Baiyue

The Baiyue, Hundred Yue, or simply Yue, were various ethnic groups who inhabited the regions of southern China and northern Vietnam during the 1st millennium BC and 1st millennium AD. They were known for their short hair, body tattoos, fine swords, and naval prowess.
During the Warring States period, the word "Yue" referred to the state of Yue in Zhejiang. The later kingdoms of Minyue in Fujian and Nanyue in Guangdong were both considered Yue states. During the Zhou and Han dynasties, the Yue lived in a vast territory from Jiangsu to Yunnan, while Barlow indicates that the Luoyue occupied the southwest Guangxi and northern Vietnam. The Book of Han describes the various Yue tribes and peoples can be found from the regions of Kuaiji to Jiaozhi.
The Yue tribes were gradually assimilated into Chinese culture as the Han empire expanded into what is now southern China and northern Vietnam. Many modern southern Chinese languages bear traces of substrate languages originally spoken by the ancient Yue. Variations of the name are still used for the name of modern Vietnam, in Zhejiang-related names including Yue opera, the Yue Chinese language, and in the abbreviation for Guangdong.

Names

The modern term "Yue" comes from Old Chinese. It was first written using the pictograph for an axe, in oracle bone and bronze inscriptions of the late Shang dynasty, and later as. At that time it referred to a people or chieftain to the northwest of the Shang. In the early 8th century BC, a tribe on the middle Yangtze were called the Yangyue, a term later used for peoples further south. Between the 7th and 4th centuries BC "Yue" referred to the state of Yue in the lower Yangtze basin and its people. According to Ye Wenxian, as cited by Wan, the ethnonym of the Yuefang in northwestern China is not associated with that of the Baiyue in southeastern China.
The term Baiyue first appears in the Lüshi Chunqiu, compiled around 239 BC. It was later used as a collective term for many non-Huaxia/Han Chinese populations of Southern China and Northern Vietnam.
Ancient texts mention a number of Yue states or groups. Most of these names survived into early imperial times:

Chinese	Mandarin	Cantonese	Vietnamese	Literal meaning
於越/于越	Yuyue	Jyu1 jyut6	Ư Việt	Yue by Wuyu
揚越	Yangyue	Joeng4 jyut6	Dương Việt	Yue of Yangzhou
東甌	Dong'ou	Dung1 au1	Đông Âu	Eastern Ou
閩越	Minyue	Man5 jyut6	Mân Việt	Yue of Min
夜郎	Yelang	Je6 long4	Dạ Lang
南越	Nanyue	Naam4 jyut6	Nam Việt	Southern Yue
山越	Shanyue	Saan1 jyut6	Sơn Việt	Mountain Yue
雒越	Luoyue	Lok6 jyut6	Lạc Việt
甌越	Ouyue	Au1 jyut6	Âu Việt	Yue of Ou
滇越	Dianyue	Din1 jyut6	Điền Việt	Yue of Dian

History

Prehistory

According to Chunming Wu, the prehistoric ancestors of the Baiyue were actively involved in seafaring in southeastern China. They communicated with 'proto-Austronesians' in Southeast Asia and Pacific archipelagos. Ethnically, the Baiyue were mostly Austronesian and Kra–Dai although some were perhaps related to Hmong-Mien, Austroasiatic etc. The Baiyue were different groups of people, not necessarily related to each other.

Yuyue

During the early Zhou dynasty, the Chinese came into contact with a people known as the Yuyue, but it is uncertain if they had any connection with the later Yue.

Wu and Yue

From the 9th century BC, two Yue tribes, the Gouwu and Yuyue, came under the cultural influence of their northern Chinese neighbours. These two peoples were based in the areas of what is now southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang, respectively. Traditional accounts attribute the cultural exchange to Taibo, a Zhou dynasty prince who had self-exiled to the south. During the Spring and Autumn period, the Gouwu founded the state of Wu and the Yuyue the state of Yue. The Wu and Yue peoples hated each other and had an intense rivalry but were indistinguishable from each other to the other Chinese states. It is suggested in some sources that their distinctive appearance made them victims of discrimination abroad.
The northern Wu eventually became the more sinicized of the two states. The royal family of Wu claimed descent from King Wen of Zhou as the founder of their dynasty. King Fuchai of Wu made every effort to assert this claim and was the source of much contention among his contemporaries. Some scholars believe the Wu royalty may have been Chinese and ethnically distinct from the people they ruled. The recorded history of Wu began with King Shoumeng. He was succeeded in succession by his sons King Zhufan, King Yuji. The brothers all agreed to exclude their sons from the line of succession and to eventually pass the throne to their youngest brother, Prince Jizha, but when Yumei died, a succession crisis erupted which saw his son King Liao taking the throne. Not much is known about their reigns as Yue history largely concentrates on the last two Wu kings, Helü of Wu, who killed his cousin Liao, and his son Fuchai of Wu.
Records for the southern state of Yue begin with the reign of King Yunchang. According to the Records of the Grand Historian, the Yue kings were descended from Shao Kang of the Xia dynasty. According to another source, the kings of Yue were related to the royal family of Chu. Other sources simply name the Yue ruling family as the house of Zou. There is no scholarly consensus on the origin of the Yue or their royalty.
Wu and Yue spent much of the time at war with each other, during which Yue gained a fearsome reputation for its martial valour:
Almost nothing is known about the organizational structure of the Wu and Yue states. Wu records only mention its ministers and kings while Yue records only mention its kings, and of these kings only Goujian's life is recorded in any appreciable detail. Goujian's descendants are listed but aside from their succession of each other until 330 BC, when Yue was conquered by Chu, nothing else about them is known. Therefore, the lower echelons of Wu–Yue society remain shrouded in mystery, appearing only in reference to their strange clothing, tattoos, and short hair by northern Chinese states. After the fall of Yue, the ruling family moved south to what is now Fujian and established the kingdom of Minyue. There they stayed, outside the reach of Han Chinese influence until the end of the Warring States period and the rise of the Qin dynasty.
In 512 BC, Wu launched a large expedition against the large state of Chu, based in the Middle Yangtze River. A similar campaign in 506 BC succeeded in sacking the Chu capital Ying. Also in that year, war broke out between Wu and Yue and continued with breaks for the next three decades. Wu campaigns against other states such as Jin and Qi are also mentioned. In 473 BC, King Goujian of Yue finally conquered Wu and was acknowledged by the northern states of Jin and Qi. In 333 BC, Yue was in turn conquered by Chu.

Qin dynasty

After the unification of China by Qin Shi Huang, the former Wu and Yue states were absorbed into the nascent Qin empire. The Qin armies also advanced south along the Xiang River to modern Guangdong and set up commanderies along the main communication routes. Motivated by the region's vast land and valuable exotic products, which was inhabited by Yue peoples, Qin Shi Huang allegedly sent half a million troops divided into five armies to conquer the lands of the Yue. The Yue defeated the first attack by Qin troops and killed the Qin commander. A passage from Huainanzi of Liu An quoted by Keith Taylor describing the Qin defeat as follows:
Afterwards, Qin Shi Huang sent reinforcements to confront the Yue. In 214 BC, Qin Shi Huang ordered the construction of the Lingqu Canal, which linked the north and south so that reinforcements could be transported to modern Guangdong, Guangxi and northern Vietnam, which were subjugated and reorganized into three prefectures within the Qin empire. Qin Shi Huang also imposed sinicisation by sending a large number of Chinese military agricultural colonists to what are now eastern Guangxi and western Guangdong.

Lạc and Âu Việts

Lạc Việt

, known in Chinese history as Luoyue, was an ancient conglomeration of Yue tribes in what is now modern Guangxi and northern Vietnam. According to Vietnamese folklore and legend, the Lạc Việt founded a state called Văn Lang and were ruled by the Hùng kings, who were descended from Lạc Long Quân. Lạc Long Quân came from the sea and subdued all the evil of the land, taught the people how to cultivate rice and wear clothes, and then returned to the sea again. He then met and married Âu Cơ, a goddess, daughter of Đế Lai. Âu Cơ soon bore an egg sac, from which hatched a hundred children. The first born son became Hùng King and ancestor of Luoyue people.
Despite its legendary origins, Lạc Việt history only begins in the 7th century BC with the first Hùng king in Mê Linh uniting the various tribes. The Lạc Việt also developed the Đông Sơn culture,which was associated with the ethnogenesis of Kinh Vietnamese.
In 208 BC, the Western Ou king Thục Phán, a descendant of Shu royalty, conquered Văn Lang.

Âu Việt

The Âu Việt, known in Chinese as Ouyue, resided in modern northeast Vietnam, Guangdong province, and Guangxi province. At some point they split and became the Western Ou and the Eastern Ou. In the late 3rd century BC, Thục Phán, a descendant of the last ruler of Shu, came to rule the Western Ou. In 219 BC, Western Ou came under attack from the Qin empire and lost its king. Seeking refuge, Thục Phán led a group of dispossessed Ou lords south in 208 BC and conquered the Lạc Việt state of Văn Lang, which he renamed Âu Lạc. Henceforth he came to be known as An Dương Vương.
An Dương Vương and the Ou lords built the citadel Cổ Loa, literally 'Old snail'—so called because its walls were laid out in concentric rings reminiscent of a snail shell. According to legend, the construction of the citadel was halted by a group of spirits seeking to gain revenge for the son of the previous king. The spirits were led by a white chicken. A golden turtle appeared, subdued the white chicken, and protected An Dương Vương until the citadel's completion. When the turtle departed, he left one of his claws behind, which An Dương Vương used as the trigger for his magical crossbow, the "Saintly Crossbow of the Supernaturally Luminous Golden Claw".
An Dương Vương also sent a giant called Lý Ông Trọng to the Qin dynasty as tribute. During his stay with the Qin, Lý Ông Trọng distinguished himself in fighting the Xiongnu, after which he returned to his native village and died there.
In 179 BC, An Dương Vương acknowledged the suzerainty of the Han dynasty, causing Zhao Tuo of Nanyue to become hostile and mobilize forces against Âu Lạc. Zhao Tuo's initial attack was unsuccessful. According to legend, Zhao Tuo asked for a truce and sent his son to conduct a marriage alliance with An Dương Vương's daughter. Zhao Tuo's son stole the turtle claw that powered An Dương Vương's magical crossbow, rendering his realm without protection. When Zhao Tuo invaded again, An Dương Vương fled into the sea where he was welcomed by the golden turtle. Âu Lạc was divided into the two prefectures of Jiaozhi and Jiuzhen.