Editing Min Chinese (section)

==History==
The Min homeland of Fujian was opened to Han Chinese settlement by the defeat of the [[Minyue]] state by the armies of [[Emperor Wu of Han]] in 110&nbsp;BC.{{sfnp|Norman|1991|pp=328}}
The area features rugged mountainous terrain, with short rivers that flow into the [[South China Sea]].
Most subsequent migration from north to south China passed through the valleys of the [[Xiang River|Xiang]] and [[Gan River|Gan]] rivers to the west, so that Min varieties have experienced less northern influence than other southern groups.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|pp=210, 228}}
As a result, whereas most [[varieties of Chinese]] can be treated as derived from [[Middle Chinese]]—the language described by [[Rhyme dictionary|rhyme dictionaries]] such as the ''[[Qieyun]]'' (601 AD)—Min varieties contain traces of older distinctions.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|pp=228–229}}
Linguists estimate that the oldest layers of Min dialects diverged from the rest of Chinese around the time of the [[Han dynasty]].{{sfnp|Ting|1983|pp=9–10}}{{sfnp|Baxter|Sagart|2014|pp=33, 79}}
However, significant waves of migration from the [[North China Plain]] occurred:{{sfnp|Yan|2006|p=120}}
* The [[Upheaval of the Five Barbarians]] during the [[Jin dynasty (266–420)|Jin dynasty]], particularly the [[Disaster of Yongjia]] in 311&nbsp;AD, caused a tide of immigration to the south.
* In 669, [[Chen Zheng (Tang dynasty)|Chen Zheng]] and his son [[Tan Goan-kong|Chen Yuanguang]] from [[Gushi County]] in [[Henan]] set up a regional administration in [[Fujian]] to suppress an insurrection by the [[She people]].
* [[Wang Chao (Tang dynasty)|Wang Chao]] was appointed governor of Fujian in 893, near the end of the [[Tang dynasty]], and brought tens of thousands of troops from [[Henan]]. In 909, following the fall of the Tang dynasty, his son [[Wang Shenzhi]] founded the [[Min (Ten Kingdoms)|Min Kingdom]], one of the [[Ten Kingdoms]] in the [[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period]].
[[Jerry Norman (sinologist)|Jerry Norman]] identifies four main layers in the vocabulary of modern Min varieties:
# A non-Chinese substratum from the [[Old Yue language|original languages of Minyue]], which Norman and [[Mei Tsu-lin]] believe were [[Austroasiatic]].{{sfnp|Norman|Mei|1976}}{{sfnp|Norman|1991|pp=331–332}}
# The earliest Chinese layer, brought to Fujian by settlers from [[Zhejiang]] to the north during the Han dynasty{{sfnp|Norman|1991|pp=334–336}} (compare [[Eastern Han Chinese]]).
# A layer from the [[Northern and Southern dynasties]] period, which is largely consistent with the phonology of the ''Qieyun'' dictionary{{sfnp|Norman|1991|p=336}} ([[Middle Chinese|Early Middle Chinese]]).
# A [[literary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters|literary layer]] based on the [[koiné language|koiné]] of [[Chang'an]], the capital of the [[Tang dynasty]]{{sfnp|Norman|1991|p=337}} (Late Middle Chinese).
Laurent Sagart (2008) disagrees with Norman and Mei Tsu-lin's analysis of an Austroasiatic substratum in Min.<ref name="Sagart">{{cite book
| title = Past human migrations in East Asia: matching archaeology, linguistics and genetics
| editor1-first = Alicia | editor1-last = Sanchez-Mazas
| editor2-first = Roger | editor2-last = Blench
| editor3-first = Malcolm D. | editor3-last = Ross
| editor4-first = Ilia | editor4-last = Peiros
| editor5-first = Marie | editor5-last = Lin
| publisher = Routledge | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-0-415-39923-4
| chapter = The expansion of ''Setaria'' farmers in East Asia: a linguistic and archeological model
| first = Larent | last = Sagart
| pages = 141–143
| chapter-url = https://www.academia.edu/3077307
| quote = In conclusion, there is no convincing evidence, linguistic or other, of an early Austroasiatic presence on the south‑east China coast.
}}</ref> The hypothesis proposed by Jerry Norman and Mei Tsu-lin arguing for an Austroasiatic homeland along the middle Yangtze has been largely abandoned in most circles and left unsupported by the majority of Austroasiatic specialists.<ref>Chamberlain, James R. (2016). "[https://www.academia.edu/26296118/Kra-Dai_and_the_Proto-History_of_South_China_and_Vietnam Kra-Dai and the Proto-History of South China and Vietnam]", p. 30. In ''Journal of the Siam Society'', Vol. 104, 2016.</ref> Rather, recent movements of analyzing archeological evidence, posit an [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] layer, rather than an [[Austroasiatic]] one.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Jonas Chung-yu |title=[ARCHAEOLOGY IN CHINA AND TAIWAN] Sea nomads in prehistory on the southeast coast of China |journal=Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association |date=24 January 2008 |volume=22 |doi=10.7152/bippa.v22i0.11805 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |url=http://journals.lib.washington.edu/index.php/BIPPA/article/view/11805/10433}}</ref>