Island Tracing: A History of Hainan Culture

Author: Fang Peng / Country:
Publisher:
Publishing Time: 2004-01-01
Features: From these two records, it can be known that "Dang Er Jiang Fu" and "Dang Er Tong Ai Lao Jiao Jiao Mei Yi Gong Xian" occurred in the same year and should refer to the same event. The Book of the Later Han Dynasty states, "All Ailao people wear nose rings and ear plugs; their leaders, who call themselves Gan, have ears that hang down three inches below the shoulders, while commoners have them only up to the shoulders." This clearly tells us that there were Dang Er people among the Ailao tribes. Here, "Ailao" refers to Ailao Mountain in Yunnan. Therefore, the Dang Er people mentioned in these two places in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty refer to the Dang Er people of Ailao Mountain. Li Xian, the Tang dynasty commentator on the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, did not make a detailed distinction and mistakenly believed they were the Dang Er Prefecture in Hainan. Some scholars later also did not make a careful distinction, leading to the spread of this error. At this point, the origin of the "Dang Er" people can be roughly inferred as follows: this ethnic group first appeared in the Bohai Bay, then migrated eastward to westward to the eastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and then southward to settle in Ailao Mountain. Another part settled on Hainan Island. The basic characteristics of the Dang Er ethnic group gradually disappeared in later generations. People after the Tang and Song dynasties wrote many stories about Hainan Island, but there were no more records of "big-eared" people. In the Song dynasty, Zhao Rushi mentioned in Zhu Fan Zhi that in the past, some people said that the indigenous people of Dangzhou had ears that reached their shoulders, hence the name "Dang Er." But now there are no big-eared people here. Was the entire ethnic group assimilated, or did they migrate elsewhere? This is now unknown.
Exploring the Mysterious Wuhu People
The Mozi records the Lu Wen section, which mentions that in the west of Jiaozi there was a Dian people country, where every child born was dissected and eaten. It was said that doing so would benefit the younger brother. If the taste was good, the child would be sent to the leader to taste, and after tasting, the leader would also find the taste good and reward the father of the child. The Book of the Later Han Dynasty further states that if the Wuhu people found their newly married wives beautiful, they would give them to their older brothers. Wan Zhen’s South State also said that Wuhu was a place name, located south of Guangzhou and north of Jiaozhou. The Wuhu people often appeared on the roads, attacking passersby, mainly to eat human flesh, not for wealth. They used human flesh as a delicacy and broke human skulls as drinking vessels, especially valuing human hands and feet, which were often offered to the elderly. By the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the Wuhu people had become a numerous ethnic group in the border area between Jiaozhou and Guangzhou (the border area of Jiaozhi, Hepu, and Yulin). Modern scholar Dai Yixuaned that the core area of Wuhu activities was in the east of Hengxian County in Guangxi to Luchuan. Mr. Meng Wentong further inferred the migration traces of the Wuhu people, believing they moved from the west of Jiaozhi to the east, passing through Zhexu to Yulin, then northward to Jingzhou and Xiangjiang, and southward to Jiaozhou and Luchuan. Le Shi’s Taiping Huanyu Ji believed that the Wuhu people were the later Li people, reflecting the vague judgment of people after the Song dynasty about the complex genealogical relationships among southern ethnic groups. The traces of Wuhu people’s activities on Hainan Island can be seen from the fact that they were regarded as Li people. Fan Chengda’s Guihai Youhong Zhi in the Song dynasty said: "Li, the indigenous people of the four prefectures in Hainan." Lu Ciyun’s Dongxi Xian Zhi also said: "Li people live between Dang, Ya, Qiong, and Wan, also known as the Yan people." Dai Yixuan believed that the Yan people were the same as the Dian people, also known as the Wu people and Wuhu people. Mr. Meng Wentong pointed out that the statement recorded in The Book of Han Dynasty by Jia Juanzhi, which believed that the people living on Hainan Island were Luoyue people and that the custom of drinking through the nose was the custom of Luoyue, was actually a misunderstanding. It was possible that during Jia Juanzhi’s time, the Wuhu people had just migrated eastward from the west of Jiaozhi to Hainan Island, while Jia Juanzhi had already heard of the Luoyue ethnic group but was unaware of the existence of the Wuhu ethnic group, so he generally referred to them as Luoyue people. Taiping Huanyu Ji said that the Li people "killed travelers and pierced their teeth and wore them around their necks, showing their bravery." This became the best annotation for general researchers to believe that Wuhu people and Li people had a genealogical relationship.
The Primitive Wenlang People
The Shui Jing records the Wenlang people in the Nuannan Prefecture as follows: in the south of Zhuwu County in the Rizhou Prefecture, there were Wenlang people who lived outdoors, had no houses, and lived in trees, eating raw fish and meat, and relying on collecting agarwood for a living. They traded with others like people in ancient times. The Continuation of the Han Dynasty’s Liang People and the Notes to the Guo Guo Zhi also mentioned: these people lived by the sea, did not eat rice, and only ate fish. Wenlang people "lived in the wild without houses, lived in trees, ate raw fish and meat, collected agarwood for a living, and traded with others like people in ancient times." Their customs were not only different from those of Luoyue people who farmed for food but also different from those of the Yalang people who lived in clans and farmed for food. Therefore, Wenlang people cannot be confused with Yalang people. The records of Wenlang people only appear in the old history of Rizhou (now Vietnam), and there are few records in ancient Chinese literature. However, various signs indicate that this was a new ethnic group migrating from west to east, with a primitive lifestyle and simple people, which could not be compared with the Baiyue ethnic groups mentioned earlier. This ethnic group migrated eastward to Rizhou and then across the sea to Hainan Island, becoming an important part of the Li people of Hainan Island today. More accurately, the Halili ethnic group in the Li people might have been derived from the Wenlang people who crossed the sea. The Halili ethnic group not only had a primitive lifestyle but also mainly lived in the southern part of Hainan Island. The northern trend of the Halili ethnic group has been pointed out by predecessors through field investigations, which is also an important basis for this speculation. Another basis for this speculation is that the Halili people like to use place names such as "Bao, Bao, Bao, Bao," because "Bao, Bao, Bao, Bao" are all translations of "village" in Halili language. In Xuwen, Hailang, Zhanjiang, Gaozhou, Dianbai, and Xinyi in Guangdong, there are also villages named with "Bao, Bao, Bao, Bao." This indicates that when the Halili ethnic group arrived in Hainan Island, they also arrived in the southwest coast of Guangdong.
The Liao People Who Established the Yalang Kingdom
The name "Liao" first appeared in the Bibliography by Zhang Hua of the Jin Dynasty. Later, it was recorded in Huayang Guzhi by Changqin, The Biography of Li Shi in the Book of the Later Jin Dynasty, The Continuation of the Bibliography, and The Biography of Liao in the Book of the Wei Dynasty. The Liao people appeared in Sichuan, were numerous, and widely distributed, covering the central and eastern parts of Sichuan and Chongqing. They suddenly attracted attention. However, where did the Liao people come from? Li Daoyuan’s Shui Jing Zhu pointed out that the Liao people developed northward from Gan River to Sichuan. Wang Yanyued that the Gan River Kingdom ended in the late Spring and Autumn period and was replaced by the Yalang Kingdom. The Yalang Kingdom had a significant influence in the Southwest Yi, connecting northward to Bashu, southward to the Southern Yue, westward to Dian, and eastward to Jingchu. It was once a neighbor of the Southern Yue and was granted the title of "Yalang King" by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. According to The Book of Han Dynasty, the Yalang Kingdom was destroyed in the Heiping period of Chengdi (28 BC–25 BC). In that same year, Chen Li, the governor of Gan River, beheaded the Yalang King Xing, and the Yalang Kingdom no longer existed. The main ethnic group of the ancient Yalang Kingdom should have been the Liao and Pu. The Liao people arrived first, and the Pu people arrived later. The ruling ethnic group in the Yalang Kingdom was the Liao, not the Pu. As the ruling ethnic group, where did the Liao people go after the fall of the Yalang Kingdom? This is a matter of great concern. Currently, based on the research results of the Yalang Kingdom and its ethnic groups, the destinations of the Liao people can be roughly divided into the following aspects: (1) evolving locally into ethnic groups such as the Gelao people mainly living in Guizhou; (2) developing northward to become Liao people in Bashu; (3) migrating southward to become Liao people in Guangdong and Hainan; (4) migrating westward to become Yalang people outside Jiuzhen. The Gelao people are almost universally recognized as descendants of the Liao people. The Southern Yue and Jiaozhou have always been connected to Bashu, with the Yalang (Gan River) as a must-pass route. The migration of the Yalang (Gan River) people southward and northward is also reasonable, except for the migration of the Yalang people to Jiuzhen outside. The first person to notice this fact was Mr. Meng Wentong. In the 20th year of the Heiping period of the Western Han Dynasty (27 BC), Chen Li, the governor of Gan River, beheaded the Yalang King Xing, and after that, there were no more records of the Yalang Kingdom in that area. In the early years of the Jianwu period of the Eastern Han Dynasty (29 AD), Ren Yan became the governor of Jiuzhen, and there were Yalang people outside Jiuzhen who "admired righteousness and guarded the frontier" and were enfeoffed by the court as the Returning Han Li Jun. In the 16th year of the Jianwu period of the Eastern Han Dynasty (40 AD), the Jiaozhou woman Zheng Ce and her sister Zheng Er rebelled against the Han Dynasty, and the Miao people in Jiuzhen, Rizhou, and Hepu responded and quickly captured 65 cities. Zheng Ce declared herself king. Li Xian’s annotation on "Miao Li" in the Tang Dynasty was: "Li, a separate name for the Miao people, is now called the Li people." The Miao people outside Jiuzhen in the Eastern Han Dynasty are now in Laos. This shows that as early as the Jiuzhen to Hepu area, there lived a group of ethnic groups called "Li." From the distribution range of bronze artifacts unearthed in Lingui County, this ethnic group mainly lived in what are now Vietnam, Laos, southern Guangxi, and southwest Guangdong. According to The Records of the Three Kingdoms by Wu, in the Three Kingdoms period, a powerful group known as "Gao Liang Su Zei" had already formed in Guangdong and Guangxi, becoming the last refuge for rebels and escapees.