Country, circuit or people · The kingdom of Dali · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Heyang jun

Heyang is the commandery at modern Chengjiang on the Fuxian lake south of the Dian plain.

The lists put a Luojia bu at Chengjiang, a Buxiong bu at Jiangchuan and a Ning bu at Huaning round the same lake. The eight fu, four jun, four zhen and thirty-seven bu are the structure that Yuan and Ming writers give the kingdom (the Yuan Yunnan zhilue and Dili zhi; Yang Shen's Dian zai ji, Ming; repeated by the Chinese Wikipedia, 大理国). No contemporary Dali document lists them, and we found no governor named for 1200.

Who holds it

Title
Commander of Heyang jun, a Dali officer; not named
Since
not pinned
Born
not known
Family
not known
Confidence
low

No source we read names the holder for 1 January 1200.

Overlord

The Gao chancellor.

How things stand that morning

No event dated.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

  1. 1253 to 1254The Mongol army under Kublai and Uriyangqadai comes over the Jinsha and takes Dali; Duan Xingzhi is captured at Shanchan (the Chinese Wikipedia gives 1252, 1253 or 2 January 1254 in different places). The Yuan then reorganise the country into routes and prefectures in the 1270s.Depends on: A Mongol decision to attack Dali by the western road, which needs Mongke's accession (1251) and a campaign in Sichuan first; the Song staying shut behind the Dadu. Stopped by: A Song-Mongol settlement in the 1240s, or a Dali submission before the Jinsha is crossed; none of it is in play in January 1200.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The name and the place.

On the map: Drawn from modern counties that the Chinese Wikipedia equates with the unit; the lists give a place, not a boundary, and the real extent in 1200 is not known.

Primary sources for Dali

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

Sources and studies

  1. Chinese Wikipedia, 大理国 (read this session: the eight fu, four jun, four zhen and thirty-seven bu; it cites Yang Shen's Dian zai ji, Wang Song's Yunnan beizhengzhi, Ni Lu's Nanzhao yeshi, the Baigu tongji qianshu)
  2. Yuanshi (History of Yuan), Dili zhi on Yunnan, and Li Jingyuan, Yunnan zhilue (1331): the Yuan sources of the Dali structure lists; recalled through the Chinese Wikipedia, NOT re-read
  3. Wikipedia, Dali Kingdom (read this session)
  4. OMNIA board, notes_msy.txt and places_msy.tsv (a lead, not a source)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.