introduction:
From the pre-Qin to the Wei and Jin dynasties, the history of the development of southern China is actually the history of the assimilation of the Chinese people into ethnic groups called "barbarians" and "Yue people" in the south. What kind of process has this gone through? Let's take a look at it with the Rotten Ke Renjun!
First, the early southern ethnic groups
In the Chinese historical texts before the Qin and Han dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, it is recorded that a large number of minority ethnic groups lived in the Yangtze River Basin, such as Wuling Barbarians, Banlin Barbarians, Yuzhou Barbarians, "Shanyue" and "Xianren". To illustrate this further, we need to first talk about the local forms of China in the early days. The development of history is not achieved overnight, and china's ethnic integration is also carried out step by step. During the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, China was still in the stage of a city-state, and state governance was limited to the city where the king was located and around the city. Inside the city are "national people", outside the city are "savages", and in the distance live many "non-Mu king" minority groups. Therefore, the early state's governance of the local area was mainly concentrated near the main traffic arteries. Looking through the history books, it is not difficult for us to see that there are a large number of minority ethnic groups called "Yi" living around the traditional Chinese countries such as Jin and Qi. The origin of Chinese civilization is more important in the north, and the southern part of the Chu state is called "barbaric", which is even more imaginable.
The customs of Chudi are very different from those of the Central Plains
After the spring and autumn warring states for hundreds of years of war and integration, after the establishment of the Qin and Han Empires, the minority ethnic groups in the north basically became small people under the emperor's rule, serving the country and paying taxes. There are still many ethnic groups in the southern territory of the Empire that do not accept direct government control. These groups generally lived in the mountains, and early technology limited the Qin and Han Empire's rule over the mountains during the conquest process. In addition, the counties set up by the Qin and Han Empires in the south were small in number and large in jurisdiction compared to the north, and the ruling foundation was weak. According to the research statistics of Mr. Zhou Zhenhe of Fudan University, during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, if you take the line of the Qinling Huai River, the dividing line between the north and the south, the ratio of the number of counties in the south and the north is 3:7, and the population of the north is 3.2 times that of the south. The Empire's control over the South was so weak that it could be imagined.
(Stills from "Yue Ren Song")
The Empire generally gave the mountain minorities the title of leader and made them kings. But we also see that the two Han forces continue to infiltrate these mountains, trying to put them under the governance of counties and counties. In the first year of the Eastern Han Shun Emperor Yonghe, Wuling Taishou wrote:
"Obey the barbarians, compare with the Han people, and increase their rent"
。 However, in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, we can often see the rebellion of barbarians to resist the "invasion" of The Chinese forces. However, under the suppression of a strong government, the rebellion was generally quickly quelled, and the barbarians were gradually incorporated into the Chinese system, but due to the focus of non-government control here, the barbarians generally only needed to show obedience, pay certain offerings to the central government, and join the national army to fight together when the country needed it. In the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, there is "
Widely recruit hybrid barbarians
".
Second, the chaos of the three countries and the development of the south
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, with the continuous wars in the north, a large number of people moved to the south. Especially in the north, Liu Bei and Sun Quan, who were difficult to expand their power, both chose to establish a state in the south. But both Sun Wu and the Shu Han regime were plagued by minority issues. In order to further strengthen their rule within their domain in the service of foreign wars, to tax a larger population, and to obtain a wider range of military resources, they must use troops against the "barbarians" in the mountains. Those minorities in the mountains on the border of the Three Kingdoms would be co-opted by Cao Wei and rebelled.
(Film and television drama "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" Meng Won)
One of the plots that we are all familiar with is Zhuge Liang's Seven Capture of Meng. This incident is not recorded in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but it is clearly recorded that Zhuge Liang personally led an army to fight against Southwest Yi in the Nanzhong region in order to stabilize the rear. Zhuge Liang also pointed out himself in the "Table of Teachers"
"May crossing the lu, deep and barren"
。 The problems sun Wu faced were more complex. If we carefully read the history of the Three Kingdoms, we will find that "Shanyue", "Wuling Man", and "Jiaotong Hao" have always plagued Sun Wujunchen. In particular, "Shanyue", Shanyue was in the heart of Sun Wu's rule, and Sun Wu never stopped fighting against the "Shanyue" ethnic group in the territory. As for the purpose of the operation is very clear,"
Those who are strong (strong) are soldiers, and those who are strong are supplemented
”。
(Sichuan Renren Valley Theme Performance)
The Hanzhong region was the front line of confrontation between Wei and Shu, so the Bayan people living here were valued. The Huayang Guozhi records that "
Wei Wu took the Bashi kings Du Hao, Pu Hu, and Yuan about the three Ba Taishou
”。 Cao Cao made the king of Bashu Taishou (太守) the prince of Bashu (賨王) around Bashu ( 賨蜀 ) , expressing his co-optation with them. The Hanzhong region was geographically limited and complex in power, and the Cao Wei regime regarded it as a chicken rib due to its limited military strength. Therefore, he wanted to use the local minority forces to contain Liu Bei's march. And the Xianren did provide Cao Wei with troop assistance. The Xiangyang region, on the other hand, was against the wei and wu states. The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms records that the general Mei Shi was like a wall of grass, surrendering to Wei and Wu many times. Supposedly, multiple betrayals were absolutely intolerable to the monarchs of Both Wei and Wu, but each time Meishiki surrendered, he was quickly accepted and punished without punishment, which was suspicious. However, when we look at the "Spring and Autumn of the Han Dynasty", we will find that Mei Shi is actually the leader of the most powerful Yu Zhongyi in the Jingzhou region, and the tribes he leads are on the front line of the war between the two sides. Neither Wei nor Wu had enough capacity to rule the area, so it was the most pragmatic thing to do to win over the local Yi people.
Third, the king of Mu Mu and the danger of relying on the mountains
The chaos of the Three Kingdoms was integrated by the Jin established by Sima Shi, but soon after the establishment of the Western Jin Dynasty, it encountered the Rebellion of the Eight Kings. The Rebellion of the Eight Kings caused serious internal friction in the Western Jin Dynasty, and the Hu people in the north took the opportunity to invade, known in history as the "Five Hu Chaohua". The wreaking and killing of the Wuhu in the Central Plains has caused the Chinese nation to encounter a huge crisis. As a result, for the first time in the history of the Chinese regime, it moved to the south, and Sima Rui, the king of Langya, with the assistance of Wang Dao, successfully established a state in the south and preserved the Great Jin Dynasty. At the same time, the climax of the first southward migration of population in China's history was ushered in. As a result, the diversity of ethnic groups and cultures in the south has undergone tremendous changes in the case of a large number of Chinese people and the penetration of Chinese culture.
When the Eastern Jin Dynasty had just crossed the south, the Central Plains people were repulsive to many minority groups. The history books record: "
The Crown of the Central Plains carries the people of Hujiangdong, but the fox raccoon is like a cloud. Ba, Chu, Barbarian, Fang, Slang, Chu, Yue, birds and birds, different speech, monkeys, snakes, fish turtles, sorrows are all different. The vast country and mountains will be thousands of miles, and the wisdom is only bound, and it has not been able to subdue its people.
"At this time, the southern barbarians still retained the characteristics of their own culture, the Book of Southern Qi records"
Vulgar cloth clothes are trampled, or vertebral buns, or haircuts. The weapons are decorated with gold and silver, and the tiger skin is clothed with shields. Crossbow shots, all violent and good thieves. ”?
In the face of the southern ethnic groups whose culture and living habits were very different from those of the Han Chinese, the Eastern Jin government initially adopted a conservative attitude, that is, the administration nominally ruled them, and the ethnic groups still retained their own living habits and cultural characteristics and lived the same life as before.
(Nanban Totem)
However, with the stabilization of the rule of the Chinese regime in the north, the contradictions between the two sides have become prominent. From the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the later Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen dynasties, the control of these ethnic groups was constantly strengthened. Therefore, these ethnic groups made two choices, one was to show obedience, "mu kingship". The other is to "resist the mountain danger" and resist.
When the Book of Sui records the Southern Dynasty, "
All the barbarian slang caves, the kings of Xiamu, each of them collects his counterfeits according to the weight of the goods, so that they can be used by the country."
。 That is, under the pressure of the government, many barbarians accepted the direct management of the government politically, assumed certain obligations to the government, and paid taxes and performed servitude like the small people under the Han household registration. However, it is worth noting that due to the distance of the barbarians from the government, the strength of the government's influence is also different, and the taxes paid are not equal. The closer its region is to the political center, the stronger the government's control over it, and the closer its obligations are to ordinary people. Of course, there were also many ethnic groups that chose to resist, they fled into the mountains, and according to the dangerous terrain, they fought against the government and avoided the levy of taxes on servitude. However, this generally led to conquest by the army, leading to more direct and rapid management changes, and the state directly set up counties here, that is, "zuo county" and "left county" as seen in the history books, and directly incorporated them into the Han system. But we cannot criticize the behavior of that time with the ideas of national independence and freedom that have emerged in modern times, after all, the whole world and all regions were undergoing national integration of blood and fire at that time.
Wen Shijun said:
The birthplace of Chinese Civilization is mainly in the north, so the early ethnic groups in the south are mostly barbarians and Yue people outside the Chinese ethnic group. After hundreds of years of efforts from the Spring and Autumn Warring States to the Qin and Han Dynasties, the control of the Chinese regime over the south gradually deepened, and the south gradually fell into the track of kingization. However, the chaos of the Three Kingdoms broke this process, and the war made the situation of the ethnic groups different. Ethnic groups within the territory of the three countries, the government will generally strive to integrate them into its own governance system. And those barbarians whose borders are taking advantage of the opportunity will be co-opted by all sides. After the Rebellion of the Eight Kings, the Jin Dynasty moved south, and the south became the center of the Chinese regime for the first time, so the Southern Dynasty paid attention to the control of barbarians. At this time, the barbarians either took the initiative to obey and become kings, or resisted by obstructing the mountain danger. In the end, they all accelerated the integration of the southern ethnic groups and the development of the southern mountains, adding a strong stroke to the history of the development of the south.
bibliography:
Luo Xin, "Wanghua and Mountain Danger: An Overview of the Historical Fate of the Barbarians in the Southern Region in the Early Middle Ages", Historical Research, No. 2, 2009.
Hu Hong, "Chinese Networks and Mountain Populations during the Six Dynasties Period: Centered on the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River", Historical Research, No. 5, 2016.
Lü Chunsheng, "Shanyue and the Ethnic Phenomenon of the Six Dynasties in the Three Kingdoms Era", Journal of History of Taiwan Normal University, No. 33.
(Author: Haoran Wenshi Rotten Keren)
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