingdom of Minyue turned the tables on Nanyue and invaded from the north (ca. 135 BCE). Zhou Mo appealed to emperor Wu of Han for aid (Han protectorates were not supposed to fight amongst themselves). Wu sent a fleet to menace the capital of Minyue, but before they could even land troops in Minyue, a coup unseated the king of Minyue in favor of his brother, who surrendered to the Han and ordered a withdrawal from Nanyue. Unfortunately for the independent-minded Nanyue peoples, the Han Dynasty ultimately proved successful in destroying the nomadic Xiongnu of Mongolia (ca. 133 BCE-89 CE), which gradually freed up resources for the conquest of southern China. Zhou Zingqi (choo-oh see-ung-chee) was living at the imperial court of the Han at Cháng’an (chong-ahn) when his father died (he was acting as an envoy between the two states), and he returned to Nanyue with a Han bride named Juishi (joo-way-shee), and a son that had been born to the couple in Chang’an. Zhou Zingqi was much hated by the people of Nanyue—despite being a native, it was believed he had spent too much time in China and had become Han, and for his part, he seemed to hate his own people and was a harsh ruler. When Zhou Zingqi died, the royal court of Nanyue was split between Zhou Zingqi’s intended heir, Zhou Xing (choo-oh see-ung), supported by his mother, Juishi, and the prime minister, Lü Jia (loo jah), who supported Zhou Zingqi’s older half-brother, Zhou Jiande (choo jee-en-duh). Thus, the rivalry between Juishi-Zhou Xing and Lü Jia-Zhou Jiande was based on ethnic tensions, with the Juishi faction believing that Nanyue must eventually be absorbed into the Empire of China, and the Lü Jia faction believing that Han encroachment should be resisted. When a Han envoy arrived in Nanyue (112 BCE), Lü Jia started a rumor that Juishi was having a secret affair with the envoy; that she was planning to turn over the royal treasury to the Han; and that she was secretly conspiring with the Han to sell citizens of Nanyue into slavery in the Empire of China. Lü Jia marched on the palace with an outraged mob, and they murdered Juishi, Zhou Xing, the Han envoy, and his entourage. Zhou Jiande was named king by Lü Jia. Emperor Wu of Han sent a small force (2,000 men) overland via Fujian-Guangdong in an attempt to arrest Zhou Jiande and Lü Jia, but when they tried to cross the border they were ambushed and slaughtered. Wu then launched an all-out invasion (ca. 111-98 BCE). Although Zhou Jiande and Lu Jia were captured and executed within a year—their heads were sent to the imperial court—and Guangdong, eastern Guangxi, and northern Vietnam were occupied, a popular revolt led by an obscure leader known as Tây Vu Vương (tie voo voo-rong), the “King of Tây Vu,” continued to resist the Han until 98 BCE (Tây Vu was a semi-autonomous tributary state in western Guangxi, which means it was probably composed of Dong and/or Yao tribes). With the defeat of Tây Vu Vương, the history of the Southern Yue comes to a close, although the ethnogenesis of the Vietnamese began. Suffice it to say here that Guangdong and Guangxi were more-or-less seamlessly incorporated into the Empire of China, but despite the fact that there were several long periods of Chinese domination in northern Vietnam (ca. 98 BCE-40 CE, 43-544 CE, and 602-938 CE), the peoples of northern Vietnam (usually known as the Nam Việt) never fully came to terms with the occupation and eventually gained their independence (beyond the scope of this gallery). In southern Vietnam, the indigenous Cham peoples remained independent, eventually forming the Chăm Pa Kingdom (192-1832 CE) (Pinyin, Zhànchéng) (also beyond the scope of this work, since the Cham were not considered to be Yue peoples).

 

Hainan and Taiwan

The large island of Hainan lies off the southeastern coast of China, across the Qingzhou Strait from Guangdong in the midst of the South China Sea. The indigenous peoples of the island call themselves the Hlai, although the Chinese knew them by various names—Li, Lizu, Lǐliáo, Sai, or Say. The Hlai are related to the Tai-speaking peoples of mainland Guangdong (She, Yao, Zhuang), and were considered by the Chinese to be Yue/Baiyue. The Hlai are first mentioned by Chinese historians in 110 BCE, when the Han general, Lù Bódé (loo boe-duh), landed on the island of Hainan (Hai Nam) as part of the Han invasion of Nanyue (whether this means the people of the island were tributaries of Nanyue is not explained). By 46 BCE, however, the conquest of the natives was not yet complete, and the imperial court decided the conquest was proving too expensive (in both men and material) and decided to abandon the island. This did not stop unofficial migration to the island by Han and Yue peoples seeking freedom from the empire, and pirates based on Hainan menaced shipping in the Qingzhou Strait until the Three Kingdoms period, when the island was conquered by the state of Eastern Wu (ca. 230-280 CE) and made into the Zhuya Commandery (choo-yah). However, significant numbers of Han colonists were not introduced to the island until the Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE). The history of Taiwan during the Bronze Age is non-existent. Archeological finds and linguistic evidence indicate that the native population—broadly divided between lowland (Pêⁿ-po͘-cho̍k) and highland peoples (Ko-soaⁿ-cho̍k)—has inhabited the island for 6,000 years (since about 4000 BCE). The reason for the lack of evidence is the hostility and ferocity of the indigenous peoples, as well as a lack of resources that appealed to the imperial Chinese, which together meant that no attempts were made by continental Chinese to colonize the island until the thirteenth century (Song/Sung and Yuan dynasties), and these attempts met with such stiff resistance that the conquest of the southern coast of the island was left to the Dutch East India Company (ca. 1622 CE), and the northern coast to the Spanish Empire (ca. 1626 CE). As a result, we do not know for certain how far back we can trace the lineage of the indigenous Taiwanese peoples that exist today—the Saisiyat (NW Taiwan), Seediq (central), Thao (central), Tsou (central), Bunun (central), Atayal (NE), Taroko (NE), Sakizaya (NE), Amis (eastern), Puyuma (SE), Rukai (SE), Paiwan (SE), and Yami (the outlying Orchid Island)—nor do we know the original boundaries of these groups or their potential predecessors (in addition to European colonization, ethnic Han eventually also heavily colonized the island, pushing the indigenous peoples into the mountainous jungles).