Nong Zhigao

Nong Zhigao (modern Zhuang language: Nungz Ciqgaoh; Chinese: 儂智高; pinyin: Nóng Zhìgāo, Vietnamese: Nùng Trí Cao) (1025–1055?) is a hero admired by the Nùng people of Vietnam, and Zhuang people of China. His father was the head of local Zhuang people in Vietnam.

According to the History of Song: Guangyuan Zhou Man Zhuan (《宋史·廣源州蠻傳》), as he became an adult he followed his father as the head of local Zhuang people in Quảng Nguyên (present-day Cao Bằng Province). At that time, the Zhuang people were oppressed by Jiaozhi (now northern Vietnam), so Nong Zhigao presented many treasures to Northern Song asking to be a member of Northern Song. But the Emperor of Northern Song refused. So he had no other choice but an uprising. He founded the Great South Country the area south west of the present day Nanning. But later he was beaten by General Di Qing from Northern Song. After that he and his people fled to Yunnan, Thailand and Laos.

The modern-day veneration of Nong Zhigao and his father Nong Quanfu (; Zhuang:; Nùng Tồn Phúc) and his mother A Nùng (; Nung: ) in Cao Bằng province is closely tied to the shared regional identity of people from this region. Nong Zhigao remains a hero and a “man of prowess,” and worship includes practices that highlight the particular strengths of Nong Zhigao, including his willingness to face up to the aggression of both Song and Đai Viêt authorities and his ambition to unify and heighten the status of his region's people. From the historical record, one can also see that, by the late 19th century, annual festivals devoted to the spirit of Nong Zhigao were regionally important. It is equally apparent that the appeal of these Vietnamese festivals extended beyond clan or ethnic affiliations to the general populace that has often included communities on both sides of the modern political border.

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Wikipedia