Laos is 1000 km long from north to south, about 500 km wide from east to west, and only 120 km narrow from east to west, which goes deep into the hinterland of Indochina Peninsula. Laos is a mountainous country, with mountains and plateaus accounting for four-fifths of the country's total area, and the terrain is towering, which is known as the "backbone of Indo-China Peninsula" or "the roof of zhina". /kloc-At the beginning of the 4th century, Laos was divided into several small kingdoms, which probably developed from tribes at the end of primitive society. In A.D. 1353, he fled Nanzhang with his father (here refers to a country established in Luang Prabang, Laos in A.D. 857, which was once called "Nanzhang" or "Suozhang" in China historical records) and returned to Laos with the help of the army given by his father-in-law. At 137 1, he finally conquered it.
China and Laos are neighboring countries linked by mountains and rivers. Since ancient times, people in these two lands have had contacts. There are some books about the friendship between China and Laos in China, such as Huayang National Records (a local chronicle written by Changqu in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which records the history of Bashu in the three years from ancient times to Yonghe in the Eastern Jin Dynasty), Nanzhao unofficial history (edited by Yang Shen in the Ming Dynasty and edited by Hu Wei in the Qing Dynasty), Yunnan Tongzhi Ming Shi Qing Shi Draft, Yong 'an Notes written by Xue Fucheng, a essayist in the late Qing Dynasty, and so on. Wu of the Three Kingdoms called Laos "Tang Ming" or "",and when he was the secretariat of Jiaozhou and Guangzhou from 230 to 23/kloc-0, he was "sent to the south to promote the country". In the sixth year of Wu Dynasty (AD 227), Tang Ming left an ambassador to pay tribute, which opened the prelude to the historical relationship between China and Laos for many years.
In the Tang Dynasty, Wen Xin sent envoys to China four times, two of which were ordinary envoys, one was a prince and the other was a deputy king, and the specifications were constantly improved. According to experts' research, "everything is on the list." The Tang government gave a grand reception to the envoys and gave them titles (some titles were "Guo Yi, a captain" and were third-class officials; Some of them are named "Han Bin", which shows that both sides attach great importance to each other's communication.
After the Yuan Dynasty destroyed Dali, the traffic between China and Southwest and Indochina Peninsula was restored. According to Shun Di, the History of Yuan Dynasty, in August of the fourth year of Yuan Dynasty (A.D. 1338), "The old man told the General Military and Civilian Department that the local official of Laos, Bana, sent his nephew to the Malay Dynasty to set up an old man." Although there is only one communication between elders, this time is unusual. The Yuan Dynasty set up a "military and civilian headquarters" in the old society to show restraint, but in fact it did not implement any effective jurisdiction. Fan Wenlan, a famous historian in China (A.D. 1893 ~ 1969), explained the word "Jimi" and said, "Come and go freely and do not interfere with each other."
In A.D. 1353, Faang, an outstanding figure in the history of Laos, unified the whole territory of Laos and established the "Kingdom of Lancang" on the basis of the original "Kingdom of Lancang" in Luang Prabang, which was called "Laos" in the Ming Dynasty. "History of Qing Dynasty Draft" called it "Southern Palm"). Almost at the same time, Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty in 1368. At that time, the Ming Dynasty was a great power in Asia, which had a great influence on the politics, economy and culture of Asian countries. The Ming court attached great importance to maritime affairs, followed the old system of Tang and Song Dynasties, and set up maritime departments: ningbo tong, Japan, Quanzhou, Ryukyu and Guangzhou, a western country. The unification of China and Laos has created favorable conditions for the comprehensive and in-depth development of China-Laos relations. According to China's historical records, from the first year of Wen Jian (A.D. 1400) to the forty-first year of Wanli (A.D. 16 13), there were 43 records of China's contacts with Laos (including 9 Ming's legacy and 34 Laos envoys). Ming set up a "military and civilian propaganda comfort station" in Laos, which was also a "captive" nature.
/kloc-After Laos was divided in the early 8th century, the grandson of Summala Satila Island, the "Kingdom of Lancang" in Luang Prabang, kept in touch with the Qing court (the Qing Dynasty draft called it "the grandson of Nanzhang Wangdao"). In the seventh year of Yongzheng in Qing Dynasty (1729), the envoys sent by Sun Shiman paid tribute to Qing Dynasty, which was regarded as the beginning of the communication between Qing and Lao. The Qing court also followed the example of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties and listed Laos as "the land of the land ...". The relationship between Qing and Lao has a strong continuity. The kings of Nanzhang in the past dynasties had contacts with the Qing court, and there was never a gap between them. Add up the number of contacts between China and Laos in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and it is 65. However, during the thousands of years since Wu Dongtang Ming sent envoys to the Yuan Dynasty, China had only six contacts with Laos, from which it is not difficult to see the great development of China-Laos relations. For more than a thousand years, China and Laos have been friendly and have never met. Although the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties listed Laos as a "place of detention", they never interfered in its internal affairs, which is also a feature of the relationship between China and Laos.
Like the tribute trade of China, Viet Nam and Cambodia, the trade between China and Laos is mainly official trade in the form of tribute, and non-governmental trade is a powerful supplement to official trade.
Minnan is a powerful country in the ancient South China Sea. During the Wu Dynasty, Tang Ming's tributary envoys followed Fu Nan's envoys. Under the historical conditions at that time, "tribute trade" was almost the only way for official economic exchanges between China and Laos. "Coming to Korea" is a concrete manifestation of political relations, while "contribution" contains the significance of economic and cultural exchanges. This can be confirmed by the contacts between China and Laos during the Tang, Ming and Qing Dynasties.
In the Tang Dynasty, Wendan sent envoys to North Korea four times. Among them, in addition to the grand political reception and titles, things are naturally involved. For example, in the fifth year of Tang Kaiyuan (AD 7 17), in return, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty gave Xi Shu (an ancient document sealed with seals) and 500 silks. For example, in the sixth year of the Tang Dynasty (AD 77 1), Wang Po, the vice minister of Wendan State, came to North Korea and brought1/an elephant as a tribute.
In the Ming Dynasty, there were frequent contacts between Chinese and Lao envoys, and Laos came to make envoys, sometimes "like the Malay Dynasty", sometimes "tribute", sometimes "tribute to gold and silver vessels" and sometimes "tribute to horses, ivory and rhinoceros horns". There were also many kinds of gifts in Ming Dynasty, mainly silk, clothes, tea, daily necessities, stationery and handicrafts, and sometimes camels, horses, donkeys and mules were given back.
Tributes offered by Laos envoys in Qing Dynasty were basically similar to those in Ming Dynasty, but the types of gifts were greatly increased. In addition to silk, porcelain, glassware, ginseng and silver were added, and their value far exceeded that of the Ming Dynasty. The envoys of Nanzhang in Qing Dynasty were sent to the capital, and were still escorted out of the country when they returned home. The gifts were excellent.
Historically, the trade between China and Laos was also very active. China businessmen often form caravans to engage in trade activities in Laos. There are more than 100 people in the caravan, and the goods are carried by cattle and horses, as many as two or three hundred horses (heads). The commodities transported mainly include bronzes, tinware, silk, silks and satins, porcelain, tobacco leaves, salt and other daily necessities. Horses often go deep into Laos in exchange for cotton, wax, ivory, rhinoceros horn, various animal skins and bones, peacock hair, velvet antler, dried shrimps, Jinsha, cardamom, benzoin and other local products.
Mahogany produced in Laos can be used to make exquisite furniture; Its specialty, Udie Mud, is regarded as a good medicine by Chinese medicine. The making method and medicinal value of Udie Mud are recorded in Compendium of Materia Medica written by Li Shizhen, a medical scientist in Ming Dynasty. Shen Pinlan is a famous specialty flower in Laos. According to the article Zhihua, Volume 9 of Tan Cui's Yunnan in Zhi Heng, after Shen Pinlan was transplanted to Weiyang (Yangzhou House), "there was a lot of competition among people."
Laos border people often go to China for trade activities. They exchanged forest products for all kinds of needed commodities, and imported donkeys and mules from China as tools for carrying and ploughing. The trade activities of the border people of the two countries have attracted businessmen and residents from Yunnan, Guangdong and Guangxi. According to relevant historical records, people from China migrated to Laos from the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1403 ~ 1424). By the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, the number of China expatriates in Laos increased gradually. According to incomplete statistics, there are about 3000 people. They live in harmony with the Lao people, work together and work hard. By 18 to 19 century, the overseas Chinese economy had occupied a very important position in Laos. It is precisely because of the activities of overseas Chinese that Laos has broken its isolation from the outside world; In Xialiao area, their role is more obvious. In addition to business, overseas Chinese also engage in mining. The open-pit tin mine in South Baden was first mined by China people. In Fushan, overseas Chinese collect wild tea and process it into "Zhenning tea", which is deeply loved by local people.
In the long-term life and labor, overseas Chinese and local people intermarry and multiply. China culture, as a branch of foreign culture, takes root, blooms and bears fruit in Laos. Today, people can still explore the origin of China's southern culture and Laos' national culture from clothing, language, customs and many other aspects. Take the language as an example: between the old Thai language and the Dai language in Xishuangbanna, China (1before the reform in 956), cognates actually account for 70%. There are many Chinese loanwords in the old saying, such as calling Emperor China "the canopy", which is the homophonic of Emperor China; Chinese says "one, two, three, four" and always says "energy, praise, mountain, though", and the pronunciation is quite similar. The Miao and Yao nationalities in Laos have particularly close cultural ties with China. Up to now, they still write Chinese character stickers and couplets and use dictionaries published in China. Japanese scholar Keiji Iwata believes that Lao Yao culture is basically based on Han culture. They think their culture belongs to the category of China culture. "In addition, the Thais used to follow the chronology of China and the chronology of the zodiac, but the specific content of the zodiac is slightly different.