After a conference on early Chinese imperial history today, the master of conference, who is the director of a local museum, raised a few points which seemed not really backed-up by any proof. I was wondering if it's simply my lack of knowledge that makes me wondering about the truth of those, or if I have some reasons to proceed with caution to such assumptions.
Here are the assumptions, or questions, and I would like to have different point of views on them.
The 5 Emperors (五帝) are accepted as real by mainstream historians, even though they are not backed up by any contemporary writings (since it wasn't developed yet) but loads of potteries, carvings, etc ... made their existence sure.
The origin of the Xiongnu (匈奴) people/tribe is, as far as I know, pretty unclear. He however said that after the Shang Dynasty defeated the Xia Dynasty (whose existence itself is very controversial), some Xia people emigrated in what is today Manchuria, Mongolia and Southern China. The Xia people who emigrated in Mongolia mixed with the local people and founded the Xiongnu. Is there any evidence to back this ? It seems extremely far fetched to me.
During the Qin Dynasty (秦), and more specifically during the rule of Qin Shi Huang Di, he mentioned the extend of his control over the Chinese territory. He mentioned it going as far as Yunnan and Guangdong, pretty much enveloping what is today Southern China except the Tibetan areas. Again, during the Xi Han, he mentioned that Hainan was part of the Chinese Empire (with of course the same claims as for the Qin Dynasty). I have always read and heard that Southern China was far from being in control of the Chinese court before Song, and that Yunnan stayed outside of the grip of China until the Mongols.
How true are those assumptions ?
and that Yunnan stayed outside of the grip of China until the Mongols
Technically not true. Parts of Yunnan did fall under the Han dynasty during the reign of Han Wudi. The Han dynasty took control of the Dian kingdom in what is now eastern Yunnan and established the Jianwei commandery around 135 BC. Because of the financial pressure from the wars against the Xiongnu, the commandery was eventually abandoned. A new commandery, the Yizhou commandery, was founded in 109 when the Han authority returned to Yunnan. During the reign of Han Huanti, the Han government tried to culturally assimilate the Dian people. A more detailed history of the Dian kingdom and their relations with the Han dynasty can be found in the Cambridge History of China: Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. – A.D. 220 in the Han Foreign Relations chapter written by Yu Ying-shih. It should answer your questions regarding point 2 and 3.
Looks to me these claims are from traditional Chinese historiography iirc Sima Qian's Record of Grand Historian. The former two have no evidence backing whatsoever (indeed Chinese seem to like to claim their neighbours are Chinese descendants). The last one is more or less true.
Two. You should read Ancient China and its Enemies by Nichola Di Cosmo.
Essentially, he argues that the Xiongnu were a tribal confederation/ khanate that arose in response to Chinese statebuilding or unification under the Qin and then Han dynasties. Since the historical record is sparse, it is difficult to pinpoint the ethnic origins of the Xiongnu.
The last point, ut is partially true. Qin did push as far as the South Sea, however, after the Chen-Wu rebillion, the souther Military reponded to call for aid by shutting passes and essentially forming their own kingdoms. Those kingdoms did their own expansion and was only become part of China until much later. A paralle issue is hiw to define control. Since that period is also when China transitioned from tribal rule to bureacratic rule with 家 been destroyed as a political division, but it still existed for a very long time in regions far away from the capital. For example, when a local tribal leader is given offical title, has to pay tributes, and allow the central gov millitary to station and pass through the area, but was allows to administer its own justice, have its own armies and can war amost each other. Is it part of the empire or a foreign area under treaty? After all, this is how china itself was ruled before various reforms during the warring states.