Nanyue
Encyclopedia
Nanyue was an ancient kingdom that consisted of parts of the modern Chinese provinces of Guangdong
, Guangxi
, and Yunnan
and northern Vietnam
. Nanyue was established in 204 BC at the final collapse of the Qin Dynasty
by Zhao Tuo
, who was the military commander of Nanhai Commandery at the time, and initially comprised the Nanhai, Guilin, and Xiang Commanderies. In 196 BC, Zhao Tuo made tributary obeisance to the Emperor Gaozu of Han and Nanyue was referred to by Han leaders as a "foreign servant" , synecdoche
for a vassal state
. Around 183 BC, relations between the Nanyue and the Han Dynasty soured, and Zhao Tuo began to refer to himself as an emperor (suggesting Nanyue's sovereignty). The kingdoms of Minyue, Yelang
, Ouluo and Tongshi declared their allegiance to Nanyue rule, greatly expanding Nanyue's territory and control. In 179 BC, relations between the Han and Nanyue improved, and Zhao Tuo once again made submission, this time to Emperor Wen of Han
. In 113 BC, fourth-generation leader Zhao Xing sought to have Nanyue formally included as part of the Han Empire. His prime minister Lü Jia objected vehemently and subsequently killed Zhao Xing, installing his elder brother Zhao Jiande on the throne and forcing a confrontation with the Han Dynasty. The next year, Emperor Wu of Han
sent 100,000 troops to war against Nanyue. By the end of the year and the beginning of 111 BC, the army had destroyed Nanyue. The kingdom lasted 93 years in total and had five generations of kings.
The Kingdom of Nanyue's founding preserved the Lingnan
region's societal order and stability during the chaos surrounding the collapse of the Qin Dynasty, and allowed the southern region to avoid much of the hardship experienced by the northern, predominantly Han Chinese regions. The kingdom was founded by leaders originally from the Chinese heartland
, and was responsible for bringing Chinese bureaucracy and more advanced agriculture and handicraft techniques to the inhabitants of the southern regions, as well as knowledge of the Chinese language
and writing system
. Nanyue leaders promoted a policy of "Harmonizing and Gathering the Hundred Yue Tribes" , and encouraged fellow Han Chinese to immigrate from their Yellow River
homeland to the south. They supported mutual assimilation of the two cultures and peoples, and promulgated Han culture and the Chinese language throughout the region, though many elements of original Yue culture were preserved.
In Vietnam, the rulers of Nanyue are referred to as the Triệu Dynasty. The name "Vietnam" is derived from Nam Việt, the Vietnamese pronunciation of Nanyue.
by Han Dynasty
historian Sima Qian
. It is mostly contained in section (juan) 113, (Ordered Annals of Nanyue). It is from this record that most of the information from Nanyue Under Zhao Tuo to Zhao Jiande and Nanyue's Demise is taken.
conquered the six other Chinese kingdoms of Han
, Zhao
, Wei
, Chu
, Yan
, and Qi
, he turned his attention to the Xiongnu
tribes of the north and west and the Hundred Yue peoples of what is now southern China. Circa 218 BC, the First Emperor dispatched General Tu Sui with an army of 500,000 Qin soldiers to divide into five companies and attack the Hundred Yue tribes of the Lingnan
region. The first company gathered at Yuhan (Modern Yugan County
in Jiangxi Province) and attacked the Minyue, defeating them and establishing the Minzhong Commandery. The second company fortified at Nanye (in modern Jiangxi Province's Nankang County), and was designed to put defensive pressure on the southern clans. The third company occupied Panyu
. The fourth company garrisoned near the Jiuyi Mountains
, and the fifth company garrisoned outside Tancheng (in the southwest part of modern Hunan Province's Jingzhou Miao and Dong Autonomous County
). The First Emperor assigned official Shi Lu to oversee supply logistics. Shi first led a regiment of soldiers through the Ling Channel
(which connected the Xiang River
and the Li River
), then navigated through the Yangtze River
and Pearl River
water systems ensure the safety of the Qin supply routes. The Qin attack of the Western Valley Yue tribe went smoothly, and Western Valley chieftain Yi-Xu-Song was killed. However, the Western Valley Yue were unwilling to submit to the Qin and fled into the jungle where they selected a new leader to continue resisting the Chinese armies. Later, a night-time counterattack by the Western Valley Yue devastated the Qin troops, and General Tu Sui was killed in the fighting. The Qin suffered heavy losses, and the imperial court selected General Zhao Tuo to assume command of the Chinese army. In 214 BC
, the First Emperor dispatched Ren Xiao and Zhao Tuo at the head of reinforcements to once again mount an attack. This time, the Western Valley Yue were completely defeated, and the Lingnan region was brought entirely under Chinese control. In the same year, the Qin court established the Nanhai, Guilin, and Xiang Commanderies, and Ren Xiao was made Lieutenant of Nanhai. Nanhai was further divided into Panyu, Longchuan
, Boluo
, and Jieyang
counties (among several others), and Zhao Tuo was made commander of Longchuan.
The First Emperor died in 210 BC, and his son Zhao Huhai
became the Second Emperor of Qin. The following year, soldiers Chen Sheng
, Wu Guang, and others seized the opportunity to revolt against the Qin government. Insurrections spread throughout much of China (including those led by Xiang Yu
and Liu Bang, who would later face off over the founding of the next dynasty) and the entire Yellow River
region devolved into chaos. Soon after the first insurrections, Nanhai Lieutenant Ren Xiao became gravely ill and summoned Zhao Tuo to hear his dying instructions. Ren described the natural advantages of the southern region and described how a kingdom could be founded to combat the warring groups in the Chinese north. He drafted a decree instating Zhao Tuo as the new Lieutenant of Nanhai, and passed away soon afterward.
After Ren's death, Zhao Tuo, sent orders to his troops in Hengpu Pass (north of modern Nanxiong
, Guangdong Province), Yangshan Pass (northern Yangshan County
), Huang Stream Pass (modern Yingde
region, where the Lian River enters the Bei River), and other garrisons to fortify themselves against any northern troops. He also executed Qin officials still stationed in Nanhai and replaced them with his own trusted friends.
Tradition states that Shu
prince Shu Pan founded a kingdom called Au Lak building his capital and citadel at Co Loa, thirty-five kilometers north of present-day Hanoi. An Duong's kingdom was short-lived, however, being conquered in 208 B.C. by the army of the Chinese Qin dynasty military commander Zhao Tuo. and assimilated his territory with that of Nanhai, Guilin, and Xiang.
In 206 BC the Qin Dynasty ceased to exist, and the Yue peoples of Guilin and Xiang were largely independent once more. In 204 BC, Zhao Tuo founded the Kingdom of Nanyue, with Panyu as capitol, and declared himself the Martial King of Nanyue .
and reunified Central China in 202 BC. The fighting had left many areas of China depopulated and impoverished, and feudal lords continued to rebel while the Xiongnu made frequent incursions into northern Chinese territory. The precarious state of the empire therefore forced the Han court to treat Nanyue initially with utmost circumspection. In 196 BC, Liu Bang, now Emperor Gaozu, sent Lu Jia (陸賈) to Nanyue in hopes of obtaining Zhao Tuo's allegiance. After arriving, Lu met with Zhao Tuo and is said to have found him dressed in Yue clothing and being greeted after their customs, which enraged him. A long exchange ensued, wherein Lu is said to have admonished Zhao Tuo, pointing out that he was Chinese, not Yue, and should have maintained the dress and decorum of the Chinese and not have forgotten the traditions of his ancestors. Lu lauded the strength of the Han court and warned against a kingdom as small as Nanyue daring to oppose it. He further threatened to kill Zhao's kinsmen in China proper and destroying their ancestral graveyards, as well as coercing the Yue into deposing Zhao himself. Following the threat, Zhao Tuo then decided to receive Emperor Gaozu's seal and submit to Han authority. Trade relations were established at the border between Nanyue and the Han kingdom of Changsha. Although formally a Han subject state, Nanyue seems to have retained a large measure of de facto autonomy.
After the death of Liu Bang in 195 BC, the government was put in the hands of his wife, Empress Lü Zhi
, who served as Empress Dowager
over their son Emperor Hui of Han
and then Emperor Hui's sons Liu Gong
and Liu Hong
. Enraged, Empress Lü sent men to Zhao Tuo's hometown of Zhending (modern Zhengding County in Hebei Province) who killed much of Zhao's extended family and desecrated the ancestral graveyard there. Zhao Tuo believed that Wu Chen, the Prince of Changsha, had made false accusations against him to get Empress Dowager Lü to block the trade between the states and to prepare to conquer the Nanyue to merge into his principality of Changsha. In revenge, he then declared himself the emperor of Nanyue and attacked the principality of Changsha. Lü sent general Zhou Zao to punish Zhao Tuo. However, in the hot and humid climate of the south, an epidemic broke out quickly amongst the soldiers, and the weakened army was unable to cross the mountains, forcing them to withdraw. Zhao Tuo then annexed the surrounding states of Minyue in the east and Ouluo in the west as subject kingdoms.
In 179 BC, Liu Heng
ascended the throne as Emperor of the Han. He reversed many of the previous policies of Empress Lü and took a conciliatory attitude toward Zhao Tuo and the Kingdom of Nanyue. He ordered officials to revisit Zhending, garrison the town, and make offerings to Zhao Tuo's ancestors regularly. His prime minister Chen Ping
suggested sending Lu Jia to Nanyue as they were familiar with each other. Lu arrived once more in Panyu and delivered a letter from the Emperor emphasizing that Empress Lü's policies were what had caused the hostility between Nanyue and the Han court and brought suffering to the border citizens. Zhao Tuo decided to submit to the Han once again, withdrawing his title of "emperor" and reverting to "king", and Nanyue became Han's subject state. However, most of the changes were superficial, and Zhao Tuo continued to be referred to as "emperor" throughout Nanyue.
to send troops to Nanyue's aid against what he called "the rebels of Minyue". The Emperor lauded Zhao Mo for his vassal loyalty and sent Wang Hui, an official governing ethnic minorities, and agricultural official Han Anguo at the head of an army with orders to separate and attack Minyue from two directions, one from Yuzhang Commandery, and the other from Kuaiji Commandery. Before they reached Minyue, however, the Minyue king was assassinated by his younger brother Yu Shan, who promptly surrendered.
The Emperor sent court emissary Yan Zhu to the Nanyue capital to give an official report of Minyue's surrender to Zhao Mo, who had Yan return his gratitude to the Emperor along with a promise that Zhao would come visit the Imperial Court in Chang'an
, and even sent his son Zhao Yingqi to return with Yan to the Chinese capital. Before the king could ever leave for Chang'an himself, one of his ministers strenuously advised against going for fear that Emperor Wu would find some pretext to prevent him from returning, thus leading to the destruction of Nanyue. King Zhao Mo thereupon feigned illness and never travelled to the Han capital.
Immediately following Minyue's surrender to the Han army, Wang Hui had dispatched man named Tang Meng, local governor of Panyang County, to deliver the news to Zhao Mo. While in Nanyue, Tang Meng was introduced to the Yue custom of eating a sauce made from medlar fruit imported from Shu Commandery. Surprised that such a product was available, he learned that there was a route from Shu (modern Sichuan Province) to Yelang
, and then along the Zangke River (the modern Beipan River
of Yunnan
and Guizhou
) which allowed direct access to the Nanyue capital Panyu
. Tang Meng thereupon drafted a memorial to Emperor Wu suggesting a gathering of 100,000 elite soldiers at Yelang who would navigate the Zangke River and launch a surprise attack on Nanyue. Emperor Wu agreed with Tang's plan and promoted him to General of Langzhong and had him lead a thousand soldiers with a multitude of provisions and supply carts from Bafu Pass (near modern Hejiang County
) into Yelang. Many of the carts carried ceremonial gifts which Yelang presented to the feudal lords of Yelang as bribes to declare allegiance to the Han Dynasty, which they did, and Yelang became Qianwei Commandery of the Han Empire.
Over a decade later, Zhao Mo fell genuinely ill and died around 122 BC.
he had married a young Yue woman and had his eldest son Zhao Jiande. While in Chang'an, he also married a Han Chinese
woman, like himself, who was from Handan
. Together they had a son Zhao Xing. After assuming the Nanyue kingship, he petitioned the Han Emperor to appoint his Chinese wife (who was from the Jiu 樛 family) as Queen and Zhao Xing as Crown Prince, a move that eventually brought disaster upon Nanyue. Zhao Yingqi was reputed to be a tyrant who killed citizens with flippant abandon. He died of illness around 113 BC.
sent senior minister Anguo Shaoji to Nanyue summon Zhao Xing and his mother to Chang'an
for an audience with the Emperor, as well as two other officials with soldiers to await a response at Guiyang
. At the time, Zhao Xing was still young and the Queen Dowager was a recent immigrant to Nanyue, so final authority in matters of state rested in the hands of Prime Minister Lü Jia. Before the Queen Dowager married Zhao Yingqi, it was widely rumored that she had had an affair with Anguo Shaoji, and they were said to have renewed it when he was sent to Nanyue, which caused the Nanyue citizens to lose confidence in her rule.
Fearful of losing her position of authority, Queen Dowager Jiu persuaded Zhao Xing and his ministers to fully submit to Han Dynasty rule. At the same time, she dispatched a memorial to Emperor Wu requesting that they might join Han China, that they might have an audience with the Emperor every third year, and that the borders between Han China and Nanyue might be dissolved. The Emperor granted her requests and sent Imperial seals to the Prime Minister and other senior officials, symbolizing that the Han court expected to directly control the appointments of senior officials. He also abolished the penal tattooing and nose-removal criminal punishments that were practiced among the Yue and instituted Han legal statutes. Emissaries that had been sent to Nanyue were instructed to remain there to ensure the stability of Han control. Upon receiving their Imperial decrees, King Zhao and the Queen Dowager began planning to leave for Chang'an.
Prime Minister Lü Jia was much older than most officials and had served since the reign of Zhao Xing's grandfather Zhao Mo. His family was the preeminent Yue family in Nanyue and was thoroughly intermarried with the Zhao royal family. He vehemently opposed Nanyue's submission to the Han Dynasty and criticized Zhao Xing on numerous occasions, though his outcries were ignored. Lü decided to begin planning a coup and feigned illness to avoid meeting the emissaries of the Han court. The emissaries were well aware of Lü's influence in the kingdom - it easily rivalled that of the king - but were never able to remove him. Sima Qian
recorded a story that the Queen Dowager and the Zhao Xing invited Prime Minister Lü to a banquet with several Han emissaries where they hoped to find a chance to kill Lü: during the banquet, the Queen Dowager mentioned that Prime Minister Lü was against Nanyue submitting to the Han Dynasty, with the hope that the Han emissaries would become enraged and kill Lü. However, Lü's younger brother had surrounded the palace with armed guards, and the Han emissaries, led by Anguo Shaoji, didn't dare attack Lü. Sensing the danger of the moment, Lü excused himself and stood to leave the palace. The Queen Dowager herself became furious and tried to grab a spear with which to kill the Prime Minister personally, but she was stopped by her son, the king. Lü Jia instructed his brother's armed men to surround his compound and stand guard and feigned illness, refusing to meet with King Zhao or any Han emissaries. At the same time, be began seriously plotting the upcoming coup with other officials.
When news of the situation reached Emperor Wu
, he dispatched a man named Han Qianqiu with 2,000 officials to Nanyue to wrest control from Lü Jia. In 112 BC the men crossed into Nanyue territory, and Lü Jia finally executed his plan. He and those loyal to him appealed to the citizens that Zhao Xing was but a youth, Queen Dowager Jiu a foreigner who was plotting with the Han emissaries with the intent to turn the country over to Han China, giving over all of Nanyue's treasures to the Han Emperor and selling Yue citizens to the Imperial court as slaves with no thought for the welfare of the Yue people themselves. With the people's support, Lü Jia and his younger brother led a large group of men into the king's palace, killing Zhao Xing, Queen Dowager Jiu, and all the Han emissaries in the capital.
when they were ambushed by a regiment of Nanyue soldiers and completely annihilated. Lü Jia then took the imperial tokens of the Han emissaries and placed them in a ceremonial wooden box, then attached to it a fake letter of apology and installed it on the border of Han China and Nanyue, along with military reinforcements. When Emperor Wu heard of the coup and Prime Minister Lü's actions, he became enraged. After issuing compensation to the families of the slain emissaries, he decreed the immediate mobilization of an army to attack Nanyue.
In autumn of 112 BC, Emperor Wu sent an army of 100,000 men divided into five companies to attack Nanyue. The first company was led by General Lu Bode and advanced from Guiyang (modern Lianzhou
) down the Huang River (now called the Lian River
). The second company was led by Commander Yang Pu and advanced from Yuzhang Commandery (modern Nanchang
) through the Hengpu Pass and down the Zhen River. The third and fourth companies were led by Zheng Yan and Tian Jia, both Yue chieftains who had joined the Han Dynasty. The third company left from Lingling (modern Yongzhou
) and sailed down the Li River
, while the fourth company went directly to garrison Cangwu (modern Wuzhou
). The fifth company was led by He Yi and was composed mainly of prisoners from Shu
and Ba
with soldiers from Yelang; they sailed directly down the Zangke River (modern Beipan River
). At the same time, Yu Shan, a king of the Eastern Yue, declared his intention to participate in the Han Dynasty's attack on Nanyue and sent 8,000 men to support Yang Pu's company. However, upon reaching Jieyang, they pretended to have encountered severe winds that prevented them from advancing, and secretly sent details of the invasion to Nanyue.
By winter of that year, Yang Pu's company had attacked Xunxia and moved on to destroy the northern gates of Panyu (within the borders of modern Guangzhou
municipality), capturing Nanyue's naval fleet and provisions. Seizing the opportunity, they continued south and defeated the first wave of Nanyue defenders before stopping to await the company led by Lu Bode. Lu's forces were mostly convicts freed in exchange for military service and made slow time, so at the planned rendezvous date with Yang Pu only a thousand of Lu's men had arrived. They went ahead with the attack anyway, and Yang's men led the advance into Panyu where Lü Jia and Zhao Jiande had fortified inside the inner walls. Yang Pu set up a camp southeast of the city and, as darkness fell, set the city on fire. Lu Bode encamped the northwest side of the city and sent soldiers up to the walls to encourage the Nanyue soldiers to surrender. As the night passed, more and more Panyu defenders defected to Lu Bode's camp out of desperation, so that as dawn arrived most of the Nanyue soldiers were gone. Lü Jia and Zhao Jiande realized Panyu was lost and fled the city by boat, heading west before the sun rose. Upon interrogating the surrendered soldiers, the Han generals learned of the two Nanyue leaders' escape and sent men after them. Zhao Jiande was caught first, and Lü Jia was captured in what is now northern Vietnam.
After the fall of Panyu, the other commanderies and counties of Nanyue surrendered to the Han Dynasty, ending Nanyue's 93-year existence as an autonomous and mostly sovereign kingdom. When news of Nanyue's defeat reached Emperor Wu
, he was staying in Zuoyi County in Shanxi Province while travelling to perform imperial inspections, and promptly created the new county of Wenxi
, meaning "Hearing of Glad [News]". After Lü Jia's capture he was executed by the Han soldiers and his head was sent to the emperor. Upon receiving it, he created Huojia County
where he was travelling, meaning "Obtaining [Lü] Jia".
, and that this area was also under Nanyue control. However, scholars have recently stated that the Qin likely never conquered territory in what is now Vietnam, and that Chinese domination there was first accomplished by the Nanyue themselves.
immigrants who occupied most of the positions of authority. The Chinese citizens consisted of descendants of Qin armies sent to conquer the south, young girls who worked as army prostitutes, exiled Qin officials, exiled criminals, and merchants.
The Yue people were divided into numerous branches, tribes, and clans.
The Nanyue lived in north, east, and central Guangdong
, as well as a small group in east Guangxi
.
The Western Valley (Xi'ou) lived in most of Guangxi and western Guangdong, with most of the population concentrated along the Xun River
region and areas south of the Gui River, both part of the Xi River watershed. Descendants of Yi-Xu-Song, the chieftain killed resisting the Qin armies, acted as self-imposed governors of the Xi'ou clans. At the time of Nanyue's defeat by the Han Dynasty, there were several hundred thousand Xi'ou people in Guilin Commandery alone.
The Luoyue clans lived in what is now western and southern Guangxi, northern Vietnam, the Leizhou Peninsula
, Hainan
, and southwest Guizhou
. Populations were centered in the Zuo and You
watersheds in Guangxi
, the Red River Delta
in northern Vietnam, and the Pan River watershed in Guizhou. The Chinese name "Luo", which denoted a white horse with a black mane, is said to have been applied to them after the Chinese saw their slash-and-burn method of hillside cultivation.
general of the Qin Dynasty
, Nanyue's political and bureaucratic systems were, at first, essentially just continuations of those of the Qin Empire itself. Because of Zhao Tuo's submissions to the Han Dynasty
, Nanyue also adopted many of the changes enacted by the Han, as well. At the same time, Nanyue enjoyed complete autonomy - and de facto sovereignty - for most of its existence, so its rulers did enact several systems that were entirely unique to Nanyue.
Nanyue was a monarchy
, and its head of state generally held the title of "king" , though its first two rulers Zhao Tuo
and Zhao Mo were referred to as "Emperor" within Nanyue's borders. The kingdom had its own Calendar era
system based (like China's) on Emperors' reign periods. Succession in the monarchy was based on hereditary rule, with the King or Emperor's successor designated as crown prince
. The ruler's mother was designated empress dowager
, his wife as empress or queen
, and his concubines as "Lady" . The formalities extended to the ruler's family were on the level of that of the Han Dynasty Emperor, rather than that of a feudal king.
Although Nanyue continued the Commandery-County system of the Qin Dynasty, its leaders later enfeoffed their own feudal princes and lords - a mark of its sovereignty - in a manner similar to that of the Western Han. Imperial documents from Nanyue record that princes were enfeoffed at Cangwu, Xixu, as well as local lords at Gaochang and elsewhere. Zhao Guang, a relative of Zhao Tuo, was made King of Cangwu, and his holdings were what is now Wuzhou
in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. In what is considered a manifestation of Zhao Tuo's respect for the Hundred Yue, he enfeoffed a Yue chieftain as King of Xixu in order to allow the Yue of that area to enjoy autonomy under a ruler of their own ethnicity. The chieftain's name is unknown, but he was a descendant of Yi-Xu-Song, the chieftain killed while fighting the original Chinese invasion under the Qin Dynasty.
Nanyue's bureaucracy was, like the famed bureaucracy of the Qin Dynasty, divided into central and regional governments. The central government comprised a prime minister who held military and administrative authority, inner scribes who served under the prime minister, overseeing Censors of various rank and position, commanders of the Imperial Guard, senior officials who carried out the King's official administration, as well as all military officers and officials of the Food, Music, Transportation, Agriculture, and other bureaus.
Nanyue enacted several other policies that reflected Chinese dominance, such as the household registration system (an early form of census), as well as the promulgation of the use of Chinese characters among the Hundred Yue population and the use of Chinese weights and measures.
, naval troops, and cavalry
. Of the many artifacts excavated from Nanyue tombs, the vast majority are bronze, indicating a lack of iron in Nanyue industry and/or technology. Nanyue soldiers generally wielded bronze short swords or spears and shot arrows with bronze arrowheads, while generals often had iron weapons.
proactively promoted a policy of assimilating the two cultures into each other. Although the Han were certainly dominant in holding leadership positions, the overwhelming disparity was largest immediately after the Qin conquest. Over time, the Yue gradually began holding more positions of authority in the government. Lü Jia, the last prime minister of the Kingdom, was a Yue citizen, and over 70 of his kinsmen served as officials in various parts of the government. In areas of particular "complexity", as they were called, Yue chieftains were often enfeoffed with great autonomy, such as in Xixu. Under the impetus of Zhao Tuo's leadership, Chinese immigrants were encouraged to adopt the customs of the Yue. Marriages between the Han Chinese and Yue became increasingly common throughout Nanyue's existence, and even occurred in the Zhao royal family. Many marriages between the Zhao royal family (who were Han Chinese) and the Lü family (Yue - they likely adopted Chinese names early in Nanyue's history) were recorded. Zhao Jiande, Nanyue's last king, was the son of previous king Zhao Yingqi and his Yue wife. Despite the dominating influence of the Chinese newcomers on the Hundred Yue, the amount of assimilation gradually increased over time.
which was used by Chinese immigrants and government officials, most Nanyue citizens likely spoke Ancient Yue, an extinct language whose descendants are believed to be the Zhuang and Tai languages
. Old Chinese in the region was likely much influenced by Yue speech (and vice versa), and many loanwords in Chinese languages have been identified by modern scholars.
There is no known evidence of a writing system among the Yue peoples of the Lingnan
region in pre-Qin times, and the Chinese conquest of the region is believed to have introduced writing to the area. Old Chinese seems to have been the language of government, likely because Zhao Tuo and most government officials were Chinese immigrants and not Yue. Archaeological finds at the Tomb of the Nanyue King in Guangzhou, the Nanyue Palace Ruins, and the Luobowan tombs have provided nearly all that is known of Nanyue writing. These sites contained a wide variety of artifacts with writings in several different media. Items from King Zhao Mo's tomb have seal script
characters on them, while those from the Palace and Luobowan tend to have clerical script
characters.
, Nanyue alternately went through two periods of allegiance to and then opposition with Han China that continued until Nanyue's destruction at the hands of the Han Dynasty in early 111 BC
.
The first period of Nanyue's subordination to the Han Dynasty began in 196 BC
when Zhao Tuo
met Lu Jia, an emissary from Emperor Gaozu of Han, and received from him a Han Imperial seal enthroning Zhao Tuo as King of Nanyue. This period lasted thirteen years until 183 BC
, during which time significant trade took place. Nanyue paid tribute in rarities from the south, and the Han court bestowed gifts of iron tools, horses, and cattle upon Nanyue. At the same time, the countries' borders were always heavily guarded.
Nanyue's first period of antagonism with the Han Dynasty lasted from 183 BC to 179 BC, when trade was suspended and Zhao Tuo severed relations with the Han. During this period, Zhao Tuo openly referred to himself as Emperor and launched an attack against the Kingdom of Changsha, a feudal state of the Han Dynasty, and Han troops were sent to engage Nanyue. Nanyue's armies successfully halted the southern progress of the advance, winning the respect and then allegiance of the neighboring kingdoms of Minyue and Yelang.
Nanyue's second period of submission to the Han Dynasty lasted from 179 BC to 112 BC. This period began with Zhao Tuo abandoning his title of "Emperor" and declaring allegiance to the Han Empire. Zhao Tuo's four successors did not display the strength he had, and Nanyue dependence on Han China slowly grew, characterized by second king Zhao Mo calling upon Emperor Wu of Han
to defend Nanyue from Minyue.
Nanyue's final period of antagonism with Han China was the war that proved Nanyue's destruction as a kingdom. At the time of Prime Minister Lü Jia's rebellion, Han China was enjoying a period of growth, economic prosperity, and military success, having consistently defeated the Xiongnu
tribes along China's northern and northwestern borders. The weakened state of Nanyue and the strength of China at the time allowed Emperor Wu
to unleash a devastating attack on Nanyue, as described above.
in the 3rd century BC and the area was organized under Qin control as the Minzhong Commandery, and Minyue ruler Wuzhu was deposed. Because of Wuzhu's support for Liu Bang after the collapse of the Qin Dynasty and the founding of the Han, he was reinstated by the Han court as King of Minyue in 202 BC
.
The relations between Nanyue and Minyue can be classified into three stages: the first, from 196 BC
to 183 BC
, was during Zhao Tuo's first submission to the Han Dynasty, and the two kingdoms were on relatively equal footing. The second stage was from 183 BC
to 135 BC
, when Minyue submitted to Nanyue after seeing it defeat the Han Dynasty's first attack on Nanyue. The third stage began in 135 BC
when King Wang Ying attacked a weakened Nanyue, forcing Zhao Mo to seek aid from Han China. Minyue once again submitted to the Han Dynasty, making itself and Nanyue equals once more.
lived west of Nanyue, and shared borders with Nanyue in Yelang, Wulian, Juding, and other regions. Yelang was the largest state of the Yi people, comprising most of modern Guizhou
and Yunnan
Provinces, as well as the southern part of Sichuan Province. Some believe the ancient Yi to have been related to the Hundred Yue, with this explaining the close relationship between Yelang and Nanyue. After Nanyue first repelled the Han, nearly all of the Yi tribes declared allegiance to Nanyue, and most of them retained that allegiance until Nanyue's demise in 111 BC
. During Emperor Wu of Han
's final attack on Nanyue, most of the Yi tribes refused to assist in the invasion. One chieftain called Qie-Lan went so far as to openly oppose the move, later killing the emissary sent by the Han to his territory as well as the provincial governor installed in the Qianwei Commandery.
The Nanyue Kingdom Palace Ruins, located in the city of Guangzhou
, covers 15,000 square metres. Excavated in 1995, it contains the remains of the ancient Nanyue palace. In 1996, it was listed as protected National Cultural Property by the Chinese
government. Crescent-shaped ponds, Chinese gardens and other Qin
architecture were discovered in the excavation.
In 1983, the ancient tomb of the Nanyue King Wáng Mù (王墓) was discovered in Guangzhou
, Guangdong
. In 1988, the Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King was constructed on this site, to display more than 1,000 excavated artefacts including 500 pieces of Chinese bronzes, 240 pieces of Chinese jade
and 246 pieces of metal. In 1996, the Chinese government
listed this site as a protected National Heritage Site.
A bronze seal inscribed "Seal for Captain of Tu Pho County" was uncovered at Thanh Hoa
in northern Vietnam
during the 1930s. Owing to the similarity to seals found at the tomb of the second king of Nam Viet, this bronze seal is recognized as an official seal of the Nam Viet Kingdom. There were artifacts that were found in which belonged to the Dong Son culture
of northern Vietnam
. The goods were found buried alongside the tomb of the second king of Nam Viet.
, conquered).) The ethnic Vietnamese are directly descended from the ancient Yuè of northern Vietnam and western Guangdong.
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
, Guangxi
Guangxi
Guangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...
, and Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
and northern Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. Nanyue was established in 204 BC at the final collapse of the Qin Dynasty
Qin Dynasty
The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...
by Zhao Tuo
Zhao Tuo
Zhao Tuo , was the founder of the kingdom of Nanyue |Zhao]]. The state of Zhao was defeated and absorbed by the state of Qin in 222 BC, whereupon Zhao Tuo became a citizen of the state of Qin. He later served in a Qin expeditionary force that was sent south...
, who was the military commander of Nanhai Commandery at the time, and initially comprised the Nanhai, Guilin, and Xiang Commanderies. In 196 BC, Zhao Tuo made tributary obeisance to the Emperor Gaozu of Han and Nanyue was referred to by Han leaders as a "foreign servant" , synecdoche
Synecdoche
Synecdoche , meaning "simultaneous understanding") is a figure of speech in which a term is used in one of the following ways:* Part of something is used to refer to the whole thing , or...
for a vassal state
Vassal state
A vassal state is any state that is subordinate to another. The vassal in these cases is the ruler, rather than the state itself. Being a vassal most commonly implies providing military assistance to the dominant state when requested to do so; it sometimes implies paying tribute, but a state which...
. Around 183 BC, relations between the Nanyue and the Han Dynasty soured, and Zhao Tuo began to refer to himself as an emperor (suggesting Nanyue's sovereignty). The kingdoms of Minyue, Yelang
Yelang
Yelang , initially known as Zangke , was an ancient political entity first described in the 3rd century BC that was centered in what is now western Guizhou province, China...
, Ouluo and Tongshi declared their allegiance to Nanyue rule, greatly expanding Nanyue's territory and control. In 179 BC, relations between the Han and Nanyue improved, and Zhao Tuo once again made submission, this time to Emperor Wen of Han
Emperor Wen of Han
Emperor Wen of Han was the fifth emperor of the Han Dynasty in China. His given name is Heng.Liu Heng was a son of Emperor Gao of Han and Consort Bo, later empress dowager...
. In 113 BC, fourth-generation leader Zhao Xing sought to have Nanyue formally included as part of the Han Empire. His prime minister Lü Jia objected vehemently and subsequently killed Zhao Xing, installing his elder brother Zhao Jiande on the throne and forcing a confrontation with the Han Dynasty. The next year, Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han , , personal name Liu Che , was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized...
sent 100,000 troops to war against Nanyue. By the end of the year and the beginning of 111 BC, the army had destroyed Nanyue. The kingdom lasted 93 years in total and had five generations of kings.
The Kingdom of Nanyue's founding preserved the Lingnan
Lingnan
Lingnan is a geographic area referring to lands in the south of China's "Five Ranges" which are Tayu, Qitian, Dupang, Mengzhu, Yuecheng. The region covers the Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces of modern China and northern Vietnam...
region's societal order and stability during the chaos surrounding the collapse of the Qin Dynasty, and allowed the southern region to avoid much of the hardship experienced by the northern, predominantly Han Chinese regions. The kingdom was founded by leaders originally from the Chinese heartland
Central Plain (China)
Zhongyuan or the Central Plain of China refers to the area on the lower reaches of the Yellow River which formed the cradle of Chinese civilization. It forms part of the North China Plain....
, and was responsible for bringing Chinese bureaucracy and more advanced agriculture and handicraft techniques to the inhabitants of the southern regions, as well as knowledge of the Chinese language
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
and writing system
Chinese character
Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...
. Nanyue leaders promoted a policy of "Harmonizing and Gathering the Hundred Yue Tribes" , and encouraged fellow Han Chinese to immigrate from their Yellow River
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He, formerly known as the Hwang Ho, is the second-longest river in China and the sixth-longest in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through nine provinces of China and empties into...
homeland to the south. They supported mutual assimilation of the two cultures and peoples, and promulgated Han culture and the Chinese language throughout the region, though many elements of original Yue culture were preserved.
In Vietnam, the rulers of Nanyue are referred to as the Triệu Dynasty. The name "Vietnam" is derived from Nam Việt, the Vietnamese pronunciation of Nanyue.
History
A detailed history of Nanyue was written in Records of the Grand HistorianRecords of the Grand Historian
The Records of the Grand Historian, also known in English by the Chinese name Shiji , written from 109 BC to 91 BC, was the Magnum opus of Sima Qian, in which he recounted Chinese history from the time of the Yellow Emperor until his own time...
by Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
historian Sima Qian
Sima Qian
Sima Qian was a Prefect of the Grand Scribes of the Han Dynasty. He is regarded as the father of Chinese historiography for his highly praised work, Records of the Grand Historian , a "Jizhuanti"-style general history of China, covering more than two thousand years from the Yellow Emperor to...
. It is mostly contained in section (juan) 113, (Ordered Annals of Nanyue). It is from this record that most of the information from Nanyue Under Zhao Tuo to Zhao Jiande and Nanyue's Demise is taken.
Founding
After Qin Shi HuangQin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang , personal name Ying Zheng , was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 BC to 221 BC during the Warring States Period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC...
conquered the six other Chinese kingdoms of Han
Han (state)
Han was a kingdom during the Warring States Period in China, located in modern-day Shanxi and Henan. Not to be confused with South Korea which shares the same character....
, Zhao
Zhao (state)
Zhao was a significant Chinese state during the Warring States Period, along with six others...
, Wei
Wei (state)
The State of Wei was a Zhou Dynasty vassal state during the Warring States Period of Chinese history. Its territory lay between the states of Qin and Qi and included parts of modern day Henan, Hebei, Shanxi and Shandong...
, Chu
Chu (state)
The State of Chu was a Zhou Dynasty vassal state in present-day central and southern China during the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States Period . Its ruling house had the surname Nai , and clan name Yan , later evolved to surname Mi , and clan name Xiong...
, Yan
Yan (state)
Yān was a state during the Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods of Chinese history. Its capital was Ji...
, and Qi
Qi (state)
Qi was a powerful state during the Spring and Autumn Period and Period of the Warring States in ancient China. Its capital was Linzi, now part of the modern day city of Zibo in Shandong Province....
, he turned his attention to the Xiongnu
Xiongnu
The Xiongnu were ancient nomadic-based people that formed a state or confederation north of the agriculture-based empire of the Han Dynasty. Most of the information on the Xiongnu comes from Chinese sources...
tribes of the north and west and the Hundred Yue peoples of what is now southern China. Circa 218 BC, the First Emperor dispatched General Tu Sui with an army of 500,000 Qin soldiers to divide into five companies and attack the Hundred Yue tribes of the Lingnan
Lingnan
Lingnan is a geographic area referring to lands in the south of China's "Five Ranges" which are Tayu, Qitian, Dupang, Mengzhu, Yuecheng. The region covers the Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces of modern China and northern Vietnam...
region. The first company gathered at Yuhan (Modern Yugan County
Yugan County
Yugan County is a county of Jiangxi province, People's Republic of China. It is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Shangrao....
in Jiangxi Province) and attacked the Minyue, defeating them and establishing the Minzhong Commandery. The second company fortified at Nanye (in modern Jiangxi Province's Nankang County), and was designed to put defensive pressure on the southern clans. The third company occupied Panyu
Panyu
Panyu District or Pun Yue District is a district in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It used to be a county-level city before it was incorporated in the administration of Guangzhou. The name of Panyu dates back to the completion of the conquest of Guangdong by Qin Shi Huang. It was the old name of...
. The fourth company garrisoned near the Jiuyi Mountains
Jiuyi Mountains
The Jiuyi Mountains are a mountain range of China in Hunan province on the border with Guangdong....
, and the fifth company garrisoned outside Tancheng (in the southwest part of modern Hunan Province's Jingzhou Miao and Dong Autonomous County
Jingzhou Miao and Dong Autonomous County
Jingzhou Miao and Dong Autonomous County is a county of Hunan, China. It is under the administration of Huaihua city.-References:*...
). The First Emperor assigned official Shi Lu to oversee supply logistics. Shi first led a regiment of soldiers through the Ling Channel
Lingqu Canal
The Lingqu Canal is located in Xing'an County, near Guilin, in the northeastern corner of Guangxi Province, China. It connects the Xiang River with the Lijiang , which in its turn continues toward the Xijiang), and thus is part of a historical waterway between the Yangtze and the Pearl River...
(which connected the Xiang River
Xiang River
The Xiang River , in older transliterations as the Siang River or Hsiang River, is a river in southern China...
and the Li River
Li River
Li River can refer to:*Lishui River , a river in Hunan province of China, one of the Yangtze River's four largest tributaries in the province....
), then navigated through the Yangtze River
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
and Pearl River
Pearl River (China)
The Pearl River or less commonly, the "Guangdong River" or "Canton River" etc., , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name Pearl River is usually used as a catchment term to refer to the watersheds of the Xi Jiang , the Bei Jiang , and the Dong Jiang...
water systems ensure the safety of the Qin supply routes. The Qin attack of the Western Valley Yue tribe went smoothly, and Western Valley chieftain Yi-Xu-Song was killed. However, the Western Valley Yue were unwilling to submit to the Qin and fled into the jungle where they selected a new leader to continue resisting the Chinese armies. Later, a night-time counterattack by the Western Valley Yue devastated the Qin troops, and General Tu Sui was killed in the fighting. The Qin suffered heavy losses, and the imperial court selected General Zhao Tuo to assume command of the Chinese army. In 214 BC
214 BC
Year 214 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Verrucosus and Marcellus...
, the First Emperor dispatched Ren Xiao and Zhao Tuo at the head of reinforcements to once again mount an attack. This time, the Western Valley Yue were completely defeated, and the Lingnan region was brought entirely under Chinese control. In the same year, the Qin court established the Nanhai, Guilin, and Xiang Commanderies, and Ren Xiao was made Lieutenant of Nanhai. Nanhai was further divided into Panyu, Longchuan
Longchuan County, Guangdong
Longchuan County is a county of Guangdong Province, China. It is under the administration of Heyuan city....
, Boluo
Boluo County
Boluo County is a county of Guangdong Province, China. It is under the administration of Huizhou city.-Economy:Boluo County is said to be the home to the country's largest farm for raising the rare "Golden coin turtle" Cuora trifasciata.-Notes:...
, and Jieyang
Jieyang
Jieyang is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong Province, People's Republic of China. It borders Shantou to the east, Chaozhou to the northeast, Meizhou to the north, Shanwei to the west, and looks out to the South China Sea to the south.-Administration:...
counties (among several others), and Zhao Tuo was made commander of Longchuan.
The First Emperor died in 210 BC, and his son Zhao Huhai
Qin Er Shi
Qin Er Shi , literally Second Emperor of Qin Dynasty, personal name Huhai, was emperor of the Qin Dynasty in China from 210 BC until 207 BC.-Name:...
became the Second Emperor of Qin. The following year, soldiers Chen Sheng
Chen Sheng
Chen Sheng , also known in some sources as Chen She , was the leader of the first rebellion, known as Daze Village Uprising, against the Qin Dynasty during the reign of Qin Er Shi.-Start of the rebellion:...
, Wu Guang, and others seized the opportunity to revolt against the Qin government. Insurrections spread throughout much of China (including those led by Xiang Yu
Xiang Yu
Xiang Yu was a prominent military leader and political figure during the late Qin Dynasty. His given name was Ji while his style name was Yu ....
and Liu Bang, who would later face off over the founding of the next dynasty) and the entire Yellow River
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He, formerly known as the Hwang Ho, is the second-longest river in China and the sixth-longest in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through nine provinces of China and empties into...
region devolved into chaos. Soon after the first insurrections, Nanhai Lieutenant Ren Xiao became gravely ill and summoned Zhao Tuo to hear his dying instructions. Ren described the natural advantages of the southern region and described how a kingdom could be founded to combat the warring groups in the Chinese north. He drafted a decree instating Zhao Tuo as the new Lieutenant of Nanhai, and passed away soon afterward.
After Ren's death, Zhao Tuo, sent orders to his troops in Hengpu Pass (north of modern Nanxiong
Nanxiong
Nanxiong is a city district of Guangdong Province, China. It is under the administration of Shaoguan city....
, Guangdong Province), Yangshan Pass (northern Yangshan County
Yangshan County
Yangshan County is a county of Guangdong Province, China. It is under the administration of Qingyuan city.In Arabic, Yangshan County is بذضدصه هضدضيج...
), Huang Stream Pass (modern Yingde
Yingde
Yingde is an historical city in the north of Guangdong Province, China. The city is on the Beijiang River, a tributary of the Pearl River. Administratively, it is part of the Qingyuan prefecture-level city.The principal languages are Cantonese and Hakka...
region, where the Lian River enters the Bei River), and other garrisons to fortify themselves against any northern troops. He also executed Qin officials still stationed in Nanhai and replaced them with his own trusted friends.
Tradition states that Shu
Shu (state)
The State of Shu was an ancient state in what is now Sichuan, China. It was conquered by Qin in 316 BC. Shu was based on the Chengdu Plain, in the western Sichuan basin with some extension northeast to the upper Han River valley. To the east was the Ba tribal confederation. Further east down the...
prince Shu Pan founded a kingdom called Au Lak building his capital and citadel at Co Loa, thirty-five kilometers north of present-day Hanoi. An Duong's kingdom was short-lived, however, being conquered in 208 B.C. by the army of the Chinese Qin dynasty military commander Zhao Tuo. and assimilated his territory with that of Nanhai, Guilin, and Xiang.
In 206 BC the Qin Dynasty ceased to exist, and the Yue peoples of Guilin and Xiang were largely independent once more. In 204 BC, Zhao Tuo founded the Kingdom of Nanyue, with Panyu as capitol, and declared himself the Martial King of Nanyue .
Nanyue under Zhao Tuo
Liu Bang, after years of war with his rivals, established the Han dynastyHan Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
and reunified Central China in 202 BC. The fighting had left many areas of China depopulated and impoverished, and feudal lords continued to rebel while the Xiongnu made frequent incursions into northern Chinese territory. The precarious state of the empire therefore forced the Han court to treat Nanyue initially with utmost circumspection. In 196 BC, Liu Bang, now Emperor Gaozu, sent Lu Jia (陸賈) to Nanyue in hopes of obtaining Zhao Tuo's allegiance. After arriving, Lu met with Zhao Tuo and is said to have found him dressed in Yue clothing and being greeted after their customs, which enraged him. A long exchange ensued, wherein Lu is said to have admonished Zhao Tuo, pointing out that he was Chinese, not Yue, and should have maintained the dress and decorum of the Chinese and not have forgotten the traditions of his ancestors. Lu lauded the strength of the Han court and warned against a kingdom as small as Nanyue daring to oppose it. He further threatened to kill Zhao's kinsmen in China proper and destroying their ancestral graveyards, as well as coercing the Yue into deposing Zhao himself. Following the threat, Zhao Tuo then decided to receive Emperor Gaozu's seal and submit to Han authority. Trade relations were established at the border between Nanyue and the Han kingdom of Changsha. Although formally a Han subject state, Nanyue seems to have retained a large measure of de facto autonomy.
After the death of Liu Bang in 195 BC, the government was put in the hands of his wife, Empress Lü Zhi
Empress Lü Zhi
Empress Lü Zhi , commonly known as Empress Dowager Lü or formally as Empress Gao , courtesy name Exu , was the wife and empress of Emperor Gaozu of Han, founder of the Han Dynasty. They had two known children—the eventual Emperor Hui and Princess Luyuan...
, who served as Empress Dowager
Empress Dowager
Empress Dowager was the title given to the mother of a Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Vietnamese emperor.The title was also given occasionally to another woman of the same generation, while a woman from the previous generation was sometimes given the title of Grand empress dowager. Numerous empress...
over their son Emperor Hui of Han
Emperor Hui of Han
Emperor Hui of Han was the second emperor of the Han Dynasty in China. He was the second son of the first Han emperor, Han Gaozu and Empress Dowager Lü. He is generally remembered as a weak character dominated by his mother, Empress Dowager Lü, personally kind and generous but unable to escape...
and then Emperor Hui's sons Liu Gong
Liu Gong
Emperor Qianshao of Han , personal name Liu Gong , was the third emperor of the Han Dynasty in China. He was a son, likely the oldest son, of Emperor Hui, likely by a concubine -- although there is some controversy on the subject—and adopted by Emperor Hui's wife, Empress Zhang Yan...
and Liu Hong
Liu Hong
Emperor Houshao of Han , personal name Liu Hong, was the fourth emperor of the Han Dynasty in China. He was a son of Emperor Hui, likely by a concubine -- although there is some controversy on the subject—and adopted by Emperor Hui's wife, Empress Zhang Yan...
. Enraged, Empress Lü sent men to Zhao Tuo's hometown of Zhending (modern Zhengding County in Hebei Province) who killed much of Zhao's extended family and desecrated the ancestral graveyard there. Zhao Tuo believed that Wu Chen, the Prince of Changsha, had made false accusations against him to get Empress Dowager Lü to block the trade between the states and to prepare to conquer the Nanyue to merge into his principality of Changsha. In revenge, he then declared himself the emperor of Nanyue and attacked the principality of Changsha. Lü sent general Zhou Zao to punish Zhao Tuo. However, in the hot and humid climate of the south, an epidemic broke out quickly amongst the soldiers, and the weakened army was unable to cross the mountains, forcing them to withdraw. Zhao Tuo then annexed the surrounding states of Minyue in the east and Ouluo in the west as subject kingdoms.
In 179 BC, Liu Heng
Emperor Wen of Han
Emperor Wen of Han was the fifth emperor of the Han Dynasty in China. His given name is Heng.Liu Heng was a son of Emperor Gao of Han and Consort Bo, later empress dowager...
ascended the throne as Emperor of the Han. He reversed many of the previous policies of Empress Lü and took a conciliatory attitude toward Zhao Tuo and the Kingdom of Nanyue. He ordered officials to revisit Zhending, garrison the town, and make offerings to Zhao Tuo's ancestors regularly. His prime minister Chen Ping
Chen Ping (Han Dynasty)
Chen Ping was an adviser to Liu Bang during the Chu–Han Contention period of Chinese history. After Liu Bang founded the Han Dynasty and became known as Emperor Gaozu, Chen Ping served as a chancellor and received titles of a marquis.-Biography:Chen Ping was a native of Huyou Town , Yangwu...
suggested sending Lu Jia to Nanyue as they were familiar with each other. Lu arrived once more in Panyu and delivered a letter from the Emperor emphasizing that Empress Lü's policies were what had caused the hostility between Nanyue and the Han court and brought suffering to the border citizens. Zhao Tuo decided to submit to the Han once again, withdrawing his title of "emperor" and reverting to "king", and Nanyue became Han's subject state. However, most of the changes were superficial, and Zhao Tuo continued to be referred to as "emperor" throughout Nanyue.
Zhao Mo
In 137 BC, Zhao Tuo died, having lived over one hundred years. Because of his great age, his son, the Crown Prince Zhao Shi, had preceded him in death, and therefore Zhao Tuo's grandson Zhao Mo became king of Nanyue. In 135 BC, the king of neighboring Minyue launched an attack on the towns along the two nations' borders. Because Zhao Mo hadn't yet consolidated his rule, he was forced to implore Emperor Wu of HanEmperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han , , personal name Liu Che , was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized...
to send troops to Nanyue's aid against what he called "the rebels of Minyue". The Emperor lauded Zhao Mo for his vassal loyalty and sent Wang Hui, an official governing ethnic minorities, and agricultural official Han Anguo at the head of an army with orders to separate and attack Minyue from two directions, one from Yuzhang Commandery, and the other from Kuaiji Commandery. Before they reached Minyue, however, the Minyue king was assassinated by his younger brother Yu Shan, who promptly surrendered.
The Emperor sent court emissary Yan Zhu to the Nanyue capital to give an official report of Minyue's surrender to Zhao Mo, who had Yan return his gratitude to the Emperor along with a promise that Zhao would come visit the Imperial Court in Chang'an
Chang'an
Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...
, and even sent his son Zhao Yingqi to return with Yan to the Chinese capital. Before the king could ever leave for Chang'an himself, one of his ministers strenuously advised against going for fear that Emperor Wu would find some pretext to prevent him from returning, thus leading to the destruction of Nanyue. King Zhao Mo thereupon feigned illness and never travelled to the Han capital.
Immediately following Minyue's surrender to the Han army, Wang Hui had dispatched man named Tang Meng, local governor of Panyang County, to deliver the news to Zhao Mo. While in Nanyue, Tang Meng was introduced to the Yue custom of eating a sauce made from medlar fruit imported from Shu Commandery. Surprised that such a product was available, he learned that there was a route from Shu (modern Sichuan Province) to Yelang
Yelang
Yelang , initially known as Zangke , was an ancient political entity first described in the 3rd century BC that was centered in what is now western Guizhou province, China...
, and then along the Zangke River (the modern Beipan River
Beipan River
Beipan River is a river in the Guizhou province, China, and part of the great Pearl River basin.-Other names:The upper reaches in Yunnan and Guizhou were once known as the Zangke River.-Course:...
of Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
and Guizhou
Guizhou
' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...
) which allowed direct access to the Nanyue capital Panyu
Panyu
Panyu District or Pun Yue District is a district in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It used to be a county-level city before it was incorporated in the administration of Guangzhou. The name of Panyu dates back to the completion of the conquest of Guangdong by Qin Shi Huang. It was the old name of...
. Tang Meng thereupon drafted a memorial to Emperor Wu suggesting a gathering of 100,000 elite soldiers at Yelang who would navigate the Zangke River and launch a surprise attack on Nanyue. Emperor Wu agreed with Tang's plan and promoted him to General of Langzhong and had him lead a thousand soldiers with a multitude of provisions and supply carts from Bafu Pass (near modern Hejiang County
Hejiang County
Hejiang County is a county of Sichuan Province, China. It is under the administration of Luzhou city.-History:Hejiang County has a history over 2100 years. The county was built in 115 BC during the Han Dynasty of China...
) into Yelang. Many of the carts carried ceremonial gifts which Yelang presented to the feudal lords of Yelang as bribes to declare allegiance to the Han Dynasty, which they did, and Yelang became Qianwei Commandery of the Han Empire.
Over a decade later, Zhao Mo fell genuinely ill and died around 122 BC.
Zhao Yingqi
After hearing of his father's serious illness, Zhao Yingqi received permission from Emperor Wu to return to Nanyue. After Zhao Mo's death, Yingqi assumed the Nanyue throne. Before leaving for Chang'anChang'an
Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...
he had married a young Yue woman and had his eldest son Zhao Jiande. While in Chang'an, he also married a Han Chinese
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
woman, like himself, who was from Handan
Handan
Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwestern part of Hebei Province of China.- History :Handan was the capital of the State of Zhao during the Warring States period , after the capital moved from Zhongmu. The city was conquered by the State of Qin after the virtual annexation of...
. Together they had a son Zhao Xing. After assuming the Nanyue kingship, he petitioned the Han Emperor to appoint his Chinese wife (who was from the Jiu 樛 family) as Queen and Zhao Xing as Crown Prince, a move that eventually brought disaster upon Nanyue. Zhao Yingqi was reputed to be a tyrant who killed citizens with flippant abandon. He died of illness around 113 BC.
Zhao Xing
Zhao Xing succeeded his father as king, and his mother became Queen Dowager. In 113 BC, Emperor Wu of HanEmperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han , , personal name Liu Che , was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized...
sent senior minister Anguo Shaoji to Nanyue summon Zhao Xing and his mother to Chang'an
Chang'an
Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...
for an audience with the Emperor, as well as two other officials with soldiers to await a response at Guiyang
Guiyang
Guiyang is the capital of Guizhou province of Southwest China. It is located in the centre of the province, situated on the east of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, and on the north bank of the Nanming River, a branch of the Wu River. The city has an elevation of about 1,100 meters...
. At the time, Zhao Xing was still young and the Queen Dowager was a recent immigrant to Nanyue, so final authority in matters of state rested in the hands of Prime Minister Lü Jia. Before the Queen Dowager married Zhao Yingqi, it was widely rumored that she had had an affair with Anguo Shaoji, and they were said to have renewed it when he was sent to Nanyue, which caused the Nanyue citizens to lose confidence in her rule.
Fearful of losing her position of authority, Queen Dowager Jiu persuaded Zhao Xing and his ministers to fully submit to Han Dynasty rule. At the same time, she dispatched a memorial to Emperor Wu requesting that they might join Han China, that they might have an audience with the Emperor every third year, and that the borders between Han China and Nanyue might be dissolved. The Emperor granted her requests and sent Imperial seals to the Prime Minister and other senior officials, symbolizing that the Han court expected to directly control the appointments of senior officials. He also abolished the penal tattooing and nose-removal criminal punishments that were practiced among the Yue and instituted Han legal statutes. Emissaries that had been sent to Nanyue were instructed to remain there to ensure the stability of Han control. Upon receiving their Imperial decrees, King Zhao and the Queen Dowager began planning to leave for Chang'an.
Prime Minister Lü Jia was much older than most officials and had served since the reign of Zhao Xing's grandfather Zhao Mo. His family was the preeminent Yue family in Nanyue and was thoroughly intermarried with the Zhao royal family. He vehemently opposed Nanyue's submission to the Han Dynasty and criticized Zhao Xing on numerous occasions, though his outcries were ignored. Lü decided to begin planning a coup and feigned illness to avoid meeting the emissaries of the Han court. The emissaries were well aware of Lü's influence in the kingdom - it easily rivalled that of the king - but were never able to remove him. Sima Qian
Sima Qian
Sima Qian was a Prefect of the Grand Scribes of the Han Dynasty. He is regarded as the father of Chinese historiography for his highly praised work, Records of the Grand Historian , a "Jizhuanti"-style general history of China, covering more than two thousand years from the Yellow Emperor to...
recorded a story that the Queen Dowager and the Zhao Xing invited Prime Minister Lü to a banquet with several Han emissaries where they hoped to find a chance to kill Lü: during the banquet, the Queen Dowager mentioned that Prime Minister Lü was against Nanyue submitting to the Han Dynasty, with the hope that the Han emissaries would become enraged and kill Lü. However, Lü's younger brother had surrounded the palace with armed guards, and the Han emissaries, led by Anguo Shaoji, didn't dare attack Lü. Sensing the danger of the moment, Lü excused himself and stood to leave the palace. The Queen Dowager herself became furious and tried to grab a spear with which to kill the Prime Minister personally, but she was stopped by her son, the king. Lü Jia instructed his brother's armed men to surround his compound and stand guard and feigned illness, refusing to meet with King Zhao or any Han emissaries. At the same time, be began seriously plotting the upcoming coup with other officials.
When news of the situation reached Emperor Wu
Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han , , personal name Liu Che , was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized...
, he dispatched a man named Han Qianqiu with 2,000 officials to Nanyue to wrest control from Lü Jia. In 112 BC the men crossed into Nanyue territory, and Lü Jia finally executed his plan. He and those loyal to him appealed to the citizens that Zhao Xing was but a youth, Queen Dowager Jiu a foreigner who was plotting with the Han emissaries with the intent to turn the country over to Han China, giving over all of Nanyue's treasures to the Han Emperor and selling Yue citizens to the Imperial court as slaves with no thought for the welfare of the Yue people themselves. With the people's support, Lü Jia and his younger brother led a large group of men into the king's palace, killing Zhao Xing, Queen Dowager Jiu, and all the Han emissaries in the capital.
Zhao Jiande and Nanyue's demise
After the assassinations of Zhao Xing, the Queen Dowager, and the Han emissaries, Lü Jia ensured that Zhao Jiande, Zhao Yingqi's eldest son by his native Yue wife, took the throne, and quickly sent messengers to spread the news to the feudal rulers and officials of various areas of Nanyue. The 2,000 men led by Han Qianqiu began attacking towns along the China-Nanyue border, and the Yue residents ceased resisting them, instead giving them supplies and safe passage. The group of men advanced quickly through Nanyue territory and were only 40 li from PanyuPanyu
Panyu District or Pun Yue District is a district in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It used to be a county-level city before it was incorporated in the administration of Guangzhou. The name of Panyu dates back to the completion of the conquest of Guangdong by Qin Shi Huang. It was the old name of...
when they were ambushed by a regiment of Nanyue soldiers and completely annihilated. Lü Jia then took the imperial tokens of the Han emissaries and placed them in a ceremonial wooden box, then attached to it a fake letter of apology and installed it on the border of Han China and Nanyue, along with military reinforcements. When Emperor Wu heard of the coup and Prime Minister Lü's actions, he became enraged. After issuing compensation to the families of the slain emissaries, he decreed the immediate mobilization of an army to attack Nanyue.
In autumn of 112 BC, Emperor Wu sent an army of 100,000 men divided into five companies to attack Nanyue. The first company was led by General Lu Bode and advanced from Guiyang (modern Lianzhou
Lianzhou
Lianzhou is a county-level city of Guangdong Province, China, directly under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Qingyuan. Lianzhou has become famous for an international photography festival celebrated yearly in the city....
) down the Huang River (now called the Lian River
Lian River
Lian Riveris a river in southeast China that flows into the South China Sea. It is located in the municipality of Jieyang and Shantou, in Southern China's Guangdong Province.and has a total length of 72 km. It is one of most polluted rivers in China....
). The second company was led by Commander Yang Pu and advanced from Yuzhang Commandery (modern Nanchang
Nanchang
Nanchang is the capital of Jiangxi Province in southeastern China. It is located in the north-central portion of the province. As it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east by Poyang Lake, it is famous for its scenery, rich history and cultural sites...
) through the Hengpu Pass and down the Zhen River. The third and fourth companies were led by Zheng Yan and Tian Jia, both Yue chieftains who had joined the Han Dynasty. The third company left from Lingling (modern Yongzhou
Yongzhou
Yongzhou is a prefecture-level city in the Hunan province of China.YongZhou is located in the central and south of China, on the southern side of Xiang River, which is formed by the confluence of the Xiao and Xiang rivers. Yongzhou is one of the four ancient counties in Hunan; it is 2000 years old...
) and sailed down the Li River
Li River
Li River can refer to:*Lishui River , a river in Hunan province of China, one of the Yangtze River's four largest tributaries in the province....
, while the fourth company went directly to garrison Cangwu (modern Wuzhou
Wuzhou
Wuzhou , historically known as Wuchow, is a prefecture-level city in China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.-Geography and climate:Wuzhou is located in eastern Guangxi bordering Guangdong province. It is at the confluence of the Gui River and the Xun River where they form the Xi River; 85% of all...
). The fifth company was led by He Yi and was composed mainly of prisoners from Shu
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
and Ba
Ba (state)
Ba was an ancient state in eastern Sichuan, China. Its original capital was Yicheng , Hubei. Ba was conquered by Qin in 316 BC. The modern ethnic minority Tujia people trace some of their origins back to the Ba people....
with soldiers from Yelang; they sailed directly down the Zangke River (modern Beipan River
Beipan River
Beipan River is a river in the Guizhou province, China, and part of the great Pearl River basin.-Other names:The upper reaches in Yunnan and Guizhou were once known as the Zangke River.-Course:...
). At the same time, Yu Shan, a king of the Eastern Yue, declared his intention to participate in the Han Dynasty's attack on Nanyue and sent 8,000 men to support Yang Pu's company. However, upon reaching Jieyang, they pretended to have encountered severe winds that prevented them from advancing, and secretly sent details of the invasion to Nanyue.
By winter of that year, Yang Pu's company had attacked Xunxia and moved on to destroy the northern gates of Panyu (within the borders of modern Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
municipality), capturing Nanyue's naval fleet and provisions. Seizing the opportunity, they continued south and defeated the first wave of Nanyue defenders before stopping to await the company led by Lu Bode. Lu's forces were mostly convicts freed in exchange for military service and made slow time, so at the planned rendezvous date with Yang Pu only a thousand of Lu's men had arrived. They went ahead with the attack anyway, and Yang's men led the advance into Panyu where Lü Jia and Zhao Jiande had fortified inside the inner walls. Yang Pu set up a camp southeast of the city and, as darkness fell, set the city on fire. Lu Bode encamped the northwest side of the city and sent soldiers up to the walls to encourage the Nanyue soldiers to surrender. As the night passed, more and more Panyu defenders defected to Lu Bode's camp out of desperation, so that as dawn arrived most of the Nanyue soldiers were gone. Lü Jia and Zhao Jiande realized Panyu was lost and fled the city by boat, heading west before the sun rose. Upon interrogating the surrendered soldiers, the Han generals learned of the two Nanyue leaders' escape and sent men after them. Zhao Jiande was caught first, and Lü Jia was captured in what is now northern Vietnam.
After the fall of Panyu, the other commanderies and counties of Nanyue surrendered to the Han Dynasty, ending Nanyue's 93-year existence as an autonomous and mostly sovereign kingdom. When news of Nanyue's defeat reached Emperor Wu
Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han , , personal name Liu Che , was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized...
, he was staying in Zuoyi County in Shanxi Province while travelling to perform imperial inspections, and promptly created the new county of Wenxi
Wenxi County
Wenxi County is a county of Shanxi, China. It is under the administration of Yuncheng city.-References:*...
, meaning "Hearing of Glad [News]". After Lü Jia's capture he was executed by the Han soldiers and his head was sent to the emperor. Upon receiving it, he created Huojia County
Huojia County
Huojia County is a county in Xinxiang, Henan province, China....
where he was travelling, meaning "Obtaining [Lü] Jia".
Borders
The Kingdom of Nanyue originally comprised the Qin commanderies of Nanhai, Guilin, and Xiang. After 179 BC, Zhao Tuo persuaded Minyue, Yelang, Tongshi, and other areas to submit to Nanyue rule, but they were not strictly under Nanyue control. After the Western Han Dynasty defeated Nanyue, its territory was divided into the seven commanderies of Nanhai, Cangwu, Yulin, Hepu, Jiaoche, Jiuzhen, and Rinan. It was traditionally believed that the Qin conquest of the southern regions included the northern half of VietnamVietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, and that this area was also under Nanyue control. However, scholars have recently stated that the Qin likely never conquered territory in what is now Vietnam, and that Chinese domination there was first accomplished by the Nanyue themselves.
Administrative Divisions
Zhao Tuo followed the Commandery-County system of the Qin Dynasty when organizing the Kingdom of Nanyue. He left Nanhai Commandery and Guilin Commandery intact, then divided Xiang Commandery into the Jiaoche and Jiuzhen Commanderies. Nanhai comprised most of modern Guangdong Province, and was divided by the Qin into Panyu, Longchuan, Boluo, and Jieyang Counties, to which Zhao Tuo added Zhenyang and Hankuang.Ethnicities
The majority of Nanyue's citizens were Hundred Yue people, along with approximately 100,000 Han ChineseHan Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
immigrants who occupied most of the positions of authority. The Chinese citizens consisted of descendants of Qin armies sent to conquer the south, young girls who worked as army prostitutes, exiled Qin officials, exiled criminals, and merchants.
The Yue people were divided into numerous branches, tribes, and clans.
The Nanyue lived in north, east, and central Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
, as well as a small group in east Guangxi
Guangxi
Guangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...
.
The Western Valley (Xi'ou) lived in most of Guangxi and western Guangdong, with most of the population concentrated along the Xun River
Xun River
The Xun River is the name of a short section of the main branch of the Pearl River system upstream from the Xi Jiang in China. Although less than 150 km long, it is of considerable importance in Guangxi Province as it drains the majority of the province...
region and areas south of the Gui River, both part of the Xi River watershed. Descendants of Yi-Xu-Song, the chieftain killed resisting the Qin armies, acted as self-imposed governors of the Xi'ou clans. At the time of Nanyue's defeat by the Han Dynasty, there were several hundred thousand Xi'ou people in Guilin Commandery alone.
The Luoyue clans lived in what is now western and southern Guangxi, northern Vietnam, the Leizhou Peninsula
Leizhou Peninsula
The Leizhou Peninsula or Leizhou Bandao is a peninsula in the southernmost part of Guangdong province in southern China.-Geography:Leizhou Peninsula is the third largest peninsula in China with an area of of circa 8,500 square kilometer located on the southwestern end of Guangdong, with the Gulf...
, Hainan
Hainan
Hainan is the smallest province of the People's Republic of China . Although the province comprises some two hundred islands scattered among three archipelagos off the southern coast, of its land mass is Hainan Island , from which the province takes its name...
, and southwest Guizhou
Guizhou
' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...
. Populations were centered in the Zuo and You
You River
The You River may refer to different rivers within China.* The You River is a tributary of the Yongjiang in Guangxi Province in southern China.* The You River was a Song-dynasty river in northern China....
watersheds in Guangxi
Guangxi
Guangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...
, the Red River Delta
Red River Delta
The Red River Delta is the flat plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries joining in the Thai Binh River in northern Vietnam. The delta measuring some 15,000 square km is well protected by a network of dikes. It is an agriculturally rich area and densely populated...
in northern Vietnam, and the Pan River watershed in Guizhou. The Chinese name "Luo", which denoted a white horse with a black mane, is said to have been applied to them after the Chinese saw their slash-and-burn method of hillside cultivation.
Administrative system
Because the Kingdom of Nanyue was established by Zhao Tuo, a Han ChineseHan Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
general of the Qin Dynasty
Qin Dynasty
The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...
, Nanyue's political and bureaucratic systems were, at first, essentially just continuations of those of the Qin Empire itself. Because of Zhao Tuo's submissions to the Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
, Nanyue also adopted many of the changes enacted by the Han, as well. At the same time, Nanyue enjoyed complete autonomy - and de facto sovereignty - for most of its existence, so its rulers did enact several systems that were entirely unique to Nanyue.
Nanyue was a monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
, and its head of state generally held the title of "king" , though its first two rulers Zhao Tuo
Zhao Tuo
Zhao Tuo , was the founder of the kingdom of Nanyue |Zhao]]. The state of Zhao was defeated and absorbed by the state of Qin in 222 BC, whereupon Zhao Tuo became a citizen of the state of Qin. He later served in a Qin expeditionary force that was sent south...
and Zhao Mo were referred to as "Emperor" within Nanyue's borders. The kingdom had its own Calendar era
Calendar era
A calendar era is the year numbering system used by a calendar. For example, the Gregorian calendar numbers its years in the Western Christian era . The instant, date, or year from which time is marked is called the epoch of the era...
system based (like China's) on Emperors' reign periods. Succession in the monarchy was based on hereditary rule, with the King or Emperor's successor designated as crown prince
Crown Prince
A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....
. The ruler's mother was designated empress dowager
Empress Dowager
Empress Dowager was the title given to the mother of a Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Vietnamese emperor.The title was also given occasionally to another woman of the same generation, while a woman from the previous generation was sometimes given the title of Grand empress dowager. Numerous empress...
, his wife as empress or queen
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
, and his concubines as "Lady" . The formalities extended to the ruler's family were on the level of that of the Han Dynasty Emperor, rather than that of a feudal king.
Although Nanyue continued the Commandery-County system of the Qin Dynasty, its leaders later enfeoffed their own feudal princes and lords - a mark of its sovereignty - in a manner similar to that of the Western Han. Imperial documents from Nanyue record that princes were enfeoffed at Cangwu, Xixu, as well as local lords at Gaochang and elsewhere. Zhao Guang, a relative of Zhao Tuo, was made King of Cangwu, and his holdings were what is now Wuzhou
Wuzhou
Wuzhou , historically known as Wuchow, is a prefecture-level city in China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.-Geography and climate:Wuzhou is located in eastern Guangxi bordering Guangdong province. It is at the confluence of the Gui River and the Xun River where they form the Xi River; 85% of all...
in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. In what is considered a manifestation of Zhao Tuo's respect for the Hundred Yue, he enfeoffed a Yue chieftain as King of Xixu in order to allow the Yue of that area to enjoy autonomy under a ruler of their own ethnicity. The chieftain's name is unknown, but he was a descendant of Yi-Xu-Song, the chieftain killed while fighting the original Chinese invasion under the Qin Dynasty.
Nanyue's bureaucracy was, like the famed bureaucracy of the Qin Dynasty, divided into central and regional governments. The central government comprised a prime minister who held military and administrative authority, inner scribes who served under the prime minister, overseeing Censors of various rank and position, commanders of the Imperial Guard, senior officials who carried out the King's official administration, as well as all military officers and officials of the Food, Music, Transportation, Agriculture, and other bureaus.
Nanyue enacted several other policies that reflected Chinese dominance, such as the household registration system (an early form of census), as well as the promulgation of the use of Chinese characters among the Hundred Yue population and the use of Chinese weights and measures.
Military
Nanyue's army was largely composed of the 500,000 Han Chinese troops that invaded during the Qin Dynasty and their descendents. After the kingdom's founding in 204 BC, some Yue citizens also joined the army. Nanyue's military officers were known as General, General of the Left, Xiao ("Colonel"), Wei ("Captain"), etc., essentially identical to the Chinese system. The army had infantryInfantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
, naval troops, and cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
. Of the many artifacts excavated from Nanyue tombs, the vast majority are bronze, indicating a lack of iron in Nanyue industry and/or technology. Nanyue soldiers generally wielded bronze short swords or spears and shot arrows with bronze arrowheads, while generals often had iron weapons.
Ethnic Policy
The Kingdom continued most of the Qin Commanderies' policies and practices dealing with the interactions between the local Yue and the Han immigrants, and Zhao TuoZhao Tuo
Zhao Tuo , was the founder of the kingdom of Nanyue |Zhao]]. The state of Zhao was defeated and absorbed by the state of Qin in 222 BC, whereupon Zhao Tuo became a citizen of the state of Qin. He later served in a Qin expeditionary force that was sent south...
proactively promoted a policy of assimilating the two cultures into each other. Although the Han were certainly dominant in holding leadership positions, the overwhelming disparity was largest immediately after the Qin conquest. Over time, the Yue gradually began holding more positions of authority in the government. Lü Jia, the last prime minister of the Kingdom, was a Yue citizen, and over 70 of his kinsmen served as officials in various parts of the government. In areas of particular "complexity", as they were called, Yue chieftains were often enfeoffed with great autonomy, such as in Xixu. Under the impetus of Zhao Tuo's leadership, Chinese immigrants were encouraged to adopt the customs of the Yue. Marriages between the Han Chinese and Yue became increasingly common throughout Nanyue's existence, and even occurred in the Zhao royal family. Many marriages between the Zhao royal family (who were Han Chinese) and the Lü family (Yue - they likely adopted Chinese names early in Nanyue's history) were recorded. Zhao Jiande, Nanyue's last king, was the son of previous king Zhao Yingqi and his Yue wife. Despite the dominating influence of the Chinese newcomers on the Hundred Yue, the amount of assimilation gradually increased over time.
Language
Other than Old ChineseOld Chinese
The earliest known written records of the Chinese language were found at a site near modern Anyang identified as Yin, the last capital of the Shang dynasty, and date from about 1200 BC....
which was used by Chinese immigrants and government officials, most Nanyue citizens likely spoke Ancient Yue, an extinct language whose descendants are believed to be the Zhuang and Tai languages
Tai languages
The Tai or Zhuang–Tai languages are a branch of the Tai–Kadai language family. The Tai languages include the most widely spoken of the Tai–Kadai languages, including standard Thai or Siamese, the national language of Thailand; Lao or Laotian, the national language of Laos; Burma's Shan language;...
. Old Chinese in the region was likely much influenced by Yue speech (and vice versa), and many loanwords in Chinese languages have been identified by modern scholars.
There is no known evidence of a writing system among the Yue peoples of the Lingnan
Lingnan
Lingnan is a geographic area referring to lands in the south of China's "Five Ranges" which are Tayu, Qitian, Dupang, Mengzhu, Yuecheng. The region covers the Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces of modern China and northern Vietnam...
region in pre-Qin times, and the Chinese conquest of the region is believed to have introduced writing to the area. Old Chinese seems to have been the language of government, likely because Zhao Tuo and most government officials were Chinese immigrants and not Yue. Archaeological finds at the Tomb of the Nanyue King in Guangzhou, the Nanyue Palace Ruins, and the Luobowan tombs have provided nearly all that is known of Nanyue writing. These sites contained a wide variety of artifacts with writings in several different media. Items from King Zhao Mo's tomb have seal script
Seal script
Seal script is an ancient style of Chinese calligraphy. It evolved organically out of the Zhōu dynasty script , arising in the Warring State of Qin...
characters on them, while those from the Palace and Luobowan tend to have clerical script
Clerical script
The clerical script , also formerly chancery script, is an archaic style of Chinese calligraphy which evolved in the Warring States period to the Qin dynasty, was dominant in the Han dynasty, and remained in use through the Wèi-Jìn periods...
characters.
With the Han Court
Beginning with its first allegiance to the Han Dynasty in 196 BC196 BC
Year 196 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Purpureo and Marcellus...
, Nanyue alternately went through two periods of allegiance to and then opposition with Han China that continued until Nanyue's destruction at the hands of the Han Dynasty in early 111 BC
111 BC
Year 111 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Serapio and Bestia...
.
196 BC
Year 196 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Purpureo and Marcellus...
when Zhao Tuo
Zhao Tuo
Zhao Tuo , was the founder of the kingdom of Nanyue |Zhao]]. The state of Zhao was defeated and absorbed by the state of Qin in 222 BC, whereupon Zhao Tuo became a citizen of the state of Qin. He later served in a Qin expeditionary force that was sent south...
met Lu Jia, an emissary from Emperor Gaozu of Han, and received from him a Han Imperial seal enthroning Zhao Tuo as King of Nanyue. This period lasted thirteen years until 183 BC
183 BC
Year 183 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Marcellus and Labeo...
, during which time significant trade took place. Nanyue paid tribute in rarities from the south, and the Han court bestowed gifts of iron tools, horses, and cattle upon Nanyue. At the same time, the countries' borders were always heavily guarded.
Nanyue's first period of antagonism with the Han Dynasty lasted from 183 BC to 179 BC, when trade was suspended and Zhao Tuo severed relations with the Han. During this period, Zhao Tuo openly referred to himself as Emperor and launched an attack against the Kingdom of Changsha, a feudal state of the Han Dynasty, and Han troops were sent to engage Nanyue. Nanyue's armies successfully halted the southern progress of the advance, winning the respect and then allegiance of the neighboring kingdoms of Minyue and Yelang.
Nanyue's second period of submission to the Han Dynasty lasted from 179 BC to 112 BC. This period began with Zhao Tuo abandoning his title of "Emperor" and declaring allegiance to the Han Empire. Zhao Tuo's four successors did not display the strength he had, and Nanyue dependence on Han China slowly grew, characterized by second king Zhao Mo calling upon Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han , , personal name Liu Che , was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized...
to defend Nanyue from Minyue.
Nanyue's final period of antagonism with Han China was the war that proved Nanyue's destruction as a kingdom. At the time of Prime Minister Lü Jia's rebellion, Han China was enjoying a period of growth, economic prosperity, and military success, having consistently defeated the Xiongnu
Xiongnu
The Xiongnu were ancient nomadic-based people that formed a state or confederation north of the agriculture-based empire of the Han Dynasty. Most of the information on the Xiongnu comes from Chinese sources...
tribes along China's northern and northwestern borders. The weakened state of Nanyue and the strength of China at the time allowed Emperor Wu
Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han , , personal name Liu Che , was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized...
to unleash a devastating attack on Nanyue, as described above.
With Changsha
Changsha was, at the time, a feudal kingdom that was part of Han China. Its territory comprised most of modern Hunan Province and part of Jiangxi Province. When Emperor Gaozu of Han enfeoffed Wu Rui as the first King of Changsha, he also gave him the power to govern Nanhai, Xiang, and Guiling Commanderies, which caused strife between Changsha and Nanyue from the start. The Han China-Nanyue border was essentially that of Changsha, and therefore was constantly fortified on both sides. In terms of policies, because the Kingdom of Changsha had no sovereignty whatsoever, any policy of the Han court toward Nanyue was by default also Changsha's policy.With Minyue
Minyue was located northeast of Nanyue along China's southeast coast, and comprised much of modern Fujian Province. The Minyue were defeated by the armies of the Qin DynastyQin Dynasty
The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...
in the 3rd century BC and the area was organized under Qin control as the Minzhong Commandery, and Minyue ruler Wuzhu was deposed. Because of Wuzhu's support for Liu Bang after the collapse of the Qin Dynasty and the founding of the Han, he was reinstated by the Han court as King of Minyue in 202 BC
202 BC
Year 202 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Geminus and Nero...
.
The relations between Nanyue and Minyue can be classified into three stages: the first, from 196 BC
196 BC
Year 196 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Purpureo and Marcellus...
to 183 BC
183 BC
Year 183 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Marcellus and Labeo...
, was during Zhao Tuo's first submission to the Han Dynasty, and the two kingdoms were on relatively equal footing. The second stage was from 183 BC
183 BC
Year 183 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Marcellus and Labeo...
to 135 BC
135 BC
Year 135 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Flaccus and Piso...
, when Minyue submitted to Nanyue after seeing it defeat the Han Dynasty's first attack on Nanyue. The third stage began in 135 BC
135 BC
Year 135 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Flaccus and Piso...
when King Wang Ying attacked a weakened Nanyue, forcing Zhao Mo to seek aid from Han China. Minyue once again submitted to the Han Dynasty, making itself and Nanyue equals once more.
With the Yi Tribes of the Southwest
The southwestern Yi peopleYi people
The Yi or Lolo people are an ethnic group in China, Vietnam, and Thailand. Numbering 8 million, they are the seventh largest of the 55 ethnic minority groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China...
lived west of Nanyue, and shared borders with Nanyue in Yelang, Wulian, Juding, and other regions. Yelang was the largest state of the Yi people, comprising most of modern Guizhou
Guizhou
' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...
and Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
Provinces, as well as the southern part of Sichuan Province. Some believe the ancient Yi to have been related to the Hundred Yue, with this explaining the close relationship between Yelang and Nanyue. After Nanyue first repelled the Han, nearly all of the Yi tribes declared allegiance to Nanyue, and most of them retained that allegiance until Nanyue's demise in 111 BC
111 BC
Year 111 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Serapio and Bestia...
. During Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han , , personal name Liu Che , was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized...
's final attack on Nanyue, most of the Yi tribes refused to assist in the invasion. One chieftain called Qie-Lan went so far as to openly oppose the move, later killing the emissary sent by the Han to his territory as well as the provincial governor installed in the Qianwei Commandery.
Kings
| Personal Name | | Reign Period | Reigned From | Other Names | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | Cantonese | Pinyin | Vietnamese | Chinese | Cantonese | Pinyin | Vietnamese | ||
| 趙佗/趙他 | Zīu6 Tō4 | Zhào Tuó | Triệu Đà | 武王 | Mou5 Wōng4 | Wǔ Wáng | Vũ Vương | 203–137 BC | |
| 趙眜 | Zīu6 Mūd6 | Zhào Mò | Triệu Mạt | 文王 | Men4 Wōng4 | Wén Wáng | Văn Vương | 137–122 BC | 趙胡 |
| 趙嬰齊 | Zīu6 Ying1cei4 | Zhào Yīngqí | Triệu Anh Tề | 明王 | Ming4 Wōng4 | Míng Wáng | Minh Vương | 122–113 BC | |
| 趙興 | Zīu6 Hing1 | Zhào Xīng | Triệu Hưng | 哀王 | Ōi1 Wōng4 | Āi Wáng | Ai Vương | 113–112 BC | |
| 趙建德 | Zīu6 Gīn3deg1 | Zhào Jiàndé | Triệu Kiến Đức | 陽王 | Yêng4 Wōng4 | Yáng Wáng | Dương Vương | 112–111 BC |
Archaeological findings
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
, covers 15,000 square metres. Excavated in 1995, it contains the remains of the ancient Nanyue palace. In 1996, it was listed as protected National Cultural Property by the Chinese
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
government. Crescent-shaped ponds, Chinese gardens and other Qin
Qin Dynasty
The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...
architecture were discovered in the excavation.
In 1983, the ancient tomb of the Nanyue King Wáng Mù (王墓) was discovered in Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
, Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
. In 1988, the Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King was constructed on this site, to display more than 1,000 excavated artefacts including 500 pieces of Chinese bronzes, 240 pieces of Chinese jade
Jade
Jade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
and 246 pieces of metal. In 1996, the Chinese government
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
listed this site as a protected National Heritage Site.
A bronze seal inscribed "Seal for Captain of Tu Pho County" was uncovered at Thanh Hoa
Thanh Hóa
Thanh Hóa is the capital city of Vietnam's Thanh Hoa province. The population is nearly 200,000 with an area of only 57.9 square kilometers....
in northern Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
during the 1930s. Owing to the similarity to seals found at the tomb of the second king of Nam Viet, this bronze seal is recognized as an official seal of the Nam Viet Kingdom. There were artifacts that were found in which belonged to the Dong Son culture
Dong Son culture
The Đông Sơn culture was a prehistoric Bronze Age age in Vietnam centered at the Red River Valley of northern Vietnam. At this time the first Vietnamese kingdoms of Văn Lang and Âu Lạc appeared...
of northern Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. The goods were found buried alongside the tomb of the second king of Nam Viet.
Vietnam
In Vietnam, the rulers of Nanyue are referred to as the Triệu Dynasty, the Vietnamese pronunciation of the surname . The name "Vietnam" is derived from Nam Việt (Southern Việt), the Vietnamese pronunciation of Nanyue. (However, it has also been stated that the name "Vietnam" was derived from a combination of Quảng Nam Quốc (the domain of the Nguyen Lords, from whom the Nguyen Dynasty descended) and Đại Việt (which the first emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty, Gia LongGia Long
Emperor Gia Long , born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh , was an emperor of Vietnam...
, conquered).) The ethnic Vietnamese are directly descended from the ancient Yuè of northern Vietnam and western Guangdong.
External links
- Wiktionary, the free dictionary, has entries on all these Chinese characters: 南, 越, 粤
- Chinese Text Project - Shiji《史記·南越列傳》