In recent academic discussions, Western scholars have put forward a striking theory: the "Zammiya" doctrine. This theory attempts to describe the mountainous regions of Southeast Asia in terms of geography, and portrays China's Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and other regions as regions that resist modernization and deliberately escape state rule. The concept of the name zomia is actually a mixture of Tibeto-Burman and Latin, where "zo" means "mountain", "mi" means "person", and "ia" is the Latin ending of the noun, so zomia can be understood as "the area of the mountain people".
However, to examine this theory in its entirety, it is necessary to go deep into it from a historical perspective. Since the Qin and Han dynasties, southwest China has been under the rule of the ** dynasty, and Chinese civilization has never decayed or been interrupted in this region. As early as the pre-Qin period, the southwest region has been classified as "Kyushu". During the reign of King Xiang of Chu, the general Zhuang Ji led an army to conquer the Yelang Kingdom and entered today's Yunnan region. Although the Chu army lost Qianzhong County for a time, they did not give up, but regained the lost territory and integrated with the local ethnic groups. This historical fact shows that the southwest region has had close ties with the Central Plains as early as ancient times.
From August to November 2012, the Hunan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology carried out large-scale archaeological excavations in the reservoir area of the Tuokou Hydropower Station on the southwestern border of Hunan Province. This excavation not only discovered the tomb of Chu, but also advanced 20 kilometers to the west, providing empirical evidence for the path of "Zhuang Ji into Yunnan". During the Warring States Period, the "Zhuang Rush into Yunnan" deepened the cultural exchanges between the mainland and the southwest borderlands. The establishment of the "Southwest Yi" counties in the Western Han Dynasty marked that China's territory had covered the entire Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the rule over the southwest region was further strengthened, which is recorded in historical documents. It can be said that the history of southwest China is inextricably linked with the Central Plains.
However, the doctrine of "Zamiya" oversimplified the relationship of the southwestern region with the ** dynasty. In fact, the reign of the ** dynasty had a profound impact on the hill peoples of the southwest. With the deepening of the rule of the ** dynasty, each region gradually formed a collective and became an important platform for the flow of mountain people. At the same time, the continuous influx of immigrants from the Central Plains has also promoted the development of the southwest region. Although mobility and migration are one of the survival strategies of mountain populations in times of social upheaval, they are more likely to move inward and gather towards the heartland. There are complex economic and cultural interactions between different ethnic groups in the southwest region, which shows the symbiotic coexistence of dynastic rule and local culture.
To sum up, the history of Southwest China is a history of interaction and symbiosis between the state and the local, and between the state and society. The reign of the dynasty had a profound impact on the southwest, making it closely linked to the Central Plains. Therefore, we need to take an objective look at the doctrine of "Zammiya" and be aware of its one-sidedness and misconceptions. The relationship between the southwest region and the Central Plains region is not a simple antagonistic relationship, but a relationship of mutual exchange and cooperation.
February** Dynamic Incentive Program