via Sixth Tone, 13 May 2023: Historian Yang Bin discusses the romanticized perception of Yunnan as a picturesque paradise, the reality of its poverty, and the importance of studying its diverse history, including the Sinicized Dali kingdom and its connections with Southeast Asia, to understand the region’s cultural dynamics and its transformation into a province of China under the Ming dynasty.
Sixth Tone: Yunnan has a long history, from the ancient Dian kingdom (278 B.C.-109 B.C.) and the Nanzhao kingdom (A.D. 738-902) to eventually becoming a part of China. But much of early Yunnan history is overlooked in China. What period of Yunnan’s past do you wish more people would study?
Yang: I’d probably say the Dali kingdom (937-1253) period. Its duration was equivalent to the two Song dynasties (960-1279), and it ruled over much of present-day Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, as well as parts of what is today the “Golden Triangle” where Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet.
The Dali kingdom was fascinating. On the one hand, it was highly Sinicized. The country’s official religion was Chinese Buddhism, and its elites used Chinese characters and adopted China’s political system. On the other hand, there were few political contacts between the Dali kingdom and the Song dynasty. In fact, the Song deliberately adopted an attitude of isolation from Dali, and even refused the kingdom’s request to become a Song tributary. In the entire “History of Song,” the official dynastic history compiled in the 14th century, only around 600 words deal with Dali. It’s just incredible.
Source: The Making of Yunnan
