Early Interactions of the Chinese Central Plain With the Southern Yue (770 B.C-220 A.D)
Picture Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nam-Viet_200bc.jpg
To kick off this tumblr blog, the first entry will reveal to us an interesting albeit limited perspective on the Han people in the early ancient time in China and their interactions with the Southern people, generically referred to by the time as Yue (Việt). This Han-Yue study has been at the center of cross-ethnic and cultural studies in the context of Sino-Viet relationship for a long time. This branch of research is highly appealing because it revealed a great deal about the long-standing dynamism occurring across the border of two neighbored nations, Vietnam and China and consequently held important genealogical implications if the studies produce fruitful outcomes. In addition, it contributes positively to the studies of the emergence of nationalism, nation-state conceptualization, interregional conflicts and opens up a wide ranges of opportunities for genealogical studies in this contemporary era. However, the reality is that Han-Yue study remained a highly complex discourse, in which a plethora of historical resources no longer existed, and the insufficiency of information due to lack of historical records prevented scholars from acquiring a full-fledged picture of this history. The study posted here today is an attempt to recapture a brief period of Han-Yue interaction, investigate the notion of Yue ( as a culture or ethnographic term?), and challenge the argument in favor of the submissive nature of Yue Guo (越国）when faced its more civilized Northern counterpart.
Some terminologies: 越国（Việt Quốc), 南越（Nam Việt), 趙佗（Triệu Đà), 秦始皇（Tần Thủy Hoàng)
For my full research, click on this link: http://db.tt/que14yoT
More published research on this topic, see:
Brindley, Erica, “Barbarians or Not? Ethnicity and Changing Conceptions of the Ancient Yue (Viet) Peoples, ca. 400- 50 BC”,Article Link: http://www.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/~asiamajor/pdf/2003a/03%20brindley.pdf
Brindley, Erica, “Presentations and Uses of Yue Identity Along The Southern Frontier of the Han, CA. 200-111 B.C.E.”, Annual Journal of the Society for the Study of Early China, Volume 33-34, 2010-2011, University of California Press, Berkeley, California
Falkenhausen, Von Lothar, “The Waning of the Bronze Age: Material Culture and Social Developments, 770-481 B.C” in Loewe and Shaughnessy, Cambridge History, p. 526
Lary, Diana, “The tomb of the King of Nanyue- the Contemporary Agenda of History: Scholarship and Identity”, Modern China, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Jan., 1996), pp. 3-27
Have fun reading !
