The Dan live on boats in the estuaries from the Min to the Gulf of Tonkin as fishers, oyster-gatherers, divers and boatmen.
In the twelfth century the Dan of Qinzhou are divided into fish-Dan, oyster-Dan and wood-Dan (Wikipedia, "Boat Dwellers"); the Dan of Hepu dive the pearls; boat-people of Lantau resist the salt law, and the Dan of southern Fujian are registered as "barbarian households" (undated). They are drawn only at a few anchorages where the evidence puts them. They answer to boat-elders and the Song reaches them through fishing dues and licences.
Who holds it
- Title
- Boat elders
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Confidence
- low
No source available to me names the holder in the winter of 1199-1200.
Overlord
None in law; fishing dues
How things stand that morning
No rising dated for the winter; the Lantau salt rising was in 1197.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Wikipedia, "Boat Dwellers", with general knowledge.
On the map: Spots only; the people are scattered along every coast.
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia, "Boat Dwellers"
- Hong Kong history text on the Song salt fields, Dayushan (Lantau) and Tuen Mun (Joint Publishing HK, ISBN 9789620448010, section on the Song Guanfu salt field)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.