Minyue

Minyue
334 BC–111 BC
Status Kingdom
Capital Ye (冶, modern Wuyishan)
later Dongye (東冶, modern Fuzhou)
Government Monarchy
King  
• 202 – 192 BC
Wuzhu (無諸)
• ? – 135 BC
Ying (郢)
• 135 – 120 BC
Chou (丑)
• 135 – 111 BC
Yushan (餘善)
• 120 – 110 BC
Jugu (居股)
History  
• Established
334 BC
• 
334 BC
• 
111 BC
• Defeated and annexed by the Han dynasty
111 BC
Preceded by		Succeeded by
State of Yue
Warring States period
Han dynasty
Minyue
Traditional Chinese 閩越
Simplified Chinese 闽越

Minyue (Chinese: 閩越) was an ancient kingdom in what is now 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. Its inhabitants were groups of indigenous non-Chinese tribes called the Baiyue. The kingdom survived roughly from 334–110 BC.

History

According to the Shiji, the founders were members of the Yue royal family who fled after that state was defeated by Chu and Qi in 334 BC. An ancient stone city located in the inner mountains of Fujian is said to have been the Minyue capital. The nearby tombs show the same funerary tradition as Yue state tombs in Zhejiang Province. Hence, it is concluded that the city was a Minyue center.

Wars with the Han dynasty and Nanyue

Minyue was partially conquered by the Han dynasty by the end of the 2nd century BC during the Han campaigns against Minyue. However its position (being closed off by mountains) made it almost impossible for the Han dynasty to establish a strong grip over this area. Minyue was annexed by Nanyue under Zhao Tuo and submitted to Nanyue rule from 183–135 BC, and was finally conquered by the Han dynasty in 110 BC.

Culture

The ancient Baiyue of Fujian had customs similar to those of some of the Taiwanese aborigines, such as snake totemism, short hair-style, tattooing, teeth pulling, pile-dwellings, cliff burials, and uxorilocal post-marital residences. It is possible that the ancient Taiwan aborigines were related to the Baiyue culture, derived in ancient times from the southeast coast of Mainland China, as suggested by linguists Li Jen-Kuei and Robert Blust. It is suggested that in the southeast coastal regions of China, there were many sea nomads during the Neolithic era and they may have spoken ancestral Austronesian languages, and were skilled seafarers.[1] In fact, there is evidence that an Austronesian language was still spoken in Fujian as late as 620 AD.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Chen, Jonas Chung-yu (24 January 2008). "[ARCHAEOLOGY IN CHINA AND TAIWAN] Sea nomads in prehistory on the southeast coast of China". Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association. 22 (0). doi:10.7152/bippa.v22i0.11805.
  2. ↑ Goodenough, Ward H. (1996). Prehistoric Settlement of the Pacific. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society. p. 43. ISBN 087169865X. OL 1021882M.

Further reading

  • Wylie, A. (1880). "History of the South-Western Barbarians and Chaou-Seen. Translated from the "Tseen Han Shoo," Book 95". The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 9: 78. doi:10.2307/2841871. JSTOR 2841871. OCLC 5545526568.

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