Shanyue

The Shanyue (山越) were an ancient conglomeration of upland Yue hill tribes living in what is today the mountainous regions of Southern China (Southeastern Hills) and Northern Vietnam during the Han dynasty. Since the Southern part of modern China prior to the Qin conquest was not yet controlled by the Han Empire (the Han imperial court only claimed ownership, but lacked the military means to realistically control and subdue them) prior the southward expansion. The Shanyue would regularly conduct sneak attacks and perform rebellions against any unfortunate Han Chinese wanderer who crossed their path to loot and gather living essentials. The Shanyue tribe became a major geopolitical impetus during the Eastern Han era and by the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, the Shanyue tribes were subsumed into Han Empire after the Sun family established a strong local government in Jiangdong.

The Kingdom of Wu, founded by Sun Quan, launched numerous campaigns against the Shanyue, but to no avail because the tribesmen of Shanyue had lived in the hills for generations and knew the area well, and would go into hiding once they lost a battle. However, one of the Wu generals, Ling Tong, attempted a different approach to deal with the Shanyue tribe, he proposed that Sun Quan should attempt to win the hearts and minds of the Shanyue peoples and assimilate them through persuasive rhetoric, crafty guile, deceit and peaceful means instead of purely using military force to hamper and subdue them. Ling reasoned that if they could impress the Shanyue with Wu's and Chinese clemency, compassion, and dignity and potential rewards, the Shanyue tribesmen would submit to their government without bloodshed. After he was granted the authority to request material from counties when required, Ling Tong led a unit with decorative weapons and armors to go deep into the hills. When the Shanyue discovered Wu troops, they were impressed by Ling Tong’s contingent; then Ling Tong came out and told them if they would join the Wu forces, handsome rewards would be offered. Tens of thousands of the Shanyue came out from their caverns and joined Ling. Ling selected 10,000 strong men to form a unit, and returned. Because of Ling Tong’s success, Zhuge Ke, another Wu general and future regent, would adopt his strategy. In 203, the Shanyue rebelled against Sun Quan's rule and were defeated by the generals Lü Fan, Cheng Pu, and Taishi Ci. In 217, Sun Quan appointed Lu Xun supreme commander of an army to suppress martial activities by the Shanyue in Guiji (modern Shaoxing). In 234 AD, Ke proposed to Sun Quan that the Shanyue of Danyang could be subdued, and he just needed full powers to implement his plan. Zhuge's requests were granted, and upon Zhuge's arrival, he requested the four neighboring commanderies to seal their borders and not combat the Shanyue; then, when the rice became ready for harvest, he had the rice harvested quickly and then gathered up, away from the pillaging Shanyue. The Shanyue were thus starved into submission (the Shanyue gathered food by plundering any unfortunate Han wanderer that came across their path instead of planting it themselves), and as soon as they submitted, Zhuge Ke treated them with kindness. The operation ran for approximately three to four years, with virtually all the Shanyue tribes within Dangyang having surrendered to the Kingdom of Wu, indicative of their final acquiescence to have their eventual fates to be assimilated into the Han empire. Also in 234, Zhuge Ke was appointed governor of Danyang. Under his governorship, the region now known as Southern China was ethnically cleansed of the Shanyue through systematic destruction of their settlements as a result of the Shanyue's acquiescence upon their engagement against the Three Kingdom's imperial army. The Three Kingdom's immense imperial power coupled with its vast intensification of internal Han Chinese migratory pressures ultimately led to their eventual demographic displacement and territorial dispossession. Captured Shanyue tribesmen who refused to submit to the Three Kingdom's imperial military power and resisted were either driven out to the coastal extremities such as the river valleys and highland areas where they became marginal scavengers and outcasts or used as front line fodder for the Imperial Chinese army. The remaining Shanyue population who cooperated with the imperial military authorities were resettled in the lowlands that ultimately became tenant farmers on the agricultural settlements administered and presided by Han Chinese landlords.[1]