The prefecture of Bozhou, centred on Zunyi, was conquered from Nanzhao and has been held by the Yang family since the Tang.
Wikipedia's table gives the line from Yang Guiqian (to 1052) through Yang Guangzhen, Yang Wenguang, Yang Weicong (to 1125) and Yang Xuan (1125 to 1155) to his sons Yang Zhen and Yang Shi, then Yang Can (1201 to 1233), Yang Jie (1233 to 1243) and Yang Wen (1243 to 1265). The Song treats Bozhou as one of its jimi prefectures: the Yang accept a title and a seal, rule their people by custom and send tribute, and the Song does not tax or garrison the land. The campaign board calls the Yang "Song in name, Yang in fact, and steady for the dynasty", which fits.
The great fortress of Hailongtun is built only in 1257.
Who he is
- Name
- Yang Zhen, with his brother Yang Shi as co-ruler
- Title
- Hereditary chief of Bozhou (Bozhou tusi in later usage; here, the Yang chief of the jimi prefecture of Bozhou)
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Family
- Sons of Yang Xuan (reigned 1125 to 1155); their successor Yang Can (from 1201) is the adoptive son of Yang Zhen and the son of Yang Shi
- Confidence
- low
Wikipedia's chieftain table for Bozhou lists Yang Zhen (no. 12) and Yang Shi as co-ruler, with no dates for either; Yang Can follows from 1201. The brothers' reign, if the table is right, covers the winter of 1199-1200; neither date nor titles are given.
Overlord
The Song court through the Kuizhou circuit (a jimi prefecture)
What it holds
- The prefecture of Bozhou round Zunyi
- The road from Sichuan (Luzhou, Kuizhou) into the plateau
How it was acquired
By descent; the Tang recognition of 876 is from the Wikipedia article on the Bozhou chiefdom.
Allies and rivals
Sizhou (the Tian) as the other of the Four Great Chiefdoms of Guizhou in later usage; Luoshi and Ziqi to the west.
How things stand that morning
Steady. Yang Can will succeed in 1201, so the brothers' time ends within a year or two of 1 January 1200. Across the northern edge the Song counties of the Chongqing and Kuizhou country are held by the Song (scc's sheet).
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.
- 1201Yang Can, adoptive son of Yang Zhen, succeeds as chief (Wikipedia's table).Depends on: The table's dates being right (they are not given for the brothers) Stopped by: An earlier or later change
Where the sources disagree
- Board "bozhou-zunyi" is placed in the Kuizhou circuit as a Song prefecture: agreed in name; in fact it is a hereditary march.
Evidence: The table is a single source (Wikipedia, "Chiefdom of Bozhou"), but the line is firm in the sources and the Yang are well known.
On the map: A zone round Zunyi. The real limits changed with each chief's alliances.
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
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.