Chinese Refugees in Annam and Champa at the end of the Sung Dynasty

Abstract

In February 1276, the Southern Sung capital Lin-an (modern Hang-chou) fell to the Mongols, and the last Sung emperor, Chao Hsien (Kung-ti ), was taken captive. With the aid of its loyal ministers, the remaining members of the royal house fled to the south. In June the nine-year-old Chao Cheng was enthroned in Foochow as emperor (Tuan-tsung ). However, with high officials in Fukien defecting one after the other to the Mongols, the royal house was forced before long to retreat by sea further south to Kwangtung. In March 1277 the Sung stronghold at Canton also fell and the imperial family hastily fled to Mei-wei , in the vicinity of the present-day Kowloon peninsula of Hong Kong. In November, under the mounting pressure of the Mongols, they retreated south-west along the Kwangtung coast. Since Chao Hsien was never likely to resume control and there seemed to be some chance of taking refuge in the vassal kingdoms of Champa and An-nam (in present-day Vietnam), there followed a flurry of Chinese emigration. The tragedy of the last Sung emperor has evoked much sympathy in history, but the story of the migration and search for refuge of some Sung officials has not been fully explored. This paper attempts to give a descriptive account and present a brief analysis of the background factors which shaped the course of migration, as well as its impact on the increased Chinese cultural influence in Vietnam.