Abstract
In the macroscopic situation of ethno-history in the East Asia, the mainstream of ethnic relationships in diverse regions has generally come along with the expansion of the Huaxia and Han nationality, as well as its interaction, conflicts, and assimilation with the neighboring cultures in “Four Directions”. The process of the so-called “Huaxianization” (华夏化) and “sinicization” (汉化) pushed forward step by step from the “Central Plains” and “Central Nation” in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, outward to the peripheries of its “Four Directions”, and from the mainland to the oceanic areas. In this process, the main pattern of ethnic interaction presented in a differentiated concentric geopolitical order of the “Central Nation (中国)”- peripheral “Four Directions” (四方) with “Nine States” (九州) and “Various States” (万国)—“Four Seas” as the “Gullied Boundary of China Nation” (四海为壑), finally resulting in the unity of China Nation of “Assimilation and Integration of Pluralistic Cultures” (多元一体) with the Han ethnicity as its core.
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In the macroscopic situation of ethno-history in the East Asia, the mainstream of ethnic relationships in diverse regions has generally come along with the expansion of the Huaxia and Han nationality, as well as its interaction, conflicts, and assimilation with the neighboring cultures in “Four Directions”. The process of the so-called “Huaxianization” (华夏化) and “sinicization” (汉化) pushed forward step by step from the “Central Plains” and “Central Nation” in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, outward to the peripheries of its “Four Directions”, and from the mainland to the oceanic areas. In this process, the main pattern of ethnic interaction presented in a differentiated concentric geopolitical order of the “Central Nation (中国)”—peripheral “Four Directions” (四方) with “Nine States” (九州) and “Various States” (万国)—“Four Seas” as the “Gullied Boundary of China Nation” (四海为壑), finally resulting in the unity of China Nation of “Assimilation and Integration of Pluralistic Cultures” (多元一体) with the Han ethnicity as its core.
Within this Center-Periphery interaction, most frontier and peripheral ethnic groups did not have their own written texts recording the indigenous history. Nevertheless, the histories of these non-Han peoples, such as the “barbarians” in various states in “Four Directions” within the “Four Seas”, and the oceanic “barbarians” of Island Yi (岛夷) and Maritime Fan (诸番), had been gradually identified and depicted in the Chinese historical literatures in the vision of Huaxia and Han ethnicities. Therefore, the reconstruction of social and cultural history of these frontier and peripheral ethnicities relies not only on Huaxia and Han’s observation and cognition, but also on the cultural and territorial expansion process of the Huaxia and Han people from the Central Plains to the “barbarian” regions in “Four Directions” and “Four Seas”.
In the southeastern direction of this differentiated concentric circular pattern of geopolitic order of Ancient China, with the diachronic expansion of the Huaxia and Han nationality from center to peripheries, the indigenous societies of “Hundred Tribes of Yue” (Bai Yue 百越) and foreign Island Yi were continuously and successively cognized and assimilated by the Huaxia and Han people step by step from the north to south, from mainland to the sea, which were recorded and depicted in Chinese historical documents. This process of cultural cognition and sinicization had roughly gone through three major stages: (1) The indigenous “Southern Barbarian Miao and Man” during the early Chinese civilization of Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties; (2) the sinicized Bai Yue indigenes in the southeast coast of China during the Eastern Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties; and (3) the maritime inhabitants of the foreign Island Yi and Maritime Fan in the “Maritime Region of Southeastern Asia” from the Han and Tang dynasties to the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The identifications of the mainland Miao and Man, Bai Yue, Island Yi and Maritime Fan, were the results of ethincal interaction and cross-cultural cognition of the Huaxia and the Han people along their continuous expansion from Center southward to the mainland southeast coast of China and islands of southeast Asia. These terms were names of “the others” and “hetero culture” of the indigenous people in national discourse of Huaxia and Han, reflecting the historical process of the ethnical interaction, conflicts and assimilation between the Huaxia and Han nationalities and the indigenous societies of Miao and Man, Bai Yue and Island Yi in the maritime regions of Southeastern Direction of Center Nation.
1 The “Barbarian” Miao and Man in the “Southeastern Direction” of Huaxia During Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties
As the core of national cultures of “Assimilation and Integration of Pluralistic Cultures” in ancient East Asia, Huaxia had always retained the strong dynamic power of the expansion from Center Nation outward to the periphrial territory of “Nine States” and “Various States” in the “Four Directions” and “Under the Heaven” (天下). Alongwith the foundation of the early kingdoms of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, the Huaxia nationality launched powerful cultural dissemination and assimilation to the neighboring ethnicities in the “Four Directions”, in which the indigenous Miao and Man within the mainland southeast coastline firstly appeared and were recognized in the vision of the early Huaxia nationality.
1.1 Three Tribes of Miao and Ten Tribes of Man During the Xia and Shang Dynasties
The territory under the direct rule of the Xia and Shang kingdoms was limited to the Central Plains in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, but the national territory of “Nine States” as recorded in the section of “Tribute of the Yu Period” (禹贡) in the Book of Early History (Shangshu 尚书) was much broader and actually covered the mainland regions of the “Various States” of “Barbarian” in “Four Directions” as its periphery. These “barbarian” ethnicities admired and interacted with central Huaxia nationality by the way of paying tribute.
The territory of Yangzhou (扬州) State in the “Southeastern Direction” (东南方) of Central Plains was limited to the north part of the southeast coast of nowaday's China during Xia and Shang dynasties. The geographical landscape depicted as the “River and Sea” region next to the “Huaihe (淮河) and Sishui (泗水) rivers” of Yangzhou State in this book could be identified as the lower reaches of Yangtze River covering today’s southern Jiangsu (江苏) and Anhui (安徽), eastern Hubei (湖北) and Jiangxi (江西) provinces. In their early vague vision on Yangzhou State, Huaxia noticed the special landscape and seascape of this region located to their “Southeastern Direction”, such as “barbarian on the islands wearing bark and straw woven cloth” and “living along the rivers and seas” (Shao, W.P. 1989).
The section of the “Official in Charge of Various States” (Zhifang Shi 职方氏) in the Rites of the Zhou Dynasty (Zhouli 周礼) records that “The state in southeastern direction is Yangzhou, its mountain town is called Kuaiji (会稽), the biggest lake there is called Ju Ou (具区), where three rivers flow into five lakes” (Ruan, Y. 2009: 1861).
The section of “Tribute of the Yu Period” in the Book of Early History records that “The Yangzhou region is located near Huaihai (淮海) sea, Pengli (彭蠡) lake in which the migrating birds stay, and the Zhenze (震泽) lake where three rivers flow into…The barbarians on the islands pay tribute of gold, silver, copper, jade stones, ivories, skin, feather and alike to empire of Central Nation. They wear straw clothes, make use of bark weavings, weave bamboo, use marine shells as decorations, live along the rivers and seas, and reach as far as Huaihe and Sishui rivers” (Ruan, Y. 2009: 312–313).
During this period, “Three Tribes of Miao” (三苗) was a famous indigenous group living in the southeast mountainous area in Huaxia’s vision. The chapter of the “The Biographic of Five Emperors” (五帝本纪) of the Records of the Historian (Shiji 史记) states that during the time of emperor Yao (尧),“Three Tribes of Miao rebelled in the areas of Jiang Huai (江淮) and Jingzhou (荆州), therefore Shun (舜) returned to Central Nation and advised the emperor…then exiled Huandou (驩兜) to Chongshan (崇山) to change the barbarian culture of the Southern Man (南蛮), and relocated Three Tribes of Miao to Shanwei (三危), enlightening the western barbarians Rong (戎).” During the emperor Shun period, “the empire suppressed barbarians of Jiaozhi (交趾) in the south…and the people within the four seas were grateful to emperor Shun’s meritorious service… Emperor Shun reigned for thirty-nine years. He died in wildness of Cangwu (苍梧) while inspecting around the south. He was buried in the Mountain Jiuyi (九疑) in the south of the Yangtze River where was called mausoleum of Lingling (零陵)” (Sima, Q. 1959: 34, 50–52).
The chapter of “Wei Kingdom” (魏策) in the Records of Warring States (Zhanguo Ce战国策) records that “The state of Three Tribes of Miao is located between the left of Pengli Lake and the right of Dongting (洞庭) Lake, with the Wenshan (文山) mountain to its south and Hengshan (衡山) mountain to its north. The chieftain of this barbarian group behaved badly and entrenched in unaccessible lair, so emperor Yu (禹) banished him” (Liu, Xian 2005: 244).
Here the Miao was clearly depicted with the location between the lakesides of Pengli, namely the Poyang (鄱阳) Lake, and Dongting Lake. According to the research of Xu Xusheng (徐旭生), the ancient Chinese character of 苗 (Miao) is the same as “barbarian” Man in similar pronunciation (Xu, X.S. 1985: 58). So the Three Tribes of Miao were the important indigenous Southern Man in the territory of southeastern direction of the Xia Dynasty on perspective of early Huanxia.
During the Shang Dynasty, Huaxia’s influence upon the “Various States” in “Four Directions” exceeded that of the Xia Dynasty to the farther eastern and southern coasts and interacted with them closer in frequent tribute. The chapter of “Records of the Kings Meeting (王会解)” in the Lost Historical Literature of Zhou Dynasty (Yi Zhoushu 逸周书) records that during the Tang (汤) reign of Shang Dynasty, “Yi Yin (伊尹) was committed to be in charge of tribute of states in four directions. The official asked the barbarian states in the east such as Fulou (符娄), Qiuzhou (仇州), Yilv (伊虑), Oushen (沤深), the Nine Tribes of Yi (九夷), the Ten Tribes of Man, and Yue Ou (越沤) who had the custom of cutting hair and tattoo body, to pay tributes of sheath made of fish skin, sauce made of fish and sharp swords. Asked the states in the south such as Ou (瓯), Deng (邓), Gui (桂) state, Chanli (产里), Bai Pu (百濮) and Jiujun (九菌) to pay tributes of marine pearls, tortoise shells, ivory, rhinoceros horns, peacock feathers, cranes and dogs” (Huang, H.X. et al. 2007: 910–915).
In brief, the local inhabitants of Miao and Man were the earliest indigenous ethnics in the territory of Southeastern Direction of the Xia and Shang dynasties, being interacted and assimilated with Huaxia by the way of early tributary network of the “Various States in Four Directions of Central Nation”. This cultural assimilation process promoted the spread and influence of the social civilization of Central Nation to its southeastern direction. The section of “Searching Analogy” (召类) of the Analects of the Political Opinion of Master Lv (Lvshi Chunqiu 吕氏春秋) records that “Emperor Shun defeated barbarian Miao and changed their customs” (Lv, B.W. et al. 2002: 1369). The “Biographic of Five Emperors” of the Records of the Historian records that “Exiled Huandou to Chongshan to change the barbarian culture of the Southern Man” (Sima, Q. 1959: 34). These cultural changes of Miao and Man were just the demonstration of the Huaxianization of the southeast indigenous in the early Chinese civilization.
1.2 Seven Tribes of Min and Eight Tribes of Man in the Zhou Dynasty
During the Zhou Dynasty, with the growth and evolution of the civilization of Central Nation, the core role of Huaxia in its interaction with the Pluralistic cultures in Nine States and Various States of ancient China strengthened, and the territory directly ruled by Huaxia was further expanded outward in the “Four Directions”. The Zhou Dynasty was broadly endorsed and accepted by people in Nine States and Various States, dreaming for a blueprint of “all of the lands under the heaven belong to the king and all the people on the land subject to the king”, as recorded in the section of “North Mountain” (北山) in the Book of Songs (Shijing 诗经) (Ruan, Y. 2009: 994). In this Southeastern Direction, the more profoundly cultural assimilation happened too, and the indigenous inhabitants more widely distributed on southeast coast had contacted with Central Nation and been depicted in more detail in the Chinese historical literatures.
The section of the “Official in Charge of Foreign Affairs” (Xiang Xu 象胥) of the Rites of the Zhou Dynasty records: “Official Xiangxu is in charge of managing the states of Man, Yi, Min (闽), He (貉), Rong and Di (狄)” (Ruan, Y. 2009: 1944).
The section of the “Official in Charge of Various States” in the Rites of the Zhou Dynasty records: “Zhifang Shi (职方氏) is in charge of managing all states under the heaven and controlling all lands in the world, identifying the various states and their capitals and cities, as well as the people of Four Tribes of Yi (Si Yi 四夷), Eight Tribes of Man (Ba Man 八蛮), Seven Tribes of Min (Qi Min 七闽), Nine Tribes of He (Jiu He 九貉), Five Tribes of Rong (Wu Rong 五戎), and Six Tribes of Di (Liu Di 六狄)” (Ruan, Y. 2009: 1861).
The section of the “Winter Official in Charge of Craftworks” (Dongguan Kaogong Ji 冬官考工记) in the Rites of the Zhou Dynasty records: “There is no craftwork of casting bronze axe in Yue (粤), no craftwork of making leather armors in Yan (燕), no craftwork of making the long weapons as spear in Qin (秦), and no craftwork of making bows and carts in Hu (胡).” “The bronze and xin implements in Wu (吴) and Yue (粤) states are high quality artifacts of metal” (Ruan, Y. 2009: 1957–1958).
The “Record the Kings Meeting” of the Lost Historical Literature of Zhou Dynasty states: “The Eastern Yue (东越) people enjoy marine clams, Ou people like to eat snakes. The Yu Yue (于越), Gumei (姑妹), and Gong (共) people like to eat marine shellfish and crab” (Huang, H.X. et al. 2007: 833–844).
The paragraph of “Areas within the South Sea” (海内南经) in the Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhaijing 山海经) records: “The aboriginal people of both Ou and Min live in the sea. It is said that the mountain of Min state is located in the sea, or next to the northwest of the sea” (Yuan, K. 2014: 237).
From these records we can see that “Yue (粤)”, “Wu”, “Yue (越)”, “Ou”, “Min” and other non-Huaxia ethnicities on the southeast coastal regions all entered into Huaxia’s vision during the Zhou Dynasty, which was the result of the broader expansion and the deeper assimilation of the Huaxia culture outward southeastern direction in the geopolitical order of “Central Nation-Various States in Four Directions”. The founding and early developing of Wu state was a typical case of the cultural assimilation of indigenous ethnicity in the southeast in this period.
The chapter of the “History of Aristocratic Family of Wu Taibo” (吴太伯世家) in the Records of the Historian states: “Wu Taibo and his younger brother Zhongyong (仲雍) are the sons of King of Zhou Dynasty, and the brothers of King Jili (季历)…then Taibo and Zhongyong went to the barbarian region of Man in Jing (荆).” “Taibo went to Man region and set residence there, took himself the barbarian’s title of Gou Wu (句吴). The barbarians of Jing Man (荆蛮) supported him and about one thousand indigenous families followed and subjected to him, enthroning him as Wu Taibo, the first generation of monarchs of the Wu state” (Sima, Q. 1959: 1747).
The “barbarian” people of Jing Man was the indigenous inhabitants living in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the immigration of Taibo and Zhongyong to the barbarian Jing Man reflects the spreading of Huaxia population from the central area of the Zhou Dynasty to the north part of the southeast. The inscription on the “Yi Hou Ce Kui” (宜侯夨簋) bronze bowl unearthed in Dantu (丹徒) county of Jiangsu province also records the historical facts of King Kang (康) reign of Zhou Dynasty conferring Ce (夨) as the title of king at Yi (宜) area, which is another evidence of the spreading of Huaxia people from the Central Plains to the barbarian region in the Southeastern Direction of Zhou Dynasty. After the Spring and Autumn Period, there were more frequent warring conflicts and interaction between the Huaxia and the indigenous people in southeast states of Wu and Yue, such as the events of “Wu aggressed Chu states every year”. “The army of Yue aggressed the regions in the east basins of Yangtze and Huaihe rivers and was admitted and worshiped by various local states, being the overlord at the time.” “The army of Yue attacked the Qi state in the north, and the Chu state in the west, competing for the supremacy in Central Nation” (Sima, Q. 1959: 2099). Obviously, the direct cultural expansion and assimilation of Huaxia outward to the southeast promoted the Huaxianization and sinicization, accelerated the social evolution of the indigenous Wu and Yue states in the Spring and Autumn Period.
In short, during the Three Dynasties, with the expansion and immigration of Huaxia nationality from Center Plains outward to region of barbarian Miao and Man in their “Southeastern Direction”, the cultural influence and assimilation of Huaxia on the indigenous society extended from the plain regions with rivers and lakes in the lower reaches of Yangtze River to the further east and south regions over the Wuyi-Nanling (武夷-南岭) mountainous watershed, reaching the coastal regions along the East and South China Sea. The indigenous groups such as “Three Tribes of Miao”, “Ten Tribes of Man” (Shi Man 十蛮), “Eight Tribes of Man” and “Seven Tribes of Min” in this coastal regions were the direct ancestors of Bai Yue of the southeast China during the late Eastern Zhou to early Han dynasties.
2 The “Territory of Bai Yue” Along the Coast from Jiaozhi to Kuaiji During Eastern Zhou and Han Dynasties
Since the late Eastern Zhou Dynasty, a series of powerful states rose in the mainland of East Asia, competing for controlling the Central Plains, further promoted the cultural interaction and assimilation between the Huaxia Nation and the Nine States, Various States in Four Directions, and eventually led to the geopolitical and cultural unification in the Qin and Han dynasties. This national unification of early China promoted the formation of the Han on the base of Huaxia nationality of Three Dynasties, which continued to play the core role in the traditional geopolitical order of the “Central Nation-Various States in Four Directions” when it expanded outward and assimilated the other ethnic cultures in the past two thousand years.
In the southeastern direction of Huaxia and Han, along with the acceleration of cultural assimilation, military and political unification of Central Nation from the Eastern Zhou to Han dynasties, represented by the development and sinicization of Bai Yue ethnicities, the indigenous inhabitants in the southeast coast of China and north region of the Southeast Asian Peninsula experienced the deep cultural changes of sinicization, and eventually developed into a component of the broad unification of Han nationality.
2.1 The “Territory of Bai Yue” Locating to the South of Yangtze and Hanjiang Rivers
From the late Eastern Zhou to the Qin and Han dynasties, Bai Yue as a regionally unified cultural group with diverse branches appeared in the coastal region of the Southeastern Direction of Huaxia.
The section of “Principle of King Serving” (恃君览篇) of the Analects of the Political Opinion of Master Lv records that “Various branches of Bai Yue indigenous people are distributed in the region to the south of Yangtze and Hanjiang (汉水) rivers, forming the territory of Bai Yue (百越之际). The Bai Yue indigenous groups such as Bikaizhu (敝凯诸), Fufeng (夫风), Yumi (馀靡), Fulou (缚娄), Yangyu (阳禺), Huandou, are all states without chieftain” (Lv, B.W. et al. 2002: 1331).
The annotation of the “Annals of Geography” (地理志) of the History of the Han Dynasty (Hanshu 汉书) quotes the words of Chen Zan (臣瓒): “It is seven or eight thousands li from Jiaozhi to Kuaiji (会稽), where the indigenous groups of Bai Yue with different ethnicities live. They are not all so-called the descendants King Shaokang (少康) of Huaxia nationality” (Ban, G. 1962: 1669).
The chapter of the “Biography of Southern Barbarian Man” (南蛮传) of the History of Sui Dynasty (Suishu 隋书) records: “The southern barbarians Man with diverse ethnicities live together with Huaxia people in south of China, such as the tribes of Dan (蜑), Rang (獽), Li (俚), Liao (僚) and Yi (狏) who are without a chieftain. They live in the caverns of the mountain, and their ancestors are the so-called Bai Yue ethnicities” (Wei, Z. et al. 1982: 1831).
Synthesizing the Chinese historical records on the indigenous groups in southeastern China, various ethnicities of Bai Yue had been active to the south of middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, mainly including the “Gou Wu” (句吴), “Yu Yue”(于越), “Min Yue” (闽越), “Eastern Ou or Yue” (东瓯,东越), “Southern Yue” (南越), “Western Ou” (西瓯) and “Luo Yue” (骆越), “Gan Yue” (干越), “Yang Yue” (扬越) and so on (Fig. 2.1). They were the descendants of Miao, Man and Southern Man of Three Dynasties, and successively established a series of the regional states, being independent from the Central Nation on the southeast coast of China.
The distribution of Southeastern ethnic branches of “barbarians” Bai Yue
2.1.1 Gou Wu and Yu Yue
Gou Wu (句吴) and Yu Yue (于越) lived in the plains with rivers and lakes in the lower reaches of Yangtze River between Jiangsu, Anhui, and the north of Zhejiang (浙江). They were the two branches of Bai Yue in the northern most of Yangzhou as one of “Nine States” and the core area in the Southeastern Direction of the Three Dynasties.
Gou Wu ethnicity lived in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River centered on the basin of Taihu Lake (太湖) where originally was the homeland of indigenous Jing Man in the southeast during the Shang and Zhou dynasties. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Wu state competed for hegemony with the other great powers, aggressed the states of Chu and Yue fighting for controlling the Central Plains, and was annexed into the Yue state in the early Warring States Period. The chapter of the “History of Aristocratic Family of Wu Taibo” of the Records of the Historian records its history in this stage: “Wu Taibo and his younger brother Zhongyong are the sons of king of Zhou Dynasty, and the brothers of King Jili…The royal linage of Wu state lasted for eighteen generations from Taibo to Mengshou (梦寿).” “In the twentieth year of king Fuchai (夫差 476 BC), the king Goujian (句践) of Yue state attacked the Wu state again and defeated Wu in twenty-third year of king Fuchai (473 BC)” (Sima, Q. 1959: 1747–1781).
Yu Yue, or Yue (越), was the descendant of Yue Ou of the Shang Dynasty, and was active in the south riparian plain of lower reaches of Qiantangjiang (钱塘江) River. The chapter of the “History of Aristocratic Family of Goujian, the King of Yue” (越王句践世家) of the Records of the Historian records its history: “The ancestor of Goujian, the king of the Yue state, was the descendant of Yu and was the concubine’s son of emperor Shaokang of Xia Dynasty. His ancestor was conferred to Kuaiji to guard the temple of Yu, where the local indigenous having the custom of cutting hair without hairpin, tattoo body and wearing straw clothes in the capital. The royal linage of Yue lasted more than twenty generations to King Yunchang (允常), who fought with King Helu (阖庐) of the Wu state. After Yunchang died his son Goujian was enthroned as the king of the Yue state.” “During the time of King Wuqiang (无彊), the army of Yue attacked the Qi (齐) state in the north, and the Chu state in the west, competing the supremacy with Central Nation…Then King Weiwang (威王) of Chu attacked the Yue state, defeated it and killed King Wuqiang, occupied all the lands from Zhejiang in south to Xuzhou (徐州) in north, including the original lands of Yue, Qi and Wu states. Since then the Yue state was subjugated, the descendants of the royal family of Yue dispersed and lived along the coast to the south of the Yangtze River, subjecting to the Chu state” (Sima, Q. 1959: 2099–2112).
2.1.2 Min Yue and Eastern Ou
Eastern Ou (东瓯) or Eastern Sea (东海) was active in the south of Zhejiang centered on the Oujiang (瓯江) River basin, and the central part of Min Yue (闽越) was located in the Minjiang River Basin, during the late East Zhou, Qin, and early Han dynasties. The Eastern Ou and Min Yue were collectively called Eastern Yue, and were respectively the descendants of indigenous Min and Ou (沤) in Zhou Dynasty.
Their stories are recorded in the chapter of “Biography of Eastern Yue Ethnic” (东越列传) of the Records of the Historian, “Both the King Wuzhu (无诸) of Min Yue state and the King Yao (摇) of the Eastern Sea state were the descendants of King Guojian with surname Zou (驺)…After Qin conquered the whole China, their states were abolished, but they were respectively conferred as chiefs ruling their original lands under the of Minzhong Prefecture (闽中郡)…In the fifth year of Han Dynasty (202 BC), Wuzhu was restored as the King of Min Yue state in the original land of Minzhong Prefecture, establishing its capital in East Ye (东冶)…In the third year of Xiaohui (孝惠) reign (192 BC) of Han Dynasty…Yao was enthroned again as the king of the Eastern Sea state for his merits, establishing its capital at Eastern Ou with the regal title of king of Eastern Ou.” “In the third year of Jianyuan (建元) reign (138 BC) of Han Dynasty, Eastern Ou was attacked by Min Yue state, therefore it asked the emperor of Han for the permission of emigrating all of its people northward to the region between Yangtze and Huaihe rivers. In the sixth year of Yuanding (元鼎) reign ( 111 BC), emperor Wudi (武帝) sent an army to suppress Eastern Yue state and perished it in the first year of Yuanfeng (元封) reign (110 BC).” “Emperor Wudi considered that the land of Eastern Yue was unsuited for agriculture and with obstructions and uneasy to access, and the indigenous people were ferocious and rebellious and ordered relocating Eastern Yue people by force to the region between the Yangtze and Huaihe rivers. The original land of the Eastern Yue state was sparsely populated since then” (Sima, Q. 1959: 3609–3614).
2.1.3 Southern Yue
Southern Yue (Nan Yue 南越) was active in the coastal region to the south of Wuling (五岭) or Nanling (southern mountain, 南岭) in the original land of Nanhai Prefecture (南海郡) centered on the Pearl River Delta in Qin Dynasty. The local people of the Southern Yue state were the descendants of the indigenous people of Yue (粤), Ou, Deng, Gui, Chanli and Jiujun of pre-Qin period, and the Southern Yue state was perished by emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty.
According to “Biography of Southern Yue Ethnic” (南越列传) of the Records of the Historian, “King Zhao Tuo (赵佗) of the Southern Yue state was from Zhending (真定) of north China. Being senior captain of Qin army, he was ordered to conquer Yang Yue region and set up the prefectures of Guilin (桂林郡), Nanhai and Xiangjun (象郡). He relocated the relegated people and offenders from inland areas to these periphrial prefectures, living and mixing with indigenous people of Yue for thirteen years…After the perishing of the Qin Dynasty, Zhao Tuo attacked and occupied the lands of Guilin and Xiangjun prefectures, making himself the king of Southern Yue state.” “In the eleventh year of Han Dynasty (196 BC), the emperor of the Han conferred ZhaoTuo the king of Southern Yue state, making him peacefully interact with others Bai Yue indigenous groups in southeast coast such as Min Yue state locating to its east and the Western Ou, Luo Yue locating to its west.” “In the sixth year of Yuanding reign (111 BC), Han Dynasty perished Southern Yue state. Ou Luo (瓯骆) ethnicity also subjected to the Han sovereignty…the Southern Yue was conquered by Han, and nine prefectures were established there” (Sima, Q. 1959: 3593–3604).
2.1.4 Western Ou and Luo Yue
Western Ou (Xi Ou 西瓯) and Lou Yue (骆越) were active to the west of Southern Yue. It is generally believed that Western Ou was active in the main stream of Xijiang (西江) and Guijiang (桂江) rivers basin in the north of Guangxi (广西), and Luo Yue was active in the land of ancient Jiaozhi between the south of Guangxi and the north of Vietnam. According to “Biography of Southern Yue Ethnic” in the Records of the Historian, “Western Ou and Lou Yue also established their own kingdoms”, “Ou Luo subjected to the Han Dynasty…After the Southern Yue was conquered by Han and nine prefectures were established there” (Sima, Q. 1959: 3596–3604).
In the section of “Yeyu River” (叶榆河) in volume thirty-seven of Commentary on the Waterways Classic (Shuijing Zhu 水经注), and the annotation of Hu Sanxing (胡三省) on the “History Thirty-Five of Han Dynasty” (汉纪三十五) in the General Reflection for Political Administration (Zizhi Tongjian 资治通鉴), a paragraph cited from the lost book Records of Foreign Places in Jiaozhou (Jiaozhou Waiyu Ji 交州外域记) written in third to fourth century records: “Before Jiaozhi Prefecture of Qin Dynasty was established, the paddy fields of indigenous Luo (骆) ethnicity had been opened with water rising and falling following the sea tides. Indigenous people cultivated the fields and made for living thence had the name of Luo People. They made the King Anyang (安阳) and nobles of Luo state to govern the land…Later captain Zhao Tuo of Qin Dynasty led an expedition attacking King Anyang” (Li, D.Y. et al. 1984: 1156; Sima, G. 1956: 1387).
Since the Five Dynasties, the ancient Vietnam literature in Chinese confused the Chinese characters “Luo (雒, 骆)” with “Powerful (雄)” for their similarity in hand writing. Thus the “Period of King Luo Yue” in the history of Jiaozhi had been mistaken as the “Period of Powerful King (Xiong Wang, 雄王”). For example, the ancient Vietnam book Biography of South Yue (Nanyue Zhi 南越志) collected in the Chinese Geographical Record of the World in Taiping Reign (Taiping Huanyu Ji 太平寰宇记) in the Song Dynasty records that “People called the land there ‘Powerful Land’ (Xiongdi 雄地), the paddy field there ‘Powerful Crop Land (Xiongtian 雄田)’, the people there ‘Powerful People (Xiongmin雄民)’, and its ancient chief the ‘Powerful King (Xiongwang 雄王)’, king’s assistants' marquis the ‘Powerful Marquis (Xionghou, 雄侯)’, and the land was divided and separately ruled by the ‘Powerful Generals (Xiongjiang 雄将)’” (Yue, S. 2007: 3256). Another Vietnam ancient book of fifteenth century, the Record Book of the Historian of the Great Vietnam (Dayue Shiji Quansh 大越史记全书) continued the descriptions of the history of “Powerful King” (Xiongwang, 雄王) (Sun, X. 2015: 41). All of these misunderstandings of the early ethnicity of Jiaozhi reflects the real history of Luo Yue culture.
2.1.5 Dan Er
The indigenous Bai Yue people on Hainan (海南) Island was called Dan Er (儋耳) who wore the big earring pendants, and Diao Ti (雕题) people painted tatoo. After the kingdom of Southern Yue was perished by emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty, two prefectures of Dan Er and Zhu Ya (珠崖) were established, being included in the “Nine Prefectures” in the original land of Southern Yue.
The paragraph of “Areas within the South Sea” in the “Classic of Mountains and Seas” records: “The indigenous states of Li Er (离耳), Diao Ti and Bei Xiong (北胸) were all in the south of Yushui (郁水) River which flows to the South Sea at Xiang Ling (湘陵).” Guo Pu (郭璞) in the Jing Dynasty noted that “Li Er is the same as Dan Er, which is located in the sea of Zhu Ya” (Yuan, K. 2014: 237).
The chapter of the “Annals of Geography” of the History of the Han Dynasty records: “The boat enters the sea from the south of Xuwen (徐闻) and Hepu (合浦) and gets to a large island extending one thousand li respectively in length and width. In the first year of Yuanfeng reign (110 BC) of emperor Wudi, the indigenous state was perished and two prefectures of Dan Er and Zhu Ya were established” (Ban, G. 1962: 1670).
Some other records state that there were also indigenous Luo Yue people living in Hainan Island. The chapter of the “Biography of Jia Juanzhi” (贾捐之传) of the History of the Han Dynasty records: “Emperor Wudi conquered Southern Yue and established two prefectures of Dan Er and Zhu Ya on the island in the south sea…The barbarian Luo Yue people on the island have peculiar customs such as the father and son bathering together in the river and drinking by nose as the beast” (Ban, G. 1962: 2830, 2834).
2.1.6 Gan Yue and Yang Yue
According to the Records of the Historian and Records of Warring States, Gan Yue (干越) and Yang Yue (扬越) were active in the region between Dongting and Poyang lakes. Gan Yue was a branch of Bai Yue living in Ganpo (赣鄱) River basin. The chapter of “Encouraging Studying” (劝学篇) of the Book of Master Xun (Xu Zi 荀子) records: “The barbarian Gan Yue was the descendant of Yi He (夷貉). They share the same language but with different behaviors and customs” (Xun, K. et al. 1995: 2). The chapter of “Annals of Economy and Finance (货殖列传)” of the Records of the Historian says that “Hefei (合肥) city gathered different products from north and south, being a collecting hub of leatherwear, abalone and wood, mixes with the mores and customs of Minzhong and Gan Yue” (Sima, Q. 1959: 3965). The chapter of “States and Prefectures” (州郡部) of Vol. one hundred and seventy in the Emperial Encyclopaedia in Taiping Reign (Taiping Yulang 太平御览) cited Wei Zhao’s (韦昭) annotation to History of Han Dynasty, “Gan Yue was another name of today’s Yugan (余干) county” (Li, F. et al. 2008: book 894–646). Therefore, some scholars hold that Gan Yue was a branch of Yue ethnicity centered in Yugan of Jiangxi province (Liu, M.S. 1982).
Yang Yue was active in the eastern part of Hunan and Hubei where ethnics of Chu and Yue mixed. The chapter “The History of Aristocratic Family of Chu” (楚世家) of the Records of the Historian records: “King Xiong Qu (熊渠) of Chu state was respected and supported by the people in the basin of middle Yangtze and Hangjiang rivers, so he commanded an army to attack Yong (庸), Yang Yue, and then Er (鄂) states” (Sima, Q. 1959: 2043). The chapter of “Records of Qin State” (秦策) of the Records of Warring States states: “Wu Qi (吴起)…attacked Yang Yue in the south and annexed the states of Chen (陈) and Cai (蔡)” (Liu, Xian 2005: 63). According to these records, some researchers hold that Yang Yue was the branch of indigenous Bai Yue living on the border of Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi provinces (Yang, Q.X. 1989).
In the time of the Warring States, Gan Yue and Yang Yue states were annexed one after another by Chu State, and respectively administrated in Yuzhang (豫章), Guiyang (桂阳) and Danyang (丹阳) prefectures in Qin and Han dynasties.
2.1.7 Dian Yue and Yi Yue
Dian Yue (滇越) and the adjacent Yi Yue (夷越), Yue Xi (越巂), Teng Yue (腾越) were the branches of Bai Yue locating in the southwest plateau in the border of Yunnan (云南), Guizhou (贵州) and Sichuan (四川), and were annexed into the Yuexi Prefecture and so on after being subjugated by emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty.
According to “Biography of Dawan Regions” (大宛列传) of the Records of the Historian, “At about one thousand li to the west of Kunming (昆明) state, there is the Dian Yue state being famous as riding elephant, where the merchants from Sichuan come to trade with them” (Sima, Q. 1959: 3844).
The chapter of the “Biography of Zhuge Liang” (诸葛亮传) in the History of the Three Kingdoms) (Sanguo Zhi三国志) records: “Generally the king should possess Jing (荆) and Yi (益) prefectures, defend the country by the mountainous environment, pacify various tribes of Rong to the west and Yi Yue to the south” (Chen, S. et al. 2006: 544).
The “Biography of Prefecture in Nanzhong” (南中志) of the Records of the Huayang States (Huanyang Guozhi 华阳国志) records: “Nanzhong region was the original land of ancient Yi and Yue indigenous people, where dozen of states of Dianpu (滇濮), Gouding (句町), Yelang (夜郎), Yeyu, Tongshi (桐师), Xitang (巂唐) are located.” “Yongchang (永昌) region is the original land of barbarians with customs of chest piercing, Dan Er with big earring pendants, Minyue Pu (闽越濮), and Ju Liao (鸠僚), all making themselves kings” (Chang, Q. et al. 2007: 144, 186–188).
According to the “Biography of the Southwest Barbarian Yi” (西南夷列传) of the Records of the Historian, “After perishing the Southern Yue…Yuexi Prefecture was established in Qiongdu (邛都), Shenli (沈犁) Prefecture in Zuodu (筰都), Wenshan (汶山) Prefecture in Ran Mang (冉駹), and Wudu (武都) Prefecture in Guanghan (广汉). The emperor dispatched Wang Rangyu (王然于) to persuade the king of indigenous Dian (滇) to submit” (Sima, Q. 1959: 3631). The Annotation of Zhang Shoujie (张守节) on the “Biography of Dawan Regions” in the Records of the Historian states that “Dian Yue and Yue Xi are commonly called Yue. If distinguish them more definitely they have the separate names of Xi (巂) and Dian, and so on” (Sima, Q. 1959: 3845).
However, the identification and recognization of Pu (濮) and Yue have always been a controversial issue in the study of the ancient history of south China. A number of scholars argued that Pu and Yue were actually the same ethnic group in different stages of cultural development. They realized that the early Chinese literatures had more records of “Pu” than “Yue”, and that the indigenous people of Pu, Yi, Man, Liao, Rang in the regions of Chu, Ba (巴), Shu (蜀), Dian and Yelang during the pre-Qin period, all belonged to the category of Bai Yue culture (You, Z. 1985; Jiang, Y.L. 1980). Most of the other scholars believed that Pu and Yue were obviously different. Pu Liao (濮僚) was an ethnic group in the southwest region, while Bai Yue in the southeast. After the Han and Jin dynasties on, the indigenous people in the southwest were often called “Liao” and “Yi Liao” (夷僚), and all of them were the descendants of Bai Pu (Meng, W.T. 1983; Meng, M. 1989; Jiang, B.Z. 1985).
In short, Bai Yue was an important “Barbarian” Man and Yi ethnic group which had been “encountered” by Huaxia and Han nationalities in their southeastern direction in Eastern Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties. Judging from the changes of the appellations of the native ethnic groups distinguished in the Chinese historical records, from various Man including the “Wu”, “Yue” (越), “Yue” (粤), “Ou”, “Min” in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, to “Bai Yue” including the “Yu Yue”, “Eastern Ou”, “Min Yue”, “Eastern Yue”, “Southern Yue”, “Western Ou”, “Luo Yue”, “Yang Yue”, “Gan Yue”and so on, we inferred that the spread of Wu and Yue ethnicities and their cultural assimilation with the aboriginal “Seven Tribes of Min” and “Eight Tribes of Man” since the Warring States period, have been the key reason for the formation of Bai Yue, the various Yue in the southeast of China. During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Wu and Yue’s participation in the wars of competing for the controlling the Central Plains led to the more massive migration of their people to the southeast coasts of China, just as the statement of the Records of the Historian, “the descendants of the royal family of Yue dispersed and lived along the coast to the south of the Yangtze River” (Sima, Q. 1959: 2112). The southward spread of Wu and Yue cultures and the formation of the mixed Bai Yue ethnicities can also be demonstrated in archaeological cultural change of the pre-Qin period, which was typically reflected in the dissemination and assimilation of the cultural connotations of the Mounded Tomb (土墩墓) culture of Wu and Yue in southeast coast of mainland China (Wu, C.M. et al. 2001).
2.2 The Sinicization of Bai Yue and the Recurrence of Mountainous Yue
The Sinicization of Bai Yue was a continuation of the process of the Huaxianization indigenous Miao and Man in the southeast of China during the Shang and Zhou dynasties, which directly inherited the geopolitical situation of the unifying of Chu state in the south of China and Bai Yue’s subjection and assimilation to Chu since the late Eastern Zhou Dynasty. The administrative and military unifying of Qin and Han dynasties accelerated this process of Sinicization of Bai Yue indigenous people.
2.2.1 Bai Yue Being Subjected and Paying Tribute to the Chu State
The cultural assimilation of Bai Yue with Chu in pre-Qin period had been the prelude of its Sinicization, which is recorded in the “History of Aristocratic Family of Goujian, the King of Yue” in the Records of the Historian, as quoted previously, “King Weiwang of Chu attacked the Yue state…Since then the Yue state was subjugated, the descendants of royal family of Yue dispersed and lived along the coast to the south of the Yangtze River, subjecting to the Chu state” (Sima, Q. 1959: 2112).
The annotation of Zhang Shoujie (张守节) on the chapter of “Annals of Economy and Finance” of the Records of the Historian states: “Yue state perished Wu state and annexed its land to the north of Jianghuai (江淮) plain. Chu perished Yue and then annexed the original lands of both Wu and Yue, therefore the broad regions of south China are altogether called Chu Yue (楚越) region” (Sima, Q. 1959: 3964).
The chapter of “Biography of Southern Barbarians Man and Southwestern Yi” (南蛮西南夷列传) of the History of Late Han Dynasty (Houhan Shu 后汉书) states: “Chu state dominated hegemony in southern China with the Yue’s surrender and tribute” (Fan, Y. 1965: 2835).
The Chu people had very close relation with the Huaxia nationality of Central Nation and was formally conferred by the Zhou Dynasty. The historical classics, social rites, and ideas of Huaxia culture were systematically spread and accepted in the state of Chu in early Chinese civilization, and Chu culture became an important source of the Han nationality. Hence the Chu and Han had come down in one continuous and unified cultural series (Li, Z.H. 1989: 70). Therefore, the statement of “Chu state dominated hegemony in southern China with the Yue’s surrender and tribute” essentially reflects an important reason of the sinicization of the indigenous Bai Yue in the southeast of China.
2.2.2 Han’s Unification and Administration on Original Land of Bai Yue
The unification of politics and military of Qin and Han dynasties was the social basis for the large-scale cultural dissemination and ethnic migration of Huaxia people outward from Center to peripheral regions. With the progress of military unification of Qin Dynasty and the conquest on the Southern Yue and Eastern Yue of Han Dynasty, the administrative system of prefecture and county was carried out one after another in the southeast native regions, resulting the climax of the sinicization of indigenous societies.
Qin Dynasty annexed the territories of all states “under the heaven” into its domain and set up prefectures in Kuaiji, Minzhong, Guilin, Nanhai, Xiangjun, and so on in the original land of Bai Yue, which was the beginning of administrative unification of this indigenous area in the “Southeastern Direction” of Huaxia into the territory of Central Nation.
The “Biography of the First Emperor of Qin Dynasty” (秦始皇本纪) of the Records of the Historian states: “In the second year (222 BC) of the King Zheng (政) of Qin Dynasty…general Wang Jian (王翦) conquered the region of Jingzhou and south of Yangtze River, subjected head of Yue, and established the Kuaiji Prefecture” (Sima, Q. 1959: 302).
According to “Biography of Eastern Yue Ethnic” in the Records of the Historian, “Both the King Wuzhu of Min Yue state and the King Yao of the Eastern Sea state were the descendants of King Guojiang…After Qin conquered the whole China, their states were abolished, but they were respectively conferred as chiefs ruling their original lands under the Minzhong Prefecture” (Sima, Q. 1959: 3609). Though some historians argued that the Minzhong Prefecture was only nominally established, it actually was the first step of the administrative ruling of Central Nation on the original land of indigenous Min Yue.
The “Biography of the First Emperor of Qin Dynasty” of the Records of the Historian records the same system of the Qin administration in the original land of Southern Yue: “Dispatching escaped criminals and businessmen…to attack the land of Lulian (陆梁), and established the prefectures of Guilin, Xiangjun and Nanhai to relocate the former soldiers from inland and north China…cultivate the original land of Southern Yue” (Sima, Q. 1959: 323).
After emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty destroyed the native states of the Eastern Yue and Southern Yue and suppressed the southwest “barbarians” Yi, re-governed them under the system of prefecture and county in the unified empire.
The “Biographies of Southwest Barbarian Yi, Two Yue and Korea” (西南夷两粤朝鲜传) in the History of the Han Dynasty records: “After the conquering the Southern Yue, (Han Dynasty) divided its land to be the nine prefectures of Dan Er, Zhu Ya, Nanhai, Cangwu, YuLin (郁林), Hepu, Jiaozhi, Jiuzhen (九真), and Rinan (日南)” (Ban, G. 1962: 3859).
The “Annals of Prefectures” (州郡志) of the History of Song of South Dynasties (Songshu 宋书) recorded: “After the fugitives of ancient Min Yue reappeared later in Late of Han Dynasty, Yexian (冶县) county was established to rule them” (Shen, Yue 1997: 1092).
According to the “Biography of the Southwest Barbarian Yi” in the Records of the Historian as quoted previously, “After perishing the Southern Yue…the Yuexi Prefecture was established in Qiongdu, Shenli Prefecture in Zuodu, Wenshan Prefecture in Ran Mang, and Wudu Prefecture in Guanghan” (Sima, Q. 1959: 3631).
2.2.3 The Immigrant of Han People Southward to the Original Land of Yue and the Emigration of Indigenous Yue Northward to Hinterland of the Empire
Under the administrative system of prefecture and county in the unified imperial territory, the population migration and ethnic mixture in the original land of ancient Bai Yue promoted the assimilation of Han and Yue cultures.
On the one hand, the large number of the immigration of the Han people from the northern interior southward was the main reason for the population growth of the Han nationality in the original land of the Bai Yue and the rapid sinicization of the indigenous Bai Yue people. The settlement of the imperial soldiers was the main source of immigrated Han population, hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the North and Central Plains settled down in the regions after the end of the war of Han suppressing Yue, consolidating the early administrative system of prefecture and county in southeast coast of China. The family of the King Zhaotuo of the Southern Yue state was just the soldier immigration of an expedition army of the Han nationality from inland.
According to the “Biography of the Huainan and Hengshan Regions” (淮南衡山列传) of the Records of the Historian, “The emperor ordered captain Zhao Tou to cross Wuling mountains southward to attack Bai Yue… Qin emperor promised fifteen thousands of unmarried women or widows to be the logistics service for the soldiers” (Sima, Q. 1959: 3751).
The “Biographies of Southwest Barbarian Yi, Two Yues and Korea” of the History of the Han Dynasty states that the King Zhaotou of Southern Yue state… established the prefectures of Guilin, Nanhai, and Xiangjun to relocate the criminals from the north (Ban, G. 1962: 3847).
The “Biography of Southern Yue Ethnic” of the Records of the Historian states: “In the fifth year of Yuanding reign (112 BC), emperor Wudi sent a navy of one hundred thousand soldiers to attack Southern Yue…In the sixth year of Yuanding reign (111 BC), the navy general commanded crack soldiers to march on…together with tens of thousands of navy solider and thousands of criminals to attack Southern Yue” (Sima, Q. 1959: 3601, 3604).
The chapter of the “Record of Food and Commodity” (食货志) of the History of Han Dynasty records: “The emperor granted a general amnesty for the criminals all over the country, then sent a navy with two hundred thousand soldiers southward to attack Southern Yue” (Ban, G. 1962: 1173).
After emperor Wudi conquered the southeast, the Han Dynasty continued to suppress the regions of Two Yue with force. The chapter of “Biography of Southern Barbarians Man and Southwestern Yi” of the History of the Later Han Dynasty records: “In the eighteenth year of emperor Guanwu (光武) (AD 42), general Ma Yuan (马援) and Duan Zhi (段志) commanded ten thousand of soldiers from Changsha (长沙), Guiyang (桂阳), Lingling and Cangwu to attack the original land of Two Yue.” The chapter of the “Biography of the Emperor Xiao’an” (孝安帝纪) of the same book records: “In the third year of Yuanchu (元初) reign (AD 116), the barbarian Man and Yi tribes in Cangwu, Yulin and Hepu rebelled, then the emperor sent an army to suppress them” (Fan, Y. 1965: 225, 2836–2837).
More over, the original land of Bai Yue in the southeast were also the places to which the criminals from the inland of Han Dynasty were exiled, being recorded respectively in the biographies of both the History of the Han Dynasty and the History of the Later Han Dynasty. In the late Western Han Dynasty alone, there were as many as eleven batches of criminals were exiled from capital Chang’an (长安) to Hepu in Lingnan (岭南), and there was an unabated increase in the Eastern Han Dynasty when the criminals were exiled to the regions of Jiuzhen, Hepu, and Rinan in Lingnan. And, the rebellions of the imperial clansmen in Guangling (广陵), Chu, Huaiyang (淮阳) and Jinan (济南) resulted in the exiling of “dozens of thousands” criminals during the period of Yongping (永平) reign of Han Dynasty (Ge, J.X. 1997: 118, 266). The “Biography of Southern Barbarians Man and Southwestern Yi” of the History of the Later Han Dynasty records that “Many criminals of Central Nation were exiled there and mixed with the local inhabitants who were enlightened and civilized gradually for the cultural assimilation” (Fan, Y. 1965: 2836).
For the reasons of these immigrations from interior to the southeast coast, the population in the original land of Two Yue rapidly grew up during the Han Dynasty. According to the “Annals of Geography” of the History of the Han Dynasty, the five prefectures of Nahai, Cangwu, Hepu, Jiuzhen, Rinan in Lingnan had a population of more than half a million during the Western Han Dynasty (Ban, G. 1962: 1628–1630). According to “Annals of Prefectures and States” (郡国志) of the History of the Later Han Dynasty, the population in the four prefectures in Lingnan during Eastern Han Dynasty reached more than eight hundred thousand (Fan, Y. 1965: 3530–3532). The original land of Eastern Yue was sparsely populated after the extinction of the Min Yue state and establishment of Yexian county in the late Han Dynasty. According to the “Annals of Geography” of the History of the Jin Dynasty (Jinshu晋书), during the Three Kingdoms period, the Yexian county extended to be the Jian’an Prefecture (建安郡) including seven counties with 4,300 families. One of the important reasons for these growths of the population there was the immigration of large number of Han people coming from the Central Plains and interior regions.
On the other hand, a considerable number of Yue people were forced to emigrate northward and relocated to the interior regions in Qin and Han dynasties, which accelerated the assimilation and sinicization of these indigenous cultures. According to the “Biography of the Eastern Yue Ethnic” of the Records of the Historian, “In the third year of Jianyuan reign (138 BC) of Han Dynasty, Eastern Ou… migrating all of its the people northward to the region between the Yangtze and Huaihe rivers.” “In the first year of Yuanfeng reign (110 BC) the emperor Wudi…ordered relocating Eastern Yue people by force to the region between the Yangtzer and the Huaihe rivers. The original land of the Eastern Yue was sparsely populated since then” (Sima, Q. 1959: 3610, 3614).
In a word, with the ruling of administrative system of the prefecture and county in the southeast region during Qin and Han dynasties, as well as the large-scale migration and culture assimilation of the Han and Yue ethnic groups, the original land of the indigenous Bai Yue gradually was populated mainly by the of Han nationality as new generation of ethnicities in south of China. This new stage of Han nationality included both the Han people immigrated to the south and the sinicized indigenous Yue people of southeast region, and the mixed and assimilated groups of them. They composed a new segment of the unified nationality through “Assimilation and Integration of Pluralistic Cultures” of ancient China (Wu, C.M. 2004).
2.2.4 The Recurrence of Mountainous Yue and the Miscellaneous Southern Man
The sinicization of Bai Yue ethnicities since the Qin and Han dynasties did not mean the complete “extinction” of these indigenous cultures in the southeast. There were not only the cultural elements of indigenous Yue deposited in the Han nationality in south of China for the ethnical mixture and assimilation of Han and Yue, but also the recurrence of the descendants of Yue whose ancestors escaped to the mountainous areas to resist the northward relocation of Han Dynasty in the wars of suppressing Yue. These recurred Yue people were slandered as “Mountainous Thief ” (山贼), “Mountainous Yue”, “Yi Yue” and so on, appearred frequently with scattered groups and lived in the mountainous areas in the southeast since the late Eastern Han Dynasty (Ye, G.Q. et al. 1982).
The “Annals of Prefectures” of the History of Song of South Dynasties records: “During the time of emperor Wudi, the Eastern Yue restored its native state but was perished soon. (Han government) emigrated its people northward to the regions in the basins of Yangzte and Huaihe rivers by force, but many of them escaped and hid in the mountainous areas. After these fugitives of ancient Yue recurred again in late of Han Dynasty, Yexian county was established there to rule them” (Shen, Yue 1997: 1092). The annotation of Hu Sanxing on the “History Forty-Eight of Han Dynasty” (汉纪四十八) in General Reflection for Political Administration states: “The Mountainous Yue originally was the indigenous Yue people. They lived in the dangerous mountains that were hard to access and refused to pay taxes to the government, so they were called Mountainous Yue” (Sima, G. 1956: 1817).
A few of historical facts of “Mountainous Yue” or “Mountainous Thief” can be read from the History of the Later Han Dynasty. The “Biography of Emperor Xiaoling” (孝灵帝纪) records: “In the second year of Jianning (建宁) reign (AD 169), the mountainous thieves in Danyang Prefecture (丹阳郡) attacked the local office.” The “Biography of Zanghong” (臧洪传) records: “In the second year of Xiping (熹平) reign (AD 172), the mountainous thieves of Kuaiji Prefecture rebelled in Juzhang (句章) county, proclaiming himself the great general and his father the king of Yue. His troops with dozens of thousand soldier broke the county town” (Fan, Y. 1965: 330, 1884).
Much more stories about the “Mountainous Yue” or “Mountainous Thief” were recorded in the History of the Three Kingdoms. The “Biography of Sunquan” (孙权传) says: “Even now the Yang Yue and other Man Yi (蛮夷) were still not subjected and the domestic troubles were not solved.” “In the fifth year of Huangwu (黄武) reign (AD 226) divided ten rebellious counties in three prefectures to establish the new prefecture of Dong’an (东安) commanded by the chief Quancong (全琮) to suppress Mountainous Yue.” The “Biography of Xujing” (许靖传) says:“Yi Yue in the county of Cangwu and others rebelled and overthrew the prefecture office, blocked the local traffic transportation.” The “Biography of Zhuzhi” (朱治传) says: “In the seventh year of Jian’an (建安) reign (AD 202) Sun Quan made Zhu Zhi the prefecture chief of Wu…ordered him to suppress Yi Yue and quell the southeast.” The “Biography of Chenbiao” (陈表传) states: “In the third year of Jiahe (嘉禾) reign (AD 234), Zhuge Ke (诸葛恪) was conferred as the chief of Danyang Prefecture to suppress the Mountainous Yue.” The “Biography of Lvmeng” (吕蒙传) records: “When Lv Meng was the general under prince Sun Ce, he led the army several times to attack Mountainous Yue.” Similar other stories of quelling and suppressing the Mountainous Yue in southeast China were also respectively recorded in the biographies of Liu Hua (刘晔), Jian Qing (蒋钦), Lu Xun (陆逊), He Qi (贺齐), etc. in the same book History of the Three Kingdoms (Chen, S. et al. 2006: 575, 662–672, 754, 762, 764, 772, 795, 814).
Since Tang Dynasty on, through further cultural integration and assimilation, the “Mountainous Yue” developed into a series of “barbarian” ethnics of “Xi Dong” (溪峒), “Dong Liao” (峒僚) and so on, and finally evolved into the modern minority cultures of She (畲), Yao (瑶), Li (黎) in the southeast, and Dai (傣), Buyi (布依), Dong (侗), Shui (水), Zhuang (壮) of Zhuan Dong (壮侗) or Zhong Dai (壮傣) language family in the southwest of China.
The “Biography of Southern Barbarian Man” of the History of Sui Dynasty records: “The southern barbarians Man with diverse ethnicities live together with Huaxia people in south of China, such as the tribes of Dan, Rang, Li, Liao and Yi (狏) who are without a chieftain. They live in the caverns of mountain, and their ancestors were the so-called Bai Yue ethnicities” (Wei, Z. et al. 1982: 1831).
In an important paper on the She ethnic culture of Song Dynasty, the Instructions to She in Zhangzhou (Zhangzhou Yushe 漳州谕畲) records: “The government always stationed troops near the mountainous areas where Xi Dong lived. These places usually were in the thick forests and very difficult to access. The household registered residences of Han nationality there mixed with Mountainous Yue. The old defensive strategy of separating the Mountainous Yue from Han was almost forgotten. The tribes of Xi Dong vary with Man, She, Li and Dan, and She in Zhangzhou” (Xie, C.G. 2006).
The section of “Others Record” (杂录) in the volume twenty-six of Chronicle of Nanhai County (Nanhai Xianzhi 南海县志) of Qing Dynasty states: “The people of Xi Dong in the mountains are called Dong Liao, that is the cavern barbarian, the ancient Mountainous Yue” (Gui, D. 1973: 1965).
In summary, the indigenous “Territory of Bai Yue” in the southeast of China experienced drastic cultural changes in the process of the “Assimilation and Integration of Pluralistic Cultures”, along with the geopolitical order of “Central Nation-Four Directions” as well as the pattern of ethnic interaction between Center and Periphery during the late of Eastern Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties. On the basis of the initial Huaxianization of Miao and Man, the successively enforced military and political unification, the administration of prefecture and country, the population migration and the ethnic assimilation in Zhou, Chu, Qin, and Han dynasties, the Bai Yue indigenous people comprehensively sinicized. Though a small amount of Mountainous Yue, Man, Liao as the descendants of ancient Bai Yue continued to live in the southeast mountainous areas mixing with the Han nationality, the new generation of Han nationality formed and mixted by the assimilation of the immigrant Han and indigenous Yue became the main entity of ethnic cultures in south of China from the Han and Tang to Ming and Qing dynasties.
3 The Island Yi and Maritime Fan Over the “Four Seas” Since Han Dynasty
After the Han Dynasty, on the basis of the sinicization of Bai Yue and formation of new generation of Han nationality in southeastern China, along the extension of the traditional and differentiated geopolitical order of “Central Nation-Four Directions-Four Seas”, the cultural interaction between Han nationality and “barbarian” ethnicities in the “Southeastern Direction” extended further to the “Maritime Region of Southeastern Asia”. Various maritime “barbarians” of the Maritime Fan and Island Yi over the “Four Seas” between the East Asian continent and the northwest Pacific, gradually entered the humanistic vision of Han nationality, reflecting the new stage of cultural interaction between the mainland Chinese and maritime indigene. In Chinese historical records, in addition to the specific chapters on these maritime cultures in official history of each dynasties, such as “Annals of Geography”, “Annals of Prefectures and States”, “Biography of Barbarians” and “Annals of Foreign States”, there were more oversea ethnographical monographs focusing on these indigenous Maritime Fan and Island Yi, such as Biography of the Environment and Product of the Linhai Prefecture (Linhai Shuitu Yiwuzhi 临海水土异物志, Shen, Yin 1998), Biography of the Foreign Nations (Zhufan Zhi 诸蕃志, Zhao, R.S. et al. 2000), Biography of the Foreign Island Yi (Daoyi Zhilue 岛夷志略, Wang, D.Y. 1981), General Survey on the East and West Oceans (Dongxiyang Kao 东西洋考, Zhang, Xie 1981), Records of Countries in the West Oceans (Xiyang Fanguo Zhi 西洋番国志, Gong, Z. 1961) and so on. These land-sea cultural interactions and assimilition took place not only along the coast of mainland south China and Indochina Peninsula, but also on the islands of Southeast Asian Archipelago, coinciding with the two wings of the traditional sea routes of southward navigations of ancient China respectively along the West Ocean (西洋) and South Ocean (南洋), and the East Ocean (东洋), presenting us distinct memories of maritime cultural interaction in Asia–Pacific region since Han Dynasty (Fig. 2.2).
The distribution of Southeastern “barbarians” Bai Yue, Island Yi and Maritime Fan in Chinese historical records
3.1 Southern Yi, Southern Man and Maritime Fan Along the Coast of South and West Oceans
The coasts of the Indochina Peninsula and the adjacent islands in the west part of South China Sea are far off the region “Beyond the Nanling Mountain”, where, originally were the territory of barbarian Luo Yue during Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties, and the three southern prefectures of the “Nine Prefectures” of Southern Yue such as Jiaozhi, Jiuzhen, Rinan established in the Han Dynasty. As the extension of the cultural geography of the “Miscellaneous Southern Barbarian Man” after Bai Yue indigenous states were suppressed, this “South of the South” region remained its “barbarianous” cultures in a prejudiced vision of Central Nation, such as the “Diao Ti Tatoo and men and women taking bath together in the same river” described in the “Mornachy” (王制) of the Record of Rites (Li Ji 礼记) and chapter of “Biography of Southern Barbarians Man and Southwestern Yi (南蛮西南夷列传)” of the History of the Later Han Dynasty (Ruan, Y. 2009: 2896; Fan, Y. 1965: 2834). From Han to Tang dynasties and on, the Central Nation of ancient China continuously enforced military and administrative measures on the original land of this “Luo Yue in Jiaozhi” (交趾骆越), the “South to Jiaozhou” (交州之南), and further to the “Remote Tributors in Southern Barbarian Regions” (南荒朝贡者), presenting step by step the scene of the historical process of southward extension of Huaxia’s assimilation and Han’s suppression of Bai Yue along its “Southeastern Direction”.
This Yi and Man region in this “South of the South” of Huaxia vision, coincided with the traditional “South Ocean” region of ancient Chinese navigation, constituting the same route system with the “West Ocean” between the Strait of Malacca and the Indian Ocean. The “Foreign Barbarian Fan States” (海外诸番国) in the Interlocution on the History of South Coast of China (Lingwai Daida 岭外代答) of the Song Dynasty distinguished the “East Ocean” from the “South Ocean”, “in the south of the Sumatra there is the sea of the South Ocean” (Zhou, Q.F. 1996: 37). The “Barbarian Fan States” (诸番国) in the Biography of the South China Sea (Nanhai Zhi 南海志) of Yuan Dynasty records that “both the Tambralinga (单马令) state on the Malay Peninsula of Thailand and Samboja (三佛齐) island state are in charge of managing the small West Ocean” (Chen, D.Z. 1991: 46). The General Survey on the East and West Oceans of Ming Dynasty records that “Brunei (文莱 northeast of Kalimantan) is Borneo, where is located in the end of the East Ocean and the beginning of the West Ocean” (Zhang, Xie 1981: 102). The continuous development and evolution of ancient Chinese navigation along the coastal sea route of “South China Sea Route via Xuwen and Hepu” (徐闻合浦南海道) during the Qin and Han dynasties, and the offshore sea route of “Guangzhou Sea Route to Foreign States” (广州通海夷道) during the Tang and Song dynasties, promoted the interaction and assimilation between Han people in south of China and foreign maritime Fan along this coastal region of the South and West Ocean.
3.1.1 The Sinicizated Jiaozhi and the South to Jiaozhou Along Coast of the “South China Sea Route via Xuwen and Hepu”
The time from Han, Jin dynasties to Six Dynasties was an important period for the extension of the Chinese military and administrative systems of prefecture and county and cultural contact of Han nationality to the “South of the South” after the ancient “Luo Yue in Jiaozhi” was annexed into the three prefectures of Jiaozhi, Jiuzhen, Rinan as the southern part of the “Nine Prefectures” of Southern Yue. However, the region in these three prefectures was still considered to be the barbarian Man and Yi as described in the Record of Rites (Ruan, Y. 2009: 2896). The enforcement of Chinese military and political measures, as well as the population emigration and ethnic mixing, were the main ways promoting the assimilation of these Southern Man and Southern Yi with the Han nationality of south China.
The “Biographies of Southwest Barbarian Yi, Two Yues and Korea” in the History of the Han Dynasty records: “After conquering the Southern Yue, (Han Dynasty) divided its land to be the nine prefectures of Dan Er, Zhu Ya, Nanhai, Cangwu, Yulin, Hepu, Jiaozhi, Jiuzhen, and Rinan” (Ban, G. 1962: 3859).
The chapter of “Biography of Southern Barbarians Man and Southwestern Yi” of the History of the Later Han Dynasty records: “The customs there is that men and women taking bath together in the same river, originally being called Jiaozhi…the Wuhu (乌浒) people now are their descendants. In the south of Jiaozhi there is the Yueshang (越裳) state.” “Though the land of Jiaozhi has been governed by administrative system of prefecture and county of China, the indigenous people there still remained in uncivilized state with different languages that are difficult to be understood, none respect for seniority as wild beast…Then the Chinese emperor exiled the inland criminals and demotion southward to relocate there and live together with the indigenous inhabitants who therefore were enlightened gradually” (Fan, Y. 1965: 2834–2836).
In this period, “the south to Jiaozhi (or Jiaozhou)” was still far beyond the influence of the Huaxia and Han nationality of China. The “Biographies of Barbarian Yi and Man” (夷蛮列传) of History of Song of South Dynasties records: “Southern Yi and Southwestern Yi mostly live in the south and southwest to Jiaozhou, on the big islands of the ocean…They can only be reached by sailing boats, but the route is not well known” (Shen, Yue 1997: 2377). Both the History of Qi of South Dynasties (Nanqi Shu 南齐书) and the History of Liang of South Dynasties (Liangshu 梁书) records the exotic humanity of the Linyi (林邑 ancient Champa, now south Vietnam) state and Funan (扶南, Nokor Phnom, now Cambodia and Thailand) state in this “South of the South” region (Xiao, Z.X. 1972: 1012–1018; Yao, S.L. 1973: 784–793).
The expansion of the military, administration and Han cultural assimilation of the Central Nation to this coastal region in “South of the South” from the “Luo Yue in Jiaozhi” to the “South to Jiaozhou” during the Han, Jin dynasties, and Six Dynasties generally accompanied with the early flourishing of the navigation in the South and West oceans along the “South China Sea Route via Xuwen and Hepu”. The “Annals of Geography” of the History of the Han Dynasty records this sea route successively sailing through the Xuwen and Hepu, Zhangsai (障塞) of Rinan Prefecture (now Quan Nhat Nam of Vietnam), Ruhmi (邑卢没, now Myanmar) state, Chenli (谌离, now Irrawaddy river, Myanmar) state, Fugandulu (夫甘都卢, now middle reaches of the Irrawaddy river, Myanmar) state, Duyuan (都元, now Sumatra) state, Huangzhi (黄支, now east coast of India) state, Yichengbu (已程不, now Sri Lanka) state (Ban, G. 1962: 1671). This sea route as the near shore navigation, basically along the coast of Beibu Gulf (Tonkin Gulf) and the Indochina Peninsula, reaching as far as the Indian Peninsula on the early Maritime Silk Road, promoted the ethnical and maritime cultural interaction between the south coast of China and the “barbarian” Man and Yi in the “South of the South” beyond the Central Nation.
3.1.2 The Four Prefectures of Annan and the Remote Tributors in Southern Barbarian Regions Along Coast of the “Guangzhou Sea Route to Foreign States”
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the ancient Jiaozhi in the northern coast of the Indochina peninsula was annexed into the “Four Prefectures of Annan” (安南四郡) of Central Nation. The “Annals of Geography” of the New History of the Tang Dynasty (Xin Tangshu 新唐书) records: “The Lingnan Dao (岭南道, Dao or road was an administrative division of Tang dynasty) is located to the southern border of the ancient Yangzhou state…of which the Annan Zhongduhufu (中都护府) military office was established in the original land of old Jiaozhi Prefecture”. It was divided into four districts being respectively established the “Yushan (玉山) Prefecture in Luzhou (陆州) state”, “Chenghua (承化) Prefecture in Fengzhou (峰州) state”, “Jiuzhen Prefecture in Aizhou (爱州) state”, and “Rinan Prefecture in Huanzhou (驩州) state” (Ouyang, X. et al. 1982: 1095, 1111–1114).
However, the “South to Jiaozhou” was still prejudicially considered as the region of Southern Man without regular tributes paid to Central Nation. According to the “Biography of Southern Barbarian Man” in the History of Sui Dynasty, “There were originally about ten tributors states in the remote southern barbarian regions, but most of them were changed and oblivious and only four of them were still recorded” (Wei, Z. et al., 1982: 1831). Among them, Linyi, Kmir (真腊, now Cambodia), Songkhla (赤土, now Malay Peninsula), Valis (婆利, now Kalimantan or Bali) were located in the remoter oceanic region in the “South of the South” (Wei, Z. et al. 1982: 1833, 1834, 1838). The “Biography of Southern Barbarian Man” of the New History of Tang Dynasty also records the cultures of Huanwang (环王, ancient Champa and Linyi, now South Vietnam), Xituyi (西屠夷, now South Vietnam), Funan, Panpan (盘盘, now Thailand’s Malay Peninsula) and Keling (诃陵, now Java) (Ouyang, X. et al. 1982: 6300, 6302).
From the “Four Prefectures of Annan” in the original land of “ancient Jiaozhi” to the more than ten tributors states in the further “remote southern barbarian regions”, the cultural interaction of Han nationality differentially with these “barbarian” people were also accompanied with development of the maritime trade through “Guangzhou Sea Route to Foreign States” in the Sui and Tang dynasties. This sea route across the South Ocean described by Jia Dan (贾耽) was cited in the “Annals of Geography” of the New History of the Tang Dynasty, “Sailing from Guangzhou”, and then successively going through Tuenmun (屯门, now Hong Kong), Jiuzhoushi (九州石, northeast of Hainan), Xiangshi (象石, southeast corner of Hainan), Zhanbulaoshan (占不劳山, Champa island of Vietnam), Huanwang state, Lingshan (陵山, southeast of Vietnam), Mendu (门毒, southeast of Vietnam) state, and another day to the Kauthara (古笪, central Vietnam) state, Bentuolangzhou (奔陀浪洲, southeast of Vietnam), Juntulongshan (军突弄山 now Kunlun island or Con Dao, Vietnam), Zhi (质) strait (Malacca), Luoyue (罗越, southern part of Malay peninsula) state, Sri Vijaya (佛逝, Samboja in Song Dynasty, now Sumatra) state, Keling (诃陵, Yavadvipa 阇婆 in the Song dynasty, now Java) state (Ouyang, X. et al. 1982: 1153). This sea route across the South China Sea as the core segment of Maritime Silk Road directly linked the south coast of China with the Indochina Peninsula, promoting the ethnic emigration of Han nationality from south of China, and their cultural interaction with these various “barbarian” people in the remote “South of the South” in southeast Asia.
3.1.3 Foreign Maritime Fan Along Coast of the South and West Oceans Sea routes
During the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, the indigenous foreign Maritime Fan along the searoutes of South and West oceans were more detailly recorded in a number of special overseas ethnographies focusing on southeast Asia. These historical records witnessed the deepening of the cultural interaction between the Han nationality of southern China and foreign Maritime Fan in Southeast Asia.
The “barbarian” ethnic groups and states along the South Ocean sea route being recorded in the Biography of the Foreign Nations of Song Dynasty includes Jiaozhi (now north Vietnam), Champa (southeast Vietnam), Panduranga (宾瞳龙 southeast Vietnam), Kmir (Cambodia), Dengliumei (登流眉 Malay Peninsula), Pagan (蒲甘 Myanmar), Tambralinga, Langkasuka (凌牙斯加 Malay Peninsula), Xintuo (新拖 Java), Samboja (Sri Vijaya in Sumatra), etc. (Zhao, R.S. et al. 2000: 1, 8, 16, 18, 28, 31, 34, 43, 45, 48).
More than 50 foreign Maritime Fan states along the South Ocean sea route were recorded in Biography of the Foreign Island Yi, such as Jiaozhi, Champa, Mindorang (民多朗, now southeast Vietnam), Panduranga, Kmir, Tambralinga, Rili (日丽 Malay Peninsula), Pengkeng (彭坑 Malay Peninsula), Kelantan (吉兰丹 Malay Peninsula), Ding Jialu (丁家庐 Malay Peninsula), Jung (戎 Malay Peninsula), Luo Wei (罗卫 Malay Peninsula), Lopburi (罗斛 Thailand), East Singgora (东冲古剌 Malay Isthmus), Srokam (苏洛鬲 Malay Peninsula), Zhenlu (针路 Malay Peninsula), Martaban (八都马 Myanmar), Tamiao (淡邈 East Java), Bajienajian (八节那间 Central Java), Samboja, Sebang (啸喷 southern tip of Malay Peninsula), Siam, Java, Tagara (重迦罗 Java), Langkasuka (龙牙犀角 Malay Peninsula), Palembang (旧港 Sumatra), Lankawi (龙牙菩提 Malay Peninsula), Baros (班卒 Sumatra), Lingga (龙牙门 Singapore), Con Dao (昆仑岛 south Vietnam), Lingshan (灵山south Vietnam), Pulau Aur (东西竺 southern tip of Malay Peninsula), Diamond Point (急水湾 Malacca Strait), Battak (花面 Sumatra), Tamiang (淡洋 Sumatra), Suwentala (须文答剌 Sumatra), Lamuri (喃巫哩 Sumatra), etc. (Wang, D.Y. 1981: 50–261). These diversity, complex connotation and broad distribution of maritime Man and Yi states reflects the closer cross-cultural contact and ethnic interaction of Han nationality of the south China with those indigenous people in Southeast Asia.
The chapters of official history of Chinese dynasties also provided similar information about these foreign “barbarian” cultures along the coast of mainland Southeast Asia and adjacent islands. The “Annals of Foreign States” (外国传) of the History of the Song Dynasty (Songshi 宋史) records the various Fan states such as Jiaozhi, Champa, Kmir of the Southeast Asian peninsula and the adjacent Samboja (Tuotuo, 1977: 14057–14072, 14077–14088), which mostly consisted with the facts listed in the Biography of the Foreign Nations. The “Biographies of Foreign Barbarian Yi” of the History of Yuan Dynasty (Yuanshi 元史) also records the cultures of An’nan (north of vietnam), Champa and Java states (Song, L. et al. 1976: 3633–3653, 3660–3666). The descriptions of the humanities on foreign states in the Southeast Asia were more detailed in the “Annals of Foreign States” in the History of Ming Dynasty (Mingshi明史), concerning the foreign states of An’nan, Champa, Kmir, Siam, Java, Samboja (三佛齐), Malacca (满剌加), Sumatra, Suwentala, Pahang (彭亨 now Malay Peninsula), Lamuri (南渤里 Sumatra), Aru (阿鲁 Sumatra), Johor (柔佛 Malay Peninsula), Ding Jiyi (丁机宜 east island of Sumatra) and so on (Zhang, T. 1984: 8406–8409, 8419–8422, 8426–8429). Most of these states maintained close tributary relationship with the Ming Dynasty, forming the foundation for their humanistic interaction and assimilation with the Han nationality 9-in south of China.
The deepening of the cross-cultural interaction between Chinese and indigenous societies in the “South of the South” were also accompanied by the prosperity of navigation along the coast of the South and West oceans. The main sea route of this regional navigation can be briefly read in the Description of Nature and Culture of Kmir (Zhenla Fengtu Ji 真腊风土记) of Yuan Dynasty (Zhou, D.G. et al. 1981). This sea route as the main segment of the ancient Maritime Silk Road was also detailed in the Charts of Zheng He’s Voyages (Zhenhe Hanghai Tu 郑和航海图) and the Sea Routes with Successful Sailing (Shunfeng Xiangsong 顺风相送) of Ming Dynasty (Xiang, D. 1961, 1981).
3.2 The Island Yi and Maritime Fan on the Archipelago of the East Ocean
The overseas region in the East China Sea and adjacent islands in the east region of the South China Sea, namely the eastern part of southeast Asian archipelagos, including the Taiwan, Philippines and the east of Indonesian Archipelago, was another major wing of oceanic expansion and assimilation of the Han Nationality in the South China Sea since the Han Dynasty. According to the Chinese historical documents, this east wing of land-sea cultural interaction happened step by step from north to southeast, from the Island Yi societies in Yizhou (夷洲), Liuqiu (流求) and Eastern Fan (东番 now Taiwan), Small East Ocean (小东洋) indigenous societies in Sanyu (三屿, now southwest of Luzon of Philippines), Mait (麻逸, now Mindoro of Philippines), to the Maritime Fan of the Great East Ocean (大东洋) in Java, Burni (佛坭,渤泥, now Borneo, northeast of Kalimantan island) in the east region of Indonesian archipelago.
This island belt in the east part of the Southeast Asian archipelago had been the traditional East Ocean navigation of Han nationality of southeast coast of China centered in Fujian and Guangdong. The “Foreign Barbarian Fan States” in the Interlocution on the History of South Coast of China of Song Dynasty states: “The East Ocean is located to the east of Yavadvipa (阇婆 now Java)” (Zhou, Q.F. 1996: 37). The “Barbarian Fan States” in the Biography of the South China Sea of Yuan Dynast y records: “The state of Burni in the East Ocean is in charge of managing the Small East Sea (小东洋)”, “the state of Kerajaan Tanjungpura (单重布啰国) is in charge of managing the Great East Ocean (大东洋)”, “the Yavadvipa (闍婆国, Java) state is in charge of managing the Great East Ocean” (Chen, D.Z. 1991: 46–47). The Biography of the Foreign Island Yi of Yuan Dynasty also claims that “Java as the ancient Yavadvipa state……was large and densely populated, and the wealthiest among the states in the East Ocean” (Wang, D.Y. 1981: 159). The General Survey on the East and West Oceans of the Ming Dynasty states: “Brunei is the state of Borneo, where is located in the end of the East Ocean and beginning of the West Ocean” (Zhang, Xie 1981: 102).
3.2.1 The Island Yi on the Yizhou and Eastern Fan
Taiwan and Penghu (澎湖) islands were also called Small East Ocean in Ming Dynasty (Zhang, Xie 1981: 185). Since Later Han Dynasty, the indigenous people Dong Ti (东鳀), Mountainous Yi (山夷), Yi, Indigenous Fan (土番) of the islands of Yizhou, Chanzhou (澶洲), Liuqiu, and Eastern Fan were successively recorded in the Chinese historical literatures, revealing the cultural process of interaction of the Han nationality of the mainland China with the indigenous people on the islands.
The “Biographies of Eastern Yi (东夷传)” of the History of the Later Han Dynasty records that “there are Dong Ti people with more than 20 states living on the island beyond the sea out of Kuaiji, including Yizhou and Chanzhou.” “Some people from East Ye county of Kuaiji Prefecture sailed into the sea and were drifted to Chanzhou, where is far away to access normally” (Fan, Y. 1965: 2822). The “Biography of Sun Quan” in the History of the Three Kingdoms states: “Generals Wei Wen (卫温) and Zhuge Zhi (诸葛直) led more than ten thousand soldiers and sailed in the open sea to look for Yizhou and Chanzhou…returned with thousands of indigenous people captured in Yizhou” (Chen, S. et al. 2006: 674).
Shen Yin (沈莹) published his Biography of the Environment and Product of the Linhai Prefecture in Three Kingdoms period, which is the first ethnography of Yizhou in the vision of the Han nationality. “Yizhou is located two thousand li (里) away from the southeast of Linhai (临海) Prefecture. The land is free of snow and frost, and is ever green in four seasons. The indigenous Mountainous Yi live in the places surrounded by hills and streams” (Shen,Yin 1998: 1). According to Yizhou’s location of two thousand li southern away from the coast of Zhejiang, its environmental content such as climate, vegetative cover, mountainous landscape, and its cultural connotation of the ethnic diversity, piercing ears, extracting teeth, headhunting, this island Mountainous Yi was identified by historian as the Taiwan aborigines.
Each chapter of the “Annal of the Liuqiu State” respectively in the History of Sui Dynasty, History of Song Dynasty and History of Yuan Dynasty successively recorded the cross-cultural interaction between Han people of mainland southeast China and indigenous society in Taiwan. For example, the History of Sui Dynasty provided the second literature systematically describing the Liuqiu island indigenes. “The Liuqiu state is located on the island with five days’ eastward sailing from the Jian’an Prefecture. There are many caverns dweller in the state, and the family name of its chief’s is Huansi (欢斯) and given name Kechidou (渴剌兜)” (Wei, Z. et al. 1982: 1823–1825). This description of Liuqiu natives presents a deeper cognition of Han nationality on the Taiwan indigenous society.
The descriptions of indigenous people respectively in each of the chapters of “Liuqiu” in Biography of the Foreign Nations, Biography of the Foreign Island Yi are almost the same as the content of the History of Sui Dynasty. Further more, the Biography of the Foreign Island Yi records the earliest administrative agency set up in Penghu by the Yuan Dynasty. “An inspection office was established during the year of Zhiyuan (至元) reign (AD 1264–1294) of Yuan Dynasty, subordinated to Jinjiang (晋江) County, Quanzhou Prefecture of Fujian” (Wang, D.Y. 1981: 13).
The Record of Eastern Fan Barbarian (Dongfan Ji东番记) with 1400 Chinese characters written by Chen Di (陈第) after his field study in Taiwan, was the most detailed ethnographical record of Taiwan’s indigenous culture in Ming Dynasty. “The indigenous Yi people live on the island of Eastern Fan in the outer ocean of Penghu, which lost their history of origin. The indigenous villages …are located along the west coast for more than one thousand li. There are many different kinds of communities with thousands or five to six hundred people but without a chieftain” (Chen, D. 1987). Most of the official documents and private writings on Taiwan’s indigenous people in Ming Dynasty were all cited from Chen Di’s record.
After large-scale emigration of the Han people from the mainland of southeast China to Taiwan and establishment of prefecture and county system in Taiwan in Qing Dynasty, the Han people grew up to be the main population of Taiwan. The comprehensive ethnic cultural interaction and assimilation between Han and the indigenous people were recorded in a series of Chinese literatures (Liu, R.Z. et al. 1992; Yang, X. 1983). Majority of the early books on the Taiwan indigenous of Qing Dynasty also quoted the work of Chen Di, such as the “customs” of the Indigenous Fan in the “Records of Customs and Mores of Barbarian Fan” (Fansu Jilue 番俗纪略) written by Ji Qiguang (季麒光) (Ji, Q.G. 2006: 116–118), the “Wild Fan” (野番) in Traveling Notes Across Taiwan Strait (Bihai Jiyou 裨海纪游) by Yu Yonghe (郁永河) (Yu, Y.H. 1987: 9–11 of vol.one, 32 of vol.two). The Records of Mission Trip to Taiwan (Taihai Shichai Lu 台海使槎录) written by Huang Shujing (黄叔璥) firstly made an ethnographical classification on indigenous peoples into thirteen ethnicities according to their geographical distribution (Huang, S.J. 1936: 89–150). The Albums of Aboriginal Folklore in Taiwan (Fanshe Caifeng Tu (Fanshe Caifeng Tu 番社采风图) by Liushiqi (六十七) provided a more direct, vivid and realistic investigation and descriptions of the customs and mores on island aboriginal society (Liu-Shi-Qi 1961).
3.2.2 The Foreign Island Yi on the Philippine Islands of Small East Ocean
Since Song Dynasty, the mainland Chinese reached to the further distant societies of foreign Island Yi on the Philippines in the East Ocean. The Biography of the Foreign Nations records the Pisheye (毗舍耶 now Babuyan), Sanyu, Mait, Bai Puyan (白蒲延 now Babuyan), Pulilu (蒲里噜 now Polillo in southwest of Luzon), Riyin (里银 now Lingayen in the middle Luzon), Dongliuxin (东流新 now central Luzon), Rihan (里汉 south Lubang Island to the southwest Luzon), etc. Their social-cultural landscapes were also described in the vision of Han nationality, such as “The language of Pisheye can’t be understood and the business man can’t access to the island. The indigenous people are naked without cloth like beast.” “The state of Mait is located to the north of Borneo, their villages are built along the river banks, each of which has more than one thousand houses. The natives wrap around body or cover their waist with a large piece of cloth” (Zhao, R.S. et al. 2000: 141, 143, 149).
The Biography of the Foreign Island Yi records the Pisheye, Sandao (三岛, same as Sanyu), Marilu (麻里鲁, same as Pulilu, now Polillo Islands), Mait, Jianshan (尖山, southern Palawan) and Sulu (苏禄), etc. The author states: “Pisheye is located in the secluded corner of the east sea…the indigene there are inclined to robbery, with hair bun and puncture tattoo…other indigenous groups in the East Ocean are frightened of Pisheye and keep away from them.” “Sandao is located in the east of Daqishan (大崎山)…the custom and mores there are similar to that of Han people in China” (Wang, D.Y. 1981: 23–37, 89–92, 135–137, 178–180, 193–195).
Besides the Eastern Fan of Taiwan and Penghu, the other Island Yi in the Small East Ocean recorded in the General Survey on the East and West Oceans includes Luzon, Sulu, Maoliwu (猫里雾), Sayao (沙瑶) and Nabeitan (呐哔啴, all these three islands are near Luzon) (Zhang, Xie 1981: 89–100). The “Annals of Foreign States” of History of Ming Dynasty similarly records the indigenous states in the region of now Philippines as Luzon, Sulu, Maoliwu, Sayao, Nabeitan, etc. “Luzon is located in the center of South China Sea and is far away from Zhangzhou…Because it is not very far away from Fujian and the land there is fertile, tens of thousands of Fujian merchants generally went and stayed there for many years, even for generations. Then Franc (佛郎机, Spanish) arrived to Luzon, killed the indigenous king and conquered the local society. The Spanish worried about chaos of the Chinese merchants and expelled them back to China. The properties of those Chinese who stayed were seized by Spanish office” (Zhang, T. 1984: 8370–8375).
3.2.3 Foreign Maritime Fan on the East of Indonesian Archipelago in the Great East Ocean
The islands of Kalimantan, Java and Sunda as the east part of Indonesian archipelago, are located to the east and north of the Malacca Strait, and the junction of the East Ocean and West Ocean, as the General Survey on the East and West Oceans states, “Brunei is the state of Borneo, where is located in the end of the East Ocean and the beginning of the West Ocean” (Zhang, Xie 1981: 102).
The Biography of the Foreign Nations of Song Dynasty recorded the indigenous societies of foreign Maritime Fan in the Great East Ocean, such as Burni, Sujidan (苏吉丹 now west coast of Kalimantan). It says that “the Burni state constructs its city with planks, where more than ten thousand people live in fourteen prefectures. The house of the king is covered with pattra and the common people with grass. …The common people fashion naked and barefooted, with gold rings accessories on arms, gold laces on wrists, and a large piece of clothes wrapping the body” (Zhao, R.S. et al. 2000: 135). The record on Burni in the History of Song Dynasty share similar description with this paragraph (Tuotuo 1977: 14094–14095).
There were more indigenous states of foreign Maritime Fan in the Great East Ocean recorded in Biography of the Foreign Island Yi, they were Burni, Puben (蒲奔 now Kalimantan), Jialimada (假里马打 now an island in west of Kalimantan), Tanjong Datu (都督岸 now Kalimantan), Gelam Mount (勾栏山 now Gelam island in west of Kalimantan), Giri Timor (古里地闷 now Timor), Karimun (遐来勿 now Sulawesi), Maluku (文老古 now Moluccas), etc. Among them, “the custom and more of the indigenous people in Giri Timor are lascivious. Men and women cut hairs without pin, and wear shirts made of mockmain tissues of Champa. The wine and meat are cheap in the city, and the women have no sense of shame.” “The Karimun indigenous people worship monsters and evil spirit, prefer to the hair bun wrapped in red cloth” (Wang, D.Y. 1981: 93–95, 148–151, 172–174, 199–212, 248–249).
The Island Yi in the Great East Ocean recorded in General Survey on the East and West Oceans includes Meiluoju (美洛居 now Moluccas) and Brunei. “Meiluoju is also called Miliuhe (米六合), which is a wealthy state in the East Ocean. Whenever the chief goes out with great prestiges, people clasp hands and lie prostrated on the road sides. Men cut hairs without pin and women have the hair bun style.” “Brunei is the state of Borneo…the king cuts his hair and wraps his body with a big piece of cloth embroidered with gold, and goes out on foot by himself wearing two swords on the waist” (Zhang, Xie 1981: 101–103). There are also similar descriptions in the History of Ming Dynasty (Zhang, T. 1984: 8374, 8411–8415).
The cultural expansion of Han nationality from southeast coast of China to the East Ocean islands since the Han Dynasty, had also been accompanied with the development of the historical sea routes carried out by the navigators of the southern China. The General Survey on the East and West Oceans records a number of different sea routes linking the East Ocean archipelagos, of which one was the route between mainland of southeast China and the Philippines archipelagos known as “Navigation from Taiwushan (太武山) of Zhangzhou (漳州) to Miyan (密雁) harbor of Luzon via Penghu” (Zhang, Xie 1981: 182–185). The Sea Routes with Successful Sailing records the routes started from the coastal harbors of Fujian and Guangdong, such as Meizhou (湄洲), Quanzhou (泉州), Zhangzhou, and Nan’ao (南澳), making their ways to Penghu, Luzon, Sulu, Brunei in the islands of the East Ocean. The nautical routes from Fujian and Guangdong of mainland southeast China to Taiwan, Penghu and Luzon in the East Ocean archipelagos recorded in the Guide to the Right Sea Routes are more than that in the Sea Routes with Successful Sailing, which constituted a complex network of nautical routes in the East Ocean.
4 Conclusion: Central Nation’s Expansion Toward the Southeastern Maritime Regions and Its Sociocultural Dynamics
The ethnographic chapters on Miao, Man and Bai Yue of early history of China, and the oversea Island Yi and Maritime Fan in the Ming and Qing dynasties, reflect the memories of the cultural vision of the Huaxia and Han nationalities, showing the historical process of cultural dissemination and assimilation of Huaxia and Han step by step from the north to the south, and from the mainland to the ocean. The Huaxianization and sinicization was the manifestation of the outward expansion of the Central Nation along with geopolitical order of “Central Nation-Four Directions-Four Seas”. This cultural expansion of Huaxia and Han heading to the maritime regions in their “Southeastern Direction” implied complex social, political, economic and cultural backgrounds. The military expeditions of the central empires, the migration of the pluralistic ethnicities, the administrative management of prefecture and county, the tributary exchange and the commercial trade system, and alike, are a few types of important geopolitical measures promoting this land-sea interaction between Huaxia-Han and “barbarians” Man and Yi in the “Southeastern Direction” over last thousands of years.
The military expeditions of Central Nation outward to the “Various States in Four Directions” had been the most powerful action to promote ethnical interaction and cultural assimilation. Both the sinicization of Miao, Man and Bai Yue in the mainland Southeastern Direction, and the cultural interaction with the Island Yi and Maritime Fan over the South Ocean and East Ocean, were preluded with the military expeditions. The continuous military expeditions of the Xia and Shang dynasties southward to the regions of Three Tribes of Miao and Southern Man, the Chu state conquering Bai Yue, and Qin state suppressing south region of Yangtze River during the late of Warring States Period, the emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty perishing the indigenous states of Eastern Yue and Southern Yue, generally completed the political foundation for the sinicization of territory of Bai Yue. After then, during the Han, Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties, the vanguard of the military expeditions of the Central Nation extended to the Indochina peninsula. The Southern Dynasties troops attacking the “South to Jiaozhou”, the Sui Dynasty conquering Linyi and Huanwang for their discontinuing tributes, and the Yuan Dynasty attacking Annan, Champa and Java, and alike, all strengthened the administrative system of prefecture and county, the tribute and trade relationship between the Central Nation and its peripheral “South of the South”. On the island belt of the Eastern Ocean, since the Wu state of Three Kingdoms sent the navy to seek Yizhou and Chanzhou, the Sui, Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties continued to sail and attack Liuqiu until Taiwan was administratively unified into empire in the early Qing Dynasty, which was also an important political basis for the expansion and assimilation of Han nationality onto the Island Yi of East Ocean.
Over the thousands of year, the population migration had been an effective measure directly leading to the crosscultural interaction and assimilation between Huaxia in the Central Plains and “barbarian” Miao, Man and Bai Yue, as well as the Island Yi and Maritime Fan in Southeastern Direction. The relocation of Eastern Ou and Min Yue to the inland Yangtze and Huaihe rivers basins in the Han Dynasty, the settlements of tens of millions of soldiers from north southward to the original land of Bai Yue and the ancient Jiaozhi during Qin and Han dynasties after the conquering wars, were the important social and cultural mechanism for the sinicization of Bai Yue indigenous cultures. The capture of thousands of island inhabitants of Yizhou and Liuqiu during the Han and Tang dynasties, as well as the settlement of a large number of Han people from southeast coast in the Eastern Ocean islands as Taiwan and Luzon during the Ming and Qing dynasties, also enhanced cultural interaction and ethnical assimilation between land and sea.
The administrative system of prefecture and county was the result of sociocultural interaction between the center and periphery of ancient Chinese civilization, and also an important means to consolidate and accelerate the Huaxianization and Sinicization of indigenous people of “Various States in Four Directions”. In the original land of Southern Man and Bai Yue from the southeast coast of mainland China to the “South of the South” in Southeast Asian Peninsula, the administrative system of prefecture and county had continuously advanced by empires of Central Nation. Qin initially annexed all the states “under the heaven” into its territory and established prefectures of Guilin, Nanhai, Xiangjun in original land of Southern Yue and Minzhong Prefecture in the Eastern Yue, the Han Dynasty perished the Two Yue states and established “Nine Prefectures of Southern Yue” and Yexian county under the Kuaiji Prefecture, enhancing the unity of “Assimilation and Integration of Pluralistic Cultures” of early empire. During the Han and Tang dynasties, three prefectures of Jiaozhi, Jiuzhen, Rinan and Annan Zhongdufufu military office, the four prefectures of Yushan, Chenghua, Jiuzhen, Rinan were successively established in the “South of the South” in Southeast Asian Peninsula, by empires of Central Nation, resulting and maintaining the cross-cultural interaction and assimilation of indigenous people there with the Han nationality of southern China.
The suzerain vassal and tributary relations was not only the means to maintain the geopolitical order of “Central Nation-Four Directions-Four Seas” of ancient Chinese civilization, but also an important way to enhance the interaction between the center and periphery. As the indigenous “barbarian” region in the “Southeastern Direction” of Huaxia, early Yangzhou maintained a normal tributary relationship with the Xia Dynasty, and “paid the tributary goods of gold, silver and copper”. During the Shang Dynasty, the indigenous Southern Man in the further southern coastal Lingnan paid tributary good to the emperor “with marine pearls, tortoise shells, ivory, rhinoceros horns, peacock feathers, cranes and dogs”. Since the Han and Tang dynasties on, the various indigenous states in Indochina Peninsula intermittently paid tributes to the Central Nation (Fan, Y. 1965: 1156; Wei, Z. et al. 1982: 1831; Tuotuo 1977: 13981; Zhang, T. 1984: 8309).
The development of the interregional economic relationship and trade, especially the navigation and maritime trade between mainland and island, were the important dynamical force for the sociocultural expansion of the central Huaxia and Han to the peripheral “barbarian” ethnicities in their “Southeastern Direction”. Since the Han Dynasty on, the continuous prosperity of the traditional “Maritime Silk Road”, such as the “South Sea Route via Xuwen and Hepu”, the “Tributary Maritime Road of the Seven Prefectures of Ancient Jiaozhi” and the “Guangzhou Sea Route to Foreign States”, had successively promoted the maritime cultural exchanges between Han nationality of China and the “barbarians” of Man, Yi and Fan far away in the “South of the South”. The ethnical interaction and assimilation of the Han nationality with the indigenous societies of foreign Maritime Fan and Island Yi in the East Ocean had also been promoted by the maritime trade along the dozens of sea routes.
In summary, following the process of military and political expansion from “Central Nation” to the various states in “Four Directions” and over the “Four Seas”, the ethnic migration, administration of prefecture and county, suzerain vassal tribute relationship, interregional economic exchanges and trade, the indigenous ethnicities in the southern part of East Asia and the northwest Pacific islands, gradually appeared in the records of Chinese historical literatures. From Miao and Man indigenous people in the Southeastern Direction of the mainland in the early history, to Bai Yue ethnicities along the southeast coast in the end of Zhou, Qin and Han dynasties, as well as the Island Yi and Maritime Fan over the northwest Pacific ocean from the Han and Tang to the Ming and Qing dynasties, this indigenous ethnic group of “other culture” or “hetero-culture” on the perspective of Huaxia-Han nationality, was closely related to the maritime culture of the Proto-Austronesian and Austronesian identified in the West ethnography. The spatial and temporal distribution of the indigenous peoples from Southern Man and Bai Yue in mainland of southeast China to the maritime cultures of Austronesian in southeast Asia and Pacific archipelago, are not only the historical memories of the recognition of Huaxia and Han nationalities on their “Southeastern Direction”, but also the records of the multicultural interaction in the maritime region of Asia -Pacific for thousands of years.
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Wu, C. (2021). Southeastern Peripheries of Huaxia: The Historical-Cultural Interaction and Assimilation from Southern Man and Bai Yue of Mainland to Island Yi and Maritime Fan. In: The Prehistoric Maritime Frontier of Southeast China. The Archaeology of Asia-Pacific Navigation, vol 4. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4079-7_2
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