Nanzhao

Nanzhao (), also spelled Nanchao (Template:Lit, Yi language: ꂷꏂꌅ, Mashynzy), was a dynastic kingdom that flourished in what is now southwestern China and northern Southeast Asia during the 8th and 9th centuries, during the mid/late Tang dynasty. It was centered on present-day Yunnan in China, with its capitals in modern-day Dali City. The kingdom was officially called Dameng (大蒙) from 738 to 859 AD, Dali (大禮) from 859 to 877 and Dafengmin (大封民) from 877 to 902.

History

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The Nanzhao Dragon on Nanzhao Folklore Island, Erhai Lake, Yunnan

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Nanzhao Folklore Island

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Figure of Guanyin, 9th century, Nanzhao

Origins

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Xinuluo (r. 649-674) from the Nanzhao Tuzhuan (899)

File:南诏中兴画卷-逻盛.jpg

Luoshengyan (r. 674-712) from the Nanzhao Tuzhuan (899)

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 peopleTemplate:Sfn (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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn

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.Template:Sfn The Sui eventually gave up on the southern region.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn

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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

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 Template:Transliteration 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Two other Template:Transliteration 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

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")Template:Sfn and the title of "Prince of Yunnan".Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn 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.

Territorial expansion

Piluoge died in 748, and was succeeded by his son Geluofeng (閣羅鳳).Template:Sfn 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn

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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn

Expanding south

Geluofeng also began Nanzhao's shift towards Southeast Asia. He despatched armies to construct the walled city of Dadan in the Hkamti Long area. The location of Dadan 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.Template:Sfn

Nanzhao expanded into Myanmar,Template:Sfn 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Campaigns against the states of Minuo, Michen, Kunlun, Water Zhenla, and Land Zhenla are mentioned.Template:Sfn

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.Template:Sfn

In 829, Wang Cuodian attacked Chengdu, but withdrew the following year.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn

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

Invasion of Annan

In 846, Nanzhao raided the southern Tang circuit of Annan.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn Shilong proclaimed himself emperor and tried to negotiate a marriage alliance as well as the status of "younger brother" with the Tang dynasty.Template:Sfn 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.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

A government-in-exile for the protectorate was established in Haimen (near modern-day Hạ Long) under the leadership of Song Rong.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn

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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

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.Template:Sfn

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.Template:Sfn

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.Template:Sfn

End of territorial expansion

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Nanzhao Buddhists and the emperor praying to Auocye Guanyin in the Nanzhao tuzhuan (899)

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.Template:Sfn Nanzhao forces were driven from the Bozhou region, modern Guizhou, in 877 by a local military force organized by the Yang family from Shanxi.Template:Sfn This effectively ended Nanzhao's expansionist campaigns. Shilong died in 877.Template:Sfn

Decline

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Shunhuazhen (r. 897-902) from the Nanzhao Tuzhuan (899)

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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn

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 Template:Ill (大天興, 928–929). The new regime lasted only a year before Zhao was killed by Yang, who created Template:Ill (大義寧, 929–937). Finally Duan Siping seized power in 937 and established the Dali Kingdom.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Military

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Section of Zhang Shengwen's Kingdom of Dali Buddhist Volume of Paintings. Bare-footed warriors, possibly the Luojuzi on the right.

Nanzhao had an elite vanguard unit called the Luojuzi, which means tiger sons, that served as full-time soldiers. For every hundred soldiers, the strongest one was chosen for service in the Luojuzi. They were outfitted with red helmets, leather armour, and bronze shields, but went barefoot. Only wounds to the front were allowed and if they suffered any wounds to their back, they were executed. The commander of a hundred Luojuzi was called Luojuzuo. The king's personal guards, known as the Zhunu Quju, were recruited from the Luojuzi. "Quju" is a type of belt. Other types of Quju are known, such as Golden Quju. "Zhunu" in Chinese means "red crossbow".

Government

Nanzhao society was separated into two distinct castes: the administrative White Mywa living in western Yunnan, and the militaristic Black Mywa in eastern Yunnan. The rulers of Nanzhao were from the Mengshe tribe of the Black Mywa. Nanzhao modelled its government on the Tang dynasty with ministries (nine instead of six) and imperial examinations. However the system of governance and rule in Nanzhao was essentially feudal. The King of Nanzhao relied on a council of chief ministers and generals called the Qingping guan (). These councillors also served as regional administrative heads with a six-way division mirroring the Tang's Six Ministries system.Template:Sfn Nanzhao's mode of governance has been described as combining Sinitic bureaucracy with Southeast Asian-style alliances of allegiance with local leaders.Template:Sfn Some historians identify Nanzhao as a classical Southeast Asian polity due to being an early Buddhist kingdom that led military campaigns into the Pyu city states and Annam. However, the Nanzhao rulers did not employ Southeast Asian ideologies of kingship.Template:Sfn As Nanzhao grew in power and expanded their influence south, they increasingly became a rival to the Tang, rather than a frontier vassal. This included competition over frontiers between the two, such as Guizhou and Guangxi.Template:Sfn

Sons of the Nanzhao aristocracy visited the Tang capital, Chang'an, to receive a Chinese education. Young men in Nanzhao also visited Chengdu for their education, even during times when the two states were in military conflict.Template:Sfn Chinese influence on Nanzhao can be seen in the 766 Dehua Stele, which the Nanzhao elite used to depict their state as Sinitic following classical Chinese tradition. Confucian influence declined during the reign of Shilong (r. 859-77) when he proclaimed himself emperor and reoriented Nanzhao around Buddhism as the ruling ideology and religion.Template:Sfn Ten of the thirteen kings of Nanzhao accepted various imperial titles from the Tang.Template:Sfn

Sources that believe Nanzhao was a Yi dominated society also traditionally hold it to be a slave society because of how central the institution was to Yi culture. The prevalence of the slave culture was so great that sometimes children were named after the quality and quantity of slaves they owned or their parents wished to own. For example: Lurbbu (many slaves), Lurda (strong slaves), Lurshy (commander of slaves), Lurnji (origin of slaves), Lurpo (slave lord), Lurha, (hundred slaves), Jjinu (lots of slaves).

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A poem written in Square Bai script on the Shanhua tablet (山花碑), 15th c.

File:Armor, Yi people, Sichuan province, China, painted hide, wood, leather - Peabody Museum, Harvard University - DSC06035.jpg

Armour of the Yi people, made of leather, wood, and hide, Qing dynasty

Economy

The Lake Erhai region that formed the core of the Nanzhao territory strategically allowed Nanzaho to regulate and conduct overland trade between China, India and Southeast Asia. Historian Yumio Sakurai described Nanzhao as a "trade route controlling state". The fertile land near Lake Erhai and Lake Dian also created an agrarian base for the Nanzhao Kingdom. It established walled cities into Southeast Asia to expand its trade dominace, such as the walled city of Yongchang on the Upper Irrawaddy River.Template:Sfn They controlled the Upper Irrawaddy and its various tribes by constructing walled cities organised into five circuits to exert control and keep trade routes open. Their control of the region secured overland routes into India using the rivers for transportationTemplate:Sfn Nanzhao developed communication between this core region and its regional administrative points to control trade and administer itself as a hub heading southwest from China. Nanzhao saw itself as the furthest point of Sinitic control connecting to the non-Sinitic world on the other side of the Mekong River.Template:Sfn

Nanzhao's expansion into the Upper Irrawaddy also provided access to natural resource extraction, particularly gold mining. Criminals from Nanzhao's core were sent to pan for alluvial gold in the region. In 814, Nanzhao also exerted their influence to relocate two to three thousand people from the Lower Irrawaddy Kingdom of "Michen" (弥诺国) to mine gold in the Upper Irrawaddy.Template:Sfn

Language

Extant sources from Nanzhao and the later Dali Kingdom show that the ruling elite used Chinese script.Template:Sfn Scriptures from Nanzhao unearthed in the 1950s show that it was written in the Bai language but Nanzhao does not seem to have ever attempted to standardize or popularize the script.Template:Sfn

The Nanzhao rulers use what has been described as a father-son patronymic naming system found in Yi culture and Tibeto-Burman traditions.Template:Sfn According to the popular conception of the Yi patronymic naming system, the last character of the father's name transfers to become the first character of the son's name. The last character of the son's name is then used as the first character of the grandson's name. However this is not strictly a name per se but rather a shortening of the genealogical system which links the father and son across generations. A complete Yi name is composed of the clan name, the branch clan name, the father's name, and the person's own name (ex. Aho Bbujji Jjiha Lomusse). Aho is the name of a tribe, Bbuji is the name of a clan, Jjiha is the father's name, and Lomusse is a personal name. The name therefore means Lomusse the son of Jjiha of the Bbujji clan of the Aho tribe. Within the clan he would just be called Lomusse and within the tribe he would be called Jjiha Lomusse. Yi names use the suffixes -sse and -mo to express maleness and femaleness respectively. When the genealogy of a person is recited, only the father-son linkage is used to make it easier: Aho Ddezze—Ddezze Zuluo—Zuluo Jjiha—Jjiha Lomusse—Lomu Shuogge. This caused the assumption that the Yi practiced a father-son linkage system when it was actually a traditional genealogical recitation pattern.

The names of Nanzhao rulers have been transcribed according to this system with the first character representing the father's name:Template:Sfn

• (Xi)nuluo
• (Luo)sheng
• (Sheng)luopi
• (Pi)luoge
• (Ge)luofeng
• (Feng)jiayi
• (Yi)mouxun
• (Xun)gequan
• (Quan)fengyou – sought to imitate Chinese practices and only went by Fengyou; broke tradition and named his son ShilongTemplate:Sfn
• Shilong
• (Long)shun
• (Shun)huazhen

Leading families around the Nanzhao capital adopted Chinese surnames such as Yang, Li, Zhao, Dong, and claimed Han Chinese ancestry; however, the rulers instead presented themselves as Ailao descendants from Yongchang.Template:Sfn

Ethnicity

File:大理國描工張勝溫畫梵像-第103開-南詔歷代國王禮佛圖.png

The Nanzhao emperors performing Buddhist rites, Dali Kingdom, 12th century

Nanzhao had a variety of ethnic groups, with its core area being divided between "Wuman" (black barbarian) and "Baiman" (white barbarian). The ruling class were mostly Wuman while the majority were the more sinicised Baiman people. The Baiman leaders were given special titles and recognition.Template:Sfn In academia, the ethnic composition of the Nanzhao kingdom's population has been debated for a century.Template:Sfn Some non-Chinese scholars subscribed to the theory that the Tai ethnic group was a major component and later moved south into modern-day Thailand and Laos. Chinese scholars tended to associate Nanzaho with the modern Bai people.Template:Sfn

Bai and Yi

The ethnicity of Nanzhao's ruling elite is not clear. Both the Yi people and Bai people in modern Yunnan claim descent from Nanzhao's rulers.

In Weishan Yi and Hui Autonomous County, the Yi people claim direct descent from Xinuluo, the founder of Mengshe (Nanzhao).

The Bai people also trace their ancestry to Nanzhao and the Dali Kingdom, but records from those kingdoms do not mention Bai.Template:Sfn "Bai barbarians" or "Bo people" were mentioned during the Tang dynasty and it is suspected that they might be the same name using different transcriptions; Bai and Bo were pronounced Baek and Bwok in the Tang period. The name Bo was first cited in the Lüshi Chunqiu (c. 241 and 238 BC) and appeared again in the Records of the Grand Historian (begun in 104 BC).Template:Sfn The earliest references to "Bai people", or the "Bo", in connection to the people of Yunnan are from the Yuan dynasty. A Bai script using Chinese characters was mentioned during the Ming dynasty.Template:Sfn Scriptures dated to the Nanzhao period used the Bai language.Template:Sfn According to Stevan Harrell, while the ethnic identity of Nanzhao's ruling elite is still disputed, the subsequent Yang and Duan dynasties were both definitely Bai.Template:Sfn According to Christian Daniels, the Bai ethnic identity was more significantly formed much later in the 13th century after they were conquered by the Ming Dynasty or at the end of the Dali Kingdom.Template:Sfn

Forced migrations

File:Yimouxun Shizhongshan Grottoes Jianchuan.jpg

Carving of Yimouxun (r. 779-808) from the Shizhongshan Grottoes in Jianchuan County

The Nanzhao kings Piluoge, Geluofeng and Yimouxun were most aggressive in enacting forced migration. By expelling people in conquered areas, they reduced the risk of rebellion and helped redistribute their demographic bases. The force migrations further strengthened their military and was important in Nanzhao's ability to expand their territory into Southeast Asia.Template:Sfn

The Nanzhao king Yimouxun (r. 779-808) conducted forced resettlement of several ethnicities.

The southwest region also saw resettlement of Tang colonists. In 664, soldiers were sent by the Tang court to attempt to settle and exert influence over Nanzhao. During the subsequent wars, about 200,000 soldiers total were sent to Nanzhao over the course of two centuries with most failing to return. Those that did not die were variously resettled by Nanzhao or sold as slaves. Nanzhao raids into their frontier borders with China also brought back many Han Chinese slaves. Beyond, resettlement that happened due to war, Han Chinese fleeing famine, war or the Tang state also resettled in Nanzhao.Template:Sfn

Bamar

Nanzhao's invasions of the Pyu city-states brought with them the Bamar people (Burmese people), who originally lived in present-day Qinghai and Gansu. The Bamar would form the Pagan Kingdom in medieval Myanmar.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn In 849, a fortified settlement was established along the Irrawaddy River, possibly to help Nanzhao pacify the area. It was situated at the confluence of the Irrawaddy and the Chindwin tributary to the west of an irrigated rice plain.Template:Sfn

According to Burmese chronicles, after the Nanzhao invasions, a semi-mythical warrior-king named Pyusawhti arose. He was a giant and an excellent archer who came to Pagan and defeated a great bird, a great boar, a great tiger, and a flying squirrel. Legendary accounts say he was born from the union of a prince of the sun and a dragon egg or that he was a scion of the Shakya lineage of Tagaung. It is speculated that he was connected to the ruling dynasty of Nanzhao in some way due to practicing the same naming system. Pyusawhti and his descendants for seven generations used the same patronymic naming tradition that the Nanzhao kings practiced: the last part of a father's name is used as the first part of the son's name.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn It is also said that Pyusawhti achieved victory over the Chinese, which likely refers to Nanzhao defeating the Tang dynasty in a battle that Pyusawhti may have participated in.Template:Sfn

Mon-Khmer groups

Nanzhao also governed some distinct Mon-Khmer language speaking groups. The Puzi were an ethnic group in the Ailao Kingdom prior to the Nanzhao Kingdom and was therefore recognised within the core of the Nanzhao state as "superior chieftaians". The Puzi lived further north than other Mon-Khmer groups and had an established independent polity known in Chinese as Qingdian (慶甸), which was conquered by the Yuan dynasty in the 14th century. The Puzi later gave rise to the modern Wa, Palaung and Bulang people.Template:Sfn

At the southernmost parts of the Nanzhao territory were various other Mon-Khmer groups including the Heichi, Jinchi and Mang Man people. Earlier historians associated these groups with the Tai peoples, but relied on superimposing modern ethnic distributions onto the geographies of these groups. The Mang Man had a state called Mangzhao between the River and the Mekong rivers in the 8th century before it was defeated by King Yimouxun in 794 CE, well before Tai migration into the area.Template:Sfn

Religion

File:Juyingchi.JPG

The Three Pagodas, built by King Quan Fengyou (劝丰佑) of Nanzhao

File:Yi Bimoism symbol.svg

Modern symbol for Bimoism

Benzhuism

Almost nothing is known about pre-Buddhist religion in Nanzhao. According to Yuan dynasty sources, the Bai people practiced an indigenous religion called Benzhuism that worshiped local lords and deities. The Benzhu lords are spirits of people that died under special circumstances and are not hierarchically organized. Archaeological findings in Yunnan suggest that animal and human sacrifices were offered to the Benzhu lords around a metal pillar with the aid of bronze drums in return for wealth and health. The use of iron pillars for rituals seems to have been retained into the Dali Kingdom. The Nanzhao tuzhuan shows offerings to heaven occurring around one.Template:Sfn The Bai people have female shamans and share a worship of white stones similar to the Qiang people.Template:Sfn

Bimoism

Bimoism is the ethnic religion of the Yi people. The religion is named after the Shaman-priests known as bimo, which means 'master of scriptures', who officiate at births, funerals, weddings and holidays. One can become bimo by patrilinial descent after a time of apprenticeship or formally acknowledging an old bimo as the teacher. A lesser priest known as suni is elected, but bimo are more revered and can read Yi scripts while suni cannot. Both can perform rituals, but only bimo can perform rituals linked to death. For most cases, suni only perform some exorcism to cure diseases. Generally, suni can only be from humble civil birth while bimo can be of both aristocratic and humble families.

The Yi worshiped and deified their ancestors similar to the Chinese folk religion, and also worshiped gods of nature: fire, hills, trees, rocks, water, earth, sky, wind and forests. Bimoists also worship dragons, believed to be protectors from bad spirits that cause illness, poor harvests and other misfortunes. Bimoists believe in multiple souls. At death, one soul remains to watch the grave while the other is eventually reincarnated into some living form. After someone dies they sacrifice a pig or sheep at the doorway to maintain relationship with the deceased spirit.

Buddhism

File:Extract of the Nanzhao Tujuan scroll.jpg

Extract of Nanzhao Tujuan scroll - the Nanzhao Buddhists are depicted as light skinned whereas the non-Buddhists are depicted as rebellious short brown people

Buddhism practiced in Nanzhao and the Dali Kingdom was known as Azhali (Acharya), founded around 821-824 by a monk from India called Li Xian Maishun. More monks from India arrived in 825 and 828 and built a temple in Heqing. In 839, an acharya named Candragupta entered Nanzhao. Quanfengyou appointed him as a state mentor and married his sister Yueying to Candragupta. It was said that he meditated in a thatched cottage of Fengding Mountain in the east of Heqing, and became an "enlightened God." He established an altar to propagate tantric doctrines in Changdong Mountain of Tengchong. Candragupta continued to propagate tantric doctrines, translated the tantric scripture The Rites of the Great Consecration, and engaged in water conservancy projects. He left for his homeland later on and possibly went to Tibet to propagate his teachings. When he returned to Nanzhao, he built Wuwei Temple.

In 851, an inscription in Jianchuan dedicated images to Maitreya and Amitabha.Template:Sfn The Nanzhao king Quanfengyou commissioned Chinese architects from the Tang dynasty to build the Three Pagodas.Template:Sfn The last king of Nanzhao established Buddhism as the official state religion. In the Nanzhao Tushu juan, the Nanzhao Buddhist elite are depicted with light skin whereas the people who oppose Buddhism are depicted as short and dark skinned.Template:Sfn The 899 Nanzhao tuzhuan gives depicts and recounts how the Acuoye Guanyin helped found Nanzhao.Template:Sfn

Azhali is considered a sect of Tantrism or esoteric Buddhism, which continued to be practiced in Nanzhao's successor states, the Changhe (903-27), Tianxing (927-28), Yining (928-37), and Dali kingdoms.Template:Sfn Acharya itself means guru or teacher in Sanskrit. According to Azhali practices among the Bai people, acharyas were allowed to marry and have children. The position of acharya was hereditary. The acharyas became state mentors in Nanzhao and held great influence until the Mongol conquest of China in the 13th century, during which the acharyas called upon various peoples to resist the Mongol rulers and later the Chinese during the Ming conquest of Yunnan. Zhu Yuanzhang banned the dissemination of Azhali Buddhism for a time before setting up an office to administer the religion.

The area had a strong connection with Tantric Buddhism, which has survived to this dayTemplate:Sfn at Jianchuan and neighboring areas. The worship of Guanyin and Mahākāla is very different from other forms of Chinese Buddhism. Nanzhao likely had strong religious connections with the Pagan Kingdom in what is today Myanmar, as well as Tibet and Bengal (see Pala Empire).

Gallery of Nanzhao rulers from the Kingdom of Dali Buddhist Volume of Paintings

• Xinuluo r.649-674
  Xinuluo r.649-674
• Luosheng r.674-712
  Luosheng r.674-712
• Shengluopi r.712-728
  Shengluopi r.712-728
• Piluoge r.(728-)738-748
  Piluoge r.(728-)738-748
• Geluofeng r.748-779
  Geluofeng r.748-779
• Yimouxun r.779-808
  Yimouxun r.779-808
• Xungequan r.808-809
  Xungequan r.808-809
• Quanlongcheng r.809-816
  Quanlongcheng r.809-816
• Quanli(sheng) r.816-823
  Quanli(sheng) r.816-823
• Quanfengyou r.823-859
  Quanfengyou r.823-859
• Shilong r.859-877
  Shilong r.859-877
• Longshun r.878-897
  Longshun r.878-897
• Shunhuazhen r.897-902
  Shunhuazhen r.897-902

Bibliography

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