View source for Beidi

{{Short description|Ethnic group in ancient Chinese texts; one of the "Four Barbarians" groups}}
{{About|the ancient people groups|the commandery during the Qin and Han dynasties|Beidi Commandery|the deity|Heidi (god)}}
{{Refimprove|date=September 2011}}
{{Infobox Chinese
 | pic      = File:Huaxiasiyi.svg
 | piccap   = [[Zhou dynasty|Zhou]] geography: [[Huaxia]] surrounded by the [[Four Barbarians]]—Northern (''Beidi''), [[Nanman|Southern]] (''Nanman''), [[Dongyi|Eastern]] (''Dongyi''), and [[Xirong|Western]] (''Xirong'').
 | c        = {{linktext|北狄}}
 | p        = Běidí
 | w        = {{tonesup|Pei3-ti2}}
 | l        = Northern barbarians
}}
The '''Di''' or '''Beidi''' ('''Northern Di''') were various ethnic groups who lived north of the Chinese (''[[Huaxia]]'') realms during the [[Zhou dynasty]]. Although initially described as nomadic, they seem to have practiced a mixed pastoral, agricultural, and hunting economy and were distinguished from the [[Eurasian nomads|nomads]] of the [[Eurasian steppe]] who lived to their north. Chinese historical accounts describe the Di inhabiting the upper [[Ordos Loop]] and gradually migrating eastward to northern [[Shanxi]] and northern [[Hebei]], where they eventually created their own [[ancient Chinese states|states]] like [[state of Zhongshan|Zhongshan]] and [[Dai (Spring and Autumn)|Dai]]. Other groups of Di seem to have lived interspersed between the Chinese states before their eventual conquest or [[sinicization]].

==Name<span class="anchor" id="Names"></span><span class="anchor" id="Etymology"></span>==
The ancient Chinese, whose [[Xia dynasty|Xia]], [[Shang]], and [[Zhou dynasty|Zhou]] states flourished along the [[Fen River|Fen]], [[Yellow River|Yellow]], and [[Wei River|Wei valleys]], discussed their neighbors according to the cardinal directions. The [[Four Barbarians]] were the Di to the north, the [[Nanman|Man]] to the south, the [[Dongyi|Yi]] to the east, and the [[Xirong|Rong]] to the west. These came to be used as generic chauvinistic pejoratives for different peoples long after the conquests of the original tribes and so are all usually translated as '[[barbarian]]' in English.

Beidi tribes, ethnic groups, or states were sometimes distinguished as belonging to the "Red Di" (赤狄, ''Chidi''), the "White Di" (白狄, ''Baidi''), or "Tall Di" (長狄, ''Changdi''). The [[Xianyu Kingdom|Xianyu]] ([[Old Chinese]] ([[Reconstructions of Old Chinese#Baxter–Sagart (2014)|B-S]]): *''s[a]r[ŋ]ʷ(r)a''), Fei, [[Zhongshan (state)|Zhongshan]], and [[Dai (Spring and Autumn period)|Dai]] kingdoms were founded by White Di. According to [[Eastern Wu]] scholar [[Wei Zhao (Eastern Wu)|Wei Zhao]], Xianyu's founders dwelt among the Di yet shared the same [[Ji (Zhou dynasty ancestral surname)|ancestral surname Ji]] 姬 with the [[Zhou dynasty|Zhou]] kings.<ref>''Commentaries on [[Discourses of the States]]'' [http://www.guoxue123.com/shibu/0201/00gyz/015.htm Commentaries on "Discourses of Zheng"] quote: "狄，北狄也。鮮虞，姬姓在狄者也。"</ref>

[[William H. Baxter]] and [[Laurent Sagart]] (2014) reconstruct the [[Old Chinese]] pronunciation of {{linktext|狄}}  as *''lˤek''; sometimes {{linktext|狄}} was written as {{linktext|翟}}, whose pronunciation was reconstructed as *''lˤewk''.<ref>Baxter, W. H. & Sagart L. (20 September 2014). [http://ocbaxtersagart.lsait.lsa.umich.edu/BaxterSagartOCbyMandarinMC2014-09-20.pdf ''Baxter-Sagart Old Chinese reconstruction, version 1.1 - order: by Mandarin and Middle Chinese''] p. 21 of 161</ref><ref>Theobald, Ulrich (2012) [http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Altera/di1.html "Di 狄"] in ''ChinaKnowledge.de - An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art''</ref> Paul R. Goldin, professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at University of Pennsylvania, proposes that 狄/翟 was a pejorative "pseudo-ethnonym" made by Chinese for the northern "barbarians" and it meant "feathered".<ref>Goldin, Paul R. "Steppe Nomads as a Philosophical Problem in Classical China" in ''Mapping Mongolia: Situating Mongolia in the World from Geologic Time to the Present. Penn Museum International Research Conferences, vol. 2''. Ed. Paula L.W. Sabloff. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania. 2011. p. 235</ref>{{efn|翟 means long-tailed [[pheasant]]s or their feathers}}

==History==
[[File:QinEmpireWithOrdos.jpg|right|thumb|Di lived along the northern edge of what later became the [[Qin Empire]]]]
Surviving accounts of the culture and history of China's early neighbors mostly date from the late [[Zhou dynasty|Zhou]]. The ''[[Book of Rites]]'' notes:
<blockquote>The people of those five regions—[[Names of China|the Middle states]], and the [Rong], [Yi], (and other wild tribes round them)—had all their several natures, which they could not be made to alter. The tribes on the east were called [Yi]. They had their hair unbound, and tattooed their bodies. Some of them ate their food without its being cooked. Those on the south were called Man. They tattooed their foreheads, and had their feet turned in towards each other. Some of them (also) ate their food without its being cooked. Those on the west were called [Rong]. They had their hair unbound, and wore skins. Some of them did not eat grain-food. Those on the north were called [Di]. They wore skins of animals and birds, and dwelt in caves. Some of them also did not eat grain-food. The people of the Middle states, and of those [Yi], Man, [Rong], and [Di], all had their dwellings, where they lived at ease; their flavours which they preferred; the clothes suitable for them; their proper implements for use; and their vessels which they prepared in abundance. In those five regions, the languages of the people were not mutually intelligible, and their likings and desires were different. To make what was in their minds apprehended, and to communicate their likings and desires, (there were officers)—in the east, called transmitters; in the south, representationists; in the west, [Di-dis]; and in the north, interpreters.{{sfnp|Legge|1879|pp=229–230}}</blockquote>

The Di were often associated with the Rong; both were considered more warlike and less civilized than the Yi or Man. According to the ''[[Records of the Grand Historian]]'', the ancestors of the [[Zhou dynasty|Zhou]] lived in lands near the Rong and Di for fourteen generations, until [[Gugong Danfu]] led then away to the mid-[[Wei River]] valley where they built their capital near [[Qishan County|Mount Qi]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2013}}

During the [[Eastern Zhou]], the Chinese states—particularly [[Chinese state of Jin|Jin]]—expanded into Di territories, after which the Di were often their enemies.{{fact|date=January 2018}} The "White Di" lived north of [[state of Qin|Qin]] and west of the [[Yellow River]] in what is now northern [[Shaanxi]] through the first half of the [[Spring and Autumn period]]; tribes began crossing the river into northern [[Shanxi]] in the second half.{{sfnp|Wu|2017|p=28}} 

*676-651 BC: [[Duke Xian of Jin]] conquered a number of Rong and Di groups.{{fact|date=January 2018}}
*662 BC: The Di drove the Rong out of [[Taiyuan]].{{fact|date=January 2018}}
*662-659 BC: The state of Xing was nearly destroyed by the Red Di until it was rescued by the [[State of Qi]].{{fact|date=January 2018}}
*660 BC: The Red Di took the capital of the [[State of Wey]] and killed its ruler, but were driven out by Qi.{{fact|date=January 2018}}
*660 to 507 BC: Jin fought many wars with the Di.{{fact|date=January 2018}}

The Di eventually also established treaties of marriage and trade with the various Chinese states. The Jin prince [[Chong'er]] fled to his mother's family among them for many years until assassins sent by his brother forced him to begin wandering through the Chinese states.

*640 BC: The Di were allied with Qi and Xing against Wey.{{fact|date=January 2018}}
*636 BC: The Di helped the Zhou king against the state of Cheng.{{fact|date=January 2018}}

The [[Xianyu people|Xianyu]] and "White Di" moved east from the areas around the [[Yellow River]] in north [[Shaanxi]] and northwest [[Shanxi]] into the [[Taihang Mountains]] of Shanxi and [[Hebei]] during the 6th century{{nbsp}}BC.{{sfnp|Wu|2017|p=29}} The "White Di" were especially numerous on the upper reaches of the Xinding or [[Hutuo Valley]].{{sfnp|Wu|2017|p=29}}

*594 BC: Jin 'destroyed' the Red Di state of Lushi (潞氏).{{fact|date=January 2018}}

In 569{{nbsp}}BC, the [[Duke Dao of Jin|Dao Duke]] of [[Chinese state of Jin|Jin]] announced a new peaceful policy towards the barbarians (和戎, ''he Rong''). He ended Jin's expansionist invasions of foreign lands and instead bartered with their leaders, purchasing territory for valuable Chinese objects{{sfnp|Wu|2017|p=28}} like [[Chinese bronzes|ritual bronzes]] and [[Chinese bells|bells]].{{sfnp|Wu|2017|p=29}} During this period, the "White Di" began to move east of [[Taiyuan]] and the [[Taihang Mountains]].{{sfnp|Wu|2017|p=28}}

In 541{{nbsp}}BC, Jin ceased the ''he Rong'' policy and became violent again, attacking the [[Wuzhong (people)|Wuzhong]] (無終) and the "Numerous Di" (群狄, ''Qundi'') in what is now [[Taiyuan Prefecture]].{{sfnp|Wu|2017|pp=28–9}}

*541 BC: Jin 'subjugated' the Red Di state of Lushi.{{fact|date=January 2018}}

From the Taiyuan Basin, Jin pushed east through the [[Jingxing Pass]] (井陘) and attacked the "White Di" in the [[Taihang Mountains]] (530–520{{nbsp}}BC).{{sfnp|Wu|2017|p=29}} By this time, the Di had walled towns like Fei, Gu, and [[Qiu You]] (仇由){{sfnp|Wu|2017|p=29}} and fought on foot.

*531 BC: Jin attacked the Xianyu and Fei.{{fact|date=January 2018}}
*507 BC: Jin was severely defeated by the Xianyu Di.{{fact|date=January 2018}}
*406 BC: Zhongshan was conquered by the [[State of Wei]].{{fact|date=January 2018}}

By 400{{nbsp}}BC, most of the Di and Rong had been eliminated as independent polities.{{fact|date=January 2018}}

*377 BC: Zhongshan regained its independence.{{fact|date=January 2018}}
*295 BC: Zhongshan was conquered by the [[State of Zhao]].{{fact|date=January 2018}}
*{{c.|283}}-265 BC: [[Tian Dan]] fought with Di who lived in the state of Qi.{{fact|date=January 2018}}

==See also==
*[[Xirong]]
*[[Khitan people]]
*[[Wuhuan]]
*[[Xianbei]]
*[[Xionites]]
*[[Zhongshan (state)|Kingdoms of Zhongshan]] and [[Dai (Spring and Autumn)|Dai]]
* [[Five Barbarians]] (Hu), [[Donghu people|Eastern Barbarians]] (Donghu), and [[Xiongnu]]
*[[Di (Wu Hu)|Di]], one people among the [[Five Barbarians]]
*[[Tiele people|Tiele]].
*[[Dingling]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
* {{citation |title=Cambridge History of Ancient China |date=1999}}.
* {{citation |last=Di Cosmo |first=Nicola |author-link=Nicola Di Cosmo |title=Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vo7TmTbE-t0C |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=[[Cambridge]] |date=2002 |isbn=9780521543828}}.
* {{citation |editor-last=Legge |editor-first=James |editor-link=James Legge |date=1879 |title=The Li Ki |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |volume=I}}.
* {{citation |last=Wu |first=Xiaolong |author-mask=Wu Xiaolong |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vYHuDQAAQBAJ |title=Material Culture, Power, and Identity in Ancient China |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2017 |isbn=9781107134027}}.

{{Historical Non-Chinese peoples in China}}

[[Category:Ancient peoples of China]]
[[Category:Zhou dynasty]]