North of the delta the kingdom is a set of passes, valleys and iron hills held by chief families who answer to both courts.
The Viet court gave them princesses and titles; the Song gave them posts and gifts; they paid tribute to both (English Wikipedia on the Nung). After the war of 1075 to 1077 and the border talks of 1084 the line between Quảng Nguyên and Guihua prefecture was fixed and has hardly moved since, so there is a settled frontier of dual allegiance rather than a raiding belt. The families we can name come from earlier reigns: the Nong at Quảng Nguyên, the Thân at Lạng châu, the Hà at Vị Long (the Bảo Ninh Sùng Phúc stele of 1107) and the Dương at Thái Nguyên.
Who holds each in 1200 is not known.
This record describes a part of Chieftaincies of the south and south-west, on the loose rein as researched on the South China sheet.
Who rules
- Name
- not known by name for 1200
- Title
- Hereditary chiefs (tho ty in later Vietnamese usage) of the Nung and Tay peoples
- Confidence
- low
Earlier chiefs are named; none for 1200 in anything we could read.
What the realm holds
- Lạng châu and the Chi Lăng and Pha Lũy roads to Song Guangxi (Lạng Sơn)
- Quảng Nguyên (Cao Bằng): gold and silver, the Nung home ground
- Vị Long (Chiêm Hóa) on the Gam river
- Thái Nguyên: iron and the road to Cao Bằng
- Pasture, swidden hills and rice valleys of the Nung and Tay; tolls on the passes and markets
- The right to call out their kin, and tribute taken from the hill peoples above them
How it was acquired
Chiefs' lands descend in the family. The Lý settled the north by marriage: princesses to the Hà, Thân and Dương chiefs. Quảng Nguyên was Song-held after 1077 and returned to Dai Viet in the exchange of 1082 to 1084.
Allies and rivals
Dai Viet and the Song, both at once. The Song markets at Yongzhou, Qinzhou and the Hengshan horse market are on the South China map's ground. The Zuojiang and Youjiang chiefs across the line are the South China map's.
The realm that morning
No revolt or campaign on this border is dated to the 1190s in what we could read. The last known chiefs' rising is that of Thân Lợi at Lạng châu in 1140 to 1141 (Chinese Wikipedia, 'Shen Li').
Wealth
Gold and silver of Quảng Nguyên, iron of Thái Nguyên, forest goods, tolls and the licensed border trade; Nung migration into the hills continues in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries (English Wikipedia).
Military
Chiefs' retinues and the passes; the Chi Lăng defile and the Như Nguyệt line (1077) are the lines the Ly court falls back on.
Threats
- A Ly court too weak to hold them
- Song border officials playing the chiefs
- Feud among the families
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.
- 1257 to 1258The Mongols come by the Yunnan road, not by Lang Son (the Lang Son road is used in 1285 and 1287).Depends on: Dali is taken first (1253). Stopped by: Dali stands.
Places of note
- Chi Lang pass: The defile that closes the road behind an invader
- Nam Quan (Pha Luy): The crossing into Song Guangxi, a post and barrier
- Vi Long: The Ha family seat on the Gam
Where the sources disagree
- The South China map writes Cao Bang, Lang Son and the Nam Quan as 'daiviet' anchors on its side; here the Nung and Tay chiefs are a separate realm that serves Dai Viet in form.
Evidence: The frontier settlement of 1084 and the families of the eleventh and early twelfth centuries are well attested; nothing names a holder for 1200.
On the map: Modern provinces stand in for the chieftaincies; the line to the Song is the modern border, close to the line fixed in 1084.
Primary sources for this realm
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)
- 李朝 (越南), Chinese Wikipedia (read; it cites Zhou Qufei's Lingwai daida and the Toan thu)
- 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.