History of Dehong

Early history

Dianyue and Ailao were the ancient countries recorded in Chinese literatures in Dehong area, and Guozhanbi (Kawsampi) was an ancient country established by Dai people and recorded in Dai legend.

Dianyue
In the history book Records of the Grand Historian written by Sima Qian during the Han dynasty, a paragraph in volume 123 describes Dianyue as when Zhang Qian visited Daxia in Central Asia, he found some merchandise was produced in Sichuan. And the Daxia merchant said that it was purchased from Yuandu (India). There was a trade route, Shu-Yuandu Road (蜀身毒道) between Yuandu and Sichuan. The road passed a kingdom named “Dianyue” (滇越). The country is also called “Dianyue Chengxiang”(滇越乘象国)in modern literature. Chinese historians generally consider Tengyue as the center of Dianyue Chengxiang, and the territory included the Dehong area. But, some historians disagree with this opinion. Lou Zichang (娄自昌, a historian of Wenshan College) believes Dianyue Chengxiang was not a country in western Yunnan, even not a country established by Dai people.

Ailao
Ailao (哀牢) is an ancient tribal alliance country in west of Yunnan during Spring and Autumn to Eastern Han period, and modern historians generally consider the area of Ailao to include Dehong. In Chronicles of Huayang, the record of Ailao mentions its location as “3,000 li from west to east, and 4,600 li from south to north”, approximately equal to 1,300 km west to east and 1,994 km south to north in modern unit. It includes the southwest of Yunnan and most of Myanmar, in modern research, it is called the generalized area of Ailao.

In the Han period, Ailao was an influential tribal country with a population of 20,000. Baoshan historian, Xiao Zhengwei (肖正伟) believes the kingdom of Dianyue was a powerful tribe than Ailao.

In 69 AD, the king of Ailao, Liu Mao (柳貌), led the tribal alliance to surrender to the Han dynasty. In Southern dynasty Qi period, the name was changed to “Xicheng County” (西城县)  and during the end of the Liang dynasty, the Xicheng County was abolished.

Guozhanbi
Between 568 BC and 424 BC, during the Eastern Zhou dynasty in China, ancestors of Dai people had settled in Shweli River valley area and entered the tribal period. In 364 BC, grand chief Gelaba (葛拉叭) unified the tribes in Shweli basin. He became the chief of the tribal alliance and set the capital at Hansa (喊萨, in modern Ruili). It was the embryonic form of the kingdom of “Guozhanbi”(果占璧), also called “Kawsampi” (憍赏弥).

In 364 AD, a descendant of Gelaba named Zhaowuding (召武定) inherited the throne. He became the famous deity, sovereign, and culture hero of Dai people. In the 7th century, the Dai area was in chaos and the descendants of Zhaowuding could not effectively control the area. At the same time, the kingdom of Nanzhao was rising, and conquered the Dehong area. Piluoge, the king of Nanzhao canonized another Dai tribe chief Hundeng (混等) to be the “King of Mong Mao” and managed the whole Dai area in 762.

In 1995, Dehong historian Yang Yongsheng (杨永生) published a research on ancient Dai civilization. He put forward a new opinion during the Dai legend research – The “Kingdom of Daguang” (达光王国) is the first state of Dai people which was established in 424 BC, and the country “Dianyue Chengxiang” is the kingdom of “Daguang”. In 233 BC, the capital of Daguang moved to Pagan, and finally perished in 586 AD. The research was countered by He Ping (何平), a history professor at Yunnan University. Ping says that the Kingdom of Daguang is the legendary kingdom of Tagaung in Burmese history and there was no kingdom of “Daguang” in the ancient Dai civilization. The Dai legend of Daguang is the story of pre period of Pyu city-states. The story of Pyu city-states spread to Dehong Dai area, localized to a Dai legend and was recorded in Dai literatures.

In Yang Yongsheng’s research, the kingdom of “Guozhanbi” was the second kingdom established by Dai people after Daguang. Dai languages literatures were his sources of research. He determined the kingdom of Guozhanbi was in existence from 567 to 1488. According to the research of He Ping, “Guozhanbi” is the ancient state “Kawsampi”. There are many of legends about Kawsampi in Thai-Shan folks culture. The origin of the legend was a story in Buddhist texts. Therefore, He Ping thought the Kingdom of “Guozhanbi” or “Kawsampi” is untrustworthy history.

Medieval
Whether or not the early history of Dehong is controversial, it can be determined that Dehong belonged to Nanzhao and Dali in the medieval period of Yunnan. In Nanzhao, it was separated as “Yongchang Jiedu” (永昌节度, south of Dehong) and “Lishui Jiedu” (丽水节度, north of Dehong). In Dali, it was under the division of “Zhenxi Zhen” (镇西镇).

In 1253, Kublai Khan conquered the Dali Kingdom and the Dehong Dai people capitulated to the Mongol Empire. The Mongols set an administrative division named “Jinchi Anfu Si” (金齿安抚司) to manage west of Yunnan. In 1276, Yuan dynasty, the Anfu Si was upgraded to “Jinchi Xuanfu Si” (金齿宣抚司), and set an agency “6 Lu general manager Fu” (六路总管府) to manage the Dehong area. The 6 Lu were: Luchuan Lu (麓川路, modern Ruili and Longchuan), Pingmian Lu (平缅路, modern southern Lianghe and northern Longchuan), Zhenxi Lu (镇西路, modern Yingjiang), Zhenkang Lu (镇康路, modern Zhenkang, out of Dehong), Mangshi Lu (茫施路, modern Mangshi) and Rouyuan Lu (柔远路, modern Lujiang, out of Dehong). In addition, a special division named “Nan Dan” (南赕) and Nandian Fu (南甸府, modern Lianghe) was set. The scope of “6 Lu general manager Fu” is closed to the modern Dehong territory.

In 1277, Narathihapate, the king of Burmese Pagan Kingdom, invaded modern Dehong area. The Battle of Ngasaunggyan happened on the bank of Taping River, presently in the Yingjiang County. The Yuan army only had 700 soldiers but finally repelled Burmese military of 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers with 10,000 horses and 800 elephants. It was the prelude to the First Mongol invasion of Burma.

During the 13th and 14th century, the Dehong Dai people immigrated to modern Assam in India and built up the kingdom of Ahom. It formed the latter-day Ahom people.

Mong Mao
Territory of Mong Mao in the heyday of Si Kefa period, include the state which tributed to Mong Mao
The local Dai chief was the leader of Luchuan Lu and they were the successors of “Guozhanbi”. “Luchuan” is the name to denoate Yuan, and “Mong Mao” is a given-name.

Si Kefa enthroned the chieftain of Luchuan Lu in 1340 and sent troops to annexe the state of Hsenwi, Mongyang, Mongmit. After that, he attacked Mangshi, Zhenxi, Pingmian, and Nandian. The Yuan dynasty initiated wars in 1342, 1345, 1346, and 1347 to counterattack Luchuan, but all attempts failed.

Luchuan conquered the surrounding states successively. In 1355, Si Kefa requested Yuan dynasty to canonize him. the Yuan central government admitted his local regime and canonized Si Kefa to be the first Mong Mao Tusi. The central government set a division of “Pingmian Xuanwei Si” (平缅宣慰司) at Mong Mao to legalize the regime, and Mong Mao Tusi is the leader of Xuanwei Si.

In 1382, the Ming dynasty military arrived at the Mong Mao Tusi and Si Lunfa surrendered. Ming granted him the title of “Xuanwei Commissioner of Luchuan Pingmian” (麓川平缅宣慰使) and changed the division to “Luchuan Pingmian Xuanwei Si”. In 1385, the leader of Jingdong renegaded the Mong Mao regime, and Si Lunfa sent troops to attack Jingdong. But, Mu Ying, the general of Yunnan was protecting Jingdong leader.

The wars between Mong Mao regime and Yunnan local government occurred in 1387 and 1388. Finally, Mong Mao failed. In order to maintain the relationship with Ming, Si Lunfa sent a mission to Kunming to make peace. Mong Mao consented to compensate for the losses, and peace was restored.

After Si Lunfa died in 1399, a minister of Mong Mao launched a rebellion. The Ming government felt threatended and separated 14 Tusi regions from the Luchuan territory. During Si Xingfa’s ruling in the 1410s, the Mong Mao territory decreased to include only modern Ruili, Mangshi and Namhkam.

After Si Xingfa, Si Renfa was enthroned in 1413, and he tried to restore the kingdom to its former glory. In 1439, a conflict between Mong Mao and Ming reoccurred. This was the beginning of Luchuan–Pingmian campaigns. In 1441, Ming sent troops to Mong Mao, and Si Renfa fled to Mongyang. Several wars happened between 1443 and 1449, and Mong Mao lost Dehong. The imperial family continued to live in Mongyang until they were attacked in 1604 by the Toungoo dynasty.

After Qing dynasty
After Wuchang Uprising occurred in October 1911, Ganya Tusi Dao Anren (刀安仁) launched an uprising at Tengyue on 27 October 1911. Under the Republic of China, the Yunnan government tried to perish Tusi system and replace Tusi with state-appointed officials, but the Tusi officials opposed the change. Therefore, special administrative divisions were formed to support the period of transition. The administrative titles include Suppress Committee (弹压委员) and Deputy County (县佐) between 1911 and 1917, District and Deputy County between 1917 and 1932, and Administrative Bureau (设治局) after 1932.

The Tusi system existed until the land reform movement of 1955. The Administrative Bureaus after 1932 included Luxi, Ruili, Longchuan, Yingjiang, Lianshan, and Lianghe – they were the predecessor of future counties.

During the World War II, Dehong was an important strategic location for China. By 1938, the Burma Road was built and it was an important international transit channel after Japanese army blocked the eastern coast of China. In 1939, Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company moved to Loiwing in south-west corner or Ruili, and it was the biggest aircraft manufacturing plant of China at that time.

After World War II
The area was declared an autonomous region in 1953. In May 1956, it became an autonomous prefecture. In 1960, when inter-provincial migration took place many farmers came to Yunnan to farm bananas. This was during the “Great Leap Forward” when a biologist working for Mao Zedong wrote an article about the weather in Yunnan being very suitable for bananas to be planted. Before this, many Chinese were scared of going there because of an illness that lurked about. It was later discovered that this was an identifiable tropical disease. The farmers helped to get rid of the disease. They made clearings, roads, and space for fields and plantations.