Sipsong Panna ("twelve panna", each a district of rice fields) is the country of the Tai Lue on the Lancang (Mekong): warm flat basins (bazi) that grow wet rice, with tea in the hills and a great deal more food in them than in the hills round about (the campaign board).
Chiang Rung (Jinghong) is the seat; Muang Hai and Muang La are the two other principal basins in the tradition. The Le Shi dates the line to 1180; every account is later than 1200. Customs and assemblies: the Dai tradition posts the founder's sons and kin to the basins; the hill peoples (Blang, Hani, Wa, Jinuo, Yi and others) pay customary dues, not recorded for 1200.
Who holds it
- Title
- The lord of Chiang Rung (zhao pianling)
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- See the Chiang Rung lord record.
- Confidence
- low
Overlord
Dali (nominal, by the campaign board and Dai tradition; not shown by a document)
What it holds
- The basin muang of the Lancang and its tributaries
- Tolls on the river and the caravan roads
- Customary dues from the hills (not recorded for 1200)
How it was acquired
By the Le Shi, 1180 (late chronicle).
Allies and rivals
Dali north (tribute or independence: disputed); Ngoenyang and Kengtung west; the Lao muang of the Nam Ou south-east (Khmer and Lao).
How things stand that morning
A Tai Lue state about twenty years old by its own chronicle.
Wealth
Rice, tea, tolls.
Military
Not recorded.
Threats
- Dali pressing or weak
- Hill raiding
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.
- 1296The Yuan set up the Cheli superintendency.Depends on: Yuan arms reaching the Lancang. Stopped by: Revolt or a counterweight from Pagan or Lan Na.
Where the sources disagree
- Drawn on today's Xishuangbanna (three county units: Jinghong, Menghai, Mengla) as a ceiling; the hills between the basins belonged to the hill peoples.
Evidence: The Le Shi (Ming-period compilation) via the Chinese Wikipedia; no dated notice before the Yuan.
On the map: Today's prefecture as a proxy; the chronicle gives no boundary.
Primary sources for Chiang Rung
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.
- The later Tai, Lao and Mon chronicles of the north, Ratanapanna (Jinakalamali); Bodhiramsi (Chamadevivamsa); anonymous monks and court scribes (the Chamadevivamsa about 1410; the Jinakalamali 1516 to 1528; the Chiang Mai Chronicle in its surviving form 1827; the Nithan Khun Borom 16th to 17th century). There is no text of 1200 for the Mon kingdom of Haripunjaya, the Tai muang of Ngoenyang (Chiang Saen), Chiang Rung, the Yom and Nan valleys, or the Lao middle Mekong.
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia, Sipsong Panna
- Chinese Wikipedia, Zhao Pianling (list of the lords of Chiang Rung from the Le Shi)
- Chinese Wikipedia, Le Shi (the Dai chronicle, Ming period, covering 1180 to 1945)
- Chinese Wikipedia, Jinghong city (history: Jinglong kingdom, Yuan 1296)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.