The People between the Rivers

This book is a history of the societies in the south of China known variously as Li and Lao who lived in the lands between the Red and Pearl Rivers in the first millennium CE, a period in which they produced the largest collection of bronze kettledrums known in the world. These drums were symbols of political authority and legitimacy for the Li and Lao rulers, and the abundance of drums cast in the area between the Red and Pearl Rivers centuries after the Chinese Empire had conquered the surrounding districts indicates their wealth and power. Very little research has been done about the history of the societies that produced these drums, and this is the first work to try to explain the political and economic factors behind their makersΓÇÖ rise to power and their subsequent disappearance. The study not only fills several gaps in our understanding of the history of Southern China, it also challenges many widely held assumptions about the history of ethnic relations and Chinese settlement of the Lingnan region, as well as the relationship between the Chinese Empires and the lands that would form the heart of a future Vietnamese state.