Han conquest of Nanyue

Han conquest of Nanyue
Part of the Southward expansion of the Han dynasty

Map showing the expansion of Han Dynasty in 2nd century BC
Date111 BC
LocationNanyue
Result Decisive Han victory
Belligerents
Han empire Nanyue kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Lu Bode
Yang Pu		 Zhao Jiande
Lü Jia

The Han conquest of Nanyue was a military conflict between the Chinese Han empire and the Nanyue kingdom in modern Guangdong, Guangxi, and northern Vietnam. During the reign of Emperor Wu, the Han forces launched a punitive campaign against Nanyue and conquered it in 111 BC as part of the southward expansion of the Han Dynasty.

Background

After the fall of the Qin dynasty, the Qin general Zhao Tuo in south China and northern Vietnam, who originally came from Zhending in northern China, established himself as the King of Nanyue,[1][2][2] After Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu to establish the Han dynasty in China he sent Lu Jia in 196 BC on a mission to Nanyue to recognize Zhao Tuo as a regional king nominally subservient to the Han empire.[1] Nevertheless, relations between Han and Nanyue were sometimes strained.[3] Zhao Tuo resented Empress Lü's ban on exports of metal wares and female livestock to Nanyue.[3] He eventually proclaimed himself an emperor in his own right.[3] More specifically, in 183 BC, he retorted by proclaiming himself the "Martial Emperor of the South" (南武帝), which implied a status on equal footing with the Han emperor.[4] Two years later, Nanyue attacked the Changsha Kingdom, a constituent kingdom of the Han empire.[4] In 180 BC, Lu Jia led a diplomatic mission to Nanyue.[3] During negotiations, he succeeded in convincing Zhao Tuo to give up on his title as emperor and pay homage to Han as a nominal vassal.[3]

Jade burial suit of King Zhao Mo

In 135 BC, King Zhao Mo of Nanyue appealed to the Han court for help against attacking Minyue forces.[5] The Han court responded swiftly and this led to Zhao Mo's agreement to send his son to serve palace duties in Chang'an.[5] Even though Nanyue neglected to pay regular homage to the Han court, the court had its attention focused on other commitments and was not set on forcing the issue.[5] At the Nanyue court in 113 BC, the Queen Dowager of Nanyue suggested incorporating Nanyue as a kingdom under the reign of the Han empire, thus formally integrating the kingdom on the same terms as the other kingdoms of the Han empire.[6] She was Chinese herself and was married to Zhao Yingqi, who had served at Chang'an during his princehood.[6] However, many Nanyue ministers opposed this suggestion.[6] Lü Jia was the primary Nanyue official to oppose the idea, and he led the opposition against the Queen Dowager.[5] In 112 BC, the opposition retaliated violently and executed the Queen Dowager,[5] King Zhao Xing, and several Han emissaries.

Course

This provocation triggered the mobilization of a large Han naval force into Nanyue.[5] The forces comprised six armies, who traveled by sea, directly southward, or from Sichuan along the Xi River.[7] In 111 BC, General Lu Bode and General Yang Pu advanced towards Panyu (present-day Guangzhou).[5] This resulted in the surrender of Nanyue to the Han empire later that year.[5]

After the fall of Panyu, Tây Vu Vương (the captain of the Tây Vu area, of which Cổ Loa Citadel is the center) revolted against the first Chinese domination by the Western Han.[8] He was killed by his assistant Hoàng Đồng (Chinese: 黄同).[9][10]

Aftermath

After the conquest of Nanyue in 111 BC, the Han empire established nine new commanderies to administer the former Nanyue territories.[5] Han control proceeded to expand further southwestward by military means after the conquest.[11] The conquest also made it possible to extend Han maritime trade further to countries in Southeast Asia and around the Indian Ocean.[12]

Two counties (Wenxi and Huojia) were founded by Emperor Wu of Han in 111 BC in honor of this war.

See also

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 Loewe 1987a, 128.
  2. 1 2 Yü 1987, 451–452.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Yü 1987, 452.
  4. 1 2 Loewe 1987a, 136.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Yü 1987, 453.
  6. 1 2 3 Yü 1987, 452–453.
  7. ↑ Morton & Lewis 2004, 56.
  8. ↑ Từ điển bách khoa quân sự Việt Nam, 2004, p564 "KHỞI NGHĨA TÂY VU VƯƠNG (lll TCN), khởi nghĩa của người Việt ở Giao Chỉ chống ách đô hộ của nhà Triệu (TQ). Khoảng cuối lll TCN, nhân lúc nhà Triệu suy yếu, bị nhà Tây Hán (TQ) thôn tính, một thủ lĩnh người Việt (gọi là Tây Vu Vương, "
  9. ↑ Viet Nam Social Sciences vol.1-6, p91, 2003 "In 111 B.C. there prevailed a historical personage of the name of Tay Vu Vuong who took advantage of troubles circumstances in the early period of Chinese domination to raise his power, and finally was killed by his general assistant, Hoang Dong. Professor Tran Quoc Vuong saw in him the Tay Vu chief having in hands tens of thousands of households, governing thousands miles of land and establishing his center in Co Loa area (59.239). Tay Vu and Tay Au is in fact the same.
  10. ↑ Book of Han, Vol. 95, Story of Xi Nan Yi Liang Yue Zhao Xian, wrote: "故甌駱將左黃同斬西于王，封爲下鄜侯"
  11. ↑ Yü 1987, 458.
  12. ↑ Loewe 1987b, 579.

Sources

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