Duan Siping

In this Chinese name, the family name is Duan.

Duan Siping (Chinese: 段思平; pinyin: Duàn Sīpíng, IPA: [twân sí.pʰǐŋ]; Bai: Duainb six-pienp^[1]), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Dali, was the founder and first emperor of the Dali Kingdom.^[2] The Dali Kingdom would last until the Mongol conquest in 1253 led by Kublai Khan and its territories would later be ruled by the Yuan dynasty.^[3]

Emperor Taizu of Dali 大理太祖
Statue of Duan Siping enshrined in the Juchang King Temple in Tonghai County
Emperor of Dali
Reign	937–944
Successor	Duan Siying
Born	893 Xizhou, Dali
Died	944 (aged 50–51) Dengzhou
Era dates Wende (文德; 937–944) Posthumous name Emperor Shengshen Wenwu (聖神文武皇帝) Temple name Taizu (太祖)
Dynasty	Dali
Father	Duan Baolong

Duan Siping
Chinese	段思平
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Duàn Sīpíng

Biography

The Duan family claimed descent from a Han family originating in Gansu province, although it is widely accepted that Duan Siping was a member of the Bai ethnic group.^[4] The Dian zaiji (Chinese: 滇載記) records that Duan's ancestor was from Wuwei and, having assisted the Meng clan in battle, was awarded with political rank. However, "his descendant six generations later, Siping, was born under different omens."^[5]

Duan was a governor of Tonghai County. Yang Ganzhen (Chinese: 楊干貞), ruler of the Dayining kingdom, feared him and attempted to imprison.^[6] Duan went into hiding and gathered soldiers and horses to fight. Allegedly, Duan was eating a wild peach, when he noticed two characters written on the fruit's skin: qing xi 青昔. Duan determined that the first character, qing, referred to the twelfth month, whilst the second, xi, indicated the twenty-first day. He understood this as an omen of when he should attack Great Yining.^[7]

References

Citations

1. 白汉词典（现行白文第一版20220310） (PDF) (in Chinese). p. 63.
2. "民族博物馆＿中国科普博览". www.kepu.net.cn.
3. Zhao (2002).
4. Mote (2003), p. 710.
5. “六传而生思平，思平生有异兆。” (Yang 1500s)
6. Yang 1500s.
7. “思平折之曰：「青乃十二月，昔乃二十一日。今杨氏政乱，吾当以是日举义乎？」”(Yang 1500s)

Sources

• Mote, F. W. (2003). Imperial China: 900–1800 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Zhao, Yinsong [赵寅松] (2002). "试论大理国的建立和段思平的出身" [Preliminary study of the founding of the Dali Kingdom and Duan Siping's ancestry]. 云南民族学院学报. 19 (5): 75–78.
• Yang, Shen (1500s). 滇載記 [Records of Dian].