Dian was an ancient kingdom situated in modern
Yunnan, southwestern China, in the region around the
Dian Lake. According to Han historian,
Sima Qian, it was established in 279 BCE when
King Qingxiang of Chu sent a military force to the southwest. Zhuang Qiao, a general of
Chu, reached the
Dian Lake as part of the Chu military campaign. When the Chu homeland was invaded by the
Qin, Zhuang Qiao decided to stay in Yunnan and adopt the native ways, establishing the Dian kingdom. The
Qin dynasty was subsequently overthrown by the Han, and the commanderies of the new dynasty, Ba and Shu, bordered Dian. According to the
Shiji, the southwest was dominated by barbarians, among whom the ruler of
Yelang was the most powerful. To the west of Yelang were the Mimo and the most powerful among them was the ruler of Dian. North of Dian was Qiongdu. All these people styled their hair in a mallet-shaped fashion. These were settled peoples who worked the fields and lived in settlements. In the area from
Tongshi east to
Yeyu were the Sui and
Kunming tribes who braided their hair and moved from place to place with their herds. They had no fixed abodes or rulers. Northeast of the Sui were the Xi and Zuodu. The most powerful of the Zuodu were the Ran and Mang, who lived west of
Shu. Some of them moved from place and place but others lived in fixed abodes. Northeast of the Ran and Mang were the Baima, who belonged to the Di tribe. In 135 BCE, the Han envoy Tang Meng brought gifts to Duotong, the king of Yelang, which bordered Dian, and convinced him to submit to the Han. The Jianwei Commandery was established in the region. In 122 BCE, Emperor Wu dispatched four groups of envoys to the southwest in search of a route to
Daxia in Central Asia. One group was welcomed by the king of Dian but none of them were able to make it any further as they were blocked in the north by the Sui and Kunming tribes of the
Erhai region and in the south by the
Di and Zuo tribes. However they learned that further west there was a kingdom called Dianyue where the people rode elephants and traded with the merchants from Shu in secret. In 111 BCE,
Emperor Wu of Han ordered the barbarian tribes of Jianwei Commandery to raise troops for the
campaign against Nanyue. Fearing that neighboring tribes would attack them in the absence of their men, the tribe of Julan rebelled against the Han and killed the governor of Jianwei Commandery. After Nanyue was defeated, Han forces turned north and subjugated the various tribes of Yelang, Julan, Toulan, Qiong, Zuo, Ran, and Mang. The Dian kingdom was annexed by the Han under the reign of
Emperor Wu of Han in 109 BCE and the Yizhou commandery established. The Dian King willingly received the Chinese invasion in the hopes of assistance against rival tribes. It was at this time he received his seal from the Chinese, and became a tributary. Emperor Wu sent
Wang Ranyu to persuade the king of Dian to submit, pointing out that many of the neighboring tribes had already been defeated. The king of Dian was initially reluctant to accept the offer for he still possessed some 30,000 troops as well as the allegiance of the nearby Laojin and Mimo tribes. However, in 109 BCE, Han troops from Ba and Shu wiped out the Laojin and Mimo, leading the king of Dian to surrender. While Dian became
Yizhou Commandery, the king was allowed to continue his rule until a rebellion during the reign of
Emperor Zhao of Han. The Han proceeded with colonization and conquered the people of Kunming in 86 and 82 BCE, reaching all the way to what is now modern day
Myanmar. ==Royal burials==