The smaller cave chiefs of the Man districts above Yuanling, Luxi and Zhijiang, who hold their villages by Song titles and sell cinnabar, timber and cloth at the Chenzhou and Yuanzhou markets.
The Song's own lists name such families as Peng, Tian, Xiang and Yang; which held which cave in 1200 is not pinned.
Who he is
- Title
- Cave chiefs (dongzhu), not named
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Confidence
- low
No names for 1200.
Overlord
The prefects of Chenzhou and Yuanzhou.
What it holds
- Cave villages above the Yuan and Wu rivers
How it was acquired
Hereditary.
Allies and rivals
The Peng of Xizhou to the north; the Yang of Jingzhou to the south.
How things stand that morning
Quiet; no dated rising.
Wealth
Cinnabar, timber, cloth.
Military
Village levies; no numbers.
Threats
- Feuds
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Evidence is thin and later than 1200 for almost everything here. The Song histories file these peoples under the Man chapters (Songshi juan 493 and 494), which we could not open in this pass; what follows is the general picture those chapters, Zhou Qufei and Fan Chengda give for the twelfth century, recalled, plus Laosicheng archaeology for the Peng seat. No chief is named for 1 January 1200.
On the map: Rough.
Primary sources for Chiefs of the south-west
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.
- History of the Song, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office (1343 to 1345, from the Song veritable records, state histories and the Huiyao). The official history of the Southern Song, which ruled from Lin'an (Hangzhou) in 1200. Read online
- History of the Song, the chapters on Xia and on foreign states, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office (1343 to 1345). The Song court's accounts of its neighbours, each arranged as an annal of embassies and wars. Read online
- Draft Compilation of the Collected Statutes of the Song, Various; the Song huiyao were compiled by the Song state, the surviving draft reassembled by Xu Song from the Yongle dadian in the nineteenth century (the original Song compilations date from the eleventh to the thirteenth century; the surviving extracts were recovered in 1809 to 1820 and printed in 1936). Dated extracts from the Song government's own statute collections, arranged by office. Read online
- Miscellaneous Notes on Court and Country since the Jianyan Era, Li Xinchuan (李心傳) (first series 1202, second series 1216). A contemporary handbook of the Southern Song state, written in Sichuan by the historian Li Xinchuan and finished in its first part in 1202, two years after the start of 1200. Read online
- Notes in Answer to Questions about the Lands beyond the Passes, Zhou Qufei (周去非) (1178, after service in Guangxi). A Guangxi official's notes, written twenty years before 1200, on the south-western frontier of the Song and the countries beyond. Read online
Sources and studies
- Songshi juan 493 and 494 (Manyi): the south-western stream-cave peoples (zh.wikisource) - not opened in this pass; cited as where the matter is settled
- Background knowledge of Southern Song administration and the middle Yangtze (Cambridge History of China vol. 5 part 2; Hymes; Clark; Von Glahn; Bol; the travel diaries of Lu You, 1170, and Fan Chengda, 1177), recalled and not re-read in this pass
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.