The Song's tea and horse system dates from 1074: the state buys the tea of Yazhou and other prefectures and sells it on permits to merchants and, against horses, to the tribes.
The agents sit at Yazhou, Lizhou and, for the north-west army, Xihe and Danchang (South China sheet). All of that is South China ground. What lies on this sheet is the tribal side: the Tibetan, Minyak and Qiang chiefs of the Dadu and Qingyi headwaters who bring horses down and carry tea up. The tea road to Kangding and Lhasa is mostly a Ming and Qing story (Wikipedia, Tea Horse Road: Kangding's market is placed under Ming and Qing control).
In 1200 the tribes come down to Yazhou and Lizhou; the Song do not go up to Dartsedo. Luding, where the Yazhou road meets the Dadu river, is shown as a crossing, not as a post (the iron-chain bridge is of 1706, recalled).
Who he is
- Title
- Commissioner of tea and horse (dudai tiju chama) at Chengdu, with the agents at Yazhou, Lizhou and Xihe
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
No holder found for 1200 (South China sheet, Tea and horse office). The offices lie on that sheet's ground.
Overlord
The Southern Song court through the Sichuan commissioners.
What it holds
- The permit and price system for tea sold to the tribes (general)
- The right to buy horses for the Xingzhou and other Sichuan armies, on a fixed quota (South China sheet)
How it was acquired
The system dates from 1074.
Allies and rivals
The Tibetan, Minyak and Qiang chiefs who trade; the tea growers; the armies that want horses.
How things stand that morning
Running; 1200 prices and holder not known.
Wealth
Tea monopoly revenue; no figures.
Places of note
- Luding, the Dadu crossing: Where the road from Yazhou meets the river; a ferry or rope crossing in 1200 (not pinned).
- Kangding (Dartsedo): The meeting ground of the tea road and the Tibetan tribes; not yet a market town.
Where the sources disagree
- The assignment lists 'Yazhou's frontier' and 'the passes and markets of the tea and horse trade'. The markets themselves lie on the South China sheet's ground (Yazhou, Tianquan, Hanyuan, Danchang); we write the crossing at Luding and the tribal side.
Evidence: System from the South China sheet and Wikipedia (Tea Horse Road); nothing specific to 1200.
On the map: Points only: the Song hold nothing on this sheet's ground along this road.
Primary sources for Southern Song
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.
- Continuation of the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government, Bi Yuan (畢沅), completed by Feng Jiwu after his death (late eighteenth century, finished after 1801, from Song and Yuan sources). A Qing scholar's continuous month-by-month chronicle of the Song and Yuan centuries, compiled from the Song shi, the Liao, Jin and Yuan histories, Li Tao, Li Xinchuan and other Song sources. Read online
- Outline and Details of Two Reigns (thirteenth century, after 1224). A Song outline-and-detail chronicle of exactly the two reigns around 1200, drawn from the court's daily records. Read online
- Annals of the Western Xia, Wu Guangcheng (吳廣成) (1825 to 1827, compiled from Song, Liao, Jin and Yuan sources). A Qing scholar's year-by-year reconstruction of Tangut history from the Chinese histories, since the Xia left no surviving annals of their own in Chinese. Read online
- 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 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
- History of the Jin, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office, with Ouyang Xuan among the chief compilers (1343 to 1344, from the Jin veritable records and the Jin national history). The official history of the Jurchen empire that ruled north China and Manchuria 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
- Record of the Great Jin State, Attributed to Yuwen Maozhao (宇文懋昭); the attribution is doubtful (preface dated 1234; probably assembled in the Southern Song from Song and Jin material, with later accretions). A Song-side history of the Jin, with annals for each emperor and chapters on institutions, customs, the capitals and the Jurchen way of life. Read online
12 more in the sources library for South China.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.