Han campaigns against Dian

Han campaigns against Dian
Part of the southward expansion of the Han dynasty
Date 135 BC, 109 BC, others Location Yunnan Result 135 BC Jianwei commandery and trade routes established by Han 109 BC Dian annexed by the Han and Yizhou commandery established Cultural assimilation of Yunnan
Belligerents
Han dynasty	Dian

135 BC

109 BC

The Han conquest of Dian was a series of military campaigns and expeditions by the Chinese Han dynasty recorded in contemporary textual sources against the kingdom of Dian in modern Yunnan. Dian was placed under Han rule in 109 BC, after Emperor Wudi dispatched an army against the kingdom as the empire expanded southward.

Dian was a kingdom in modern Yunnan, southwestern China. According to Han historian Sima Qian's Shiji, it was established by Zhuang Qiao, a general of Chu Kingdom during the Warring States period. He had been sent to the area as part of a Chu military campaign. When Chu homeland was invaded by the Qin, Zhuang Qiao stayed behind in Yunnan and established the Dian kingdom. The Qin was subsequently overthrown by the Han, and the commanderies of the new dynasty, Ba and Shu, bordered Dian.

The earliest Han expedition against Dian was led by Tang Meng in 135 BC, who established the Jianwei commandery in the region. The Han had been attracted to the wealth of the kingdom, which traded cattle, fruit, horses, and slaves. Han soldiers opened up new trade routes, then expanded further north, toward an area near Shu. The commandery was later abandoned because of rising costs and the wars against the Xiongnu to the north of China. A later Chinese expedition, heading south to established a trade route after a report on Central Asian trade in 122 BC, was captured by the Dian for four years.

A military campaign dispatched by Emperor Wudi in 109 BC invaded and annexed Dian. The Yizhou commandery was established in the former kingdom. Dian's surrender was verified by archaeologists, who discovered an imperial seal inscribed by the Han for the king of Dian. There were a series of unsuccessful rebellions by the Dian against Han rule. The first two incidents occurred in 86 BC and 83 BC. A rebellion in 35BC–28 BC was suppressed by Chen Li, governor of the Zangge commandery. More violence surfaced during Wang Mang's usurpation of the Han emperor and reign in 9–23. Wang responded by dispatching military campaigns against the southwest. One campaign lost 70% of its soldiers due to illness. Another, with 100,000 men and double the supplies, had little success.

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