View source for Yelang

{{Short description|Ancient polity in modern Guizhou Province, China}}
{{About|the ancient political entity|the existing town|Yelang, Guizhou}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| collapse = no
| pic = 
| piccap = Location of Yelang (Dạ Lang).
| title = Yelang
| altname = Zangke
| t = 
| s = {{linktext|夜郎}}
| p = Yèláng
| w = 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.<ref name="window">{{cite news|url=http://www.china.org.cn/english/30608.htm|title=Ancient Sites Open Windows on the Past|newspaper=[[China Daily]]|date=2002-04-12|access-date=2010-08-19}}</ref> The state is known to modern Chinese from the idiom, "Yelang thinks too highly of itself" ({{zh|c=[[:wikt:夜郎自大|夜郎自大]]|p=Yèláng zì dà|l=Yelang self-aggrandizes}}).<ref name="Wade">Wade, Geoff, "[http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp188_yelang_china.pdf The Polity of Yelang and the Origin of the Name 'China']", ''[[Sino-Platonic Papers]]'', No. 188, May 2009.</ref>

==Name==
{{Main|Chinas}}
The inhabitants of Yelang called themselves ''Zina''. This may be source of the Sanskrit word [[Chinas|Cīna]] (चीन). The English word China is derived from this Sanskrit word.<ref name="Wade" />

==Geography==
===Expanse===
[[File:Han Expansion.png|thumb|500px|Situation map of Han dynasty in 2nd century BC; Yelang is shown in the southwest.]]
The Yelang were believed to have been an alliance of agricultural tribes covering parts of modern-day [[Guizhou]], [[Hunan]], [[Sichuan]] and [[Yunnan]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rmhb.com.cn/chpic/htdocs/english/content/200501/5-3.htm|newspaper=China Pictorial|title=Xinhuang County, the Site of Ancient Yelang Kingdom|first1=Wenchuan|last1=Gao|date=January 2005|access-date=2010-08-19}}</ref>

===Location===
The ancient Chinese historian [[Sima Qian]] described Yelang located west of the Mimo and Dian, south of [[Qiongdu]] (in what is now southern [[Sichuan]]), and east of the nomadic Sui and Kunming.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofchinese00gern|url-access=registration|quote=tien kingdom k'un-ming 1956.|title=A history of Chinese civilization|author=Jacques Gernet|year=1996|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-49781-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofchinese00gern/page/124 124]|access-date=15 May 2011}}</ref> Some people have identified the seat of the kingdom as [[Bijie]] ({{zh|c=畢節}}) in today's [[Liupanshui]] area, in modern [[Guizhou]] province, whilst others suggest the capital moved throughout the region over time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://unn.people.com.cn/GB/channel27/156/639/200104/26/57633.html|script-title=zh:古国沉睡湖南沅陵？--打探"夜郎国"的秘密|publisher=[[Beijing Youth Daily]]|quote=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。|date=2001-04-26|access-date=2011-04-26|language=zh}}</ref>

==Culture==
===Subsistence===
The Yelang were primarily a confederation of agricultural farming tribes.<ref name="pd2002"/>

===Appearance and dress===
Yelang people wore their hair up<ref name="pd2002"/> 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",<ref name="window"/> as well as "various bronze, porcelain and stone vessels visibly different from those belonging to other cultures studied in China, like the [[Han dynasty|Han]], [[Kingdom of Dian|Dian]] and [[Ba–Shu culture|Bashu cultures]]".<ref name="pd2002">{{cite news|url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200210/25/eng20021025_105631.shtml|title=Chinese Archeologists Search for Clues on Lost Kingdom|date=2002-10-25|access-date=2010-08-19|newspaper=[[People's Daily Online]]}}</ref>

===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.<ref name="pd2002"/>

===Military===
According to Chinese records the Yelang had strong armies.<ref name="pd2002"/>

===Government===
In 2007 a [[Miao people|Miao]] man publicly disclosed his possession of an ancient seal, said to be that of the Yelang kingdom, and claimed to be the 75th generation descendant of the King of Yelang.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.china.org.cn/english/culture/230489.htm|title=Seal of ancient king made public|newspaper=CRI.cn|access-date=2010-08-19|date=2007-11-01}}</ref>

==Political relations==
===Warring States===
In the early third century BCE, the [[Chu (state)|state of Chu]] sent Zhuang Qiao to Yelang at the head of a military expedition to prevent the state of Qin from annexing these kingdoms. After negotiating these alliances with the state of Ba, who helped Zhuang Qiao negotiate passage through the state of Bi to reach Yelang. Yelang also accepted the terms of the agreement and Zhuang Qiao went further west to the Lake Dian region. However, in 281 BCE the [[Qin (state)|Qin state]] sent Sima Cuo to intercept this threat to its interests and attacked Ba, eventually persuading Ba, Bi and Yelang to switch to alliances with the Qin.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=John Herman |title=The Kingdoms of Nanzhong China's Southwest Border Region Prior to the Eighth Century |journal=T'oung Pao |date=2009 |volume=95 |issue=4 |pages=241–286}}</ref>

===Nanyue===
Yelang had a close relationship with the [[Nanyue]] ("Southern Yue") kingdom and used the [[Zangke River]] (now known as the [[Beipan River]]) as a means of international transportation.<ref name="yang-c3">{{cite book|url=http://www.gutenberg-e.org/yang/chapter3.html|title=Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Yunnan, Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE|first1=Bin|last1=Yang|chapter=3|edition=Project Gutenberg Online}}</ref> The kingdom of Yelang declared their allegiance to Nanyue rule from the start of 183 BC until the end of 111 BC.

The [[Yi people]] may be modern-day descendants of the Yelang kingdom.<ref>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: [http://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTOTAL-GZMZ200501007.htm 1]</ref>

==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 [[Han dynasty|Han]] emperor's envoy, "Which is greater, Yelang or Han?" This gave rise to the [[Chinese idiom]], "Yelang thinks too highly of itself" ({{zh|c=[[wikt:夜郎自大|夜郎自大]]|p=Yèláng zì dà}}). Other sources suggest that Yelang's king was simply copying an earlier statement by a ruler of the adjacent [[Kingdom of Dian]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.newsgd.com/culture/culturenews/200503100054.htm|title=Relics reveal the mystery of Dian Kingdom|first1=Newmann|last1=Huo|newspaper=[[Shenzhen Daily]] online edition via [[Guangdong Culture News]]|date=2005-03-10|access-date=2010-08-19}}</ref>

Other Chinese sources describe the Yelang people as possessing supernatural powers.<ref name="pd2002"/>

==See also==
*[[Pole worship]]
*[[Zhuge Liang's Southern Campaign]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Historical Non-Chinese peoples in China}}

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[[Category:1st-century BC establishments in China]]
[[Category:Ancient peoples of China]]
[[Category:Former countries in Chinese history]]
[[Category:History of Guizhou]]