The Nong are the Zhuang house that made and lost a kingdom: Nong Quanfu declared the Kingdom of Longevity in 1035, Dai Viet killed him in 1039, his son Nong Zhigao rose again in 1041, proclaimed kingdoms in 1042, 1048 and 1052, took Yongzhou in 1052, besieged Guangzhou for fifty-seven days and was beaten by Di Qing in early 1054 (Wikipedia, "Nong Zhigao").
The page attributes his defeat partly to the failure of the Huang and Cen clans to support him. After him some Nong came into Song service (Nong Zongdan 1057 and 1062; Nong Zhihui, title 1062) and the Nong leader Nong Zhichun (Nung Tri Xuan in Vietnamese) was executed by the Song in 1079, soon after the war ended. In 1200 the Nong survive as border families on both sides of the line.
Nong Zhigao is venerated at temples in Cao Bang province, Vietnam (five were active into the twentieth century), and a spirit temple at Du-zhun village in Guangxi is recorded as late as the eighteenth century: that is evidence of memory, not a thing dated to 1200.
Who he is
- Title
- Heads of the Nong families of the border dong
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Confidence
- low
No Nong chief is named for 1200. Nong Zhigao (born 1025, a rebel who fought the Song and Dai Viet, defeated in early 1054 by Di Qing) is dead; his death date is unknown, with accounts that he was executed by Dali or fled to northern Thailand.
Overlord
The Song through the Yongzhou command; Dai Viet across the border
What it holds
- Border dong in the Jingxi and Daxin country (the extent is not known)
How it was acquired
By descent.
Allies and rivals
Enemies of the Cen and Huang since the 1050s; clients of Dai Viet on the far side.
How things stand that morning
Quiet; the memory of the rising keeps the Song suspicious.
Places of note
- Jingxi, the Nong country on the Guangxi side: A marker
Where the sources disagree
- Guangyuan (Quang Nguyen) is in Vietnam and belongs to the msa sheet; only the Guangxi side is written here.
Evidence: The Nong rising is well documented in Wikipedia's article; the families of 1200 are inferred.
On the map: A marker only.
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, "Nong Zhigao"
- Wikipedia, "Zhuang people" (Song-period section)
- Wikipedia, "Song-Dai Viet war" (aftermath, 1082-1084 border settlement)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.