The gold and silver country of the far north, held through the Nùng chiefs.
The Nùng rose twice against the Song in the eleventh century: Nùng Tồn Phúc declared a kingdom in 1038 and his son Nùng Trí Cao rebelled and was beaten by Di Qing in 1054 (English Wikipedia). In the war of 1075 to 1077 the Song took Quảng Nguyên and later returned it; the campaign board gives 1076 and 1079, our English Wikipedia reading gives the settlement of 1082 to 1084. A Song official wrote that the empire had traded gold for a barren frontier (board).
Both courts knew what it was worth. Who is chief in 1200 is not known.
Who holds it
- Name
- not known for 1200 (the Nùng house of Nong)
- Title
- Hereditary Nùng chief of Quảng Nguyên
- Confidence
- low
English Wikipedia (Nùng people; Lý-Song war)
Lord in 1200
A Nùng chief; not named.
What the town holds
- Gold and silver washings and workings in the upper Bằng Giang valley
- Rice floors and terraced fields of the Nùng
- Tolls on the road to Guangxi by the Song border markets
How things stand that morning
Quiet under dual allegiance; no rising dated to the 1190s in what we read.
Wealth
Gold and silver, the tolls and the rice floors.
Military
The chief's kin and followers; no numbers.
Threats
- A Song or Ly effort to take the gold in hand
- Feuds among the Nùng houses
Charter
No charter. The chiefs hold by a Ly title and kinship; the Song also gave titles to Nùng chiefs of the border prefectures (general pattern).
Council
Clan heads of the Nùng; not recorded.
Communities
Nùng and Tày farmers; Viet and Chinese traders at the markets.
Fairs and markets
Border markets; none dated.
Militia
The chief's followers; not counted.
Walls and castle
A chief's seat; no fortress known for the Ly period.
Trade and crafts
Gold and silver; forest goods; rice and salt.
Places of note
- Quang Nguyen: Board's point (Cao Bang)
Where the sources disagree
- Board: the Song seized Quang Nguyen in 1076 and gave it back in 1079; the English Wikipedia (Ly-Song war and Nung people) reads the return as part of the settlement of 1082 to 1084. Not settled.
Evidence: Eleventh-century events are clear in English Wikipedia; the twelfth century is silent.
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
- Nùng people, English Wikipedia (read)
- Lý-Song War, English Wikipedia (read)
- 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.