Ziqi was founded, on Wikipedia's account, in 1100 by the Wuman (Black Mywa, the Nasu-speaking ancestors of the Yi), who had been one of thirty-seven Wuman tribes of eastern Yunnan; after Nanzhao fell in 937 several of the tribes moved east and Ziqi became the strongest of the small kingdoms between Yunnan and the Red River.
It lies on parts of modern Guizhou, Guangxi and Yunnan. When the Jurchen attacked the north the Song needed war horses and Ziqi became an important supplier, bringing horses down the road to the Song market every year; a Song briefing says its power had recently grown and that it stood alone as the strongest of the southern peoples. Under Axie, Wikipedia says, Ziqi beat Dali, Luodian and Annam (Dai Viet) in a series of battles.
The text that reports those victories, Zhou Qufei's Lingwai daida, is dated 1178, so they happened before 1178 and the page does not date them: we do not take them to be recent in 1200. The Mongol conquest of 1259 is far off.
Who he is
- Name
- Axie
- Title
- King of Ziqi (Ziqi guo)
- Since
- 1176 (Wikipedia's list of the kings of Ziqi)
- Born
- not known
- Family
- Wikipedia's list: Ziqi (1100 to 1136), Awei (1136 to 1158), the regent Asi (1158 to 1162), then no names until Axie (1176 to 1205), Amo (1205 to 1240) and Naju (1240 to 1259)
- Confidence
- low
The list is a modern reconstruction (Wikipedia, "Ziqi (kingdom)") that we could not trace to a Song source; the Song sources we could see name the polity and its power but not its king in 1200.
Overlord
None; a tributary of the Song in name
What it holds
- The south-western plateau of Guizhou with parts of north-western Guangxi and eastern Yunnan (the Yunnan portion lies outside this sheet)
- The horse road to Hengshan and the horses driven down it
- Tribute and dues from the lesser Yi chiefs of its range
How it was acquired
By the Wuman migration and the founding of 1100 (Wikipedia).
Allies and rivals
Rivals: Dali (for the horse trade), Luodian (neighbour and rival), Dai Viet (battles). Partner: the Song, as a tributary and the seller of horses.
How things stand that morning
Probably the leading power of the plateau, on the evidence of 1178. Whether the pre-1178 victories still decide the balance in 1200 is not known. No campaign is dated for the winter of 1199-1200. Across the Yunnan border to the west the ground is the Dali kingdom's (msa's sheet), and Wikipedia puts Ziqi's own capital there.
Wealth
Horses above all; salt, silk and silver bought at Hengshan.
Military
Mounted retinues. No figures: the Song account of heavy Mongol losses in 1253 to 1259 is far later.
Threats
- Dali's competition for the horse market
- Luodian
- The Song tightening the market
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.
- 1205Axie is succeeded by Amo (Wikipedia's list).Depends on: The reconstructed king list being right Stopped by: Any different reign lengths; low confidence
Where the sources disagree
- Board "ziqi" places the kingdom at Xingyi (25.1, 104.9). Wikipedia gives the capital as Jilu, near Luxi, in Yunnan, which is not this sheet's ground. The seat marker follows the campaign board; the polygon covers the Guizhou and Guangxi side only.
- Board: "grown rich since the 1130s selling horses at Hengshan and fighting Dali for the trade": the 1130s fit Wikipedia's account (the Jurchen wars); the war with Dali is undated.
Evidence: Song sources name the polity; the king list and founding date are modern reconstruction; the holder in 1200 is only the list's name.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
On the map: A zone drawn round the Xingyi country; the real extent shifted and ran into Yunnan.
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
- Wikipedia, "Ziqi (kingdom)"
- Zhou Qufei, Lingwai daida (1178), described in Wikipedia, "Lingwai Daida"
- Wikipedia, "Timeline of Yunnan-Guizhou"
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.