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"Kunming"is a branch of Qiang Ethnic Group from Qiangtang in ancient times. They originally lived in Anduo Grassland,known as the"Kunlun Tribe"engaged in the animal husbandry and the salt industry. Some of the herdsmen engaged in the salt industry followed their animals to move southward along the Lancang River valley to find new salt springs. After entering the plateau in Northwest Yunnan,they finally found the profit of salt springs in Bisu(present-day Yunlong County of Dali Prefecture and Lanping County of Nujiang Prefecture)and stayed there. They joined the Jun Ethnic Group outside the Lancang River. They lived in a nomadic life together in peace. Sima Qian called them as"Jun and Kunming".
The Kunming people were both able to manage the industry and commerce. After contacting with the culturally advanced Han Ethnic Group,they quickly accepted its politics and gradually merged with each other. In the more than one hundred years after Sima Qian,they gradually recognized and accepted the culture of the Han Ethnic Group.
Because of the turbulence of the Southern and Northern Dynasties(420—589),the Nanzhong region broke away from the rule of the Han Ethnic Group and returned to the non-Han tribes in the southwest. However,Nazhong region was still able to stand on its own with its salt industry among the non-Han states. It was historically known as the"Kingdom of Kunmi",a part of Nanzhao State later. In the Sui and Tang Dynasties,they controlled all the salt industry in Nanzhong region,making Kunming an acronym for the salt industry. With Nanzhao and Dali local regimes,Kunming people gradually transformed themselves into the Han Ethnic Group. In the Yuan and Ming Dynasties,they tended to merge together. In the long historical process,people in the whole nonHan area in the southwest,having not forgotten Kunming people's contributions to the salt industry,retained the place name of"Kunming"till now.
Kunmi,an ancient group of the Qiang people,was accustomed to living with animals along the water and grass. They moved across a wide range of land. Some batches moved southward into the Yunnan plateau earlier. For example, Bailang(Pumi),Guzeng (Guzong),Rumoxie (Naha)and so on,had established tribal organizations with agriculture and animal husbandry on this plateau as early as the Han Dynasty. Relatively speaking,Kunming people came late,so that they still stayed in the stage of a nomadic life. Kunming was not only a herding ethnic group but also a Qiang people who produced,transported and sold salt. This branch who entered Yunnan might also have the purpose of searching for salt springs. They slowly entered Yunnan plateau following the salt-carrying herds. So,they came later than the Qiang people with a pure animal husbandry
.
The ancient Kunmi tribe(mD mi State)did not trade with the Han Ethnic Group only with weaved leathers. They produced other goods such as wares from jade stones and salt. Especially,weaved leathers and jade wares found a good market among the Han Ethnic Group. The salt of the Qiang people,on the other hand,was sold only in the semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral areas west of Longshan Mountain because of the Xiechi Lake salt in Hedong in the lands of the Han Ethnic Group."Geographic Records"in
The History of the Han
Dynasty
says about Linqiang County in Jincheng Commandery. Ban Gu, the author of the aforementioned book, offered such annotations:"From the northwest to
saiwai
(the land beyond the Great Wall),there is the stone chamber of the Queen Mother of the West,divine seas and salt pools. In the north,Huangshui River flows eastward to Yunwu where it enters the river. In the west,there are Ruoshui River and Kunlun Mountain Temple. It is referred as Salt Qiang by Wang Mang(BC 45—23 AD,the founder of the Xin Dynasty). "This passage fully illustrates that Linqiang County was set up to bring in the salt of the Qiang Ethnic Group. It was even possible that salt merchants in the Qiang Ethnic Group submitted themselves and requested officials to set up the county. It was renamed Yanqiang(Salt Qiang)County in Wang Mang's ruling period. The divine seas and the salt pools are Chaka Salt Lake(also known as Chaerhan Salt Lake)in Dulan County of Qinghai Province today. The concentration of salt in the lake water is over 80％. The plain around the lake is vast,covering an area of more than 5, 800 square kilometers,with its ground covered by salt rocks. The railway extends on the lakeside salt rocks for 32 kilometers."Kunlun Mountain Temple"proves that it is the Kunlun tribe mentioned in
Tributes to Yu
.
Since the Qiang people in the Kunlun tribe owned this salt sea,they inevitably had professionals in the management of the salt industry. The people of the Han Ethnic Group called them"the salt Qiang". But they called themselves Kunmi. With so much natural salt,they had to travel widely to sell the salt.
There is also a Hajiang Salt Sea in their territory. The cost of salt production is high,but the market is also wide,including the whole Ganzi Prefecture,Aba Prefecture,Guoluo and Yushu areas today. So,it was more advantageous for the Salt Qiang to move southward in their lives. But it was not good to transport salt too far. Therefore,they utilized their own experience to find and identify new salt springs,or to improve the methods of making salt.
In Chalingduo,northeast of Changdu,they found that the salt springs were profitable. As a salt spring instead of a salt lake,Chalingduo did not have a high output. With their vast lands and a large population,it was more profitable to run the salt industry here than in the local land of Kunmi. It was certain that they had stayed. With their wisdom,the development of the salt industry in this area can also improve the economy and culture of Changdu area [1] . Because of the improvement of their ability to utilize salt springs in Chalingduo and the movement of the salt caravans,they found a series of salt springs in Chawarong(present-day Yanjing County of Batang)and Yunnan Plateau on farther lands to the south. As result,with their herds,they settled and developed on the Yunnan Plateau. This is the most scientifically evidenced inference,though it is not supported by literature but geographical conditions.
The prerequisite of Kunming's entry into the Yunnan Plateau was that they discovered salt springs under the Lancang River,which added a new supply of salt to Changdu area. This section of Lancang River is called Thaw-Kha-Rong,which means a river valley with salt in the Tibetan language. With outlets of salt springs underwater,people could not easily detect them. Because the riverbed eroded and subsiding for a long time,the riverbank was exposed only in winter. It was only during the Zhou and Qin dynasties that it was discovered by the Qiang people in Changdu. After discovering this salt spring,the Kunming people continued with their nomadic life and the transportation of salt. Traveling to the south,they also found the Bisu salt springs(Bisu County set up during the Han Dynasty,present-day Yunlong County and Lanping County). Utilizing the rich salt deposit there,Kunming produced salt and sold it to all parts of Northwest Yunnan. Also,they established nomadic tribes between the Bijiang River and Erhai Lake.
Bijiang River,which flows through five major salt wells in Yunlong County,is one of the tributaries of Lancang River flowing from the plateau on the east side of the Lancang River. Along the river meandering for more than three hundred miles,every now and then salt springs flow out,sometimes strong,sometimes weak. It has always been the source of salt for the people in the vast area of Western Yunnan. It's impossible to ascertain whether there were someone boiling for salt before the arrivals of the Kungming people. It is certain that after their arrivals,the Kunming people had improved the techniques to boil for,transport and sell salt and brought prosperity to this region. The flourishing salt industry brought remarkable development to the Kunming people,making Erhai region in the river valley between Lancang River and Jinsha River a nomadic land of Kunming people. Du You's General Classics in the Tang Dynasty says that"in ancient times there was the Kunmi Kingdom". It probably referred to the Kunming tribe here. This tribe,Dian and Qiong had their own sources of salt supply,so they seldom had trade relations with each other,but they knew each other well. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty made Yelang,Qiong and Dian State as counties and commanderies,without involving Kunming. As a result,Sima Qian recorded the situations of Jun and Kunming by saying that it was an area"without a ruler". The Kunming people relocated to Dian State around BC 110.At that time,Jun and Kunming people was not subject to any king. At the beginning,in Yizhou Prefecture was set up fourteen counties. By the second year(2 AD)of the Yuanshi Period of Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty,there were twelve new counties including Yeyu,Lvgao,Buwei,Yunnan,Juntang,Bisu and others,all of which were original places of Kunming [2] . It is enough to say that with only 110 years,Jun and Kunming submitted themselves to the Han Dynasty and requested to make themselves into counties or commanderies. Fiftyseven years later,in the second year(59 AD)of Yongping Period of Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty,some counties and some new counties in Ailao were allocated to form Yongchang Commmandery. For another century and a half,there was a rebellion in Nanzhong,with Yongchang Commandery as the only commandery to safeguard its territory under the rule of the Han Dynasty. It is obvious that the Kungming people at that time has been deeply receptive to the culture of the Han Ethnic Group,so that they could wholeheartedly support the Han regime. In the third year(225)of the Jianxing Period of Emperor Houzu of Shu,Zhuge Liang(181—234,a renowned statesman and strategist)pacified Nanzhong and allocated Yongchang to form Yunnan Commandery. Afterthe Jin Dynasty moved eastward,the old capital in North China was occupied,and Nanzhong(Ningzhou )was in a state of constant chaos. Wang Xun,the governor of Ningzhou,moved his official office to Yunnan Commandery,thus sustaining the regime of Nanzhong for decades [3] . Yunnan Commandery was the core area of the Kunming Ethnic Group in the past. This shows that the Kunming people in the Han Dynasty had been completely integrated with the people of the Han Ethnic Group. It also shows the rapid evolution of Kunming people after it entered Yunnan Plateau and contacted with the people of the Han Ethnic Group.
The Kunming people moved to live near Dianchi Lake because they found and managed salt springs in Anning,so that Dianchi Lake was also called "Kunming"(In history,Erhai Lake of Dali was once called "Kunming"). In the Shuhan Dynasty(221—263 ),Dianchi Lake was renamed Kunming (present-day Kunming city).Kunming people also lived in the salt springs of Dingzuo and Qingling. In the Tang Dynasty,Kunzhou was established in Qingling. In the Yuan Dynasty, Kunming Prefecture was established in Dingzuo. These are enough to show that Kunming people diffused greatly,but still centered around salt springs. Despite the counties and commanderies built in Nazhong,they could still be living in the vast area of Northwest Yunnan by virtue of their techniques to exploit salt springs and boil for salt they created in history. Around from the beginning of the Han Dynasty,after they entered this area,the salt workers from the Han Ethnic Group were ahead in salt-making techniques than the Kunming people. The Kungming people were gradually declining. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties,the name of the Kunming people had ceased to exist,only with the place names preserved.
The rapid change of the Kunming people toward the Han people could also be seen from a record in "Southern Non-Han State:Biography of Ailao"in The History of the Later Han Dynasty . Historical records say"in the first year(76)of the Period of Jianchu,Leilao,the ruler of Ailao,had a fight with the governor,so that the former killed the latter and staged a rebellion. They attacked the Nantang city. The governor Wang Xun rushed to Dieyu(Dali). More than 3, 000 people from Ailao attacked Bonan and burned civilians' houses. Emperor Suzong raised nine thousand people of the non-Han and Han ethnic groups from Yuejun,Yizhen,Yongchang to wage a punitive war against them. The next spring,Lu Cheng and other Kunming people from Xielong County responded to the call for recruits. Leading their own people,they joined the soldiers of various commanderies to engage Leilao in Bonan. They crashed the enemies and killed Leilao. Leilao's head was transported back to Luoyang capital. The emperor bestowed Lu Cheng with tens of thousands of bolts of silk and a title of Bangyi Marquis of Crashing Enemies".
Xielong is located in present-day Weishan Mountain and Yangbi County,Bai Ethnic Group Autonomous Prefecture,Dali
. Ailao refers to present-day Baoshan area. Leilao as a king of the non-Han people and the county magistrate were all in this area."The governor"means the county magistrate of Ailao. Juntang,in present-day Caojian Town,Yunlong county,is situated to the east of Lujiang River and it was under the jurisdiction of Yongchang Supervisor. Bonan refers to present-day Yongping County. In the east of Lancang River,it borders Bisu County. Yongchang Governor was stationing in Buwei,present-day Shidian. Governor Wang Xun rushed to Dieyu(Dali),which showed that all the areas west of Lancang River fell to the hands of the enemies. Leilao gathered 3, 000 people to attack Bonan,with a purpose to capture the salt profit of Bisu (Yunlong and Lanping). Nine thousand soldiers sent by the Han Dynasty failed to quell the unrest. On the contrary,Lu Cheng,a salt worker in Kunming,was able to mobilize forces to calm the unrest and made great achievements. It could be seen that the Kunming people were submissive towards the Han ruler. Unwilling to have salt springs occupied by Ailao,they fought wholeheartedly and supported Lu Cheng to defeat Leilao.
Lu Cheng was probably a salt worker. Yang Zhong's Biography of Ailao says"Lu Cheng of the Kunming people in Xielong County"instead of "a king of the non-Han people". It shows that Lu Cheng of the Kunming people was only a commoner in Xielong County. Those who answered the call of recruits to be salt workers were more than one Lu Cheng. Therefore,they had a collective leadership,which was represented by Lu Cheng. This group without a political status led its own people to fight wholeheartedly for the court of the Han Dynasty. It showed that his social status was not low. According to the analysis of the social and economic life at that time,they could only be salt workers. The original meaning of the word "Lu"is a leather bag [4] containing salt.
Therefore,the word of salt("盐"),or words derived from salt,have a part of Lu("卤"). The character of Cheng("承")including Hand("手"),thus having the meaning of operation. As a result,Lu Cheng was probably a salt worker. As the Kunming people could not be seperated from salt and workers,the salt workers had the power to call on their own people to defeat the enemy and receive rewards for their merits. As Lu Cheng was the most credited Kunming people,he was the only one to win a feudal title. The gifts of tens of thousands bolts of silk could not be given to just Lu Cheng himself,but to the group of meritorious persons represented by Lu Cheng.
"Crashing Enemies"was the title for rewarding a meritorious service."Bangyi Marquis of Crashing Enemies"was"a titling marquis",which rewarded him with the taxes in his county as his remuneration. It was different from the title of a marquis within the land of the Han Ethnic Group."Kunmi Kingdom in ancient times"mentioned in General Classics may refer to the county of Lu Cheng. It was not a country because he himself was totally sinicized and loyal to the Han Dynasty. It can be seen that with just seven years,the establishment of Yongchang Commandery had won the hearts of the Kunming people.
According to Ban Gu's"Geographical Records"in
The History of the Han Dynasty
,in Lianran County,Yizhou County,"there are salt officials".
Records of Huayuang
Kingdom
also says that Lianran County has"salt springs which the people in Nanzhong depend on". The former government office of Lianran is in present-day Anning City,west of Dianchi Lake. Its salt spring is now called Anning Well. Like various salt springs in Badong,it has been producing salt since ancient times. The prosperity of Zhuang Qiao's regime in Yunnan should be related to the salt springs here. The Han Dynasty expanded itself to the non-Han lands in the southwest and established two commanderies,namely,Yizhou and Zangke. People in both commanderies depended on this salt
[5]
. It and Jun Kunming became two salt areas. So,in the Han Dynasty,this salt spring was irrelevant with the words of "Kunming". Of course,the people who controlled the salt industry in this region could only be some Han people with Dian identities. However,after more than two hundred years of turbulence in Nanzhong,the Han people disappeared and the salt industry in Dianchi Lake returned to its original state. Perhaps some Kunming people came to rectify the situation,but details were not yet known. However,materials have shown that Kunming salt workers and merchants came during the Zhou and Sui Dynasties and carried out activities around Dianchi Lake. Therefore,in the Sui Dynasty there was the area of the non-Han people and the names of Kunyang Prefecture and Kunzhou Prefecture. At the beginning of Tang Dynasty,they were integrated to form Kunzhou Prefecture, governing four counties including Yi'ning, Jinning, Anning and Qinzang. The first two counties were on the shore of Dianchi Lake,while the two other counties are in Tanglang River(Pudu River)at a water mouth of Dianchi Lake,where there were locations to produce and sell salt
. From this it can be seen that at that time,Kunming salt workers had occupied the salt springs in this area and controlled the salt industry in four counties.
At the end of the Tang Dynasty,this area was merged with Nanzhao. In the Song Dynasty,it was known as Dali. Both took Kunming as a ciy to expand eastward. Dianchi Lake was also renamed "Kunze"(a lake of Kunming). According to Du You's General Classics ,"western Erhe River is also known as Kunmi River. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty followed it shape and built a pool for drills of water battles. It's not Dianchi Lake."During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty,the Kunming people had not yet arrived in Dianchi Lake. As a result,the Kunming excavated was Erhai Lake in Dali. According to Fang Guoyu's research on the name of Erhai,"Erhai is Erhe River,which was named after Kunming". It also referred to the Kunming Pool of the Han Dynasty. He also inferred that the word Er("洱")evolved from Mi("弥"). Kunmi was the name for the ethnic groups living in Erhai Region in the Han Dynasty. They were the ancestors of the ethnic minorities such as Yi living in Dali area. The Kunming Lake excavated by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty near the city walls of Chang'an was related to preparing for battles against the Kunmi tribes in Erhai region.
In the period of Yuanping,Yunnan was set up under the Central Secretariat. By the 21st year of the period of Yuanping,it was changed to Zhongqing Circuit,still with Kunming as the first county. Later,through the Ming and Qing dynasties until now,the name of Kunming as the capital of Yunnan Province has remained unchanged ever since.
It is the"Kunming people"who first discovered and developed the salt springs in"the two-river basin"consisting of Bijiang River and Bishui River,two tributaries of Lancang River. The Kunming people were the ancestors of the Bai Ethnic Group who still live in this area.
[1] Changdu area is isolated from the cultural areas of advanced ethnic groups. But among the Qiang people,Changdu area had a spontaneous culture. The land was the Dongnv Kingdom mentioned in The History of the Tang Dynasty . It had been resisting Tubo for a long time. Originally known as"Chamuduo",it seemed to have been operated by the mD mi people in the salt industry. Salt is called Tshaw in the language of the Qiang people. Chaka and Chalignduo both have the meaning of salt production.
[2] "Geographic Records"in The History of the Han Dynasty was written by Ban Gu in the second year(2 AD) of Yuanshi Period. It recorded that Yizhou Commandery had twenty-four counties. According to the classification,the twelve counties from Zhenchi to Minze are in the eastern part of Yunnan today. The counties from Yeyu to Yiyingzhuan are in Southwestern Yunan today. It is within what was mentioned as"a land of several thousands of miles"of the tribes of the Kunming people. It can be said that these twelve counties were newly opened after Emperor Wu.
[3] In terms of the rebellion in Nanzhong, The Records of Huayang Kingdom has the most detailed records.
[4] The oldest salt is like a salt bag. Various Rhymes says that"Lu is a salt lake". The natural stuff is called Lu(brine)while the man-made stuff is called salt.
[5] In the language of the Han Ethnic Group in ancient times,salt("盐")was called Lin,so that Wang Mang called Linqiang County as Salt Qiang County. In the period of Wang Mang,Linjiang County was called "Salt Jiang"adjacent to pools and rivers. In The Records of the Later Han Dynasty ,it was named the Salt Pool Lake. In the pronunciation of Dianji,it was pronouced as"Lian",from which Lianran County got its name. In Collected Rhymes is the character of Ling("岭"),produced from the sound of Lian("连"). In the Tang Dynasty,Lianran was changed into Anning,the character of Ning("宁")changed from the sound of Ling("龄"). According to"Biography of Southern Non-Han Kingdoms"in The History of the Tang Dynasty ,"In Anning Prefecture are five salt wells,which the people cook to supply salt to themselves."During the reigning period of Emperor Jiangjing of the Ming Dynasty,a new well was opened beside Xiangchi well,which was called Lianlan New Well. Yang Sheng'an wrote about it. Salt profit here was closely related to the people's livelihood of the vast land of Yunnan and Guizhou. In the Tang Dynasty,He Lvguang and Li Fu contended for Anning for the sake of the salt.