Nanzhao

History

Origins

Nanzhao encompassed many ethnic and linguistic groups. Some historians believe that the majority of the population were the Bai people (then known as the "White Man") and the Yi people (then known as the "Black Man"), but that the elite spoke a variant of Nuosu (also called Yi), a Northern Loloish language. Scriptures unearthed from Nanzhao were written in the Bai language. According to later Nanzhao kings, the polity that would become Nanzhao originated from the Ailao Kingdom, an older tribal confederacy. According to the Chronicles of Huayang, the Ailao Kingdom was populated by the Min Pu (閩濮), Jiu Liao (鳩僚), Piao Yue (僄越), Luo Pu (裸濮) and Shendu (身毒; "Indians") people. Ailao submitted to the Eastern Han dyansty in 69 CE and had 553,711 people.

The Cuanman people came to power in Yunnan during Zhuge Liang's Southern Campaign in 225. By the fourth century they had gained control of the region, but they rebelled against the Sui dynasty in 593 and were destroyed by a retaliatory expedition in 602. The Cuan split into two groups known as the Black and White Mywa. The Sui eventually gave up on the southern region. The White Mywa (Baiman) tribes, who are considered the predecessors of the Bai people, settled on the fertile land of western Yunnan around the alpine fault lake Erhai. The Black Mywa (Wuman), considered to be predecessors of the Yi people, settled in the mountainous regions of eastern Yunnan. These tribes were called Mengshe (蒙舍), Mengxi (蒙嶲), Langqiong (浪穹), Tengtan (邆賧), Shilang (施浪), and Yuexi (越析). Each tribe was known as a zhao. The Tang dynasty sponsored and allied native chiefs to extend its influence into the region. As a result, the eventual Nanzhao Kingdom would later enter an amicable tributary relationship with the Tang.

Among them, Mengshe zhao was recorded as Ma Shizi ( ꂷꏂꌅ ma shy nzy ) in Yi classics, which means "King of Golden Bamboo". Because it is located in the south, Mengshe was called Nanzhao or southern Zhao.

Founding

In 649, the chieftain of the Mengshe tribe, Xinuluo (細奴邏, Senola), son of Jiadupang and grandson of Shelong, founded the Great Meng (大蒙) and took the title of Qijia Wang (奇嘉王; "Outstanding King"). He acknowledged Tang suzerainty. In 652, Xinuluo absorbed the White Mywa realm of Zhang Lejinqiu, who ruled Erhai Lake and Cang Mountain. This event occurred peacefully as Zhang made way for Xinuluo of his own accord. The agreement was consecrated under an iron pillar in Dali. Thereafter the Black and White Mywa acted as warriors and ministers respectively. In 655, Xinuluo sent his eldest son to Chang'an to ask for the Tang dynasty's protection. The Tang emperor appointed Xinuluo as prefect of Weizhou, sent him an embroidered official robe, and sent troops to defeat rebellious tribes in 672, thus enhancing Xinuluou's position. Xinuluo was succeeded by his son, Luoshengyan, who travelled to Chang'an to make tribute to the Tang. In 704, the Tibetan Empire made the White Mywa tribes into tributaries, whilst subjugating the Black Mywa. In 712, Luoshengyan established a walled city at Yongchang and in 713, Luoshengyan was succeeded by his son, Shengluopi, who was also on good terms with the Tang. He was succeeded by his son, Piluoge, in 733.

Piluoge began expanding his realm in the early 730s. He first annexed the neighboring zhao of Mengsui, whose ruler, Zhaoyuan, was blind. Piluoge supported Zhaoyuan's son, Yuanluo, in his accession, and in turn weakened Mengsui. After Zhaoyuan was assassinated, Piluoge drove Yuanluo from Mengsui and annexed the territory. The remaining zhaos banded together against Piluoge, who thwarted them with an alliance with the Tang dynasty. Not long after 733, the Tang official Yan Zhenghui cooperated with Piluoge in a successful attack on the zhao of Shilang, and rewarded the Mengshe rulers with titles.

Shige/gupi of Shilang was garrisoning the fort of Shihe, which, it will be recalled, was a little East of the present Xiaguan, at the Southern entrance to the Dali Plain. Shilang forces also occupied the fort of Shiqiao at the Southern end of the Tiancang Shan. While Yan Zhenghui and Geluofeng took Shihe and captured Shigepi, Piluoge himself struck at Shiqiao and prevented reinforcements from Shilang from interfering with what appear to have been the main operations. For having occupied Shihe, Piluoge was well placed to attack the Xier He people of the Dali Plain. Once again victory was his, though some of the conquered people managed to escape and make their way North, where they eventually came under the rule of the Jianlang Zhao at Jian Chuan, which will be mentioned in due course.

— M. Blackmore

Two other zhaos also joined in the attack on Shilang: Dengdan ruled by Mieluopi and Langqiong ruled by Duoluowang. Piluoge moved to eliminate these competitors by bribing Wang Yu, the military commissioner of Jiannan (modern Sichuan based in Chengdu) to convince the Tang court to support him in uniting the Six Zhaos. Piluoge then made a surprise attack on Dengdan and defeated the forces of both Mieluopi and the ruler of Shilang, Shiwangqian. The zhao of Yuexi was annexed when its ruler, Bochong, was murdered by his wife's lover, Zhangxunqiu. Zhangxunqiu was summoned by the Tang court and beaten to death. The territory of Yuexi was bestowed to Piluoge. Bochong's son, Yuzeng, fled and resisted Nanzhao's expansion for some time before he was defeated by Piluoge's son, Geluofeng, and drowned in the Changjiang. Piluoge's step-grandson grew jealous of the preeminence of his step-father, Geluofeng, and sought to create his own zhao by allying with the Tibetan Empire. His plans leaked out and he was killed.

In the year 737 AD, Piluoge (皮羅閣) united the Six Zhaos in succession, establishing a new kingdom called Nanzhao (Southern Zhao). In 738, the Tang granted Piluoge the Chinese-style name Meng Guiyi ("return to righteousness") and the title of "Prince of Yunnan". Piluoge set up a new capital at Taihe in 739, (the site of modern-day Taihe village, a few miles south of Dali). Located in the heart of the Erhai valley, the site was ideal: it could be easily defended against attack and it was in the midst of rich farmland. Under the reign of Piluoge, the White Mywa were removed from eastern Yunnan and resettled in the west. The Black and White Mywa were separated to create a more solidified caste system of ministers and warriors.

During the Kaiyuan reign period (713–741), the ruler of Nanzhao, desired to annex the other four polities to create a kingdom, so he invited the four rulers to a banquet to celebrate the xinghui festival 星回節 on the sixteenth day of the twelfth lunar month. He set fire to the building, and then ordered the wives of the four rulers to search for their husband’s bones and take them home. At first, Cishan, the wife of the ruler of Dengdan, could not find the bones of her husband, but she located them by searching for the iron bracelet that [she] asked her husband wear on his arm. The ruler of Nanzhao marvelled at her intelligence and strongly desired to take her as his wife. Cishan replied saying, “I have not buried my deceased husband yet, so how could I dare think of marrying again so quickly?”, and then she shut tight her city gates. The Nanzhao army encircled the city, and all inside died of starvation after three months after completely exhausting their food supplies. [Before dying] Cishan declared, “I am going to report the injustice done to my husband to Heaven (Shangdi 上帝).” Horrified by this, the ruler of Nanzhao repented, and extolled her city as the “source of virtue”.

— An Zixiu

Territorial expansion

Piluoge died in 748, and was succeeded by his son Geluofeng (閣羅鳳). When the Chinese prefect of Yunnan attempted to rob Nanzhao envoys in 750, Geluofeng launched the Tianbao War against the Tang dynasty, killing the prefect and seizing nearby Chinese territory. In retaliation, the Tang governor of Jiannan (modern Sichuan), Xianyu Zhongtong, attacked Nanzhao with an army of 80,000 soldiers in 751. He was defeated by Duan Jianwei (段俭魏) with heavy losses (many due to disease) at Xiaguan. Duan Jianwei's grave is two kilometres west of Xiaguan, and the Tomb of Ten Thousand Soldiers is located in Tianbao Park. In 754, another Tang army of 100,000 soldiers, led by General Li Mi (李宓), approached the kingdom from the north, but never made it past Mu'ege. By the end of 754, Geluofeng had established an alliance with the Tibetans against the Tang that would last until 794. In the same year, Nanzhao gained control of the salt marshes of Yanyuan County, which it used to regulate the salt to its people, a practice that would continue during the reign of the Dali kingdom. In 756, Nanzhao captured Yuesui Commandery and the Xilu district magistrate Zheng Hui, who went on to serve as Nanzhao's imperial tutor and eventual prime minister.

Geluofeng accepted a Tibetan title and acted as part of the Tibetan Empire. His successor, Yimouxun, continued the pro-Tibetan policy. In 779, Yimouxun participated in a large Tibetan attack on the Tang dynasty. However the burden of having to support every single Tibetan military campaign against the Tang soon weighed on him. In 794, he launched the battle of Shenchuan to break up with Tibet and switched sides to the Tang. In 795, Yimouxun attacked a Tibetan stronghold in Kunming. The Tibetans retaliated in 799 but were repelled by a joint Tang-Nanzhao force. In 801, Nanzhao and Tang forces defeated a contingent of Tibetan and Abbasid slave soldiers in the Battle of Dulu. More than 10,000 Tibetan/Arabs soldiers were killed and some 6,000 were captured. Nanzhao captured seven Tibetan cities and five military garrisons while more than a hundred fortifications were destroyed. This defeat shifted the balance of power in favor of the Tang and Nanzhao.

Expanding south

Geluofeng also began Nanzhao's shift towards Southeast Asia. He despatched armies to construct the walled city of Guangdang [City of Broad Cleansing] in Dadan [Great Valley] in the Hkamti Long area. The location of Guangdang suggests that it served to prevent the Tibetans from invading and attacking the Pyu city states and threaten Nanzhao from its southeast. However, Dadan faced significant malaria problems and over half the soldiers died within a year. Still, the location was maintained. By 808, the monarch Xungequan started taking on the title of Piaoxin (驃信), meaning Ruler of the Pyu.

Nanzhao expanded into Myanmar, conquering the Pyu city-states in the 820s and destroying the city of Halin in 832. They returned to Halin in 835 and carried off many prisoners. Campaigns against the states of Minuo, Michen, Kunlun, Water Zhenla, and Land Zhenla are mentioned.

Attack on Sichuan

During the reign of Quanlongcheng (r.809-816), the ruler behaved without constraint, and was killed by Wang Cuodian, a powerful governor. The military generals in Nanzhao had become powerful after the victory in Tibet. Wang Cuodian installed a puppet ruler Quanlisheng. However, Quanlisheng quickly took power back three years later before he was himself replaced by Quanfengyou, with the aid of the generals. Quanfengyou and Wang Cuodian, who remained a powerful general, were instrumental in the expansion of Nanzhao territory.

In 829, Wang Cuodian attacked Chengdu, but withdrew the following year. Wang Cuodian's invasion was not to take Sichuan but to push its territorial boundaries north and take the resources south of Chengdu. The advance of Nanzhao's army was almost unopposed; the attack took advantage of chaos created in Sichuan by its governor, Du Yuanying. Bilateral relations between Nanzhao and Tang became delicate, as Wang Cuodian refused to retreat from Yizhou, saying that Nanzhao had remained a loyal tributary and was only punishing Du Yuanying at the request of Tang soldiers.

In the same year of 830, Nanzhao renewed contact with Tang. The next year, at the request of Li Deyu, Nanzhao released more than four thousand prisoners of war, including Buddhist monks, Daoist priests, and artisans, who had been captured during the Yizhou incident. Frequent visits to Chang’an by Nanzhao delegations followed and continued until the end of Emperor Wuzong’s reign in 846. During these sixteen years, Nanzhao progressed rapidly in state building. Through its students dispatched to Yizhou, Nanzhao borrowed heavily from Tang administrative practice. There was much building of public works and a great expansion of monasteries. Nanzhao also expanded its realm to the Indochina peninsula. They invaded Biaoguo (one of the Pyu city-states, present-day Prome in Upper Burma) in 832 and brought back three thousand prisoners of war; shortly after, in 835, they subdued Michen (near the mouth of the Ayeyarwady River in lower Burma).

— Wang Zhenping

In the 830s, they conquered the neighboring kingdoms of Kunlun to the east and Nuwang to the south. Nanzhao's consolidation placed pressure on the Tang dynasty.

Invasion of Annan

In 846, Nanzhao raided the southern Tang circuit of Annan. Despite the raid, Nanzhao wished to maintain diplomatic contact with the Tang, but the Tang suspended official ties with Nanzhao in 854 when they refused to accept a Nanzhao envoy bearing a rhinoceros as a gift. Relations with the Tang broke down after the death of Emperor Xuanzong in 859, when the Nanzhao king Shilong treated Tang envoys sent to receive his condolences with contempt, and launched raids on Bozhou and Annan. Shilong proclaimed himself emperor and tried to negotiate a marriage alliance as well as the status of "younger brother" with the Tang dynasty. Shilong also killed Wang Cuodian. To recruit for his wars, Shilong ordered all men over the age 15 to join the army. Anti-Tang locals allied with highland people, who appealed to Nanzhao for help, and as a result invaded the area in 860, briefly taking Songping before being driven out by a Tang army the next year. Prior to Li Hu's arrival, Nanzhao had already seized Bozhou. When Li Hu led an army to retake Bozhou, the Đỗ family gathered 30,000 men, including contingents from Nanzhao to attack the Tang. When Li Hu returned, he learned the Vietnamese rebels and Nanzhao had taken control over Annan out of his hand. In December 860, Songping fell to the rebels and Hu fled to Yongzhou. In summer 861, Li Hu retook Songping but Nanzhao forces moved around and seized Yongzhou. Hu was banished to Hainan island and was replaced by Wang Kuan.

Shilong attacked Annan again in 863, occupying it for three years. With the aid of locals, Nanzhao invaded with an army of 50,000 and besieged Annan's capital Songping in mid-January. On 20 January, the defenders led by Cai Xi killed a hundred of the besiegers. Five days later, Cai Xi captured, tortured, and killed a group of besiegers known as the Púzǐ or Wangjuzi (according to some historians, the Puzi were ancestors of the Wa people. Description about them is indefinite). A local official named Liang Ke was related to them, and defected as a result. On 28 January, a Nanzhao Buddhist monk, possibly from the Indian continent, was wounded by an arrow while strutting to and fro naked outside the southern walls. On 14 February, Cai Xi shot down 200 Wangjuzi and over 30 horses using a mounted crossbow from the walls. By 28 February, most of Cai Xi's followers had perished, and he himself had been wounded several times by arrows and stones. The Nanzhao commander, Yang Sijin, penetrated the inner city. Cai Xi tried to escape by boat, but it capsized midstream, drowning him. The 400 remaining defenders wanted to flee as well, but could not find any boats, so they chose to make a last stand at the eastern gate. Ambushing a group of Nanzhao cavalry, they killed over 2,000 Nanzhao troops and 300 horses before Yang sent reinforcements from the inner city. After taking Songping, Nanzhao laid siege to Junzhou (modern Haiphong). A Nanzhao force of 4,000 men and 2,000 local rebels led by a native chieftain named Zhu Daogu (朱道古) sailed to Junzhou on hundreds of small boats, but they were attacked by a local commander who rammed their vessels and sank 30 boats, drowning them. In total, the invasion destroyed Chinese armies in Annan numbering over 150,000. Although initially welcomed by the locals in ousting Tang control, Nanzhao turned on them, ravaging the local population and countryside. Both Chinese and Vietnamese sources note that the Annanese locals fled to the mountains to avoid destruction.

A government-in-exile for the protectorate was established in Haimen (near modern-day Hạ Long) under the leadership of Song Rong. Ten thousand soldiers from Shandong and all other armies of the Tang empire were called and concentrating at Halong Bay under the command of Kang Chengxin for reconquering Annan. A supply fleet of 1,000 ships from Fujian was organized. In early 864, Song Rong was replaced with Zhang Yin, who was given command of 25,000 soldiers for retaking Annan. however, Kang was engaged in heavy fighting with Nanzhao and Zhang was afraid to advance. Zhang was replaced by Gao Pian in the autumn of 864.

Tang counterattack

The Tang launched a counterattack in 864 under Gao Pian, a general who had made his reputation fighting the Türks and the Tanguts in the north. In September 865, Gao's 5,000 troops surprised a Nanzhao army of 50,000 while they were scattered about, collecting rice from the villages, and routed them. Gao captured large quantities of rice, which he used to feed his army. A jealous governor, Li Weizhou, accused Gao of stalling to meet the enemy, and reported him to the throne. The court sent another general named Wang Yanqian to replace Gao. In the meantime, Gao had been reinforced by 7,000 men who arrived overland under the command of Wei Zhongzai. In early 866, Gao's 12,000 men defeated a fresh Nanzhao army and chased them back to the mountains. He then laid siege to Songping but had to leave command due to the arrival of Li Weizhou and Wang Yanqian. He was later reinstated after sending his aid, Zeng Gun, who went to the capital as his representative and explained his circumstances. Gao completed the retaking of Annan in fall 866, executing the enemy general, Duan Qiuqian, and beheading 30,000 of his men. Zhu Daogu as well as other rebel leaders were also captured.

According to G. Evans in his final monograph The Tai Original Diaspora, there were probably a quite large number of indigenous Tai-speaking people in Northern Vietnam that threw their support for Nanzhao against the Chinese, and when the Chinese came back in 864, many Tai people were also victims of following Chinese suppression.

Siege of Chengdu

In 869, Shilong attacked Chengdu with the help of the Dongman tribe. The Dongman used to be an ally of the Tang during their wars against the Tibetan Empire in the 790s. Their service was rewarded with mistreatment by Yu Shizhen, the governor of Xizhou, who kidnapped Dongman tribesmen and sold them to other tribes. When the Nanzhao attacked Xizhou, the Dongman tribe opened the gates and welcomed them in.

The battle for Chengdu was brutal and protracted. Nanzhao soldiers repeatedly assaulted the city with ladder, battering rams. Tang defenders used hooks to immobilise the attackers and set the siege equipment on fire with oil. Lu Dan's hand-picked commandos killed and wounded about 2,000 Nanzhao soldiers. After the frontal assault failed, Nanzhao troops improvised siege equipment from nearby houses and created a "bamboo tank" on logs, hiding inside to dig a tunnel under the walls. Tang soldiers responded by throwing jars with human waste making the cage too foul smelling to stay inside or jars with molten iron to burn up the cage.

The battle lasted for over a month, before the Tang envoy attempted to make peace with Shilong. Lu Dan ceased new operations, and Shilong responded positively. However, Tang soldiers mistakenly thought reinforcements had arrived and opened the city gate to greet them. Instead, they found the Nanzhao troops who thought it was a surprise attack, and fighting resumed. This confusion broke off the planned peace visits, with the Tang believing that Nanzhao was deceitful and Nanzhao believing Tang was not sincere. Eventually on the second month of the siege, Tang Jiannan East Circuit military governor Yan Qingfu arrived with actual reinforcements. Despite Shilong's attempts to divert forces to intercept them, the Nanzhao soldiers were crushed by the Tang forces, with five thousand casualties and the rest fleeing into the mountains. Shilong attempted to make peace, but with a clear disadvantage, he was unable to capture the city before the Tang forces converged on Chengdu. Shilong then aborted his campaign.

Nanzhao invaded again in the winter of 873-874 and reached within 70 km of Chengdu, seizing Qiongzhou and raiding Qianzhong prefecture (modern Pengshui) before retreating. They attacked again soon after and looted the suburbs of Chengdu for three days but failed to breach its gates and retreated.

Your ancestor once served the Tibetans as a slave. The Tibetans should be your foes. Instead you have turned yourself into a Tibetan subject. How could you not even differentiate kindness from enmity? As for the hall of the former Lord of Shu, it is a treasure from the previous dynasty, not a place suitable for occupancy by you remote barbarians. [Your aggression] has angered the deities as well as the common people. Your days are numbered!

— Niu Cong, military governor of Chengdu, in response to the Nanzhao invasion of 873

End of territorial expansion

In 875, Gao Pian was appointed by the Tang to lead defenses against Nanzhao. He ordered all the refugees in Chengdu to return home. Gao led a force of 5,000 and chased the remaining Nanzhao troops to the Dadu River where he defeated them in a decisive battle, captured their armored horses, and executed 50 tribal leaders. He proposed to the court an invasion of Nanzhao with 60,000 troops. His proposal was rejected. Nanzhao forces were driven from the Bozhou region, modern Guizhou, in 877 by a local military force organized by the Yang family from Shanxi. This effectively ended Nanzhao's expansionist campaigns. Shilong died in 877.

From Emperor Yizong’s time [r. 860–874], the barbarians [i.e., Nanzhao] sacked Annan and Yongzhou twice, marched into Qianzhong [southern Guizhou] once, and raided Xichuan [southern Sichuan] four times. Over these fifteen years, recruiting soldiers for and transporting supplies to [troops on the frontiers] have exhausted the entire country. As the lion’s share of taxes did not reach the capital [but were diverted to the frontier troops], the [imperial] treasury and the palace storehouses were emptied. Soldiers died of tropical diseases. Poverty turned commoners into robbers and thieves. Land in central China lay waste. This is all due to the war with Nanzhao.

— Lu Xie, Chancellor of the Tang dynasty, 880

Decline

Shilong's successor, Longshun, entered negotiations with the Tang for a marriage alliance, which was agreed to in 880. The marriage alliance never came to fruition owing to the Huang Chao rebellion. By the end of 880 the rebels had taken Luoyang and seized the Tong Pass. Longshun did not give up on the marriage however. In 883 he sent a delegation to Chengdu to fetch the Princess of Anhua. They brought with them one hundred rugs and carpets as betrothal gifts. The Nanzhao delegation was detained for two years due to a dispute in ceremony and failed to bring back the princess. In 897 Longshun was murdered by one of his own ministers. His successor, Shunhua, sent envoys to the Tang requesting restoration of friendly relations, but by this time the Tang emperor was merely a puppet figurehead of more powerful military governors. No response returned. The Nanzhao tuzhuan scroll painting was commissioned by Nanzhao's officials to answer Shunhua's question of how Buddhism entered Nanzhao. The scroll painting's narrative ends with Longshun worshiping a golden statue of Acuoye Guanyin. The scroll identifies the ruler as "Maharaja, Earth Wheel King, danbi qianjian, Who Invites The Four Directions to Become One Family, the Piaoxin Meng Longhao". "Maharaja, Earth Wheel King" refers to Buddhist rulership, "Piaoxin" means ruler of the Pyu city-states, and the Four Directions refer to the four seas of classical Chinese texts. The scroll depicts Longshun undergoing abhiseka (consecration), which typically involved being sprinkled with water from a basin, stating that the event occurred in 897.

In 902, the dynasty came to a bloody end when the chief minister (buxie), Zheng Maisi, murdered the royal family and usurped the throne, renaming it to Dachanghe (大長和, 902–928). In 928, a White Mywa noble, Yang Ganzhen (Jianchuan Jiedushi), aided the chief minister, Zhao Shanzheng, in overthrowing the Zheng family and establishing Datianxing (大天興, 928–929). The new regime lasted only a year before Zhao was killed by Yang, who created Dayining (大義寧, 929–937). Finally Duan Siping seized power in 937 and established the Dali Kingdom.