Once upon a time, the southern tribes lived together with the Han people. Tribes such as the Yan, Rao, Li, Liao, and Wei lived without leaders, scattered in caves, similar to the ancient Baiyue tribes. Their customs included shaving their heads and tattooing their bodies, and they often engaged in conflicts with one another. Gradually, their influence waned, and they gradually submitted to Chinese rule, being incorporated into the administrative system as counties and treated like ordinary citizens. During the Sui Dynasty, over ten southern barbarian countries paid tribute, but much of their history has been lost, and only four countries can be found now.
Next, let's talk about the country of Linyi. The origin of Linyi can be traced back to the turmoil in Jiaozhi at the end of the Han Dynasty. At that time, the county official of Jiaozhi, Zi Qu, killed the magistrate and declared himself king. Since he had no sons, his nephew Fan Xiong inherited the throne. After Fan Xiong's death, his son Fan Yi succeeded him. A man named Fan Wen from Rinan was enslaved during the war and became a servant to Fan Yi, but he taught Fan Yi to build palaces and make weapons. Fan Yi trusted him greatly and let him lead troops, winning the support of the people. Fan Wen then arranged his relatives and friends in important positions, some were promoted while others were relocated. After Fan Yi's death without an heir, Fan Wen proclaimed himself king. Later, Fan Fo was defeated by the Jin Dynasty's General Dai Huan. During the Song Dynasty, the Governor of Jiaozhou, Tan Hezhi, led troops to attack Linyi deep into Linyi's territory. During the Liang and Chen Dynasties, Linyi maintained diplomatic relations with China.
Linyi is a vast kingdom spanning a thousand miles, abundant in fragrant woods, gold, silver, and precious jewels, similar to those found in Jiaozhi. Their cities are constructed from bricks and coated on the outside with seashell lime, with gates that face east. They have two high-ranking officials: Xinanpodi and Sapodi Ge. The officials are divided into three ranks: Lundu, Golunzhidi, and Yitajialan. Additionally, there are over two hundred departments, with heads referred to as Fluo and deputies as Kelun, somewhat akin to our priests and prime ministers. The king of Linyi wears a golden crown adorned with flowers, shaped like the ancient Zhangu crown, dressed in garments the color of dawn, decorated with jewelry made of pearls and gemstones, wearing leather shoes and occasionally a brocade robe. The king is accompanied by more than two hundred guards, all from reputable families, wielding golden-hilted knives. Their arsenal includes bows and arrows, knives, spears, and bamboo crossbows, with arrowheads coated in poison. Their musical instruments consist of the zither, flute, pipa, and five-string qin, similar to those found in China. They use drums to signal alarms and play the li (a type of instrument) to gather soldiers.
The person has deep-set eyes and a prominent nose, with black, curly hair. The locals typically go barefoot, wrapping their bodies in a piece of cloth. In winter, they wear robes. Women style their hair in chignons. They weave mats with coconut leaves. When someone gets married, the matchmaker brings gold and silver bracelets, two pots of wine, and a few fish to the bride's family. Then, on an auspicious day chosen by the family, the groom brings his relatives and friends, and everyone sings and dances together. The bride's family invites a Brahmin priest to escort the bride to the groom's house, where the groom washes his hands, then leads the bride and hands her over to his family. Kings are buried seven days after death, officials three days, and commoners one day. All bodies are placed in coffins, sent off with drums and gongs, carried to the water's edge, stacked with firewood, and burned. After the cremation, they collect the remaining ashes: the king's ashes are placed in a golden urn and submerged in the sea, officials' ashes in a copper urn at the river's mouth, and commoners' ashes in clay pots, sent into the rivers. Both men and women cut their hair, follow the funeral procession to the water's edge, mourn openly, and then return home to stop crying. Every seven days, they burn incense and scatter flowers, crying again until their sorrow is fully released. After forty-nine days, the mourning period concludes, with similar rituals performed at one hundred days and three years. The people there practice Buddhism, and their script is similar to that of Tianzhu (India).
After Emperor Gaozu pacified the Chen Dynasty, he once sent envoys to Lin Yi to offer tribute, but later Lin Yi stopped paying tribute. At that time, the world was at peace, and the ministers claimed that Lin Yi was rich in rare treasures. As the Ren Shou era was coming to an end, the emperor appointed General Liu Fang as the Supreme Commander of the Huanzhou Expedition, leading the Qinzhou Prefect Ning Changzhen, the Huazhou Prefect Li Yun, the Kaifu Qin Xiong, along with over ten thousand infantry and cavalry and several thousand prisoners to conquer Lin Yi. King Fanzhi of Lin Yi led his troops into battle on elephants, and Liu Fang's army was initially at a disadvantage. So Liu Fang came up with a plan, digging many small pits, covering them with grass, and then using weapons to provoke the grass. Fanzhi concentrated his forces, and Liu Fang fought with them, pretending to retreat. Fanzhi pursued them, chasing them to the location of the pits, where many soldiers fell in, creating chaos. Seizing the opportunity, Liu Fang led the attack and secured a decisive victory. The Lin Yi army was defeated repeatedly and finally abandoned the city and made their escape. Liu Fang entered the capital of Lin Yi and seized eighteen golden statues from the temples, all crafted from gold, said to represent the eighteen dynasties of Lin Yi. After Liu Fang returned to the capital, Fanzhi returned to his territory, sending envoys to apologize, and from then on Lin Yi resumed offering tribute to the court.
Chitu Country is a branch of Funan Country. It lies in the South China Sea, and it takes over a hundred days by boat to reach its capital. The soil there is predominantly red, hence the name Chitu Country. To the east is the Poloshe Country, to the west is the Poluosa Country, to the south is the Heluo Dan Country, and to the north it is adjacent to the sea, with a land area of several thousand miles. Their king is surnamed Qu Tan, named Lifu Duose. He shows little interest in the outside world or the affairs of distant countries. It is said that his father was a king who later renounced his throne to become a monk and passed the crown to Lifu Duose, who has reigned as king for sixteen years. He has three wives, all three are daughters of neighboring kings.
The king lives in the City of Monks, and the palace features three gates, each spaced about a hundred steps apart. Each gate is painted with images of celestial beings, immortals, and bodhisattvas, and adorned with golden flowers, bells, and colorful ribbons. Dozens of women are stationed at the gates, some playing musical instruments, while others hold golden flowers. Additionally, there are four women dressed as fierce guardians standing on either side of the gates. Guards with weapons stand outside the gates, while those inside wield white feather dusters. White silk drapes hang along both sides of the path, adorned with flowers. The buildings in the palace are all two-tiered pavilions, with the king's throne located in the north, facing that direction as he sits on a three-tiered couch. He wears a dawn-colored robe, a crown adorned with golden flowers and various precious jewels. Four women stand beside him, flanked by around a hundred guards. Behind the king's throne is a wooden niche ornately decorated with gold, silver, fragrant woods, and various shells. A radiant golden lamp hangs behind the niche, with a golden mirror flanking each side of the throne, each accompanied by a golden jar and a golden incense burner in front. In front of the throne stands a golden statue of a reclining ox, with a canopy held above it and a golden fan on either side. Hundreds of Brahmin priests are seated in two rows facing one another, with officials including Satagarha, Donadaya, and Kalimika jointly managing government affairs, and Kuralamati overseeing criminal law. Each city has a Naxia and ten Bode officials.
Their customs include piercing ears, cutting hair, and there is no bowing etiquette. They like to use fragrant oil on their bodies. They highly respect Buddha, especially revering Brahmanism. Women style their hair in buns, and men and women wear clothes made of various colors like dawn and twilight. Wealthy and influential families dress more lavishly, but only the gold lock bestowed by the king can be used.
For weddings, they select a lucky day. The bride's family celebrates five days before the wedding with singing, dancing, and drinking. On the wedding day, the father gives his daughter to the groom, and they are considered officially married seven days later. After marriage, the couple lives separately, and only the youngest son can live with the father.
When parents or siblings pass away, they shave their heads and wear plain clothes, erect a bamboo shelter by the water, pile firewood inside, place the body on top, light incense, sound horns, and beat drums, finally cremating the body, allowing the ashes to fall into the water. Regardless of wealth, the funeral rites remain the same. Only when the king dies are the ashes collected in a golden urn and placed in a temple.
The climate is fairly consistent throughout the year, with more rainfall than sunny days. They can plant crops year-round, especially well-suited for rice, millet, white beans, and black sesame. They make wine from sugarcane, adding purple gourd roots for a reddish hue and a rich flavor. They also make wine from coconut milk.
After Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty took the throne, he recruited talents to remote areas. In the third year of Daye, Chang Jun, responsible for land cultivation, and Wang Junzheng, a Yu department official, offered to embark on a mission to the Chitu Kingdom. The emperor was thrilled and rewarded each of them with one hundred pieces of cloth and a set of fashionable clothes, permitting them to depart. They took five thousand pieces of cloth as gifts for the king of Chitu.
In October of that year, Chang Jun and his companions set off from Nanhai Prefecture, traveling day and night by boat and arrived in just twenty days with the favorable wind. They passed by Jiaoshi Mountain and stopped at Lingqia Boduo Island in the southeast, which featured a temple and is opposite to the Kingdom of Linyi. Continuing south, they reached Shizi Stone, from where the islands stretched continuously. After traveling for another two or three days, they looked west and could see the mountains of Langyaxu Kingdom. They continued south and arrived at Jilong Island, finally reaching the border of the Kingdom of Chitu. The king of Chitu sent Brahmin Kumarajiva to lead thirty ships to welcome them, blowing horns, beating drums, and warmly welcoming the Sui Dynasty envoys, even using gold chains to tie up their boats.
A month later, they arrived at the capital city of Chitu, where the king sent his son Naxie to welcome Chang Jun and his companions and arranged for them to be received. They were first sent golden plates containing incense, flowers, mirrors, tweezers, two golden boxes of scented oil, eight golden bottles of perfume, and four clean white towels for the envoys to freshen up. In the evening, Naxie sent two elephants with peacock feather fans to welcome the envoys, along with golden flowers and plates to lay out the imperial edict. Over a hundred men and women played music, two Brahmins led the way, and they were escorted to the royal palace. After presenting the imperial edict, the king and his ministers took their seats. After reading the edict, the king asked Chang Jun and his companions to sit down and played music from Tianzhu. Once the formalities were completed, they returned to their residence, and the king sent Brahmins to bring food served on large grass leaves, each about a yard long, as plates. The Brahmins also said to Chang Jun, "You are envoys of a great country, not our people of Chitu. Our diet is simple, and we hope you can kindly accept it."
After a few days, the king invited Chang Jun and his companions to a banquet again, with the same grand ceremony as that for the envoys and officials. In front of the king were two beds, each with plates made of grass leaves on them. Each plate was one and a half feet wide, adorned with cakes in yellow, white, purple, and red, as well as over a hundred types of meat such as beef, lamb, fish, turtle, pork, and deer. The king invited Chang Jun to take a seat on the bed, while his attendants sat on mats, each with a gold cup of wine before them. Female musicians took turns performing, and the king's generosity was abundant. Soon after, the king sent Xie Jia to accompany Chang Jun and his companions back home, bringing a variety of gifts, including a golden lotus crown and dragon’s brain incense. They also crafted a Doro leaf from gold, engraved with intricate designs as a token, packed in a gold box carried by a Brahmin, who beat a drum and escorted them aboard the ship.
After setting sail, they saw schools of green fish leaping on the sea surface. They drifted at sea for more than ten days, arriving at the southeastern coast of Linyi, sailing along the coastline. The sea was vast, stretching over a thousand paces, with yellow water that had a fishy odor, making it impossible to cross in a day, which was said to be the waste of large fish. They continued north along the coast until they finally reached Jiaozhi. In the spring of the sixth year of the Daye era, Chang Jun and Xie Jia met the emperor in Hongnong, who was delighted and rewarded them with two hundred bolts of cloth and appointed them to the official position of Bingyi Wei. Xie Jia and the others received rewards as well.
Champa, located to the southwest of Lin Yi, was originally a tributary state of Funan. Traveling by boat from Jinan takes sixty days. Chitu lies to the south of Champa, while Zhujiang is to the west. The king of Champa, Zhituosina, belongs to the Shali clan. The kingdom gradually grew stronger, starting from his ancestors, and by the time of Zhituosina, it had fully annexed Funan. After his death, his son Yishena succeeded to the throne. Yishena resided in Yishena City, with more than twenty thousand households surrounding it. Within the city stands a grand palace where the king conducts state affairs. The kingdom comprises thirty major cities, each housing several thousand households, and each city has its own military leader, whose official titles are similar to those in Lin Yi. The king convenes court every three days, seated on a throne decorated with five types of spices and seven treasures, with an ornate canopy above. The canopy is held up by colorful wooden poles, with walls crafted from ivory and adorned with gold and silver, shaped like a small house. Shiny golden objects hang from the canopy, resembling red clay. In front of the throne sits a golden incense burner, flanked by two attendants. The king dons vibrant garments made of shells, with silk ribbons wrapped around his waist, trailing down to his calves, adorned with a gleaming golden crown, a pearl necklace, leather shoes, and gold earrings. He typically wears white garments and ivory shoes. When the king is not adorned with jewelry, his hair is left loose. The ministers' attire is generally similar.
The Kingdom of Champa has five ministers, namely Guluozhi, Gaoxiangping, Pohedouling, Shemoling, and Randolou, as well as some other minor officials. When the ministers attend court, they must bow three times at the steps. When the king calls them to the steps, they kneel, with their hands crossed over their arms, and sit around the king. After the meeting, they kneel and then withdraw. The palace steps, courtyards, and porches are patrolled by thousands of armored guards wielding weapons. The Kingdom of Champa often fights with the Kingdom of Lin Yi and the Kingdom of Tu Huan, and are often allied with the Kingdom of Chen Ban. The Cham people always carry knives and spears when they walk and are quick to use them in times of war. In Champa, only children born to the king's legitimate wife can inherit the throne. When the king ascended to the throne, his brothers were all brutally mutilated; some had fingers severed, and others had their noses cut off, and were then sent to live elsewhere, where they were not allowed to hold official positions.
These people are short in stature, with dark skin, though some women have fair skin. They all tie up their hair and let it drape beside their ears, with an impatient yet vigorous temperament. Their dwellings and utensils appear to be made of red clay. They consider their right hand clean and their left hand dirty. Every morning after their morning wash, they brush their teeth with a twig and then chant mantras. Before meals, they also wash up, and after meals, they brush their teeth with a twig and chant mantras. They mainly eat dairy, sugar, rice, rice cakes, and other staples. When eating, they combine various meat stews and cakes and eat with their hands. During weddings, the groom gives only a set of clothes as a bride price, then sends a matchmaker to fetch the bride on a chosen auspicious day. Both the man and woman stay indoors for eight days leading up to the wedding, and they keep the lamps lit day and night. After the wedding ceremony, the groom will live separately from his parents. When the parents pass away, if their child is unmarried, the remaining property is inherited by them; if they are married, the property reverts to the state. During funerals, the children do not eat for seven days, shave their heads in mourning, and weep. Monks, nuns, Taoists, and relatives and friends all attend the funeral, performing music to honor the deceased. They burn the body with wood infused with five fragrant spices, collect the ashes in gold and silver jars, and then send them into the river. Sometimes, the poor use ceramic pots to contain the ashes and decorate them with colors. Some people do not cremate the body but leave it in the mountains for wild animals to consume.
This country is mountainous in the north and marshy in the south, with a very hot climate and no frost or snow. It is prone to miasma and poisonous insects. The land is suitable for growing rice, with less sorghum and millet. Fruits and vegetables are similar to those in the southern regions of Rinnan and Jiuzhen. Some unique plants include the Ponaso tree, which has no flowers, leaves resembling persimmon leaves, and fruit resembling winter melon; the Yanluo tree, with flowers and leaves like jujube trees and fruit like plums; the Piye tree, with flowers like papaya flowers, leaves like apricot leaves, and fruit like guava fruit; the Potianluo tree, with flowers, leaves, and fruit all resembling dates though with slight differences; the Gebituo tree, with flowers like apple flowers, leaves like elm leaves but thicker, and fruit like plums but larger in size. Most other plants are similar to those in the Jiuzhen region. In the sea, there is a fish called Jiantong, with four legs, no scales, a nose like an elephant that can suck in water and then spray it out, shooting water columns up to fifty or sixty feet high. There is also a fish called the Floating Hu, shaped like a flounder, with a mouth like a parrot and eight legs. There are many large fish in the sea, with half of their bodies exposed above the water, looking like a mountain from afar.
In May and June, epidemics are common in that area, so sacrifices of white pigs, cows, and sheep are required at the shrine outside the west gate of the city. Otherwise, the crops will have poor harvests, livestock will die in large numbers, and people will also be affected by the epidemic. Not far from there is a mountain called Lingjiabopo, guarded by five thousand soldiers at a shrine on the mountaintop. In the east of the city, there is a god called Podoli, which, surprisingly, requires human sacrifices. The king has to kill several people every year and offer sacrifices and prayers in secret at night, with a thousand soldiers guarding the area. They are indeed very devout to their deities.
Although they believe in ghosts and gods, they also believe in Buddhism, especially Taoist priests. The statues of Buddha and Taoist priests are all placed together in the temple. In the twelfth year of the Daye reign of Emperor Yang of Sui, they sent envoys to present tribute, and the emperor hosted them with great ceremony. However, their contact was later severed.
To reach the country of Boli, one must take a boat from Jiaozhi, sailing south through Chitu and Dandan. It takes four months to travel east-west and forty-five days north-south. The king's surname is Shali Xieqia, and his name is Hulan Napo. The highest official position is known as Duhe Xiena, and the second highest is called Duhe Shina. The people of this country are formidable, skilled in throwing a type of wheel-shaped knife, as large as a mirror with a hole in the middle, and the blade is as sharp as a sawtooth. They can hit their targets from a distance with remarkable accuracy! Their other weapons are similar to those in China. Their customs are similar to those of Zhenla, and their products are similar to those of Linyi.
If someone commits murder or theft, they have their hands cut off; if they commit adultery, they are shackled and detained for a year before being released. Their sacrifices must be made at the end of the month, with food and wine laid out and then set adrift in the river. Every November, they hold a grand sacrificial ceremony. The sea there produces coral, and there is a bird called Sheli that is said to understand human speech! In the twelfth year of the Daye reign of Emperor Yang of Sui, they also sent envoys to pay tribute, but their contact was later severed. At that time, there were also two other countries in the south, Dandan and Panpan, which also presented some items as tribute. Their customs and products are similar to those of Boli.
Historical records state, "The Book of Rites" writes: "The south is called barbaric; some tribes do not eat cooked food." The "Book of Documents" also states: "The barbarians deceive the Central Plains." The "Book of Songs" writes: "The stupid barbarians and the people of Jingchu." The southern ethnic minorities are diverse, and their situations are complex and often chaotic, posing challenges throughout history.
Since the Qin Dynasty's unification of the Chu state, the Han Dynasty subdued the Baiyue tribes. From the southernmost point of Danyang to Rinan Commandery, in all places accessible by waterways, counties were established. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the territory was divided between the Wu and Shu states, and later through the Jin and Song Dynasties. The condition of the roads was inconsistent, as some minority groups alternated between submission and rebellion, making the situation very unstable.
After Emperor Gaozu's founding of the Han Dynasty, he brought peace to the entire country. When Emperor Yang of Sui ascended the throne, his influence spread across the nation. He was determined to conquer far-off tribes and was in search of rare treasures, sending troops on expeditions to Luqiu (modern-day Taiwan) and launching attacks on Linyi (modern-day southern Vietnam). His reputation instilled fear in various minority groups, even more so than during the Qin and Han Dynasties.
However, despite the accomplishments of his conquests in the borderlands, it could not remedy the failures at home. Historical texts say: "Without a sage ruler, victories in foreign conquests will inevitably lead to disasters within the country." This saying rings especially true!
