Li Guifang

Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences

Abstract: The Southern Silk Road ran through Sichuan, Yunnan, and other provinces of China. It was a vital transport artery that linked the region of the southwestern Yi (barbarian tribes) to the Central Plains and influenced politics, economy, and culture in the region of the southwestern Yi in ancient times. The imperial governments of the Qin and Han dynasties kept developing regions along the Southern Silk Road. Their relentless efforts brought about social development in the region of the southwestern Yi in three aspects. Politically, they established the county system and step by step integrated the southwestern frontier and the inland into an administrative whole; economically, they implemented “presenting generous gifts and tax exemption,” spread the advanced production technology from the Central Plains, and promoted local economic growth;ideologically, they spread Confucianism and culture, and promoted cultural exchange and development.

Keywords: the Southern Silk Road, the Qin and Han dynasties, the southwestern Yi,social development

The southwestern Yi of the Qin and Han dynasties were mentioned as “barbarian groups living in the southwest area of Ba and Shu” in theShiji[Records of the Grand Historian]and theHan Shu[Book of Han]. The so-called region of the southwestern Yi back then roughly covered present-day southern and southwestern Sichuan, western Guizhou, and all of Yunnan.Recent studies have found that the origin of the Southern Silk Road can be traced back to the midto-late Shang Dynasty (c. 16th century-11th century BC) (Duan, 2013). The imperial governments of the Qin and Han dynasties made continuous efforts to operate and develop the Southern Silk Road, making it a cross-border transport network in southwest China. Our textual analysis indicates that the domestic section of this cross-border transport network ran through a region known as the“region of the southwestern Yi” in theShijiand formed a vital transport artery linking the region of the southwestern Yi to the Central Plains.The frontier’s connection to the inland directly concerned the imperial governance of the frontier. Therefore, the imperial governments of the Qin and Han dynasties successively distributed many of their political and military facilities along the transport routes in the region of the southwestern Yi. This layout strengthened the frontier’s connection to the inland and, more importantly, introduced the inland’s political, economic, and cultural patterns to the frontier to promote the development and transformation of local societies, economies, and cultures along the transport routes and even across the region. This paper analyzes the imperial governance of political, economic, and cultural spheres along the Southern Silk Road during the Qin and Han dynasties to explore the relationship between the Southern Silk Road and the development of the southwestern Yi.

The Southern Silk Road and the Establishment of the County System in the Region of the Southwestern Yi

Transportation was an essential prerequisite for imperial governance in ancient times.That is why the imperial governments of the Qin and Han dynasties gave priority to the development of roads in the southwestern frontier. The imperial government of the Qin“opened up the so-called five-foot-wide road (i.e., Wuchi Road on its newly conquered land).”Following that, the imperial government of the Han successively opened the Nanyi Road[Barbaric South Road], the Xiyi Road [Barbaric West Road], and the Bonan Road [South Broadway]. Thus, a road network known as the Southern Silk Road was completed and went into operation in southwest China (Li, 2015). The opening of the Southern Silk Road was conducive to the political integration of the region of the southwestern Yi into the Central Plains, or rather, consolidating the administration of the Central dynasty to the southwestern Yi.

The establishment of the county system in the region of the southwestern Yi went through a process. Considering the geographical and political realities of the region of the southwestern Yi far away from the imperial center, the imperial governments of the Qin and Han both adopted the political strategy of “tribal leaders administering local tribes.” Such a strategy was historically known as theJimisystem, an autonomous administrative and political organization system which allowed indirect rule through the agency of local tribal regimes in ancient China. There was a mention of thisJimisystem by Sima Qian (1959a)as follows, “The Son of Heaven in his relations with the barbarian tribes should be like one who holds an animal by the halter, merely leading it on without stop.” Fang Guoyu (1987)holds that theJimisystem was established “to reflect primary social characteristics, rather than ethnic characteristics, as a result of social base’s failure to adapt to theJunxiansystem(province-county system).” The imperial government of the Han began to set upchujun[new provinces in the frontier] and implemented the policy of “rule by the old customs of local inhabitants” in ethnic enclaves. The termchujun[new provinces in the frontier] first appeared in a paragraph about the Han empire’s territorial expansion in the “Pingzhun Shu”[“Treatise on Equalizing Agronomical Matters”] ofShiji. “On the southern border, from Panyu on the coast to the south of Shu, seventeen new provinces were set up” (Sima, 1959b).This historical fact can also be found in the “Hanji Shisan” [“Section 13, Chapter of Han”] of

Zizhi Tongjian[Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government], which says, “Seventeen new provinces were set up and governed in accordance with the old customs of local inhabitants”(Sima, 1958). TheJimisystem pioneered by the imperial governments of the Qin and Han to better control the region of the southwestern Yi, continued to exist in later dynasties and had a far-reaching influence.

During the Qin and Han dynasties, the imperial governments’ development and governance of the region of the southwestern Yi coincided with their road building. Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of Qin, sent “Chang’an to open up the so-called five-foot-wide road,” and “Qin officials were set up to administer most of the numerous native states in the area” (Sima, 1959c). As for when “Wuchi Road” was opened up, the academic circle has not reached an agreement. However, according to relevant documents, the writer agreed with the view that Wuchi Road was opened up by the “Five Strongest Men” of the old Shu Kingdom as early as the Shang Dynasty. The Wuchi Road in the pre-Qin period was the official road of the old Shu Kingdom, which was an important transportation line for the southwest ethnic groups (Duan, 2013). The Wuchi Road [five-foot-wide road], stretching from the south of Shu, through Bo county (present-day Yibin, Sichuan province), to Jianning of Nanzhong(present-day Qujing, Yunnan province) was a major road linking the Shu region (presentday Sichuan) to the region of the southwestern Yi. The imperial government of the Qin also assigned officials to govern the administrative divisions along the road in the region of the southwestern Yi, bringing the region under its imperial jurisdiction. When Sima Xiangru was asked by the emperor on the question of local governance, he said:

The lands of Qiong, Zuo, Ran, and Mang are situated near Shu, and it is an easy task to open up roads to them. In earlier times, the Qin Dynasty was in contact with these regions and divided them up into provinces and districts (Sima, 1959a).

The appointment of officials to the region of the southwestern Yi was also mentioned in the “Nanzhong Zhi” [“Records of Nanzhong”] ofHuayang Guo Zhi[Chronicles of Huayang]as follows, “The state of Qin conquered the state of Shu, opened up the Wuchi Road, and sent officials there to govern” (Chang, 1984a, p. 335). The Qin empire’s road building and establishment of administrative divisions in the region of the southwestern Yi marked the beginning of imperial China’s governance there. The Wuchi Road enabled the imperial government of the Qin to set up provinces, appoint officials for local governance and increase economic and cultural exchanges with the southwestern Yi.

In the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the imperial strength was significantly increased. In such a context, Emperor Wu of Han successively launched three campaigns to develop the region of the southwestern Yi, dividing the region into seven provinces, namely, Qianwei,Yuexi, Zangke, Wenshan, Wudu, Shenli, and Yizhou. In the Yongping era of the reign of Emperor Ming of Eastern Han, with the establishment of a new province called Yongchang there, the southwestern frontier was thus entirely placed under the jurisdiction of the Han empire as an administrative region. In this process, more roads were opened in the region of the southwestern Yi. As a result of Tang Meng’s effort, “troops from Ba and Shu were sent out to work on the road, extending it through Bo in the direction of the Zangke River” (Sima,1959c). The Nanyi Road, when opened, stretched from Chengdu via Bo county (present-day Yibin, Sichuan province) and Nanguang (present-day southwestern Junlian county, Sichuan province), to Pingyi (present-day Bijie, Guizhou province).

Sima Xiangru proceeded to carry out his mission of invading and pacifying the lands of the western Yi, and the chiefs of Qiong, Zuo, Ran, Mang, and Siyu all begged to become subjects of the Han. He abolished the gates along the old border and moved them farther out, establishing the new frontier at the Mo and Ruo rivers in the west and Zangke in the south. In addition, he opened up a road through the Ling Pass, built a bridge across the Sun River, and established communication with Qiongdu (Sima, 1959a).

That was how the Lingguan Road (also known as the Xiyi Road) was opened to link Chengdu to Qiongdu (present-day Xichang, Sichuan province). Regarding this historical fact,Ban Gu (1959a) recorded, “Tang Meng and Sima Xiangru opened up roads stretching for over a thousandliacross the region of the southwestern Yi.” Later, the Bonan (Mountain)Road was opened, which was mentioned in the “Nanzhong Zhi” [“Records of Nanzhong”] ofHuayang Guo Zhi[Chronicles of Huayang] as follows, “During the reign of Emperor Wu the Filial (i.e., Emperor Wu of Han), a road was carved through the Bonan Mountain (between present-day Yongping and Baoshan, Yunnan province), and extended across the Lancang River and the Qi Stream” (Chang, 1984a, p. 427). Thus, the entire network of the Southern Silk Road was completed. This shows that the Han empire’s increase of political presence in the region of the southwestern Yi coincided with its development of transport routes there.

The establishment of provinces and appointment of officials in the region of the southwestern Yi by the imperial governments of Qin and Han consolidated their governance of the southwestern frontier. The introduction of theJunxiansystem (province-county system) to the region of the southwestern Yi secured imperial China a commanding position“like the body employing the arm, like the arm employing the fingers” (Ban, 1959b). Its significance lay in the integrated governance of the region of the southwestern Yi for the ultimate change of the local political landscape. This practice gained recognition from later historians, including Sima Zhen in the Tang Dynasty. In theShiji Suoyin[Seeking the Obscure in the Records of the Grand Historian], Sima Zhen wrote:

The (inland China’s) communications with the southwestern frontier all started with Zhuang Qiao. Because of Daxia, the imperial government of Han sent Tang Meng there. Local tribes such as Laojin and Mimo had exotic folkways unique to them. Of the tribes, Yelang was the largest, while Qiong and Zuo held sway over the region. The establishment of counties and provinces there was quite an achievement benefiting generation after generation (Sima, 1959c).

TheJunxiansystem (province-county system) facilitated the integration of many southwestern barbarian tribes into imperial China. By accepting and endorsing theJunxiansystem, the southwestern barbarian tribes identified themselves as part of imperial China,which originated in the Central Plains.

During the Qin and Han dynasties, the Central dynasty ruled the southwestern Yi, first to find the road and explore the road. Then build the road, and then set up governance.Building Roads was the core of the administration of the southwest Yi. A transport network was a necessary means for the imperial governments of Qin and Han to ensure their political control over the region of the southwestern Yi during their development and operation of the region. The seats of counties and provinces set up by the imperial governments in the region of the southwestern Yi were usually important nodes of the Southern Silk Road, a corridor via which the imperial governance reached the region of the southwestern Yi. Thus, it is fair to say that the Southern Silk Road was a strategic corridor for the imperial governments of the Qin and Han dynasties to exercise governance over the region of the southwestern Yi.

The Southern Silk Road and Economic Development in the Region of the Southwestern Yi

Economic growth is an important driver of social stability. During the Qin and Han dynasties (particularly during the Han Dynasty), the improvement of material conditions helped stabilize the southwestern frontier. One important function of the Southern Silk Road was to promote economic exchanges along the Southern Silk Road routes.

Because of the dangerous terrain, the natural conditions in the southwest frontier area were relatively poor, and the production technology was relatively backward. Besides, during the Qin and Han dynasties, there were several southwestern barbarian tribes, namely, ethnic groups inhabiting the southwestern frontier. These ethnic groups, who either lived in compact communities or were scattered across the region, made a living by farming and grazing.Their development level varied from group to group. According to the “Xi’nan Yi Liezhuan”[“Ranked Biographies of the Yi in the Southwest] ofShiji[Records of the Grand Historian]:

There are dozens of chiefs ruling among the southwestern Yi, but the most important is the ruler of Yelang. To the west of Yelang live the chiefs of the Mimo,of which the most important is the ruler of Dian. North of Dian live numerous other chiefs, the most important being the ruler of Qiongdu. All of the tribes ruled by these chiefs wear their hair in a mallet-shaped fashion, work in the fields, and live in settlements. Beyond them to the west, in the region from Tongshi east (northward)to Yeyu, are the tribes called Xi and Kunming, whose people all braid their hair and move from place to place with their herds of domestic animals, having no fixed homes and no chieftains. Their lands measure several thousandlisquares. Northeast of the Xi live twenty or thirty chiefs, the most important being those of (another) Xi and Zuodu. Among the numerous chiefs northeast of Zuodu, those of Ran and Mang are the most important. Some of their people live a settled life on the land, while others move about from place to place. Their territory is west of the province of Shu.Northeast of Ran and Mang are numerous other chiefs, the most important being the ruler of Baima. All of them belong to the Di tribe (Sima, 1959c).

According to the “Nan Man Xi’nan Yi Liezhuan” [“Biographies of the Southern and Southwestern Yi”] of theHou Han Shu[Book of the Later Han]:

There is a state called Yelang, which borders Jiaozhi (present-day north Vietnam)on the east, the state of Dian on the west, and the state of Qiongdu on the north.These states have their own rulers. Indigenous people there all wear a mallet-shaped bun and coats buttoning on the left side. They live in settlements and work in the fields. The lands of Xi and Kunming are beyond them to the west, in the region from Tongshi east (northward) to Yeyu, covering an area of several thousandlisquare.Their people all braid their hair and move from place to place with their herds of domestic animals, having no fixed homes and no chieftains. Northeast of the Xi lies the state of Zuodu, whose northeast lies the state of Ran and Mang. Some of their people live a settled life on the land, while others move about from place to place with their herds of domestic animals. Northeast of Ran and Mang lies the state of Baima,which belong to the Di tribe (Fan, 1965).

In summary, the Dian and Qiongdu tribes could “work the fields, and live in settlements,” with farming being their primary mode of production; the Kunming tribe moved “from place to place with their herds of domestic animals, having no fixed homes,”which means they were at a stage of the pastoral economy; the Ran and Mang, with some of their people living a settled life on the land while others moved about from place to place, formed a semi-farming and semi-nomadic mode of production. Most barbarian tribes in the southwest were “scattered in valleys and remote wilderness, where steep mountains and rapid rivers made it difficult to approach” (Chang, 1984a, p. 424). Therefore, their mode of production generally remained at a level of primitive farming. In the region of the southwestern Yi, even such a strong tribe as Yelang was still backward economically,practicing “slash-and-burn cultivation,” an extensive farming method (Chang, 1984a, p.378). The people of Yelang “rarely raised livestock and knew nothing about sericulture”(Fan, 1965). That is why Fan Ye considered the region a “barbaric and barren land” (Fan,1965). The same was also true of the Lake Dian region, which was characterized by fairly advanced agriculture but still lagged behind inland China in terms of forms of production.In ancient times, the Lake Dian region was known for its highly developed bronzeenabled agriculture and for being a land of abundance and prosperity in the region of the southwestern Yi. Sima Qian (1959c) depicted Lake Dian as “a body of water three hundredliin circumference, surrounded by several thousandliof rich flatland.” Fan Ye commented on the Lake Dian region as follows:

There, rivers and land are flat and open…The region is rich in salt ponds, arable land, fishery resources, mineral resources (gold, silver, etc.), and livestock. It is a common practice there to spend extravagantly. Local officials are rich enough to support their families for generations (Fan, 1965).

Given the examination of bronze farming tools found in ancient tombs in the Lake Dian region, however, till the Western Han Dynasty, the local agriculture remained at the hoe-farming stage, showing no sign of ox-plowing (Wang, 1981). In short, the modes of production adopted by most tribes of the region were far behind those of the Central Plains.

The Southern Silk Road was an ancient network of trade routes. As early as the Qin Dynasty, it was already key to the economic exchanges between the state of Shu (present-day Sichuan) and its barbarian neighbors in the southwest. As recorded in the “Huozhi Liezhuan”[“Ranked Biographies of Profiteers”] ofShiji[Records of the Grand Historian]:

The ancestors of the Zhuo family were natives of Zhao…He [Mr. Zhuo] was ordered to move to Linqiong…When he got there and found a mountain which yielded iron ore, he began smelting ore…until soon he dominated the trade among the people of Dian and Shu (Sima, 1959d).

There is also a brief mention of Cheng Zheng as follows:

Cheng Zheng, like Mr. Zhuo, was one of those taken captive east of the mountains by the Qin armies and forced to resettle in the far west. He, too, engaged in the smelting industry and carried on trade with the Yi who wore their hair in mallet-shaped fashion(Sima, 1959d).

In the early years of the Han Dynasty, the imperial government of the Han “abandoned all relations with these states (in the region of the southwestern Yi) and re-established the old frontier defenses along the border of Shu.” Still, such a policy failed to stop the people of Ba and Shu from trading with the southwestern Yi via the Southern Silk Road.

The people of Ba and Shu often crossed the frontier on unofficial trading expeditions, however, bringing back horses from Zuo and slaves and long-haired oxen from Bo. These expeditions brought great wealth to the provinces of Ba and Shu (Sima,1959c).

In the Han Dynasty, the Southern Silk Road continued to facilitate trade contacts. At the same time, it began to serve as a vital transport artery that allowed the imperial government of Han to have and consolidate dominion over the region of the southwestern Yi. After Emperor Wu of Han opened roads to the region, the imperial government of Han presented local tribal heads with generous gifts, governed the region in accordance with the old customs of the inhabitants, and taxed no one there. By economic means such as presenting generous gifts, the imperial government of Han managed to put the region under its control.During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han,

Tang Meng presented Duotong with generous gifts and, describing the might and virtue of the Han Dynasty, urged him to permit Han officials to be sent to the area,promising that Duotong’s son would be appointed as governor. The small towns in the neighborhood of Yelang were all anxious to obtain silk from the Han, and Duotong,considering that the road between his territory and (inland) China was too steep and perilous to be kept open for long, agreed for the time being to listen to Tang Meng’s demands. Tang Meng then returned to the capital to report on his mission. As a result,the province of Qianwei was established in the area (Sima, 1959c).

Sima Xiangru also made similar efforts.

He [Sima Xiangru] set off in haste by four-horse relay carriage with orders to collect gifts from the officials of Ba and Shu and present them to the western Yi…Sima Xiangru proceeded to carry out his mission of invading and pacifying the lands of the western Yi, and the chiefs of Qiong, Zuo, Ran, Mang, and Siyu all begged to become subjects of the Han (Sima, 1959a).

In addition to economic means such as presenting generous gifts and tax exemption, the imperial governments of the Qin and Han also spread some advanced production techniques and experience from the Central Plains, through the Southern Silk Road, to the region of the southwestern Yi, thus promoting local economic development. Take ox-plowing as an example. Some scholars believe that ox-plowing was introduced to Yunnan from Sichuan sometime between the early and middle Eastern Han Dynasty (Li, 1977). Another example is water conservancy and irrigation. In the late Western Han Dynasty, Wen Qi, who was from Zitong County, Shu province, was sent to promote paddy ponds in the Lake Dian region and northeastern Yunnan and to introduce the techniques of water conservancy and irrigation into the region of the southwestern Yi. By accomplishing his mission, Wen Qi improved local agricultural production. Wen Qi was first appointed as the commandant of a dependent state(in present-day Zhaotong, Yunnan province) under Qianwei province. At that post, he initiated large-scale projects of water conservancy and irrigation. “(Wen Qi) directed water from the Dragon Pond to irrigate paddy fields for the benefit of the people” (Chang, 1984a, p. 414).For his remarkable performance, he was promoted to governor of Yizhou province, where he was dedicated to the increase of agricultural production. “(Wen Qi) built paddy ponds and irrigation canals, thereby reclaiming over 2,000qingof the wasteland” (Fan, 1965). With the development of water conservancy and irrigation, rice cultivation became increasingly popular in the region of the southwestern Yi. According to historical records such as the

Hou Han Shu[Book of the Later Han] andHuayang Guo Zhi, “rice cultivation and animal husbandry are popular in the region (of Yunnan),” “there are paddy fields on the flatlands(of Yuexi province),” and “(Wen Qi) directed water from the Dragon Pond to irrigate paddy fields (in Zhuti province).” Although progress was made in local agricultural production,the results of previous archaeological excavations show that agricultural development in the region was far from balanced back then. Take the unearthed paddy field models as an example. So far, a total of eight paddy field models have been unearthed from ancient tombs in Yunnan, with six models found around Lake Dian and the remaining two in Dazhantun village, Dali. More paddy field models have been found around Lake Dian because this area has a longer history of agricultural development. Two paddy field models have been found in Dazhantun village, Dali because the location used to be the seat of Yeyu county in the Han Dynasty. One of the two paddy field models unearthed there is believed to have belonged to a tomb occupant who had been a Han Chinese immigrant (Xiao, 1994). There are also three paddy field models unearthed from ancient tombs in Guizhou. One piece which was unearthed from Tomb No. 8 in Xingyi is presumed by archaeologists to have belonged to a tomb occupant who had probably been the wife or concubine of a county magistrate of the Eastern Han Dynasty. This presumption also indicates that the site should be near a county seat (ATOGPM, 1979). The other two pieces were unearthed from Han Dynasty tombs at the Kele site in Hezhang county. Also discovered at the Kele site were a large group of Han Dynasty tombs, along with numerous weapons buried therein. Accordingly, it is inferred that this location was the seat of Hanyang county, Qianwei province, in the Han Dynasty(ATOGPM & CCOHC, 1986). Thus, we can see that during the Qin and Han dynasties,there was significant development of the agricultural economy mainly in the surroundings of county seats and provincial capitals in the region of the southwestern Yi, and that most of these county seats and provincial capitals (Zhaotong, Dali, Yeyu, etc.) were important nodes of local transport arteries and the Southern Silk Road. Through unremitting efforts made by the two dynasties, the agricultural productive forces of some river valley flatlands and the surroundings of county seats and provincial capitals in the region of the southwestern Yi reached a rather high level, comparable to those of agriculturally advanced areas in the Central Plains (Wang, 2002).

Regarding iron smelting, according to relevant historical records, prior to the integration of the region of the southwestern Yi into the Han empire, ironware had already been transported from Ba and Shu, but the iron-making technique had not yet been mastered by the southwestern Yi. With the development of the region of the southwestern Yi during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, iron-smelting and casting techniques subsequently spread there.According to relevant studies, after the imperial government of the Han established provinces in the region of the southwestern Yi, the unimpeded transportation between the Sichuan Basin and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau gradually became a reality. Thanks to that, advanced iron-smelting techniques from the Central Plains spread to the region of the southwestern Yi, and ironware from the Sichuan Basin was carried there, too. It was not until then that iron farm tools were put in use on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau (Cai, 1988). Archaeologists excavated many iron weapons and tools of production from burials of the mid-to-late Western Han Dynasty in the Shizhai Mountain, Jinning, Yunnan province. These weapons and tools are believed to have been made locally as they were similar to the bronze of Dian culture. The fact that many iron farming tools of the Eastern Han have been unearthed in Yunnan indicates a gradual decrease in, or even abandonment of bronze farming tools, and a widespread use of iron farming tools in Yunnan during the Eastern Han Dynasty (YPM,1979).

The introduction of advanced production techniques from the Central Plains to the region of the southwestern Yi undoubtedly accelerated local economic and social development.

The Southern Silk Road and Cultural Exchanges in the Region of the Southwestern Yi

Cultural identity is an important part of social development. Cultural integration is generally slow and tortuous and tends to be a two-way process. In the pre-Qin period, the states of Ba, Shu, Yelang, and Dian (in southwest China) successively created splendid Bronze Age civilizations of their own. In the mid-to-late Western Han Dynasty, the indigenous cultures of the southwestern Yi were on the wane, gradually overshadowed by Han Chinese culture as the mainstream.

In the Qin and Han dynasties, Confucianism continued to develop, and particularly in the Han Dynasty, it gradually grew into a cultural mainstay, offering strategic insights to the imperial government of the Han regarding frontier governance. Confucianism emphasizes the unity ofHua(Chinese) andYi(Yi) and the use of great Chinese doctrines to change Yi. During the reign of Emperor Wu of (Western) Han, Dong Zhongshu reinterpreted Confucianism, explaining great matters in small words and reconstructing the idea of great unity in theChunqiu[Spring and Autumn Annals]. Later, the imperial government of the Han began to advocate Confucianism, a philosophy which came into being during the pre-Qin period, as an official ideology of the Han empire. That was the beginning of Confucianism’s dominance in the cultural and intellectual sphere of imperial China.

Roads enable cultural exchange and dissemination. During the Qin and Han dynasties,via the passable Southern Silk Road, the imperial governments were able to move a large population to the southwestern frontier and run schools for local education. Thanks to that,Confucianism was spread from the Central Plains to the southwestern frontier.

First, schools were established to promote education. After Emperor Wu of Han built an administrative system in the region of the southwestern Yi, the establishment of Confucian schools and charity schools there became a priority. Perhaps the most effective way to make ethnic groups in the frontier identify with Confucianism was to teach them Confucian classics. To this end, there was an actual need to set up and run schools. In the Han Dynasty,a new upsurge in public-schooling, or government-funded schooling, was in the making. This trend also spread to the region of the southwestern Yi. Heads of local counties and provinces set up public schools one after another in an attempt to enlighten the “Yi.” During the reign of Emperor Zhang of Eastern Han, Wang Fu, who was from Shu province, served as chief of Yizhou prefecture, where he “set up schools to spread Han Chinese culture” (Fan, 1965). The spread of Han Chinese culture here was all about the enlightenment of indigenous people with the Confucian system of rites and music. During the reign of Emperor Huan of Eastern Han, Yin Zhen, who was originally from Zangke province, set up a private school to promote Confucianism after returning from a study tour in the Central Plains. According to the “Nan Man Xi’nan Yi Liezhuan” [“Biographies of the Southern and Southwestern Yi”] of theHou Han Shu[Book of the Later Han]:

(Yin Zhen) felt a lack of knowledge of propriety and righteousness and therefore went to study Confucian classics and related commentaries under Xu Shen from Ru’nan county. After completing his study, Yin returned to his native place to teach literacy and Confucianism, becoming the pioneer of Confucian education in the south(Fan, 1965).

In 1901 the Meng Xiaoju Stele was unearthed in Zhaotong, Yunnan province. The inscription on the stele reads, “At the age of 12, (Meng Xiaoju) began to learn the Han version ofShijing[Book of Songs] at a government-funded school, had a good knowledge of theXiaojing[Classic of Filial Piety] (vol.Ⅰ&Ⅱ), and became a widely-read man.” This stele is arguably a physical reference to the fact that Confucian classics were already learned by scholars in the southwestern frontier during the Han Dynasty. With the establishment of public schools at the county and provincial levels and the emergence of private schools, Han Chinese culture became increasingly popular in the southwestern frontier, exerting a farreaching influence there. Confucianism, which was at the core of Han Chinese culture, had its ideology extensively spread across the region. This ideological infiltration undoubtedly made the imperial governance more appealing to the region of the southwestern Yi, enhanced Chinese cultural identity among local people, and thereby facilitated changes of ideas there.During the Han Dynasty, the emergence of a host of loyalists to the Han empire in the southwestern provinces was a result of Confucian influence. For example, in the late Western Han Dynasty, Gongsun Shu secured control of Sichuan and proclaimed himself king of Shu.His regime was opposed by Zhu Zun, an assistant official who resisted his attack, among many scholar-officials. “Lord Li Ye locked himself at home, while Fei Yi withdrew from society and lived in seclusion. Hearing that, Emperor Guangwu of Han praised (Qianwei) as‘a province of noble scholar-officials’” (Chang, 1984b, p. 273). “Wen Qi, who was governor of Yizhou province, defended the province and refused to surrender to Gongsun Shu. He was later praised as a loyal and righteous man in Nanzhong①Nanzhong: The ancient name for a region in southwest China that covers parts of present-day Yunnan, Guizhou, and southern Sichuan.by Emperor Guangwu of Han”(Chang, 1984a, p. 347).

When Gongsun Shu was taking over the three provinces in Sichuan (i.e., Shu,Guanghan, and Qianwei), locally influential families, including Long, Fu, Yin, and Dong, along with assistant official Xie Xian, fought hard to defend their provinces.Hearing that Emperor Guangwu of Han was in Hebei region,②Hebei region: The region to the north of the Yellow River, roughly covering present-day Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and part of Shandong.they sent special envoys to Hebei region through a devious route via Panyu to pay tribute to the imperial court of Han. Emperor Guangwu of Han thus hailed them as loyalists (Chang,1984a, pp. 378-379).

Second, many Han Chinese were relocated from the Central Plains to the frontier. As man itself is an important medium of cultural exchange, human migration is the most direct and fastest way of cultural transmission and exchange. During the Qin and Han dynasties,there was a continued mass migration from the inland to the southwestern frontier for better control. This strategy was key to the building of a Chinese cultural identity among local people and the changes in the cultural and intellectual sphere in the region of the southwestern Yi. The imperial government of the Qin started this wave of human migration to the southwestern frontier. “In a region 200li(100 km) southwest of (Shu) province lived indigenous people called Qiong. Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of Qin, moved people from Shang province to the region to increase the imperial presence” (Chang, 1984b, p. 244).In the Han Dynasty, there was a further increase in immigrants from the inland to the region of the southwestern Yi for three purposes. The first was to open the frontier roads, which required the employment of civilians from the inland. The second was to pacify the region,which involved the deployment of massive forces from the inland. The third was to open and develop wastelands, which relied on investments from wealthy families. According to the“Pingzhun Shu” [“Treatise on Equalizing Agronomical Matters”] ofShiji:

The Han government was building the road through the region of the southwestern Yi, employing a force of twenty or thirty thousand laborers…Several years passed,however, and the road was still not completed. In the meantime, the Yi several times attacked the laborers, and the Han officials were forced to call out troops to control them. All the taxes from the region of Ba and Shu were insufficient to cover the expenses of the road, and it was decided to invite wealthy families to open up farms in the region of the southern Yi; for any grain which they turned over to the district officials, they would be reimbursed in cash by the financial officers of the ministry of agriculture in the capital (Sima, 1959b).

This shows that there was a significant number of Han Chinese migrating from the inland to the region of the southwestern Yi.

During the Qin and Han dynasties, most immigrants to the southwestern frontier were from influential families and clans. According to theShu Shi Pu[Genealogy of Shu] by Sun Sheng, Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of Qin, “moved the descendants and clansmen of Lü Buwei to Sichuan.” Later, Emperor Wu of Han opened roads to the region of the southwestern Yi, where he established multiple counties and provinces. “He relocated the Lü clansmen to the region, and that was how the local Buwei county derived its name”(Chen, 1959). This historical fact was also mentioned in the “Nanzhong Zhi” [“Records of Nanzhong”] ofHuayang Guo Zhi[Chronicles of Huayang] as follows:

During the reign of Emperor Wu the Filial (i.e., Emperor Wu of Han), a road was carved through the Bonan Mountain, and extended across the Lancang River and the Qi Stream; two counties, namely, Xitang and Buwei, were established. The descendants and clansmen of Lü Jia, prime minister of Nanyue state, were relocated to the so-called Buwei county to increase the imperial presence (Chang, 1984a, p.427).

The immigrants from influential families and clans were often intellectuals, who naturally became the best promoters of Han Chinese culture after they settled in the region of the southwestern Yi.

Since the resettlement sites in the Han Dynasty were distributed along transport arteries,ancient ruins of the Han in the region of the southwestern Yi have largely been found in the sites of the then provincial capitals and along the then transport arteries. For example,relevant archaeological findings in Yunnan province show that the Han Chinese immigrants mainly settled along transport arteries, and that Han Chinese culture had a pronounced impact on indigenous cultures. In 1999, the excavation of the Yangfutou burial site (in Kunming) was jointly carried out by the Yunnan Archaeology, Kunming Museum, and the

Guandu District Museum. A total of 28 Han Dynasty tombs were excavated, and various Han-style burial articles, such as lacquered wooden artifacts and bronze mirrors, were found.These Han Dynasty tombs, along with the burial articles therein, demonstrate “an apparent fusion of the Dian culture in Yunnan with the Han Chinese culture from the inland” (NCHA,2009, p. 493). There was an increasingly strong influence of Han Chinese culture in the region of Dali, Yunnan, since the middle Western Han Dynasty. Relevant evidence comes from local archaeological objects. There was a jar of ancient coins unearthed on a small island off the east coast of the Erhai Lake in Dali. The jar contained Wu Zhu coins of Western Han, and Da Quan Wu Shi and Da Bu Huang Qian coins of Xin (Wang Mang’s reign) (Tian& Yang, 1983). This strong influence of Han Chinese culture can also be traced to Zhaotong,where a Han Dynasty tomb was excavated at a chicken coop. Inside the tomb were some Da Quan Wu Shi coins of Xin (Wang Mang’s reign), Wu Zhu coins of early Eastern Han, as well as some typical Han-style utensils (pottery tripods, loop-handle pots, copper wash basins,etc.), displaying distinct characteristics of Han Chinese culture (You & Xie, 1986). Zhang Zengqi commented on the fusion of Dian culture (in Yunnan) and Han Chinese culture,holding that Han Chinese culture from the Central Plains gradually replaced Dian culture in Yunnan since the middle Western Han Dynasty, and that there was no significant difference in burial articles (bronze, iron, pottery, lacquerware, etc.) between Dian culture in Yunnan and Han Chinese culture in the Central Plains in the early Eastern Han Dynasty (Zhang,1997, pp. 21-22). Theliangdui(tumuli) ruins discovered in Yunnan are strong evidence of change in the local cultural landscape. Both in burial structures and in burial articles, the tumuli exhibit a burial custom unique to Han Chinese and are arguably a mixture of Han Chinese and local ethnic cultures. The tumuli are mainly distributed along major transport arteries from eastern to western Yunnan, across an area of present-day Kunming, Ludian,and Zhaotong, which were important nodes of the domestic section of the Southern Silk Road in the region of the southwestern Yi and which formed the main channel for Han Chinese culture to approach the region. For another example, the Kele site in Hezhang county,Guizhou province, is an epitome of the Han empire’s distribution of counties and provinces,land transport networks, and the transmission routes of Han Chinese culture in present-day Guizhou (NCHA, 2009, p. 476). Another example, two key nodes were Qiongdu (present-day Xichang) and Sushi (present-day Lizhou) of Yuexi province. Qiongdu, the capital of Yuexi province, was, of course, a provincial political center in the Han Dynasty. Sushi, which was only 60li(30 km) south of Qiongdu, was a transport hub along the government-financed road. It is little wonder that many Han Chinese cultural relics were unearthed at the two sites(Liu et al., 2015). These cultural relics are solid evidence of the immigration of Han Chinese to the region of the southwestern Yi. Their influx contributed to the transformation of the ethnic distribution and cultural landscape of the region.

Conclusion

During the Qin and Han dynasties, the unimpeded transportation between the Central Plains and the southwestern frontier made it possible for the imperial governments of the Qin and Han to effectively control the southwestern frontier and boosted the exchange and fusion of cultures between the Central Plains and the region of the southwestern Yi. The introduction of advanced production techniques from the Central Plains contributed to the economic growth of the region of the southwestern Yi, while the spread of Han Chinese culture from the Central Plains accelerated ideological and cultural exchanges. In conclusion,the Southern Silk Road plays a key role in building ties between the inhabitants of the Central Plains and the ethnic groups of southwest China. By linking the frontier to the Central Plains,the Southern Silk Road helped incorporate the region of the southwestern Yi into the territory of imperial China and increased the diversity of Chinese culture.