Nong Minfu (, Vietnamese: ''Nùng Dân Phú''; 970s) was a

Tai Tai or TAI may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tai (comics) a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain *Tai Fraiser, a fictional character in the 1995 film ''Clueless'' *Tai Kamiya, a fictional character in ''Digimon'' Businesses and organisations ...

-speaking Rau chieftain who ruled over an area in what is today's Sino-Vietnamese borderland. He could have been

Nong Quanfu Nong Quanfu (, za, Nungz Cienzfuk; ?-1039), also recorded as Nùng Tồn Phúc ( vi, Nùng Tồn Phúc; ; Chữ Hán: ) was a Nùng/ Zhuang chieftain and zhou-level official of Guangyuan located in the modern-day Cao Bang in the 11th century AD. ...

's father. He was probably the leader of a confederation of tribes. Some time before 971, the

Southern Han Southern Han (; 917–971), officially Han (), originally Yue (), was one of the ten kingdoms that existed during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was located on China's southern coast, controlling modern Guangdong and Guangxi. The ...

dynasty recognized him as the leader of "ten prefectures", which were actually eight '' jimi'' prefectures plus two valleys, namely Quảng Nguyên Prefecture (; modern Quảng Uyên), Wule () or Wuqin Prefecture (; modern

Fusui County Fusui County is a county (China), county in the southwest of Guangxi, China. It is the easternmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Chongzuo. Geography Fusui is located in southwestern Guangxi and in eastern Chongzuo City. I ...

), Nanyuan Prefecture (), Tây Nông Prefecture (), Vạn Nhai Prefecture ( or ), Phú Hòa Prefecture (), Wen Prefecture (; modern

Hurun Hurun () is a town of Jingxi, Guangxi, China. See also * List of township-level divisions of Guangxi References Towns of Guangxi Jingxi, Guangxi Towns and townships in Baise {{Guangxi-geo-stub ...

), Nong Prefecture (), as well as Gufu Valley () and Badan Valley (). Altogether these constitute much of today's

Cao Bằng Province Cao or CAO may refer to: Mythology *Cao (bull), a legendary bull in Meitei mythology Companies or organizations *Air China Cargo, ICAO airline designator CAO *CA Oradea, Romanian football club *CA Osasuna, Spanish football club *Canadian Associ ...

, Vietnam plus a small part of southwestern

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...

( Jingxi and

Chongzuo Chongzuo (; za, Cungzcoj) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region near the Sino-Vietnamese border. It is home to one of China's largest Zhuang populations. Geography and climate Chongzuo is located in sout ...

), China. In 971, on the eve of the

Song conquest of Southern Han The Conquest of Southern Han by Song () occurred in 971, when Northern Song forces captured the Southern Han capital of Guangzhou in present-day Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal provinc ...

, the Dali Empire defeated Southern Han troops and extended its territory eastward to the modern Guangxi–

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 ...

border. The Dali emperor gave Nong Minfu the title of "Tanchuo" (; "peaceful and generous"), which was often granted to princes by Dali's predecessor

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 ...

. Some historians believe Nong Minfu was also a leader of Temo Prefecture (; modern

Guangnan County Guangnan County (; Zhuang: ) is located in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China. The seat of Guangnan, known today as Liancheng (), was the heart of the Gouding Kingdom () that lasted approximately 400 years, f ...

) on the Guangxi-Yunnan border. This is controversial but if true, indicates that he had additional control over several prefectures from Temo to Quảng Nguyên. In 977, six years after the

Song Empire The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

conquered Southern Han from the north, Nong Minfu approached the Song government in Yong Prefecture which relayed his message to Emperor Taizong. Nong hoped for military assistance to eradicate "barbarians" of Tư Lang Prefecture (; modern

Hạ Lang District Hạ is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as He (a transcription of 賀) or Xia (a transcription of 夏) in Chinese and Ha in Korean. Ha is the anglicized variation of the surname Hạ. It is also the anglicized variation of Hà ...

), who controlled some important roads between his uphill prefectures. In exchange, Nong was willing to recognize Song suzerainty and pay tributes and taxes. Emperor Taizong was eager to please his frontier people but unwilling to send troops. He bestowed on Nong several grand — but completely nominal and useless — official titles, including "Grand Master of Splendid Happiness Bearing the Golden Pocket with Purple Trimming" (), "Acting Minister of Works" (), "Censor-in-Chief" (), and "Supreme Pillar of the State" (). The Fiscal Commissioner () of

Guangnan Circuit Guangnan Circuit or Guangnan Province was a short-lived circuit during the early Song dynasty, corresponding to the former Southern Han Southern Han (; 917–971), officially Han (), originally Yue (), was one of the ten kingdoms that existed ...

, Xu Dao (), was assigned the task of traveling to Nong's base to confer his titles. Nong Minfu disappeared from Chinese records after that, but he probably passed his authorities to

when he died.

References

* *{{cite book, editor-last=Shi Weile, year=2005, title=Zhongguo Lishi Diming Da Cidian ''(中国历史地名大词典)'', trans-title=Large Dictionary of Chinese Historical Place Names, publisher=China Social Sciences Press, isbn=7-5004-4929-1, language=zh 10th-century Tai people Zhuang people Nùng people