Dali Kingdom

The Dali Kingdom takes its name from Dali City. Famed for its high quality marble, Dali (dàlǐ 大理) literally means "marble" in Chinese.^[2]

Dali marble is famous throughout Asia and among collectors of gemstones all over the world. For a few square inches of Shuimohuashi, a particularly precious type of marble, dealers in Hong Kong or Shanghai can charge up to $20,000. For more than 1,000 years Dali has been known as the town of marble; indeed, the Chinese word dali means “marble.”^[2]

— Barbara A. West

 

Nanzhao was overthrown in 902 and three dynasties followed in quick succession before Duan Siping seized power in 937, establishing himself at Dali.^[3] The Duan clan professed to have Han ancestry.^[4] Yuan dynasty records said the Duan family came from Wuwei in Gansu:

Yuan records claim that the Dali kingdom’s Duan rulers originally came from Wuwei Commandery in modern-day Gansu Province, but this is not confirmed by Song or Dali sources. A significant change from Nanzhao is apparent in Dali rulers’ naming practices, which generally do not follow the patronymic linkage system. This suggests that the Dali elites presented themselves as more “Chinese” than their Nanzhao counterparts.^[5]

— Megan Bryson

Dali's relationship with the Song was cordial throughout its entire existence. Dali congratulated the Song dynasty on the conquest of Later Shu in 965 and voluntarily established tribute relations in 982. It was however essentially an independent state. At times the Song even declined offers of tribute.^[3] The Song founder Song Taizu declared all land south of the Dadu River to be Dali territory and did not desire to pursue any further claims to avoid the Tang dynasty's disastrous efforts against Nanzhao.^[6]

Dali relations with the Song differed markedly from Nanzhao-Tang relations. When the first Song emperor, Taizu, came to power, he declared that, in light of Tang difficulties in the Southwest, he would forfeit the Yue and Sui Commanderies and use the Dadu River as the border with Dali. His successors followed this policy, so contact between the Song and Dali was minimal. Song records show reluctance to engage with Dali directly in any way, even through the standard tributary relationship of vassal (Dali) and lord (Song). Because of Song officials’ wariness, Dali was only allowed to offer tribute at the Song court on three occasions. Their requests to offer tribute were repeatedly rejected on the grounds that they would cause trouble for Song, as Nanzhao had for Tang.^[7]

— Megan Bryson

Dali's primary importance to the Song dynasty was its horses, which were highly prized and sought after as military assets, especially after the fall of the Northern Song. They were described by a Song official in the following passage:

These horses possess a shape [that is] quite magnificent. They stand low with a muscular front, very similar to the shape of a chicken. The diaphragm is broad, shoulders thick, waist flat, and back round. They are trained to squat on their rear ends like a dog. They easily climb steep terrain on command and possess both speed and agility in chase. They have been raised on bitter buckwheat, so they require little to maintain. How could a horse like this not be considered a good horse?^[8]

In 1094, the former prime minister Gao Shengtai forced King Duan Zhengming to relinquish the throne to him and renamed the Dali Kingdom to "Dazhong Kingdom". Gao Shengtai ruled briefly until his death in 1096, after which the throne was returned to the Duan family. Duan Zhengming's younger brother, Duan Zhengchun, became the new ruler and restored the kingdom's former name.^[7]

The Gao of Beisheng claimed descent from Gao Shengtai 高昇泰, who usurped the throne of the Dali kingdom c.1094 for approximately one year. According to the Yuan History, Gao Zhisheng 高智升 sent his grandson, Gao Dahui 高大惠, to administer the area after the fall of the Nanzhao kingdom. The Gao served as the Native Officials of Beisheng sub-prefecture for eleven generations during the Ming dynasty. The Ming appointed the first Gao Ce 高策 in recognition of his meritorious military service in 1389, and the eleventh Gao Shichang 高世昌 inherited the position of Vice Magistrate of rank four in 1630.^[9]

— Huang Caiwen

According to a Vietnamese stone inscription^{[further explanation needed]}, in 1096 a Dali magician was said to have plotted a conspiracy to murder King Lý Nhân Tông. After the death of Nhân Tông in 1127, his adopted son (by concubine) named Zhizhi had escaped to Dali, changed his surname to Zhao, and assumed the title pingwang (peaceful king). When he learned that his older brother, King Lý Thần Tông, had died in 1137, Zhizhi returned to Đại Việt and attacked Lý Anh Tông with 3,000 Dali troops. However, he was defeated and executed.^[10]

Möngke Khan sent envoys requesting the surrender of Dali. The king of Dali murdered the envoys and when Möngke received word of this, he placed his brother Kublai in charge of invading Dali.^[11]

Kublai split his army into three columns. The western column was led by Uriyangkhadai, who was the son of Subutai, and he was instructed to march from Lintao through Kham into Dali. Wang Dezhen led the eastern column through Sichuan. Wang's column rejoined Kublai's middle column at Jianchang in southern Sichuan. Kublai planned to engage Dali's main army at the Jinsha River, leaving Dali vulnerable to Uriyangkhadai's forces to the northwest. After several skirmishes where Dali forces turned back Mongol raids across the Jinsha River, Kublai's army crossed the river during the night and routed the Dali army. In late 1253, the three columns converged on the city of Dali.^[11]

The king of Dali, Duan Xingzhi, fled to the town of Shanchan (near modern Kunming) and rallied pro-Dali forces to oppose the Mongol invasion. It took another two years of fighting before the Mongols captured the cities of Dali and Shanchan. However the resistance against the Mongols continued to the east of Shanchan with the assistance of the Yi kingdoms and the Song dynasty.^[12]

In 1256, Duan Xingzhi surrendered and presented to Möngke with maps of Yunnan. Duan Xingzhi of Dali was enfeoffed as Maharaja (摩诃罗嵯),^[13] and the Duan imperial family continued to hold the title of Maharaja in Yunnan as vassals to the Mongols under the supervision of Borjigin imperial princes and Muslim governors. The Duan family reigned in Dali while the governors served in Kunming. After the Ming conquest of Yunnan,^[14] the members of the Duan clan were scattered in various distant areas of China by the Hongwu Emperor.^[15]

Uriyangkhadai remained in Yunnan to oversee Duan's rule of Dali and to push further east into the Song dynasty. By mid-1256, 20 military brigades had been established throughout Dali and military units had been sent to attack Ziqi. Mongols and Central Asians filled brigade commander positions while members of the local elite staffed the subbrigade battalions. Uriyangkhadai rewarded locals who had supported the Mongol invasion and created a new elite to rival the old pro-Dali elite.^[16]

In late 1256, Uriyangkhadai forced the local collaborators in Shanchan to attack the Yi kingdoms in eastern Yunnan and western Guizhou. Those who refused were killed. The Song supported the Yi kingdoms by sending them 10,000 taels of silver and instructing them to defending Ziqi. The Song backed forces invaded the Shanchan region in support of an anti-Mongol rebellion led by Sheliwei. At the same time, Uriyangkhadai was called away to invade Đại Việt under the Trần dynasty. Fierce fighting continued between the Mongol-Dali forces and the Shanchan resistance until Sheliwei was killed in a Mongol ambush in 1274.^[17]

The Duan family governed Yunnan's various indigenous peoples for eleven generations until the end of Mongol rule. They willingly contributed soldiers to the Mongol campaign against the Song dynasty. In 1271, they aided the Yuan dynasty in putting down a Mongol rebellion in Yunnan.^[15]

In 1274, Ajall Shams al-Din Omar was assigned by Kublai to stabilize Yunnan. He repaired the road connecting Dali and Shanchan and a network of 78 postal relay stations was established from Dali to the town of Shicheng (modern Qujing). Instead of the military brigades established by Uriyangkhadai, Sayyid' Ajall established political units similar to those in China with circuits, routes, prefectures, and counties. The Yunnan Branch Secretariat was divided into ten circuits, each headed by a pacification commissioner (xuanwei shi). Prefectures and counties were governed by a route commander. Directives by each administrative unit was cosigned by a darughachi and a civilian official.^[18]

He instituted a native chieftain system that came to be known as tusi which assigned ranks and posts to native chieftains. Under this institution of "rule based on native customs" the locals retained much of their autonomy with the exception of three obligations. One, they would provide surrendered troops to the Yuan government. Two, local chieftains would provide tribute to the Yuan court. Three, they would follow the rules of appointment, succession, promotion, degradation, reward, and punishment of native chieftains created by the Yuan court.^[15]

In the Shanchan region of central Yunnan, Sayyid' Ajall created eight routes: Zhongqing, Dengjiang, Lingan, Yuanjiang, Guangxi, Qujing, Wuding, and Weichu. They were ruled by a new post, the tuguan (native official). The tuguan were official representatives of the Yuan dynasty but retained much autonomy, including the right of passing their hereditary post to their offspring, and autonomy to govern so long as they did not harbour criminals or behave in an anti-Yuan manner. The tuguan were obligated to pay taxes in the form of horses, precious metals, and finished goods. They also had to provide military support when requested.^[19] The Yi kingdoms to the east were assigned the same posts and given similar terms.^[20]

The tuguan were given a certificate of appointment (gaochi) that was publicly displayed at the tuguan's administrative headquarters. They were also given a seal (yinzheng) to issue orders as representatives of the Yuan state. A tiger tally was granted to authorize maintenance of horses for military mattes. Gold and silver tallies were issued to mobilize military resources.^[21]

Sayyid 'Ajall introduced new agricultural techniques and published handbooks in the region. In Shanchan, he oversaw hydraulic projects such as dam and reservoir construction, river and canal dredging for transportation purposes, and draining swamps for land reclamation. He established 55 schools in Yunnan based on a Chinese curriculum and hired Han Chinese instructors to staff them. However most of them were defunct by the beginning of the 14th century.^[22] Farming households and garrisons were set up as far south as Dechang to expand agricultural production and to maintain the highway and its postal stations for the government.^[23]

Yuan rule also introduced a significant Muslim influence into Yunnan.^[15]

The King of Dali Duan Gong was married to the Mongol Borjigin princess Agai, daughter of the Yuan dynasty Prince of Liang, Basalawarmi. They had a son and a daughter, Duan Sengnu.^{[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]} their children were also called Duan Qiangna and Duan Bao.^[32] However the Mongols feared the power of Duan Gong and killed him. Duan Sengnu raised Duan Bao to take revenge against Basalawarmi for the killing of Duan Gong.^[33][34] A play was made based on these events.^[35][36] According to Yuan documents, the Duan family were originally ethnic Han from Wuwei commandery, Gansu.^[5][37][38] Other Duan families also originated from Wuwei.^[39][40]

In 1381, the Ming dynasty dispatched 300,000 troops to crush the Yuan remnants in Yunnan.

The Duan clan, who helped the Yuan dynasty against a Red Turban Rebellion attack from Sichuan, also fought against the Ming army. Duan Gong refused to surrender by writing to Fu Youde, making it clear that Dali could only be a tributary to the Ming. Fu Youde attacked and crushed Duan Gong's realm after a fierce battle. The Duan brothers were taken captive and escorted back to the Ming capital.^[41]

Under the influence of Chinese officials present from early times,^[42] the Dali elite used Chinese script supplemented by Bai characters, which were themselves constructed based on Chinese characters.^[43] The Dali court granted hereditary fiefs to pre-existing clan chiefs, in particular the Duan, Gao, Yang, and Dong clans, to win over their support. Some administrative units were designated semi-autonomous military divisions. Similarly to the Nanzhao military, the Dali military consisted of a standing army, townsfolk peasant-soldiers and indigenous militia.^[44]

The rulers of Dali continued the traditions of Nanzhao, such as the royal title piaoxin (Lord of Pyu), the use of the same tall crowns, and taking Acuoye Guanyin as their tutelary deity. They also used the title emperor (huangdi).^[45]

 

Extant sources from Nanzhao and the Dali Kingdom show that the ruling elite used Chinese script.^[46] The vast majority of Dali sources are written in Classical Chinese.^[47] However the ruling elite also used Bai language for communication, but no attempt was made to standardize or popularize the script, and it remained an unofficial writing system.^[48]

Today, most Bai people trace their ancestry to Nanzhao and the Dali Kingdom, but records from those kingdoms do not mention the Bai. The earliest references to "Bai people", or the "Bo", are from the Yuan dynasty. During the Ming dynasty, the Bai were also known as "Minjia" (civilians). A Bai script using Chinese characters was mentioned during the Ming dynasty.^[49]

According to Stevan Harrell, while the ethnic identity of Nanzhao's ruling elite is still disputed, the subsequent Yang and Duan dynasties were both definitely Bai.^[50]

A version of Buddhism known as Azhali existed in Yunnan since the 9th century. The last king of Nanzhao established Buddhism as the state religion and many Dali kings continued the tradition. Ten of Dali's 22 kings retired to become Buddhist monks.^[51]

Fan Chengda (1126-1193) encountered a Dali trade mission and noted that they sought Chinese literature, medical texts, Buddhist scriptures, and dictionaries in return for horses. He marveled that "these people all possessed proper etiquette, and carried and recited Buddhist scriptural books."^[52]

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  Duan Zhixing (r. 1171–1200)
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  Lacquered armour of the Dali Kingdom
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  Dali religious painting
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  Dali procession of nobles and soldiers
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  Pagoda of Chongsheng Temple, the royal temple of the Dali
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  Dharani pillar of Dali, 1220
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  Bronze statue of Guanyin from Dali
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  Dali vajra sceptre (jingangchu)

• Bryson, Megan (2013), Baijie and the Bai
• Bryson, Megan (2016), Goddess on the Frontier: Religion, Ethnicity, and Gender in Southwest China, Stanford University Press, ISBN 978-1503600454
• Fan, Chengda (2011). Hargett, James M. (ed.). Treatises of the Supervisor and Guardian of the Cinnamon Sea: The Natural World and Material Culture of Twelfth-Century China. University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-0-29599-079-8.
• Harrell, Stevan (1995), The History of the History of the Yi, University of Washington Press, pp. 63–91, ISBN 9780295975283, JSTOR j.ctvbtzm9s.5
• Herman, John E. (2007), Amid the Clouds and Mist China's Colonization of Guizhou, 1200–1700, Harvard University Asia Center, ISBN 978-0-674-02591-2
• Huang, Caiwen (2020), The Lancang Guard and the Construction of Ming society in northwest Yunnan
• Wang, Feng (2004). "Language policy for Bai". In Zhou, Minglang (ed.). Language policy in the People's Republic of China: Theory and practice since 1949. Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 278–287. ISBN 978-1-4020-8038-8.
• West, Barbara A. (2009), Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania
• Yang, Bin (2008a), "Chapter 3: Military Campaigns against Yunnan: A Cross-Regional Analysis", Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Yunnan (Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE), Columbia University Press
• Yang, Bin (2008b), "Chapter 4: Rule Based on Native Customs", Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Yunnan (Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE), Columbia University Press
• Yang, Bin (2008c), "Chapter 5: Sinicization and Indigenization: The Emergence of the Yunnanese", Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Yunnan (Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE), Columbia University Press

•   Media related to Dali Kingdom at Wikimedia Commons