This article describes the history of Yunnan (Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau), currently a province of the People's Republic of China.
Prehistory
Notable prehistoric finds include the Yuanmou Man, a Homo erectus fossil unearthed by railway engineers in the 1960s and determined to be the oldest known hominid fossil in China.
Neolithic
By the Neolithic period, human settlements existed in the area of Lake Dian, close to modern-day Kunming, Yunnan's capital. The inhabitants used stone tools and constructed simple wooden structures.
The Kingdom of Dian
The Dian culture was distributed around the Lake Dian area and dated, though controversial, between the 6th century BC and the 1st century AD. The culture is divided into an early and a late phase. Under Emperor Wu, a series of military campaigns were dispatched against the Dian during the southward expansion of the Han dynasty. In 109 BC, the kingdom officially became a vassal state of the Han empire.
Han dynasty
In 109 BC, Emperor Wu sent General Guo Chang () south to Yunnan, establishing the Yizhou commandery. The commandery seat was at Dianchi county (present day Jinning). To expand the burgeoning trade with Burma and India, Emperor Wu also sent Tang Meng () to maintain and expand the Five Foot Way, renaming it "Southwest Barbarian Circuit" (). By this time, agricultural technology in Yunnan had markedly improved. The local people used bronze tools, plows and kept a variety of livestock, including cattle, horses, sheep, goats, pigs and dogs. They lived in tribal congregations, sometimes led by exile Chinese.
In the Records of the Grand Historian, Zhang Qian (d. 113 BC) and Sima Qian (145-90 BC) make references to "Sendhuk", which may have been referring to an Indianised community taking the name from the Indus Valley (the Sindh province in modern Pakistan), originally known as "Sindhu" in Sanskrit. When Yunnan was annexed by the Han dynasty, Chinese authorities also reported a Sendhuk" (Indianised) community living in the area.
In 109 AD, the Han court established Yunnan county, a part of Yizhou () commandery. Because the county seat was south of Mount Yun (), the county was named "Yunnan" – literally "south of Yun".
Jin dynasty and the Northern and Southern dynasties period
Chinese dynasties of Jin, Liu Song, Southern Qi and Northern Zhou maintain their rules around the commandery in the Kunming area. Southwest Yunnan and the eastern rugged, mountainous areas were still enjoying relative independence, ruled by tribal kings and chieftains with little Chinese influence.
Nanzhao Kingdom
In 649 AD the chieftain of the Yi Mengshe tribe, Xinuluo (), founded a kingdom () in the area of Lake Erhai. In the year AD 737, Piluoge () united the six zhaos in succession, establishing a new kingdom called Nanzhao.
In 750, Nanzhao invaded the Tang dynasty. In retaliation, the Tang sent an army against Nanzhao in 751, but this army was soundly defeated at Xiaguan. In 754, another army was sent, this time from the north, but it too was defeated. Bolstered by these successes, Nanzhao expanded rapidly, first into Burma, then into the rest of Yunnan, down into northern Laos and Thailand, and finally, north into Sichuan. In 829, Chengdu was taken; it was a great prize, as it enabled Nanzhao to lay claim to the whole of Sichuan province, with its rich paddy fields.
The Tang dynasty retaliated and by 873, Nanzhao had been expelled from Sichuan, and retreated back to Yunnan. Taking Chengdu marked the high point of the Nanzhao kingdom, and it was a watershed: from then on, the Nanzhao Kingdom slowly declined. n 902, the Nanzhao dynasty was overthrown, and it was followed by three other dynasties in quick succession, until Duan Siping seized power in 937 to establish the Kingdom of Dali.
Dali Kingdom
Dali was a Buddhist Bai kingdom. Established by Duan Siping in 937, it was ruled by a succession of 22 kings until the year 1253, when it was destroyed by an invasion of the Mongol Empire. The capital city was at Dali. In 1274 the Province of Yunnan was created, and the region has since been incorporated within China.