56 replies to this topic

[wuTao]

I've recently been very interested in the kingdom of Nanzhao, but have very many questions. Ethnically and culturally, what kind of state was Nanchao? Different books have a wide range of opinions, but most either concluding that it was a Tai state or a Mon-Khmer state. On the internet, many ethnic groups seem to try and claim it, with Burmese people claiming their royal house descended from the royal house of Nanchao, Thai people claiming the same thing and also stating that the destruction of Nanchao set the Thai migration south, and I've also seen one website saying that Nanchao was a Bai (a Chinese minority) kingdom. So which is it? Or are there really no conclusive evidence for any of these possibilities?

Also, does anyone have a general chronology of the Nanzhao War (in Annam) of 854-866, or the Nanchao/Tang conflict in general? What was the cause of the war, the major battles, casualty figures, how much it contributed to the fall of the Tang, etc.?

A brief summary of some of the information I've learned according to a book I'm reading, called "The Birth of Vietnam": The cause of the war (at least in Annam) can be traced back to the Protector General of the Protectorate of Annam in 854, Li Cho. Li Cho was a corrupt official who, in trying to enrich himself, raised the price of the salt barter with the tribal chiefs of the mountains of Annam, who traded horses and cattle for the salt. The mountain chiefs tried to force the price back to what it was, and started raiding the low-lands. Li Cho sent soldiers to force the mountain chiefs into submission, which had the unintended consequence of driving the mountain chiefs to place themselves under the protection of Nanchao. Things spiraled down from there. Large Nanchao armies did not appear until 858, and it wasn't until 862 that Nanchao launched a full scale invasion.

The Tang lost one hundred and fifty thousand troops, either killed or captured, in just 862 and 863 alone. What were some of the most major defeats? Also, does anyone have biographical information of Kao P'ien. According to the book, Kao P'ien made a reputation in the north fighting the Turks, and he was able to turn back Nanchao. He arrived at Sea Gate and spent months training an army and gathering intelligence. In 865, he sailed for the protectorate, and with a small army of five thousand men, routed a Nanchao army of fifty thousand scattered throughout the land. Anyone have anymore information on the campaigns and battles against Nanchao, or Kao P'ien's accomplishments in the north?

Also, one of my favorite accounts of a battle during the war according to the book is when, in 863, La-thanh fell to Nanzhao after a seige of 24 days. Ts'ai Hsi, the military governor of Annam, tried to escape across the Hong River, with a rear guard of 400 men protecting him. Ts'ai Hsi is wounded by an arrow and drowns when his boat capsizes. When the rear guard of four hundred reach the river, all the boats are gone. The commanding officer rouses his men to the glory of their hopeless situation, and they fight their way back to the citadel, killing two thousand before finally succumbing to the enemy. Anyone know this brave commanders name? I've read that very few instances in Chinese history is it recorded where the Chinese win a victory through sheer fighting prowess, brute strength, and force of will (most Chinese victories recorded are through brilliant tatics and clever strategems)... I guess this is one instance of a Chinese unit fighting to the death, killing many enemies under inspired leadership and brute fighting prowess!

[wuTao]

Also, information on the failed campaigns against Nanchao in 751 and 754 would be nice.

[Borjigin Ayurbarwada]

I have just about all the information there is to it from the wars of unification in 737 to its collapse, but I don't have time any time soon for any type of long article, so it would be in a few weeks.

But note that Nan Zhao is called Men Shu Zhao, and was only one of the 6 Zhao during early Tang, there was a Bai Zi Guo, the most powerful kingdom at Yunnan at the time, the Tang army nearly destroyed that kingdom, with that power gone, Nan Zhao was able to expand, with the help of Tang army they were able to unify Yunnan in 738. In fact Tang wanted Nanzho to unify to counter balance against the Tubo menace as well as putting them unde rone central rule to be easier to manipulate.

[Karakhan]

Nan Zhao was concluded NOT to be of Thai origin. It was commonly assume then since Nan Zhao could have a meaning (something prince) in the Thai family of language..but it was a mere coicidence.

Nan Zhao had a mixture of races for sure, but the two primary races that compose the population is the ancestors of today's Bai and Yi minority. The same is applied to Da Li.

Although Da Li was definitely led by the Bai ethnicity.. people was unsure about how the racial heirchy was in Nan Zhao.. some claimed it was ruled by Bai elite with a Yi majority, or vice versa.

At this time, the Thai speaking peoples (Tai, Zhuang, Lao, etc) was either in modern Guangxi to the east, or farther south (but still within boundaries of current day China).

The library here had an excellent book on it, but unfortunately is closed at the moment

[wuTao]

I have just about all the information there is to it from the wars of unification in 737 to its collapse, but I don't have time any time soon for any type of long article, so it would be in a few weeks.

But note that Nan Zhao is called Men Shu Zhao, and was only one of the 6 Zhao during early Tang, there was a Bai Zi Guo, the most powerful kingdom at Yunnan at the time, the Tang army nearly destroyed that kingdom, with that power gone, Nan Zhao was able to expand, with the help of Tang army they were able to unify Yunnan in 738. In fact Tang wanted Nanzho to unify to counter balance against the Tubo menace as well as putting them unde rone central rule to be easier to manipulate.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just curious... does the information about Nanzhao come from Chinese sources, or did they have their own native histories through which we learned about them?

[Borjigin Ayurbarwada]

Its mainly from Chinese sources, Nan Zhao had its own inscriptions and scripts which was written in Chinese

[Yun]

Nanzhao was originally a Tang client state that 'went rogue'. I was in Kunming, Dali and Lijiang for a holiday last week, and bought some good books on the history of Yunnan. So I'll post some info here on Nanzhao's 'rebellion' against the Tang in 751-754.

The Mengshe Zhao were the southernmost of six kingdoms ('zhao' in their language) in the Erhai Lake region of western Yunnan (near the present-day city of Dali), and hence known as Nanzhao (southern zhao). After usurping the throne of the Baizi Guo kingdom in 649 and founding Nanzhao, Xinuluo sent his son to Chang'an to pay tribute to the Tang. For this, the Tang court appointed him as Governor of Weizhou. He was the only one of the six 'zhao' rulers to have a Tang official post. His successors helped to suppress rebellions in Yunnan in 713 and 729, thus winning the trust of the Tang court.

In 732, the Nanzhao king Piluoge proposed to the Tang court a plan to unify the six 'zhao' under his rule. Eager to counter the growing power of the Tubo empire in Tibet, which was allying with some of the other 'zhao' in Yunnan to raid Tang territory, the Tang court quickly approved this plan, hoping to create a unified state in Yunnan to act as a loyal client, ally and buffer. Two Tang armies were sent to Nanzhao to fight in the campaign, while Piluoge personally led 30,000 of his own warriors against the other five 'zhao'. By 737, the unification was complete, and in 738 Piluoge was enfeoffed as the Duke of Yue by the Tang court. He continued leading campaigns to conquer such rivals as the Cuan of eastern Yunnan (around present-day Kunming), and by 741 had extended his territory north to present-day Lijiang and south to present-day Sipsong Panna (Xishuang Banna).

In 748, Piluoge died and was succeeded by his son Geluofeng. In 749, the Tang court raised Geluofeng's title to Prince of Yunnan. But Geluofeng's expansionist ambitions and the corrupt behaviour of the Tang officials in Yunnan quickly led to a souring of relations. The Prefect of Yunnan (stationed in Yaozhou, central Yunnan), Zhang Qiantuo, was a devious and unscrupulous man, and he had received instructions from the Military Governor of Jiannan (Sichuan), Xianyu Zhongtong, to put Geluofeng in his place. In the past, whenever Nanzhao leaders travelled with their families to Sichuan to make their reports to the Tang Commander-in-Chief for Yunnan, Li Mi, they would have to stop over at Yaozhou, and Zhang Qiantuo would routinely rape their wives. In 750, Geluofeng was summoned to Sichuan, but refused to go knowing what lay in store for his wife in Yaozhou. Zhang Qiantuo then sent insulting messages to him about his wife, and also sent a report to the Tang court accusing him of rebellion.

The furious Geluofeng submitted a memorial to the Tang court to explain himself and expose Zhang's abuses. But by this time Tang Xuanzong (Li Longji) was indulging himself with his concubine Yang Yuhuan (Yang Guifei) and leaving all administrative decisions to the Prime Minister, Yuhuan's cousin Yang Guozhong. Yang Guozhong paid no attention to the memorial from Geluofeng. The Nanzhao king then took matters into his own hands and attacked Yaozhou, killing Zhang Qiantuo. He then moved on to capture a part of southern Sichuan.

Yang Guozhong now covered up his negligence by claiming that Nanzhao had colluded with Tubo to attack the Tang, and asking Tang Xuanzong to launch a punitive campaign against Nanzhao. In 751 (the same year as the Battle of the Talas River), Xianyu Zhongtong was ordered to lead 60,000 troops against Nanzhao. Geluofeng sent an envoy to Xianyu offering to make peace, but with a veiled threat: "The Tubo army is now right on our border, and if you will not grant our request, we will be forced to submit to Tubo. Yunnan will then no longer belong to the Tang." Xianyu reacted by flying into a rage and imprisoning the Nanzhao envoy. He then sent his general Wang Tianyun to lead a strike force of cavalry against the Nanzhao capital in an indirect attack from the west, while he himself led the main army to attack from the east.

According to a stele of 766 that has been preserved, Geluofeng now openly rebelled and set up an altar to Heaven, making this vow at the altar: "From ancient times until now, my family have been subjects of the Han, never raiding and never rebelling. Today, the Military Governor seeks his own advancement and forsakes goodness, and wishes to attack me as a traitor and rebel. I declare this to Heaven and Earth without fear!" He then addressed the Tang court: "If you had been willing to accept me, you would still be my lord. But now that you will not accept me, you are my enemy." He sent an envoy to the border with Tubo to guide in reinforcements led by the Tubo minister Lun Ruozan. His eldest son Fengjiayi and General Duan Quan'ge led a cavalry force to ambush Wang Tianyun's cavalry. Geluofeng himself put on his armour and ascended the walls of his capital to direct his army in counterattacking Xianyu Zhongtong's forces.

The result was that in the first engagement of the war, Wang Tianyun's cavalry were wiped out and he himself had his head hung up on the city gates. Following that, the combined Tubo and Nanzhao armies decimated the Tang expeditionary force in a series of battles. Xianyu Zhongtong abandoned the remnants of his army and fled back to Sichuan through the night.

Yang Guozhong did another cover-up, claiming victory for the Tang army and asking Tang Xuanzong to reward Xianyu Zhongtong. He then assembled another far larger army - 100,000 combat troops and 100,000 supply troops, 200,000 in all. In 754, this army set out under the former Commander-in-Chief of Yunnan, Li Mi. This time, the Tang forces closed in on Nanzhao by both land and water, setting up a dockyard to build warships on a river leading into the Erhai Lake.

The Nanzhao army first let the summer weather weaken the Tang forces. Torrential rains demoralised the Tang, their supplies began running out, and malaria caused much suffering and death while the Nanzhao remained within the capital city and refused to come out and fight. Then, Nanzhao generals Wang Lekuan and Duan Jianwei led a crack naval force in a night strike on the Tang dockyards. All unlaunched vessels were set on fire, more than 200 launched vessels were captured, and all the livestock were also killed in the flames.

Li Mi, seeing that his naval attack was now impossible, changed the strategy to an overland pincer attack from north and south. He himself commanded the main army attacking from the north, and was engaged by over 5,000 cavalry under Duan Quan'ge and Wang Lekuan as well as Tubo cavalry reinforcements led by Lun Qilixu. To the south, a Tang army under Li Mi's second-in-command He Luguang was faced by the Nanzhao main army under Fengjiayi and Duan Fuke. The result was an even greater disaster for the Tang: the armies led by Li and He were both virtually wiped out, with Li drowning in a river while trying to escape and He escaping on his own.

Geluofeng had destroyed two Tang armies with a total of 260,000 men, and their remains were littered across the battlefield in heaps. Grieved by this sight, he had the bodies gathered amd buried under large mounds of earth after some funeral rites. These mounds, known locally as "Hundred-thousand-man Tombs" and "Thousand-man Tombs", can still be seen today. Geluofeng pledged allegiance to Tubo, and was given the title of Great Zhao (king) of the Zanpuzhong ('younger brother') Kingdom of the South. In 755, the great An Lushan rebellion broke out in the Tang empire, and Geluofeng no longer had to worry about Tang intervention. He expanded his territory to cover all of present-day Yunnan province, and parts of southern Sichuan, western Guizhou, northern Burma, northern Laos, and northern Vietnam.

Nanzhao was now nominally a 'younger brother' to Tubo, but was in reality as good as a vassal. Tubo constantly demanded that Nanzhao contribute troops for campaigns against Sichuan, and Nanzhao began to resent this. In 785, the Tang court began trying to woo Nanzhao back from Tubo's orbit, and this policy eventually bore fruit. A respected Tang scholar named Zheng Hui, captured in the 751 war, was the tutor of the reigning Nanzhao king Yimouxun (son of Fengjiayi and grandson of Geluofeng). Zheng advised Yimouxun to restore the relationship with the Tang, and in 793 Yimouxun wrote to the Tang Military Governor of Jiannan and Xichuan, requesting an alliance. In 794, the Tang envoy Cui Zuo signed a treaty with Yimouxun, ending 40 years of estrangement and enmity. Yimouxun received the title of Prince (or King, 'wang') of Nanzhao, and would be under the authority of the Tang Military Governor of Jiannan and Xichuan. After that, Yimouxun despatched troops on many occasions to aid the Tang in retaking territory in Sichuan that had been occupied by Tubo.

[Yun]

I have Volume 32 of Bai Yang's translation of the Tongjian Jishi Benmo into simplified Chinese, which contains a detailed chapter on the 858-866 Nanzhao War. I'll be translating it into English a few lines a day, and hopefully WuTao will give his commentary along the way. Here goes!

858 AD: The Tang Protector-General of Annam, Li Zhuo 李涿, was corrupt and cruel, and forced the local aboriginal tribes to sell cattle and horses to him at prices that amounted to daylight robbery. One cow had to be sold for no more than one dou (2000 ml) of salt. Li also unjustly executed a local chieftain, Du Cuncheng 杜存诚. The local tribes were indignant and resentful, and invited Nanzhao troops to invade and pillage the border areas.

At the Linxi Plain 林西原 in Fengzhou 峰州 (northwest of Hanoi), there were originally stationed 6,000 Tang winter troops (because the cool winter season was the best time for an enemy to invade). Next to the Plain lived the savages of Qiwan (Seven Knots) Cave 七绾洞蛮, whose chieftain was Li Youdu 李由独. They often cooperated with the Tang troops to patrol the border and collect taxes. However, a certain advisor who claimed to know Fengzhou well now convinced Li Zhuo that the winter troops could be withdrawn and the border defence handed over to Li Youdu.

Li Youdu knew that his people were outnumbered and could not resist a invasion on their own. The Nanzhao Military Governor (jiedushi 节度使) of Tuodong 拓东 (based in Kunming, Yunnan) wrote a letter to Li, tempting him to defect to Nanzhao. He also arranged a marriage between his granddaughter and Li Youdu's son, and then appointed the son as a junior camp officer (yaya 押牙) in Tuodong. Li Youdu then led his tribe to pledge allegiance to Nanzhao. From then on, Annam lay open to a Nanzhao attack.

In July (6th lunar month) 858, at the height of summer, Nanzhao launched an invasion of Annam.

[Yun]

In August 858, Li Zhuo was replaced as Annam Protector-General by Li Hu 李鄠, but Li Hu angered the local tribes further by executing Du Cuncheng's son Du Shoucheng 杜守澄. The powerful Du clan and its allies then rallied the other tribes to attack the capital of Annam, Songping 宋平, in collaboration with Nanzhao.

Relations between Nanzhao and the Tang had also reached breaking point. From 785 to 805, Wei Gao 韦皋 had been Military Governor (Jiedushi 节度使) of Xichuan 西川 (based in Chengdu, present-day Sichuan), and had opened a road through the Qingxi Pass 清溪关 to allow the non-Han peoples of the southwest to travel to Chang'an through Xichuan and present tribute to the Tang emperor. In order to win over these southwestern peoples, Wei Gao also selected their brightest young men and had them brought to Chengdu, where they would receive a Han-style education and then be sent back to their countries. Batch after batch of these young men were educated over the period of 50 years, and could almost be counted in the thousands. But the Xichuan government began to find the expense of supporting these foreign students to be burdensome. Also, these 'barbarians' were mainly after the valuable gifts that they received as a reward for presenting 'tribute', and so their tribute missions became ever larger and more frequent. In 849, the then Military Governor of Xichuan, Du Cong 杜悰, requested to the imperial court that the number of foreign students taken in be reduced, and the emperor Li Chen 李忱 (Xuan1zong 宣宗) approved.

Quanfengyou 劝丰佑, the king of Nanzhao, was angered by this change in policy, and his regular embassy to present greetings to the Tang court in winter was ordered to show less respect to the Tang by simply handing its message to the government in Xizhou 巂州 (in Sichuan, on the border with Nanzhao) and then returning to Nanzhao. Quanfengyou also recalled all Nanzhao students in Xichuan with a letter to the Tang authorities in which he used impudent language. From then on, he no longer sent tribute missions to the Tang court, and began raiding the border.

In 859, both Tang Xuan1zong and Quanfengyou passed away. The Tang court sent eunuchs to inform the Nanzhao court of the emperor's death, but seemed not to know that Nanzhao was also in mourning for its king. Quanfengyou's son and heir Shilong 世隆 was displeased, saying, "We're having a funeral too, and the Tang sent no-one to express their condolences - instead, their edict regarding the Tang emperor's death is still addressed to our late king!" He thus had the Tang eunuchs housed in a lodging outside the walls of the capital, and treated them shabbily. The eunuchs reported this upon their return to Chang'an. The new Tang emperor, Li Cui 李凗 (Yizong 懿宗), felt that it was Nanzhao's fault for not sending an embassy to report Quanfengyou's death. He also decided it would be disrespectful to his ancestors to officially crown Shilong as the new king of Nanzhao, because the characters of Shilong's name violated the taboos against using the names of the Tang emperors Taizong (Li Shimin 李世民) and Xuan2zong (Li Longji 李隆基).

Shilong was furious about this, and rebelled against Tang authority, declaring himself an emperor with the reign title Jianji 建极 and renaming his kingdom Dali 大礼 (this may be the origin of the name of the later kingdom of Dali 大理 during the Five Dynasties and Song). Besides attacking Annam, he now sent his army into Guizhou 桂州 to take the city of Bozhou 播州 (present-day Zunyi 遵义).

[Note: This may be the only time in history when a war was started over a name. So strong was the taboo against Shilong's name that in the Xin Tang Shu 新唐书 and Zizhi Tongjian 资治通鉴, both written in the Song, his name was written as Qiulong 酋龙 because Tang record-keepers had simply changed the name to avoid violating the taboo. The Song historians thus thought that the problem had been that the 龙 in Qiulong sounded like the 隆 in Li Longji, but this does not make sense since the word 龙 was commonly used in place names and official titles in the Tang dynasty. It was only later, in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, that the original form of the name (and hence the real dispute between Tang and Nanzhao) was discovered and used in historical works, because the records of the Dali 大理 Kingdom (in which the name Shilong was preserved) were captured after its conquest by the Yuan.]

[wuTao]

Nan Zhao was concluded NOT to be of Thai origin.  It was commonly assume then since Nan Zhao could have a meaning (something prince) in the Thai family of language..but it was a mere coicidence.

Nan Zhao had a mixture of races for sure, but the two primary races that compose the population is the ancestors of today's Bai and Yi minority.  The same is applied to Da Li. 

Although Da Li was definitely led by the Bai ethnicity.. people was unsure about how the racial heirchy was in Nan Zhao.. some claimed it was ruled by Bai elite with a Yi majority, or vice versa.

At this time, the Thai speaking peoples (Tai, Zhuang, Lao, etc) was either in modern Guangxi to the east, or farther south (but still within boundaries of current day China).

The library here had an excellent book on it, but unfortunately is closed at the moment

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Cool... thanks for the info. This is off topic, but do you know when and if there's any specific reason for the migration of the Thai people south out of Guangxi into South East Asia?

[wuTao]

Thanks Yun for the translations... just what I was looking for. I hope you continue to translate what happens in the actual war in the 860's, and what happens in some of the major battles.

I did get lost, however, in that last part about the war over the change of a name. What was taboo - Shilong proclaiming himself emperor with the reign title Jianji? Why is it taboo?

Also, when did these "zhao's" emerge from in the first place? Were they the remenants of Bai Zi Guo, which was destroyed by the Tang as warhead has said? Were they, as Karakhan has said, founded by the Bai and Yi minorities?

[Yun]

I did get lost, however, in that last part about the war over the change of a name. What was taboo - Shilong proclaiming himself emperor with the reign title Jianji? Why is it taboo?

The taboo was against anyone in the empire using any character from the names of the previous emperors of the dynasties, especially in their own names. Shilong's name violated the taboos against Li Shimin's and Li Longji's names, so the Tang court refused to recognise him as a vassal ruler of the Tang until he changed his name.

[Yun]

The 858-866 Nanzhao War, continued... [all dates have been converted to Western calendar dates]

In October of 860, Protector-General Li Hu led an army north from Annam and recaptured Bozhou from the Nanzhao. But on 15 January 861, the local tribes of Annam took advantage of the army's absence to guide in a Nanzhao army of over 30,000, which attacked Songping (present-day Hanoi) and captured it. Li Hu, on returning from Guizhou, was cut off from his home base, and had to withdraw to Wu'an-zhou 武安州 (present-day Haiphong).

In February 861, Emperor Yizong ordered Yongzhou 邕州 (based in present-day Nanning, Guangxi province) and other nearby provinces to send troops to Annam for turning back the Nanzhao invasion.

On 21 July, Wang Kuan 王宽 the Defence Commissioner (Fangyushi 防御史) of Yanzhou 盐州 (based in Dingbian, present-day Shaanxi) was appointed as the Military Commissioner (Jinglueshi 经略史) of Annam.

By this time, Li Hu had raised a militia from the local tribes around Wu'an-zhou and counterattacked Songping, driving the Nanzhao invasion army out of Annam. But for his failure to defend Annam effectively, the imperial court demoted him to a Census Official (Sihu 司户) in Danzhou 儋州 (on Hainan island). Soon after, in order to appease the grievances of the local tribes over the execution of Du Cuncheng and Du Shoucheng by Li Zhuo and Li Hu, Du Cuncheng was given the posthumous rank of General of the Imperial Guards (Jinwu Jiangjun 金吾将军). Li Hu was declared guilty of killing Du Shoucheng unjustly, and was exiled for life to Yazhou 崖州 (also on Hainan).

Nanzhao had been pushed back from Annam, but next exploited a loophole in the defence of Yongzhou 邕州. Previously, the provinces of Lingnan 岭南 (based in Guangzhou), Guizhou 桂州 (based in present-day Guilin 桂林, Guanxi province), and Rongzhou 容州 (based in present-day Rong county in Guangxi province) had together contributed 3,000 soldiers for the defence of the border in Yongzhou. These soldiers would be rotated every 3 years. But the Military Commissioner of Yongzhou, Duan Wenchu 段文楚, proposed to the imperial court that the 3 provinces instead send the money needed for equipment and supplies to Yongzhou, and let the Yongzhou authorities raise the army themselves. This proposal was approved, but when the Yongzhou government tried to raise their own army, they were only able to get 500 men.

Later, Duan Wenchu was recalled to the capital to assume the post of General of the Imperial Guards, and his post was taken over by Li Meng 李蒙. Li Meng was corrupt and embezzled the money sent by the 3 provinces, disbanding all existing frontier troops except the recently-raised 500 men. These 500 men were stationed to guard the two upper branches of the Yong River, closest to the border with Nanzhao, but they were only a sixth of the original troop strength of 3,000.

Nanzhao attacked Yongzhou in August 861. By this time, Li Meng had passed away (the lucky B******!) and his successor Li Hongyuan 李弘源 had only been on the job for 10 days. The 500 men on the frontier were easily overwhelmed, and Yongzhou fell. Li Hongyuan fled to Luanzhou 峦州 (northeast of Yongzhou, across the Yong River), but the Nanzhao army withdrew about 20 or more days later after sacking Yongzhou, and Li returned to the city. The imperial court then had him demoted to a Census Official in Jianzhou 建州 (in present-day Fujian province). Duan Wenchu was now holding the post of Supervisor of the Imperial Guards (Dianzhong Jian 殿中监), and was reappointed to his old post as Yongzhou Military Commissioner, replacing Li Hongyuan (the imperial court hoped that Duan's experience would allow him to do a better job than Li Meng and Li Hongyuan). But when Duan reached Yongzhou, he found that out of the former population in and around the city, only 10% was left (the rest has been killed or captured by the Nanzhao army).

Du Zong 杜悰, the Military Governor of Sichuan, submitted a memorial saying: "Nanzhao has accepted the culture of the Central Plains for 70 years [since the treaty of 794], and in that time Sichuan (Bashu 巴蜀) has been at peace and the local barbarians have been obedient. Now, the troops and supplies in Sichuan are scarce, and we cannot easily defeat Nanzhao. It would be better to send an envoy to express our condolences on the death of their king, and tell their prime minister that the only reason we are unwilling to enfeoff their new king is because his name violates the taboo against the names of our late emperors. Once their king changes his name and submits a memorial to thank us for our mercy, we will send an ambassador to recognise his title and restore relations between the two countries." Emperor Yizong approved of this, and appointed Meng Mu 孟穆 as the envoy to send the condolences of the Tang court to Nanzhao. But before Meng could set out, Nanzhao attacked Xizhou 巂州 and the Qionglai Pass 邛崍关 (in Sichuan, on the route leading into Nanzhao), and the diplomatic mission was cancelled.

In March 862, Nanzhao again attacked Annam, and Military Commissioner Wang Kuan kept asking the imperial court for help. The court then sent the former Administrative Commissioner (Guanchashi 观察史) of Hunan 湖南, Cai Xi 蔡袭, to replace Wang Kuan. 30,000 troops were mobilised from 8 provinces and placed under Cai's command, and at the approach of this large force the Nanzhao army withdrew.

The Yongzhou Military Commissoner Duan Wenchu was charged with altering customary institutions (probably made a scapegoat for his disastrous reform of the Yongzhou defence system), demoted to a General of the Imperial Guards, and recalled to Luoyang.

The minister Cai Jing 蔡京 proposed splitting Lingnan province (which included Guangdong, Guangxi and Annam) into two for more efficient management of the frontier. The imperial court approved this, and in June 862 Lingnan was split into West Lingnan (Guangxi and Annam) and East Lingnan (Guangdong). The former Military Governor of Lingnan, Wei Zhou 韦宙, was retained as Military Governor of East Lingnan, while Cai Jing himself was made Military Governor of West Lingnan.

Cai Xi and his army of 30,000 in Annam aroused the jealousy of Cai Jing (he feared that Cai Xi would achieve a military victory and be promoted to replace him). So Cai Jing submitted a memorial saying: "The barbarians on the border have long retreated far away, and peace has been restored. But some generals are eager for prestige and have enlarged the border armies, wasting the supplies that are sent over long distances. It is only because the distance from the capital makes them hard to supervise that they have had their way. I request that the eight-province army be disbanded and sent back to its native provinces." The imperial court gave its approval.

Cai Xi submitted a memorial protesting this: "The southern barbarians are constantly eyeing our borders, and we cannot leave the border undefended. I request that at least 5,000 men be left behind." The imperial court ignored this. Cai Xi saw that the Nanzhao army would attack again, and that he had neither the troops nor the supplies to withstand them. He wrote a letter entitled "Ten Reasons Why I Am Sure to Die" (《十必死书》) and sent it to the State Secretariat (Zhongshu Sheng 中书省). But the State Secretary believed Cai Jing's words and ignored Cai Xi.

[Yun]

The new Military Governor of West Lingnan 岭南西道, Cai Jing 蔡京, was a sadist who liked to use the most cruel forms of torture and execution, including the 'baking pillar' (paoge 炮烙, now pronounced as paoluo) in which the victim is forced to hug a red-hot iron pillar. He quickly aroused the resentment of the people, and a mutiny by his own troops forced him out of the province. He fled to Tengzhou 藤州, on the border with East Lingnan, and forged an imperial edict and a seal with "Commander-in-chief of Rebel Suppression"inscribed on it. He then used the edict and the seal to recruit young men from the villages and mobilise the local militia. With this makeshift army, he attacked the mutineers in Yongzhou, but his inexperienced troops were defeated and scattered. Cai Jing then fled again, this time to Guizhou 桂州 province (north of West Lingnan). But the Guizhou people hated him too, and refused to let him in.

The imperial court punished Cai Jing for his misdeeds by banishing him to Yazhou (on Hainan island, where Li Hu has already been banished) as a Census Official. But Cai refused to go, and secretly headed north (hoping to appeal to the emperor). When he reached Lingling 零陵 (present-day Yongzhou 永州 in Hunan), an edict from the emperor arrived, ordering him to commit suicide. This time, he was not given the chance to refuse. After his death, he was replaced as Military Governor of West Lingnan by Zheng Yu 郑愚, the Administrative Commissioner of Guizhou.

In November-December 862, Nanzhao launched another attack on Annam with 50,000 men. The Military Commissioner-cum-Protector General, Cai Xi 蔡袭, appealed urgently to the imperial court for reinforcements, because his 30,000-man army had been disbanded on Cai Jing's recommendation. The court mobilised 2,000 men each from Jingnan 荆南 and Hunan 湖南 provinces, and also 3,000 volunteer militiamen from Guizhou, to assemble at Yongzhou under the command of Zheng Yu (a total of only 7,000 men!).

Wei Zhou 韦宙, the Military Governor of East Lingnan 岭南东道, submitted a memorial to caution against sending the reinforcements into Annam, saying: "The barbarians are sure to attack Yongzhou as well, and if we fail to defend Yongzhou and instead send our troops into Annam, they will cut off our retreat and supply lines." The court therefore ordered Cai Xi to withdraw from Songping (Hanoi) to Haimen fort 海门镇 (present-day Haiphong city), while Zheng Yu stood in readiness at Yongzhou. But Cai Xi was already besieged within Songping, and had no way of getting to Haimen.

In late December, Cai Xi again appealed for reinforcements, and the court sent 1,000 archers from East Shan'nan 山南东道 (based in Xiangyang 襄阳). But these archers could not enter the city, because it was totally surrounded by Nanzhao troops.

On 29 January 863, Songping fell to the besieging Nanzhao troops, and Cai Xi's staff were almost all killed in battle. The Superintendent Eunuch (jianjun 监军, a eunuch assigned to every local commander to monitor his actions) escaped on a ship down the Red River, and Cai Xi also fought his way to the river despite being pierced by ten arrows along the way. But when he reached the river, pursued by Nanzhao troops, the eunuch's ship had already left. He tried to swim out to catch up with the ship, but drowned. Cai Xi's staff officer Fan Chuo 樊绰 managed to swim across the river and escape with the Protector-General's official seal.

400 of the soldiers from Songping (those of the original 30,000 who had remained in Annam) managed to fight their way out and reached the sea coast on the east. One of their officers, Yuan Weide 元惟德, told them: "We have no boats, and once the enemy catches up with us, we can only drown. Why not counterattack the city and fight it out with the barbarians. Each of us will take two of them with him, and that way we won't have died for nothing!" They turned around and returned to Songping, charging through the eastern gate. The Nanzhao soldiers were caught totally unprepared, and Yuan Weide's 400 killed over 2,000 of them (each man killing an average of 5). But when night fell, the Nanzhao general Yang Sijin 杨思缙 led reinforcements to Songping from the nearby citadel (zicheng 子城), and Yuan Weide's men were all killed.

Within slightly more than two years, Nanzhao had captured Annam twice, and nearly 150,000 people had gone missing (killed or captured). This time, 20,000 Nanzhao troops stayed to garrison Songping under the command of Yang Sijin. The local tribes in the nearby mountains and caves all surrendered to Nanzhao.

[Yun]

Also, one of my favorite accounts of a battle during the war according to the book is when, in 863, La-thanh fell to Nanchao after a seige of 24 days. Ts'ai Hsi, the military governor of Annam, tried to escape across the Hong River, with a rear guard of 400 men protecting him. Ts'ai Hsi is wounded by an arrow and drowns when his boat capsizes. When the rear guard of four hundred reach the river, all the boats are gone. The commanding officer rouses his men to the glory of their hopeless situation, and they fight their way back to the citadel, killing two thousand before finally succumbing to the enemy. Anyone know this brave commanders name? I've read that very few instances in Chinese history is it recorded where the Chinese win a victory through sheer fighting prowess, brute strength, and force of will (most Chinese victories recorded are through brilliant tatics and clever strategems)... I guess this is one instance of a Chinese unit fighting to the death, killing many enemies under inspired leadership and brute fighting prowess! 

Well WuTao, I've finally gotten to this part of the story in the previous post. Now you know the commander's name was Yuan Weide. There's a slight deviation from the account in your book (the 400 are said to have reached the sea rather than the river), but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless!