Yue

Ancient ethnic group of southeastern mainland China during the Han dynasty, an aboriginal people who in the 5th-4th century BC formed a powerful kingdom in present-day Chekiang and Fukien provinces. The name 'Vietnam' means south of the Yüeh and some Chinese scholars consider the Vietnamese to be descendants of the Yüeh. It is also the name of an olive-colored glazed stoneware preceding celadon and porcelain and created during the Tang period of 3rd-10th centuries AD in Kiangsu and Chekiang provinces.

[Yiieh]. An Eastern Zhou state in the lower Yangzi region of China whose rise to power was announced by its conquest of Wu in 473 bc; after its defeat by Chu in c433 bc Yue in turn disappeared from history. In early texts Yue is celebrated for the fine swords of its kings. Of these legendary weapons eight examples have been found in recent years, not in Yue territory but in Chu tombs Wangshan Tomb No. 1 at Jiangling, for instance, contained a magnificent sword whose gold-inlaid inscription names Gou Jian, the king who led Yue in its conquest of Wu. The etched decoration of the Yue swords, like the technically puzzling decoration of certain Chu weapons, displays a metallurgical sophistication unmatched in North China at this time. The name of the Yue state survived in later times as the literary name for the area around Shaoxing in northern Zhejiang province, where the Yue capital is supposed to have been located. During the Tang period this region gave its name to a glazed stoneware for which the local kilns were famous, and this today is the strongest association of the word The term ‘Yue ware’ ( Yue yao) was until recently often taken by scholars outside China to include not only the Tang ware but also its precursors in Zhejiang as far back as the Han dynasty; current usage, however, refers to the pre-Tang wares of this important ceramic tradition as ‘proto-Yue’ or ‘green-glazed ware’. See also Dapenkeng.