Description: In this innovative study, Erica Fox Brindley examines how, during the period 400 BCE-50 CE, Chinese states and an embryonic Chinese empire interacted with peoples referred to as the Yue/Viet along its southern frontier. Brindley provides an overview of current theories in archaeology and linguistics concerning the peoples of the ancient southern frontier of China, the closest relations on the mainland to certain later Southeast Asian and Polynesian peoples. Through analysis of warring states and early Han textual sources, she shows how representations of Chinese and Yue identity invariably fed upon, and often grew out of, a two-way process of centering the self while de-centering the other. Examining rebellions, pivotal ruling figures from various Yue states, and key moments of Yue agency, Brindley demonstrates the complexities involved in identity formation and cultural hybridization in the ancient world, and highlights the ancestry of cultures now associated with southern China and Vietnam.
Review Quotes: "Through in-depth investigation of textual and material sources, Erica Brindley provides a fascinating study of Yue/Viet history, identity, and relations with China. Her book is not only a long-overdue addition to our knowledge of the southern frontier of ancient China, but a key contribution to debates about identity and ethnicity in the ancient world."
Nicola Di Cosmo, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton