Cuanman () was an

ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

in northern

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

, China. They came into power after assisting

Zhuge Liang's Southern Campaign Zhuge Liang's Southern Campaign, also known as the War of Pacification in Nanzhong, was a military campaign which took place in 225 during the early Three Kingdoms period (220–280) of China. It was led by Zhuge Liang, the Chancellor (China), ...

and dominated Yunnan during the

Northern and Southern dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered as ...

period. They were defeated by the

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...

in 602 and split into the Baiman and Wuman, allegedly the ancestors of modern-day

Bai people The Bai, or Pai ( Bai: Baipho, (白和); ; endonym pronounced ), are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province, Bijie area of Guizhou Province, and Sangzhi area of Hunan Province. They constitu ...

and

Yi people The Yi or Nuosu people,; zh, c=彝族, p=Yízú, l=Yi ethnicity historically known as the Lolo,; vi, Lô Lô; th, โล-โล, Lo-Lo are an ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with eac ...

History

According to the tomb tablet of Cuan Longyan, they were descended from a famous official in

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

, however it was common at the time to create fictitious lineages linking indigenous elites back to China, and it's also highly likely that the Cuans were originally native to Yunnan. In 549, a native from Ningzhou rose to power. The

Northern Zhou Zhou (), known in historiography as the Northern Zhou (), was a Xianbei-led dynasty of China that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern dynasties of China's Northern and Southern dynasties period, it succeeded the Western Wei dynasty and ...

dynasty granted him the title of prefectural governor(刺史) of Southern Ningzhou(南寧州). In contemporary Chinese historical records, the polity was called "Xicuan guo" (Western Cuan State). The Cuan sent tribute to Northern Zhou and the

. However Cuan power was broken in 597 and 602 when the Sui invaded. Cuan surrendered to the Sui and was executed but the Sui did not set up direct rule over the region. After Cuan Zan died, the Cuan were split between two rulers, Cuan Wan and Cuan Zhen. The son of Cuan Wan was later sent home by

Emperor Taizong of Tang Emperor Taizong of Tang (28January 59810July 649), previously Prince of Qin, personal name Li Shimin, was the second emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649. He is traditionally regarded as a co-founder of the dynasty ...

and made the prefect of Kunzhou ( Kunzhou) The Cuan were divided in half between the east, known as the Wuman/Black Mywa (烏蠻), and the west, known as the Baiman/White Mywa (白蠻). In 737, Piluoge of the Wuman tribe, Mengshe, united the Wuman tribes and founded

Nanzhao Nanzhao (, also spelled Nanchao, ) was a dynastic kingdom that flourished in what is now southern China and northern Southeast Asia during the 8th and 9th centuries. It was centered on present-day Yunnan in China. History Origins Nanzha ...

(南詔). In 618, the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

assigned Duan Lun as Commander-in-Chief (''zongguan'') to Yizhou (

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

). Cuan Hongda, Wan's son, was assigned to Kunzhou as prefect. Duan sent his subordinate, Yu Dashi, into Hongda's territory to persuade local tribes to give their allegiance to the Tang. Western Cuan was the first to pledge allegiance. In 621, a Tang official, Ji Hongwei, arrived in Nanning (

Qujing Qujing () is a prefecture-level city in the east of Yunnan province, China, bordering Guizhou province to the east and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to the southeast; thus, it was called "Key between Yunnan and Guizhou" () and "Throat of Yu ...

) and won over more tribes. Some 30 jimi prefectures were created. However exorbitant taxation of the local population caused them to rebel. Duan sentenced them all to death. He was removed from power and transferred back to the capital. After Hongda died, the local chieftains requested the prefectures return to hereditary rule.

Rulers

*Cuan Xi 231 *Cuan Gu 265 *Cuan Liang 327-330 *Cuan Chen 330-340 *Cuan Wei 345 *Cuan Baozi 405 *Cuan Longyan 445 *Cuan Yun 514 *Cuan Zan 548

Baiman (White Mywa)

*Cuan Wan *Cuan Hongda *Cuan Guiwang *Acha (Guiwang's wife as regent) *Cuan Shouyu

History

Rulers

Baiman (White Mywa)

Wuman (Black Mywa)

References

Bibliography