Cuanman

Cuanman (Chinese: 爨蠻) was originally an ethnic group in northern Yunnan, China. They came into power after assisting Zhuge Liang's Southern Campaign and dominated Yunnan during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. According to the tomb tablet of Cuan Longyan, they were descended from a famous official in Shanxi, however it was common at the time to create fictitious lineages linking indigenous elites back to China, and it's also highly likely that the Cuans were originally native to Yunnan.^[1] In 570, the Cuan ruler, Cuan Zan, divided his realm in half between the east, known as Wuman/Black Mywa (烏蠻), ruled by his son Cuan Zhen, and the west, known as Baiman/White Mywa (白蠻), ruled by his eldest son Cuan Wan. Cuan power was broken in 602 by the Sui dynasty. In 737, during the Tang dynasty, Piluoge of the Wuman tribe, Mengshe, united the Wuman tribes and founded Nanzhao (南詔).^[2]

According to pre-Tang historical sources, the Cuan kingdom consisted of two parts, Western Cuan and Eastern Cuan. The territory of Western Cuan encompassed much of contemporary central and eastern Yunnan and was administered directly by the Cuan patrician from their administrative headquarters in Ningzhou and Jianling. The economic and commercial wealth of the Cuan kingdom was centered in Western Cuan, especially in the region of Lake Dian, and the lucrative trade links with polities further south and west originated and ended there. In Chinese texts the people of Western Cuan were called either "Cuan people" (Cuan ren) or "white barbarians" (baiman), and they were considered more sophisticated, more refined, and more civilized than the peoples of Eastern Cuan. The eastern half of the Cuan kingdom comprised present-day north east Yunnan and much of contemporary Guizhou Province. The area was dominated by a mixture of agriculturalists who controlled the fertile lowlands of western Guizhou and eastern Yunnan (the former Yelang and Luowo kingdoms) and of powerful patricians who raised horses and sheep in the remote highlands of northeast Yunnan and northwest Guizhou (the former Bi kingdom). The peoples of Eastern Cuan accepted Western Cuan suzerainty and presented tribute to the Cuan court in Ningzhou, but they were said to govern their respective areas without direct Cuan interference. Apparently the Cuan did not apanage their family members in eastern Cuan territories, nor did they appoint officials to posts in that area. Instead, they relied on a network of personal relations between the patriarchs of the various branches of the Cuan patrician and the Eastern Cuan indigenous elite to extend their influence over this territory. In Chinese texts the peoples in Eastern Cuan are referred to as "black barbarians" (wuman), and they were considered less sophisticated than their Western Cuan counterparts.^[3]

— John Herman

Rulers[]

• Cuan Xi 231
• Cuan Gu 265
• Cuan Liang 327-330
• Cuan Chen 330-340
• Cuan Wei 345
• Cuan Baozi 405
• Cuan Longyan 445
• Cuan Yun 514
• Cuan Zan 548

Baiman (White Mywa)[]

• Cuan Wan
• Cuan Hongda
• Cuan Guiwang
• Acha (Guiwang's wife as regent)
• Cuan Shouyu

Wuman (Black Mywa)[]

• Cuan Zhen
• Cuan Qianfu
• Cuan Sishao
• Cuan Rijin
• Cuan Chongdao
• Cuan Fuchao

References[]

Bibliography[]

• Herman, John (2009), The Kingdoms of Nanzhong China's Southwest Border Region Prior to the Eighth Century
• Yang, Bin (2008a). "Chapter 3: Military Campaigns against Yunnan: A Cross-Regional Analysis". Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Yunnan (Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE). Columbia University Press.
• Yang, Bin (2008b). "Chapter 4: Rule Based on Native Customs". Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Yunnan (Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE). Columbia University Press.

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