Naxi chiefs

Who he is

Title

Chiefs of the Naxi and Mosuo

Since

not known

Born

not known

Family

not known; the later Mu house of Lijiang is a Yuan creation

Confidence

low

English Wikipedia (Naxi people).

Overlord

Dali, by title (loose rein); the Tibetans of Gyalthang lie across the northern edge

What it holds

• The Lijiang basin and Baisha
• The Jinsha first bend at Shigu
• Weixi and the Lancang headwaters (Weixi is at 27.18 N, south of the Tibet map's line)
• The Ninglang uplands and Lugu lake (Mosuo)

Allies and rivals

Dali's Moutong fu to the south; the Tibetan villages of Gyalthang and Dechen to the north (Tibet map record Gyalthang, Dechen).

How things stand that morning

Self-governing under nominal Dali overlordship; no event dated.

Wealth

Herds, rice on the Lijiang basin, the caravan road between Dali and Tibet, salt and the gold of the Jinsha.

Military

Chiefs' retainers; no figure.

Threats

• Tibetan pressure from the north is not recorded for these years

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. 1278The Yuan found Lijiang prefecture and make a chieftain called Mude its hereditary chief (English Wikipedia, Naxi people).Depends on: The Mongol conquest of Dali (1253 to 1254). Stopped by: No Mongol conquest.

Places of note

• Lijiang (Dayan): Lijiang.
• Baisha: Baisha, the old Naxi centre.
• Shigu (Jinsha bend): Shigu, the Jinsha bend.
• Weixi: Weixi.

Where the sources disagree

• Board 'lijiang-mosuo' says 'Mosuo and Naxi' and 'contested'. We treat Lijiang as Dali's by title (the Tibet map anchors it so, firm) and the chiefs as self-governing; 'contested' is not shown by any source.

Evidence: The Naxi article's general statements; no chief and no event for 1200.

On the map: Drawn as claimed ground: Dali's reach is a title.

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.

• The Complete Annals of Dai Viet, Ngo Si Lien, drawing on Le Van Huu's Dai Viet su ky (1272) and Phan Phu Tien; continued by Pham Cong Tru and Le Hi (1479; printed 1697 in the standard Chinh Hoa edition). The main narrative source for Dai Viet in 1200, compiled in 1479 from Le Van Huu's lost history of 1272. Read online
• History of Song, chapters 488 and 489: Jiaozhi, Dali, Champa, Zhenla, Pagan, Srivijaya, Java, Brunei, Chola and Tambralinga, Toqto'a (Tuotuo) and the Yuan history office, from the Song court records (1343 to 1345, from Song veritable records and court diaries). The Chinese court's record of its southern neighbours, compiled from Song archives. Read online
• The Unofficial History of Nanzhao, Yang Shen; revised by Hu Wei (16th century, revised 1775, from Dali and Yunnan traditions and lost local histories). The kingdom of Dali has no surviving text of 1200: its own records were destroyed in the Mongol conquest and after, and the Song shi's Dali entry ends in 1175. 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
• 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