Town · The Tai and Muong valley lords of the north-west · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Muong Bi

The largest of the four great Mường of the Black River hills, a bowl of terraced wet rice under a hereditary lord with his own law and his own drums.

It is sixty miles from Thăng Long and it is not governed from there (board). Mường society is documented from the nineteenth century and read backwards; the 1200 detail is inference. The campaign board's choice of Mường Bi over the other three is also later tradition.

Who holds it

Title
Hereditary Mường lord (lang) of Mường Bi
Confidence
low

The campaign board entry notes; later Mường tradition

Lord in 1200

A Mường lord; not named.

What the town holds

  • Terraced wet rice
  • The Mường lord's law and court
  • Forest goods sent down the Black River

Charter

None. The lord rules by customary law and drums (later Mường tradition).

Council

The lang and his kin; the village headmen. Not recorded for 1200.

Communities

Mường farmers.

Militia

Followers of the lord; no numbers.

Trade and crafts

Wet rice, timber, bark and wax sent to the Black River landings.

Places of note

  • Muong Bi: Seat

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Later tradition read backwards.

Primary sources for Tai and Muong of the north-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.

  • 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
  • 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

Sources and studies

  1. OMNIA board notes for the Vietnam and Champa area (a lead, not a source)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.