The Man (Yi-speaking Wuman) chiefs south of the Dadu, round Yuexi and the Qiongbu valley, who control the road from Lizhou through Qingxi pass to Jianchang and Dali.
They sell horses and salt-dealing services to the Song, receive titles from the Song court and tribute-gifts from both sides, and guard the road against anyone who does not pay.
Who he is
- Title
- Chief of the Qiongbu valley (titled by the Song 'commander of the Qiongbu valley'; the exact title not re-checked)
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
No chief is named in any source we have; the Songshi lists the Qiongbu Man among the peoples of Lizhou (recalled).
Overlord
The Song give titles and trade; Dali's Jianchang lies to the south. The chief holds of neither.
What it holds
- The Qiongbu valley and Yuexi
- The road between Qingxi pass and Jianchang
How it was acquired
Hereditary clan chiefs.
Allies and rivals
Between the Song at Lizhou and Dali's Jianchang fu.
How things stand that morning
No revolt or war is known for the winter. The Song keep the Dadu road closed to Dali envoys and open to trade through the chief.
Wealth
Road tolls, herds, salt and horse dealing.
Military
Clan fighters; no numbers.
Threats
- A Song-Dali quarrel closing the road.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The Songshi's Manyi chapters (recalled, not re-read) name the Qiang, Tibetan and Man groups of the Sichuan edge, but no chief of 1200 is known to me. The record says what kind of power it is and where, and nothing more. The name Qiongbu is from the Song record; the exact titles and the 1200 chief are not known.
On the map: The block is a guess from the later Yi country; the Song knew it as a set of valleys.
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 496-497 (Manyi 4-5), the Lizhou, Yazhou, Maozhou, Weizhou and Luzhou peoples: recalled, NOT re-read
- OMNIA board, notes_scc.txt (a lead, not a source)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.