As trade was an important source of wealth for the
Baiyue
The Baiyue (, ), Hundred Yue, or simply Yue (; ), were various ethnic groups who inhabited the regions of East China, South China and Northern Vietnam during the 1st millennium BC and 1st millennium AD. They were known for their short hair, b ...
peoples of coastal southern China, the region south of the
Yangtze River
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...
attracted the attention of Emperor
Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of " king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Empero ...
, and he undertook a series of military campaigns to conquer it. Lured by its temperate climate, fertile fields, maritime trade routes, relative security from warring factions to the west and northwest, and access to luxury tropical products from Southeast Asia, the emperor sent armies to conquer the Yue kingdoms in 221 BC.
Military expeditions against the region were dispatched between 221 and 214 BC.
It would take five successive military excursions before the Qin finally defeated the Yue in 214 BC.
Background
![Qinshihuang](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Qinshihuang.jpg)
After Qin Shi Huang defeated the state of
Chu in 223 BC, the nascent
Qin dynasty
The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...
in 221 BC undertook a military campaign against the
Baiyue
The Baiyue (, ), Hundred Yue, or simply Yue (; ), were various ethnic groups who inhabited the regions of East China, South China and Northern Vietnam during the 1st millennium BC and 1st millennium AD. They were known for their short hair, b ...
in
Lingnan to conquer the territories of what is now southern China and northern Vietnam.
The emperor ordered his armies of five hundred thousand men to advance southward in the five columns to conquer and annex the Yue territories into the Qin empire.
On another account, one hundred thousand people in armies were the maximum including those transporting provisions and maintaining road pavement as parts of
combat service support. As the population of Lingnan were in an earlier Bronze Age civilsation, the population would have been reasonably sparse. At the time of the Qin campaign, the population in Lingnan were one hundred thousand at maximum.
Motivated by the region's vast land and valuable exotic products, Emperor Qin Shi Huang secured his boundaries to the north with a fraction of his large army, and sent the majority south to seize the land and profit from it while attempting to subdue the Yue tribes of the southern provinces.
The
Ouyue in southern Zhejiang and the
Minyue
Minyue () was an ancient kingdom in what is now the Fujian province in southern China. It was a contemporary of the Han dynasty, and was later annexed by the Han empire as the dynasty expanded southward. The kingdom existed approximately from ...
in the Fujian province soon became vassals of the Qin empire.
[ The Qin armies would unfortunately face fierce resistance from the Nanyue in Guangdong and Guangxi.][ At that time, southern China was known for its vast fertile land, rich in rice cultivation, elephant tusks, rhinoceros horns, kingfisher feathers, ivory, pearls, jade production, and maritime trade routes with Southeast Asia.] Prior to the events leading to Qin dominance over China, the Baiyue had gained possession of much of Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
to the southwest. The Qin army was unfamiliar with the jungle terrain, and was defeated and nearly annihilated by the southern Yue tribes' guerrilla tactics, suffering casualties of over 10,000 men in addition to the death of a Qin commander. Despite these setbacks, the central imperial government would begin to promote a series of policies for assimilating the Yue tribes through sinicization
Sinicization, sinofication, sinification, or sinonization (from the prefix , 'Chinese, relating to China') is the process by which non-Chinese societies come under the influence of Chinese culture, particularly the language, societal norms, cul ...
.[
The Qin empire managed to construct the Lingqu Canal to the south, which they used heavily to supply and reinforce their troops during a second attack to the south.][ The Linqu canal connected the headwaters of the Xiang River in the Yangzi basin with the Li River flowing into the West River basin. The Qin had extended the construction of canals towards the southern coast in order to profit from international maritime trade coming from ]Nanhai Nanhai () may refer to:
*''Nanhai'', the Chinese name for the South China Sea, one of the Four Seas
*Nanhai Commandery, the former Chinese administration over Liangguang
*''Nanhai'', the Chinese name for the South China Sea Islands
*The '' Nanhai I ...
and the Indian Ocean. Nanhai was a strategic attraction for the Qin as it provided an outstanding opening for maritime trade with Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Near East, and the European Roman Mediterranean.[ The canal would facilitate the transportation of military supplies to the Qin troops and prisoners to the Lingnan region for securing and expanding the Qin's borders. With the Qin's superior armament and disciplined military organization of the Qin army, the Qin forces would ultimately prevail over the Yue tribes.][ By 214 BC, Guangdong, Guangxi, and northern Vietnam were subjugated and annexed into the Qin empire.][ Building on these gains, the Qin armies conquered the coastal lands surrounding ]Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
and took areas of Fuzhou and Guilin
Guilin (Standard Zhuang: ''Gveilinz''; alternatively romanized as Kweilin) is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is situated on the west bank of the Li River and borders Hunan to the nort ...
. The annexed territories were partitioned and administered into new three prefectures of the Qin empire, Nanhai Nanhai () may refer to:
*''Nanhai'', the Chinese name for the South China Sea, one of the Four Seas
*Nanhai Commandery, the former Chinese administration over Liangguang
*''Nanhai'', the Chinese name for the South China Sea Islands
*The '' Nanhai I ...
, Guilin
Guilin (Standard Zhuang: ''Gveilinz''; alternatively romanized as Kweilin) is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is situated on the west bank of the Li River and borders Hunan to the nort ...
, and Xiang.[ Partitioned into four territories, each with its own governor and military garrison, these coastal territories became the business epicenter of Chinese maritime activity and international foreign trade.] During this time, Guangdong was a vastly underdeveloped and primitive semitropical frontier region of forests, jungles, and swamps inhabited by elephants and crocodiles.[ The cessation of war of the Yue in Lingnan, Qin Shi Huang began his efforts to sinicize the original inhabitants. Half a million people were moved from northern China to the south to facilitate colonial control and assimilation.][ He used civilians and convicted felons as colonial tools to the Yue territories by setting up various agricultural communities as colonial outposts. He imposed sinification by importing Han Chinese settlers to displace, weaken, and ultimately eliminate the indigenous Yue culture and sense of Yue ethnic consciousness to prevent nationalism that could potentially lead to the desire of independent states.] In addition to promoting immigration, Qin Shi Huang imposed the use of the Han Chinese written script as new language and writing system. Liang Tingwang theorises that there was a proto-Zhuang script which was curbed but later developed into Old Zhuang script or Sawndip.[ However, most scholars believe that this script originated much later. To exercise even greater control to sinicize and displace the indigenous Yue tribes, Qin Shi Huang forced the settlement of thousands of Han Chinese immigrants, many of which were convicted felons and exiles to move from northern China to settle in the newly annexed Qin domains.] Though the Qin emperor was victorious against the Yue kingdoms, Chinese domination was brief and the collapse of the Qin dynasty led the Yue tribes to regain their independence.[
]
Post Qin
Following the collapse of the Qin dynasty, Zhao Tuo (Triệu Đà) took control of Guangzhou and extended his territory south of the Red River as one of the primary targets of the Qin dynasty was to secure important coastal seaports for trade. In 208 BC, the Qin Chinese renegade general Zhao Tuo (''Triệu Đà)'' had reached Cổ Loa Citadel
Cổ Loa Citadel ( vi, Thành Cổ Loa ) is an important fortified settlement and archaeological site in present-day Hanoi's Đông Anh district, roughly 17 kilometers north of present-day Hanoi, in the upper plain north of the Red River. Variou ...
, capital of the state of Âu Lạc
Âu Lạc ( Hán tự: 甌貉 (Peripheral Records/Volume 1:6a): "王既併文郎國,改國號曰甌貉國。""The King then annexed the Văn Lang nation, changed the nation's name to Âu Lạc nation."/甌駱; (Volume 113): "且南方卑濕, ...
. There, he defeated An Dương Vương and established the Nanyue
Nanyue (), was an ancient kingdom ruled by Chinese monarchs of the Zhao family that covered the modern Chinese subdivisions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, Macau, southern Fujian and central to northern Vietnam. Nanyue was establis ...
kingdom during the same year. Following Zhao's capture of Au Lac, Zhao partitioned it into two prefectures Jiaozhi
Jiaozhi (standard Chinese, pinyin: ''Jiāozhǐ''), or Giao Chỉ (Vietnamese), was a historical region ruled by various Chinese dynasties, corresponding to present-day northern Vietnam. The kingdom of Nanyue (204–111 BC) set up the Jiaozhi Co ...
and Jiuzhen
Jiuzhen (Vietnamese: Cửu Chân, Chinese: 九真) was a Chinese commandery within Jiaozhou. It is located in present-day Thanh Hóa Province, Vietnam.
Michel Ferlus (2012) and Frédéric Pain (2020) propose that 九真 Old Chinese
Old Ch ...
. By the end of the Qin dynasty, many rebellions led Zhao Tuo (''Triệu Đà)'' to claim independence from the imperial government and declared himself the emperor of Nanyue in 207 BC. Zhao (''Triệu)'' led the region to rise up against the much despised Qinshi Emperor. With dynastic changes, wars, and foreign invasions, Han Chinese living in Central China were forced to expand into the southern regions. Zhao (''Triệu)'' opened up Guangxi and southern China to the immigration of hundreds of thousands of Han Chinese and the kingdom of Nanyue was established after the collapse of the Qin dynasty in 204 BC. Zhao (''Triệu)'' established his capital at Panyu
Panyu, alternately romanized as Punyu, is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. It was a separate county-level city before its incorporation into modern Guangzhou in 200 ...
(modern Guangzhou) and divided his empire into seven provinces, which were administered by a mix of Han Chinese and Yue feudal lords. At its height, Nanyue was the strongest of the Yue states, with Zhao (''Triệu)'' declaring himself emperor and receiving allegiance from the neighboring kings. During Han Wudi's reign in 111 BC, the powerful Han dynasty launched an expedition to annex Nanyue. Five armies led by the Han general Lu Bode
Lu Bode (; –?) was a Chinese military leader during the Western Han dynasty.
Lu was from Pingzhou (平州) in the Xihe (西河) region of western China (present-day Lishi District of Lüliang, Shanxi). In 119 BCE, Emperor Wu of Han dispatche ...
were met by two Nanyue legates at the Giao Chi border; with the two men offering Nanyue's acceptance of the Han dynasty annexation and provided the invading army with 100 cattle, 1000 measures of wine, and tokens of submission to be assimilated into the Han empire.
See also
* Han campaigns against Minyue
The Han campaigns against Minyue were a series of three Han military campaigns dispatched against the Minyue state. The first campaign was in response to Minyue's invasion of Eastern Ou in 138 BC. In 135 BC, a second campaign was sen ...
* Han–Nanyue War
* Qin's campaign against the Xiongnu
In 215 BC, Qin Shi Huang ordered General Meng Tian to set out against the Xiongnu tribes in the Ordos region, and establish a frontier region at the loop of the Yellow River.. Believing that the Xiongnu were a possible threat, the emperor launche ...
* Southward expansion of the Han dynasty
The southward expansion of the Han dynasty was a series of Chinese military campaigns and expeditions in what is now modern Southern China and Northern Vietnam. Military expansion to the south began under the previous Qin dynasty and continued ...
References
{{Qin dynasty topics
210s BC conflicts
3rd century BC in China
3rd century BC in Vietnam
History of Fujian
History of Guangdong
History of Guangxi
History of Zhejiang
Military history of the Qin dynasty
Qin Shi Huang