With the Dian Ｒecords Unofficial History of Nanzhao and The Origin of the Kingdom of Bai as examples
this paper explores the writing compilation and spread of the history of Nanzhao Kingdom and Dali Kingdom by different
peoples living in southwestern China during the Ming and Qing dynasties This paper argues that the production of historical
knowledge involves the interactions of multiple parties including native peoples: From translation and writing by local scholars
to collection and compilation by exiled men of letters and on to funding and publishing by officials the tales history
and literature about Nanzhao Kingdom and Dali Kingdom found a wider audience through people of different regions and identities
Meanwhile these literature works constitute a field for different groups of people to initiate dialogues and discussions
on the past: scholars from outside used“records”to incorporate the history of Nanzhao Kingdom and Dali Kingdom in
the ideological domain of the Central Kingdom; local elite included the stories of their ancestors in local chronicles to express
their dual identities; and local monks put down oral stories on paper so that they could reach a wider audience In
this process the“insider views”and“outsider perspectives”of different groups of people converged as they exchanged ideas
and related to each other through the writing of history