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Zhao Tuo (240–137 BC), also known asEmperor Wu ofNanyue and asTriệu Đà orVũ Đế inVietnamese, was a Chinese general of theQin dynasty and the first king and emperor ofNanyue. He participated in theQin conquest of theBaiyue peoples ofGuangdong,Guangxi, andNorthern Vietnam. After thefall of the Qin, he established the independent kingdom of Nanyue with its capital in Panyu (nowGuangzhou) in 204 BC.^[1] Upon the establishment of theHan dynasty, Zhao initially accepted a position similar toits other kings, recognizingLiu Bang's nominal authority in exchange for good relations and autonomy. After relations became strained, he declared himself emperor of Nanyue in 185 BC, reigning until his death. Some traditionalVietnamese historians considered him the founder of theTriệu dynasty while some contemporary historians contest that he was a foreign invader, due to his Han Chinese origin.^[2]

Life

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A statue of Zhao in front ofHeyuan Railway Station

Triệu Đà statue atđình Xuân Quan,Hưng Yên,Vietnam

Establishment of Nanyue

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Zhao Tuo was born around240 BC inZhengding,Hebei, in northernChina. The area had long been home to theBeidi states ofXianyu andZhongshan but, by the time of Zhao's birth, had been annexed by theHuaxia state ofZhao. WhenZhao was defeated and annexed byQin in222 BC, Zhao Tuo joined Qin, serving as one of their generals intheir conquest of the Baiyue. The territory of those conquered Yues was divided into the three provinces of Guilin, Nanhai, and Xiang. Zhao served as magistrate in the province of Nanhai until his military commander,Ren Xiao, fell ill. Before he died, Ren advised Zhao not to get involved in the affairs of the declining Qin, and instead set up his own independent kingdom centered around the geographically remote and isolated city ofPanyu (modernGuangzhou). Ren gave Zhao full authority to act as military commander of Nanhai and died shortly afterwards. Zhao immediately closed off the roads atHengpu, Yangshan, and Huangqi. Using one excuse or another he eliminated the Qin officials and replaced them with his own appointees. By the time theQin fell in 206 BC, Zhao had also conquered the provinces of Guilin and Xiang. He declared himselfking of Nanyue, the Southern Yue.^[3]^[4]

Conflict with the Han

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In June or July 196 BC,^[5]Emperor Gaozu of Han dispatchedLu Jia to recognize Zhao Tuo as king of Nanyue.^[3] Lu gave Zhao a seal legitimizing him as king of Nanyue in return for his nominal submission to the Han.

In 185 BC,Empress Lü's officials outlawed trade of iron and horses with Nanyue. Zhao Tuo retaliated by proclaiming himself emperor of Nanyue and attacking the neighboring kingdom ofChangsha, taking a few border towns. In 181 BC,Zhou Zao was dispatched by Empress Lü to attack Nanyue, but the heat and dampness caused many of his officers and men to fall ill, and he failed to make it across the mountains into enemy territory. Zhao began to menace the neighboring kingdoms ofMinyue,Western Ou, andLuo. After securing their submission he began passing out edicts in a similar manner to the Han emperor.^[6]

In late 180 BC,Emperor Wen of Han made efforts to appease Zhao. Learning that Zhao's parents were buried in Zhending, he set aside a town close by just to take care of their graves. Zhao's cousins were appointed to high offices at the Han court. He also withdrew the army stationed in Changsha on the Han-Nanyue border. In response, Zhao rescinded his claims as emperor while communicating with the Han. However, he continued using the title of emperor within his kingdom. Tribute bearing envoys from Nanyue were sent to the Han and thus the iron trade was resumed.^[7]

Conquest of Âu Lạc

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Having mobilized his armies for war with the Han dynasty, Zhao Tuo found the conquest of Âu Lạc both "tempting and feasible".^[8]

Zhao Tuo's early setbacks and eventual victory against King An Dương were mentioned inRecords of the Outer Territories of the Jiao province (交州外域記) andRecords [about the Era] ofJin Taikang (晉太康記).^[9] TheRecords of the Grand Historian mention neither King An Dương nor Zhao Tuo's military conquest of Âu Lạc; just that afterEmpress Lü's death (180 BC), Zhao Tuo used his own troops to menace and used wealth to bribe theMinyue, theWestern Ou, and theLuo (Âu Lạc) into submission.^[10] The campaign against the Âu Lạc inspired a legend whose theme is the transfer of the turtle claw-triggered crossbow from King An Dương to Zhao Tuo. According to this legend, ownership of the crossbow conferred political power. As described in one account, Cao Lỗ the military engineer is quoted as saying: “He who is able to hold this crossbow rules the realm; he who is not able to hold this crossbow will perish.”^[11]

Unsuccessful on the battlefield against the supernatural crossbow, Zhao Tuo asked for a truce and sent his sonZhong Shi, to submit to King An Dương to serve him.^[12]^[13] There, he and King An Dương's daughter, Mỵ Châu, fell in love and were married.^[13]^[14] A vestige of the matrilocal organization demanded that the husband came to live in the residence of his wife's family.^[15] As a result, they resided at An Dương's court until Zhong Shi managed to lay his hands upon the magic crossbow that was the source of King An Dương's power.^[15] Meanwhile, King An Dương treated Cao Lỗ disrespectfully, and he abandoned him.^[16]

Zhong Shi had Mỵ Châu show him her father's sacred crossbow, at with point he secretly changed its trigger, thus neutralizing its special powers.^[14] He stole the turtle claw, rendering the crossbow useless, then returned to his father, who thereupon launched new attack on Âu Lạc and this time defeated King An Dương.^[15] History records that, in his defeat, the King jumped into the ocean to commit suicide. In some versions, he was told by the turtle about his daughter's betrayal and killed his own daughter before killing himself. A legend, however, discloses that a golden turtle emerged from the water and guided him into the watery realm.^[13]

Zhao Tuo subsequently incorporated the regions into hisNanyue domain, but left the indigenous chiefs in control of the population with the royal court in Cổ Loa.^[17]^[18]^[19] For the first time, the region formed part of a polity headed by a Chinese ruler.^[20] He posted two legates to supervise the Âu Lạc lords, one in theRed River Delta, which was namedJiaozhi, and one in theMã andCả River, which was namedJiuzhen. Some records suggest that he also invested a king at Cổ Loa who continued to preside over the Âu Lạc lords. The legates established commercial outposts accessible by sea.^[21]

Death

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Zhao Tuo died in 137 BC at the age of 103 and was succeeded by his grandson,Zhao Mo.^[7]

References

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Citations

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^Ulrich.
^Brantly Womack (2006).China and Vietnam: the politics of asymmetry. Cambridge University Press, 2006. p. 100.ISBN 0-521-85320-6.
^^a ^bWatson 1993, p. 208.
^Amies, Alex; Ban, Gu (2020).Hanshu Volume 95 The Southwest Peoples, Two Yues, and Chaoxian: Translation with Commentary. Gutenberg Self Publishing Press. p. 11.ISBN 978-0-9833348-7-3.
^The 5th month of the 11th year of Liu Bang's reign (including his tenure as King of Han), per vol. 12 ofZizhi Tongjian. The month corresponds to 18 June to 16 July 196 BC in theproleptic Julian calendar.
^Watson 1993, p. 209.
^^a ^bWatson 1993, p. 210.
^Taylor 1983, p. 24.
^both quoted inLi Daoyuan'sCommentary on the Water Classic. "vol. 37","section Yi Province Yeyu River"
^Watson 1961, p. 241.
^Nam C. Kim 2015, p. 5.
^Leeming 2001, p. 193.
^^a ^b ^cTaylor 1983, p. 25.
^^a ^bKelley 2014, p. 89.
^^a ^b ^cTaylor 2013, p. 15.
^Taylor 2013, p. 16.
^Jamieson 1995, p. 8.
^Brindley 2015, p. 93.
^Buttinger 1958, p. 92.
^Kiernan 2019, p. 69.
^Taylor 2013, p. 17.

Bibliography

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Taylor, K.W. (1983),The Birth of the Vietnamese, University of California Press
Taylor, K.W. (2013),A History of the Vietnamese, Cambridge University Press
Watson, Burton (1993),Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian: Han Dynasty II (Revised Edition, Columbia University Press
Ulrich, Theobald (2000)."Chinese History".ChinaKnowledge.de – An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art. Theobald Ulrich. Retrieved12 August 2019.
Watson, Burton (1961).Records Of The Grand Historian Of China. Columbia University Press.
Buttinger, Joseph (1958).The Smaller Dragon: A Political History of Vietnam. Praeger Publishers.
Leeming, David (2001).A Dictionary of Asian Mythology.Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-512052-3.
Kiernan, Ben (2019).Việt Nam: a history from earliest time to the present.Oxford University Press.
Brindley, Erica (2015).Ancient China and the Yue: Perceptions and Identities on the Southern Frontier, C.400 BCE-50 CE. Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-1-107-08478-0.
Higham, Charles (1996).The Bronze Age of Southeast Asia.Cambridge World Archaeology.ISBN 0-521-56505-7.
Kelley, Liam C. (2014), "Constructing Local Narratives: Spirits, Dreams, and Prophecies in the Medieval Red River Delta", in Anderson, James A.; Whitmore, John K. (eds.),China's Encounters on the South and Southwest: Reforging the Fiery Frontier Over Two Millennia, United States: Brills, pp. 78–106,ISBN 978-9-004-28248-3
Jamieson, Neil L (1995).Understanding Vietnam. University of California Press.ISBN 978-0-520-20157-6.
Miksic, John Norman; Yian, Go Geok (2016).Ancient Southeast Asia.Taylor & Francis.ISBN 978-1-317-27903-7.
Kim, Nam; Lai Van Toi; Trinh Hoang Hiep (2010). "Co Loa: an investigation of Vietnam's ancient capital".Antiquity.84 (326):1011–1027.doi:10.1017/S0003598X00067041.S2CID 162065918.
Nam C. Kim (2015).The Origins of Ancient Vietnam. Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-998089-5.