Yelang
Yelang | |
---|---|
Hanyu Pinyin | Yèláng |
Wade–Giles | Yelang |
Yelang, also Zangke, was an ancient political entity first described in the 3rd century BC in what is now western Guizhou province, China. It was active for over 200 years.[1] The state is known to modern Chinese from the idiom, "Yelang thinks too highly of itself" (Chinese: 夜郎自大; pinyin: Yèláng zì dà; lit. 'Yelang self-aggrandizes').[2]
Name
The inhabitants of Yelang called themselves Zina. This may be source of the Sanskrit word Cīna (चीन). The English word China is derived from this Sanskrit word.[2]
Geography
Expanse
The Yelang were believed to have been an alliance of agricultural tribes covering parts of modern-day Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan and Yunnan.[3]
Location
The ancient Chinese historian
Culture
Subsistence
The Yelang were a primarily a confederation of agricultural farming tribes.[6]
Appearance and dress
Yelang people wore their hair up[6] and decorated themselves with jewellery such as bracelets and necklaces.
Material culture
Archaeologists have retrieved relics from Yelang graves including "bronze swords, U-shaped bronze hairclips, turquoise bracelets and jade necklaces",
Burial rites
Tomb excavations show a unique burial custom in some Yelang tombs, in which the head of the deceased is placed into a bronze pot. This custom is unknown elsewhere in China.[6]
Military
According to Chinese records the Yelang had strong armies.[6]
Government
In 2007 a Miao man publicly disclosed his possession of an ancient seal, said to be that of the Yelang kingdom, and claimed to be the 75th descendant of the King of Yelang.[7]
Political relations
Nanyue
Yelang had a close relationship with the
The Yi people may be modern-day descendants of the Yelang kingdom.[9]
In Chinese culture
Yelang is best known to modern Chinese because of an incident said to have occurred in the 120s BC. According to the story the king of Yelang, convinced that his kingdom was the greatest in all the world, inquired rhetorically of the
Other Chinese sources describe the Yelang people as possessing supernatural powers.[6]
See also
- Pole worship
- Zhuge Liang's Southern Campaign
References
- ^ a b "Ancient Sites Open Windows on the Past". China Daily. 12 April 2002. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
- ^ a b Wade, Geoff, "The Polity of Yelang and the Origin of the Name 'China'", Sino-Platonic Papers, No. 188, May 2009.
- ^ Gao, Wenchuan (January 2005). "Xinhuang County, the Site of Ancient Yelang Kingdom". China Pictorial. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
- ISBN 0-521-49781-7. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
tien kingdom k'un-ming 1956.
- ^ 古国沉睡湖南沅陵?--打探"夜郎国"的秘密 (in Chinese). Beijing Youth Daily. 26 April 2001. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
贵州民族学院的王子尧教授告诉记者,从研究来看,夜郎的国都好像到处都是,除了沅陵、广顺、茅口等3个地方,牵涉到贵州省境的还有安顺、镇宁、关岭、贞丰、桐梓、贵阳、石阡、黄平、铜仁和云南省的宣威、沾益、曲靖,以及湖南省的麻阳等地方。于是有的学者就独辟蹊径,指出:既然在各地都发现有相关文物,证明该地为夜郎古都,这是否说明夜郎都邑处在一个不断变迁的过程,没有一个固定的地点。
- ^ People's Daily Online. 25 October 2002. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
- ^ "Seal of ancient king made public". CRI.cn. 1 November 2007. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
- ^ Yang, Bin. "3". Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Yunnan, Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE (Project Gutenberg Online ed.).
- ^ S.P. Chen (Jan 2005). "The Yelang Kingdom and the Yi People", Journal of Guizhou University For Nationalities, College of Cultural Communication de l'Université de Guizhou, Guiyang. Download links: 1
- ^ Huo, Newmann (10 March 2005). "Relics reveal the mystery of Dian Kingdom". Shenzhen Daily online edition via Guangdong Culture News. Retrieved 19 August 2010.