Triệu dynasty

Ruling house of the Nanyue kingdom

The Triệu dynasty or Zhao dynasty (; ; 茹趙) ruled the kingdom of Nanyue, which consisted of parts of southern China as well as northern Vietnam. Its capital was Panyu, in modern Guangzhou. The founder of the dynasty, Zhao Tuo (Triệu Đà), was a Chinese general from Hebei and originally served as a military governor under the Qin dynasty. He asserted the state's independence in 207 BC as the Qin dynasty was collapsing. The ruling elite included both native Yue and immigrant Han peoples. Zhao Tuo conquered the Vietnamese state of Âu Lạc and led a coalition of Yuè states in a war against the Han dynasty, which had been expanding southward. Subsequent rulers were less successful in asserting their independence and the Han dynasty finally conquered the kingdom in 111 BC.

The scholar Huang Zuo produced the first detailed published history of Nanyue in the fifteenth century. Chinese historians have generally denounced Nanyue as separatists from the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), but have also praised them as a civilizing force. A particularly strident denunciation was produced by poet Qu Dajun in 1696. Qu praised Qin Shi Huang as a model of how to uphold the purity of Chinese culture, and compared Zhao Tuo unfavorably to the emperor. In modern times, the character 粵 (yuè) refers to Cantonese while 越 (yuè) refers to Vietnamese. But historically, these two characters were interchangeable. Meanwhile, Vietnamese historians have struggled with the issue of whether to regard the Triệu dynasty heroically as founders of Vietnam, or to denounce them as foreign invaders. For centuries afterward, Zhao Tuo was a folk hero among the Viets, and was remembered for standing up to the Han Empire. After Lý Bí drove the Chinese out of northern Vietnam, he proclaimed himself "Emperor of Nam Việt" (Nam Việt đế; 南越帝) in 544, thus identifying his state as a revival of the Nanyue, despite obvious differences in terms of location and ethnic makeup. In the thirteenth century, Lê Văn Hưu wrote a history of Vietnam that used the Triệu dynasty as its starting point, with Zhao Tuo receiving glowing praise as Vietnam's first emperor.

Zhao Tuo (r. 204–136 BC), also called Triệu Đà, the founder of the dynasty, was an ethnic Chinese born in the State of Zhao, now Hebei province. He became military governor of Nanhai (now Guangdong) upon the death of Governor Ren Xiao in 208 BC, just as the Qin dynasty was collapsing. The Qin governor of Canton advised Zhao to found his own independent kingdom since the area was remote and there were many Chinese settlers in the area. He asserted Nanhai's independence declared himself the king of Nam Việt in 204 BC, established in the area of Lingnan, the modern provinces of comprises Guangdong, Guangxi, south Hunan, south Jiangxi and other nearby areas. He ruled Nanyue and committed acts of defiance against Emperor Gaozu of Han and he severed all ties with the Han dynasty, killed many Han employees appointed by the central government and favored local customs of the Yue people. On this occasion, Zhao Tuo squatted and wore his hair in a bun, in the Yuè manner. "Yet now you turn against that nature which heaven has given you at birth, cast aside the dress of your native land and, with this tiny, far off land of Yue, think to set yourself up as a rival to the Son of Heaven and an enemy state It is proper under such circumstances that you should advance as far as the suburbs to greet me and bow to the north and refer to yourself as a 'subject'." "There is no one in all Yue worth talking to", said the king, "Now that you have come, everyday I hear something I have never heard before!" When Lu returned to Chang'an, the Emperor Gaozu of Han was much pleased by this result. The army sent against Nanyue by Empress Lü was ravaged by a cholera epidemic.]] Peace meant that Nanyue lost its imperial authority over the other Yue states. Its earlier empire had not been based on supremacy, but was instead a framework for a wartime military alliance opposed to the Han.

Zhao Tuo died in 136 BC and was succeeded by his grandson Zhao Mo (; ). He was 71 years old at the time of ascending to the throne. In 135 BC, the Minyue attacked and Zhao Mo requested the assistance of the Han Empire. The Emperor Wu of Han offered to "help" by sending his army, ostensibly to suppress the assist Nanyue, but with an eye of seizing the country should an occasion arise. Crown Prince Zhao Yingqi was sent to live and study in the Han court. With its king being too young and inexperienced and leading an untrained, however brave army, Nanyue was only able to keep their stronghold for a while. Han crushed the Nanyue army along with Lü Jia and his King (Zhao Jiande), both resisted until the end. Based on many temples of Lü Jia, his wives and soldiers scattering in Red River Delta of modern day northern Vietnam, the war might last until 98 BC. After the fall of Panyu, Tây Vu Vương (the captain of Tây Vu area of which the center is Cổ Loa) revolted against the First Chinese domination from Western Han dynasty. He was killed by his assistant Hoàng Đồng (黄同). Afterwards, Nanyue territory was divided into nine districts and incorporated into the Han dynasty as the prefecture of Jiaozhi (Giao Chỉ). Han dynasty would dominate Jiaozhi until the revolt of the Trưng Sisters, who led a revolt in AD 40.

There was a fusion of the Han and Yue cultures in significant ways, as shown by the artifacts unearthed by archaeologists from the tomb of Nanyue in Guangzhou. The Nanyue tomb in Guangzhou is extremely rich. There are quite a number of bronzes that show cultural influences from the Han, Chu, Yue and Ordos regions.