Hun cavalry charge Empires, Barbarians,
& Barbarian Empires 		Hun cavalry charge
The Xiongnu
350 B.C.E.-460 C.E.
 
Huns crossing a river
 
Time Events
By 350 BCE
Location of the Hiung-nu in 240 BC
Barbarians near
northern China, c. 240 BCE
Click on image to enlarge it.
Recognition of the Xiongnu (Hsiung-nu). By 350 BCE, Chinese officials knew of three powerful groups of mounted, nomadic pastoral people north of China.1 (See map at right.) One of these groups, the Xiongnu (Hsiung-nu), was in the Ordos region2and most of Mongolia (including Inner Mongolia).3 To the east of the Xiongnu, in eastern Mongolia and the plains of Manchuria, there was the second group, the Donghu (Tung-hu).4 The third group, the Yuezhi (Yueh-chi), were west of the Ordos region, in the region of Gansu (Kansu).5 A fourth mounted, nomadic people was the Wusun (Wu-Sun). They were located east of the Yuezhi.6

Much of what was first recorded for history concerning the Xiongnu is contained in the Shi Ji (Shih Chi) written by Sima Qian (Ssu-ma Ch'ien) (c.145-c.90 BCE) who was the Grand Historian (Taishi) of the Chinese imperial court from 110 BCE to 90 BCE, during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty. (Sima Qian inherited his position from his father, Sima Tan, and the Shi Chi was either begun by Sima Tan or was at least a continuation of his work.)

In his Shi ji 5: Basic Annals of Qin, in an entry that is essentially for the year 318 BCE, the Grand Historian Sima Quien (Ssu-ma Ch'ien) (c.145-c.90 BCE) makes his first non-legendary mention of the Xiongnu:7

"Fourteenth year [of the reign of King Huiwen of Qin; i.e., 324 BCE]: the Qin ruler [King Huiwen] began numbering the years of his rule again and this became the first year of the new numbering. Second Year [323 BCE]: Zhang Yi met with the chief officials of Qi and Chu at Neisang...Fifth year [320 BCE]: the King of Qin journeyed to the north bend of the Yellow River [in or near the Ordos region]. Seventh year [318 BCE]: Yue Chi became the prime minister of Qin. [The states of] Hann, Zhao, Wei, Yan, and Qi, leading a force of Xiongnu, joined in attacking Qin. Qin dispatched the militia leader Shuli Ji to do battle with them at Xiuyu. He captured their general Huan, and cut off the heads of 82,000 of the enemy."

Like the Mongols of the thirteenth century C.E., the Xiongnu were skilled at fighting with sword and bow while mounted on horses. Their tactics too were much the same as the Mongols. In his Shi Ji 110: The Account of the Xiongnu, Sima Qian writes:8

"It is their custom to herd their flocks in times of peace and make their living by hunting, but in periods of crisis they take up arms and go off on plundering and marauding expeditions. This seems to be their in-born nature. For long-range weapons they use bows and arrows, and swords and spears at close range. If the battle is going well for them they will advance, but if not, they will retreat, for they do not consider it a disgrace to run away. Their only concern is self-advantage, and they know nothing about propriety or righteousness."

Like the Mongols, one special tactic of the Xiongnu was to have a weaker force of their own cavalry retreat from an advancing enemy army and so lead that army into ambush by a stronger, hidden force of their own. For an example of this, see the entry below for the year 200 BCE. In Shi Ji 110: The Account of the Xiongnu, Sima Qian writes:9

"They are very skillful at using decoy troops to lure their opponents to destruction. When they catch sight of an enemy, they swoop down like a flock of birds, eager for booty, but when they find themselves hard pressed and beaten, they scatter and vanish like the mist."

It may be fair to say that the Xiongnu's traditional ways of fighting were passed down through Mongolian history to the Mongols. But they were already shared at the time of the Xiongnu with the Yuezhi (Yueh-chih) and Wusun (Wu-sun).

The ethnicity of the Xiongnu is unknown. It has been speculated that they were either Turkic, Mongolic, or related to some Siberian people such as the Yenisei10 or the Tunga.11 There is nearly a general consensus among scholars that both the Yuezhi and the Wusun were originally Indo-European.12

During the Period of the Warring States (475-220 BCE), some of the Quanrong (Chuan-rung) became absorbed into the Xiongnu but the main body of the Quanrong later posed a significant problem for the Western Han Dynasty (206 BCE-9 CE) and the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 CE-250 CE).13
256 BCE End of the Zhou Dynasty. The Zhou dynasty ended in 256 BCE when King Nan, the last effective king of Zhou, died and his sons did not proclaim the nominal titles of King of China. (Nobles of the Ji family proclaimed King Hui as King Nan's successor after their capital, Luoyang, fell to Qin forces in 256 BC. However Zhou resistance did not last long in the face of the Qin advance and so King Nan is widely considered to have been the last king of the Zhou dynasty.)1
221 BCE Beginning of the Imperial Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty. After the king of Qin by the personal name of Ying Zheng (Ying Chen) conquered all of the other Chinese states, he formally made himself the Emperor of China. He was given the formal name Qin Shi Huangdi ("First Most Sublime Ruler of the Qin")1
220-209 BCE The Reign of the Xiongnu Shanyü Touman. Touman, the earliest known Shonyü (supreme chieftain) of a Xiongnu (Hsiung-nu) confederacy, reigned from 220-209 BCE.1 He conducted raids into the Qin Empire from the Ordos region (the territory within the "Big Bend" of the Yellow River) until some time in 214-215 BCE when the Chinese general Meng Tian attacked and drove the barbarians out of the Ordos region.
215-214 BCE General Meng Tian of the Qin drove barbarian tribes out from the Ordos and he began construction of a "Great Wall."

The Grand Historian Sima Qian (Ssu-ma Ch'ien) (c.145-c.90 BCE) writes in Shi Ji 110: The Account of the Xiongnu:1

"Finally Qin overthrew the other six states, and the First Emperor of the Qin dispatched Meng Tian [Meng T'ien] to lead a force of 100,000 men north to attack the barbarians [Hu]. He seized control of all the lands south of the Yellow River and established border defences along the river, constructing forty-four walled district cities overlooking the river and manning them with convict labourers transported to the border for garrison duty. He also built the Direct Road from Jiuyuan [Chiu-yüan] to Yünyang . Thus he utilized the natural mountain barriers to establish the border defences, scooping out the valleys and constructing ramparts and building installations at other points where they were needed. The whole line stretched over 10,000 li from Lintao [Lin-t'ao] to Liaodong [Liao-tung] and even extended across the Yellow River and through Yangshan [Yang Mountains] and Beijia [Pei-chia].
 
"At this time the Eastern Barbarians were very powerful and the Yuezhi were likewise flourishing. The Shanyu or chieftain of the Xiongnu was named Touman. Touman, unable to hold out against the Qin forces, had withdrawn to the far north, where he lived with his subjects for over ten years."

In Shi ji 6: The Basic Annals of the First Emperor of Qin, Sima Qian writes:2

  "Thirty-second year [of the reign of Qin Shi Huangdi, the first emperor of the Qin; i.e., 215 BCE]:...

[skipping over one paragraph here in which is transcribed a inscription carved in that year on a certain gate; the inscription praises the emperor for his glorious accomplishments]...

At this time the emperor dispatched Han Zhong, Lord Hou, and Master Shi to search for the immortals and their herbs of everlasting life. The First Emperor, having toured the northern border region, returned to the capital by way of Shang Province.

Master Lu, a native of Yan, who had been sent out to sea, returned and, claiming that it had come to him from the gods and spirits, submitted a document that said 'Qin will be destroyed by Hu.' The First Emperor thereupon ordered General Meng Tian to call out 300,000 troops and lead them north to strike at the Hu barbarians. The general invaded and seized the area south of the bend of the Yellow River.

Thirty-third year [214 BCE]:...In the northwest the Xiongnu were driven back and the region from Yuzhong [in today's Gansu Province, not far west of the bend of the Yellow River] east along the Yellow River was joined with Mt. Yin, being divided up into thirty-four districts. Fortifications were built along the river to protect the border." 		 
 

The term Hu in the passage above from the Shi ji does not refer to a specific tribe or group of tribes. By the end of the fourth century BCE, Hu referred to non-Chinese people of the north in general, while Yueh referred to non-Chinese people of the south in general.3

Further on in Shi Ji 6, Sima Qian comes back to General Meng Tian's aggression against barbarians:4

Long walls in China, 216 BCE
Long walls in China
216 BCE
Click on image to enlarge it.
"Then followed kings Xiaowen and Zhuangxiang, whose reigns were short and unevenful. After this came the First Emperor who...swallowed up the eastern and western Zhou, and overthrew the feudal lords [i.e., he eliminated the last remnants of the eastern and western Zhou (Ch'ou) dynasties]. He ascended the throne of honor and ruled the six directions...In the south he seized the land of the hundred tribes of Yue and made of it Guilin and Xiang provinces, and the hundred Yue bowed their heads...and pleaded for their lives with the lowest official of Qin [Ch'in]. Then he sent Meng Tian north to build the Great Wall and defend the borders, driving back the Xiongnu over 700 li, so that the barbarians no longer ventured to come south to pasture their horses and their men dared not take up their bows to vent their hatred."

There is yet a fourth passage by Sima Qian to consider. In Shi ji 88, Sima Qian writes:5

"Qin, having completed its unification of the empire, dispatched Meng Tian to lead a force of 300,000 men and advance north, expelling the Rong and Di barbarians and taking control of the region south of the bend of the Yellow River. He set about constructing the Great Wall, following the contours of the land and utilizing the narrow defiles to set up frontier posts. The wall began at Lintao [in modern Gansu Province south of the present day city of Lanzhou] and ran east to Liaodong [on the Gulf of Bohai], extending for a distance of over 10,000 li. Crossing the Yellow River, it followed the Yang Mountains [Note: the Yang Mountains are north of the Yellow River and run parallel to that river where it forms the northern segment of its "bend"], twisting and turning as it proceeded north. Meng Tian remained in the field for over ten years, residing in Shang Province. At this time Meng Tian's might had struck terror into the Xiongnu people."
This fourth passage seems to be speaking of three tribal groups: the Rong (Jung), the Di (Ti), and the Xiongnu (Hsiung-nu). But the terms "Rong" and "Di" are both broad in meaning. The lands within the the "bend" of the Yellow River is inclusive of the modern provinces of Shaanxi and Ningxia as well as part of Gansu and part of Inner Mongolia. At least during the Zhou Dynasty, the lands in which the Rong roamed in were mainly what is now Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia.6 The "White Di" (Baidi) roamed primarily in what is now Shaanxi.7 Could it be that, in this instance, Meng Tian includes the Xiong-nu among the Rong or the Di? Could it be that Meng-Tian first drove out the Rong and the Di from land south of where the wall was to be built, and then, after beginning construction of the wall, drove the Xiongnu from a strip of land north of the wall? If so, was the main body of the Xiongnu within that land before Ming Tien drove them out, or did he just drive out some Xiongnu that perhaps dwelled in the area during favorable seasons when the pasturage was good? Could there be other possibilities as well?

Nicolo Di Cosmo in his book Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History (c. 2002) states:8

"The attack on the nomads (hu) is explicitly mentioned in two of the passages [quoted from the Shi chi (Shi ji)-the same as our first and second here], whereas the third [our fourth passage here] refers to Jung (Rong) and Ti (Di), which in this case are simply archaic names [by the time of the Ch'in (Qin) Dynasty] to refer generically to northern peoples. It is generally conceded that the Hsiung-nu were among the 'Hu,'; although the absence of any reference to them may also reflect their relative lack of power and cohesion at this time."

John Man in his book The Great Wall (c. 2008) is of a different opinion. According to Man, it was not the Xiongnu that had to be chased from the Ordos. He writes:9

  "The two tribes chased out by Meng Tian, the Rong and Di, were buffers between the Qin and the Xiongnu. So Tumen [Touman, chieftain of the Xiongnu] pulled his people back, and spent years building up a secure power base beyond the Gobi. It was not the First Emperor who was threatened, precisely the other way around."  
 

The weights of the arguments seem to be about equal on both sides of the issue. However, both Di Cosmo and man are in agreement that the pressure put on the Xiongnu by the First Emperor and his general Meng Tian gave the Xiongnu the incentive to attain greater unity, organization, and military strength under a single leader. Nicola Di Cosmo writes in his Ancient China and Its Enemies:10

"...the expedition of Meng T'ien forced the Hsiung-nu [Xiongnu] to leave their pasture lands, and Modun's [Modun = son of Touman] creation of an independent military force emerged out of the heightened military mobilization of Hsiung-nu society, as some men took up arms and became professional soldiers. The rise of Modun corresponded to the centralization of power..."

In his book, China: A History (c. 2009), John Keay writes:

  "Deprived of valuable grazing, and with informal trade across thee new frontier restricted, the herdsmen beyond it for once made common cause. Effective leadership came courtesy of the Xiongnu, a tribe or lineage that rapidly became the nucleus of a new confederacy."11  
 
210 BCE The first Emperor of the Qin died. He was succeeded by his son Hu Hai Son. Qin Shi Huang died at the age of fifty. He had swallowed too many mercury pills that the court physicians had prepared to make him immortal. He did not leave a will. By tradition, his eldest son Fusu (Fu-su?) should have inherited the throne. But the Prime Minister Li Si (Li Szu) and the chief eunuch Zhao Gao (Chao Kao) forged a will saying that Fusu and General Meng Tian should die. They feared that, if Fusu became emperor, then they would lose power; and they feared and hated Meng Tian who was Fusu's favorite general. Believing the will to be authentic, Fusu and Meng Tian dutifully committed suicide. Qin Shi Huang's younger son Hu Hai Son became emperor that same year at the age of 21. Hu Hai Son's posthumous name is Qin Er Shi (Ch'in Erh Shih, "Second Generation Qin"). As emperor, Qin Er Shi became so dependent on the eunuch Zhao Gao for advice that he did whatever Zhao told him to do.1
210-209 BCE Touman tried to have his son Modun killed; Touman's plot was foiled; Modun had his father killed and succeeded him as leader of the Xiongnu confederacy.1 In Shi ji 110: The Account of the Xiongnu, Sima Qian writes2:
"Touman's oldest son, the heir apparent to his position, was named Maodun [Modun], but the Shanyu also had a younger son by another consort whom he had taken later and was very fond of. He decided that he wanted to get rid of Maodun and set up his younger son as heir instead, and he therefore sent Maodun as hostage to the Yuezhi nation. Then, after Maodun had arrived among the Yuezhi, Touman made a sudden attack on them. The Yuezhi were about to kill Maodun in retaliation, but he managed to steal one of their best horses and escape, eventually making his way back home. His father, struck by his bravery, put him in command of a force of 10,000 cavalry.
 
"Maodun had some arrows made that whistled in flight and used them to drill his troops in shooting from horseback. 'Shoot wherever you see my whistling arrow strike!' he ordered, 'and anyone who fails to shoot will be cut down!' Then he went out hunting for birds and animals, and if any of his men failed to shoot at what he shot at, he cut them down on the spot. After this, he shot a whitling arrow at one of his best horses. Some of his men hung back and did not dare shoot the horse, whereupon Maodun at once executed them. A little later he took an arrow and shot at the horse, whereupon Maodun at once executed them. A little later he took an arrow and shot at his favorite wife. Again some of his men shrank back in terror and failed to discharge their arrows, and again he executed them on the spot. Finally he went out hunting with his men and shot a whistling arrow at one of his father's finest horses. All his followers promptly discharged their arrows in the same direction, and Maodun at last knew that at last they could be trusted. Accompanying his father, the Shanyu Touman, on a hunting expedition, he shot a whitling arrow at his father and every one of his followers shot a whistling arrow in the same direction and shot the Shanyu dead. Then Maodun executed his stepmother, his younger brother, and all the high officials of the nation who refused to take orders from him, and set himself up as the new Shanyu.
209 BCE Rebellions against the second Qin emperor arose and fell. There were a number of rebellions against the rule of Qin Er Shi and his advisor Zhao Gao. They were all crushed due to Qin military superiority.1
208 BCE Descendents of royal families of former states rebel. The descendants of the royal families of the former Yan, Zhao (Chao), Qi (Ch'i) and Wei states rose in rebellion against the Qin Dynasty in the name of restoring their states. In Wu (in present-day Jiangsu province), General Xiang Liang (Hsiang Li-ang) started an uprising as well and installed Mi Xin (Mi Hsin) as King Huai II of Chu. General Liu Bang went to join Xiang Liang and served under the Chu state. After Xiang Liang was killed in action at the Battle of Dingtao (Ting-tao), King Huai II sent Xiang's nephew Xiang Yu (Hsiang Yu) and Song Yi (Sung Yi) to lead an army to attack the Qin forces and help Zhao. Liu Bang was granted the title of "Marquis of Wu'an" by King Huai II of Chu and put in charge of an army to attack Qin. The king promised that whoever managed to enter Guanzhong (Kwan-chung, heartland of Qin) first would be granted the title of "King of Guanzhong". 1
208-202 BCE
Hsiung-nu Empire in 202 BCE
Xiongnu Empire in 202 BCE
Click on image to enlarge it.
Modun created a Xiongnu Empire—he expanded Xiongnu territory in all directions. In Shi ji 110, Sima Qian writes1 that, soon after Modun (Maodun, Motun) became the Shanyu of the Xiongnu, the Dong Hu (Tong Hu)—"Eastern Barbarians" that were a tribe or confedaracy of nomad warriors inhabiting mainly a part of eastern Mongolia and western Manchuria—sent an envoy to Modun asking him for his favorite horse, one that could run 1,000 li in one day. Maodun consulted his ministers. They all declared that the horse belonged to the Xiongnu people, and they told him not to give it away. But Modun gave it to the Dong Hu. Soon afterwards, another Tong Hu envoy came, this one asking him for his favorite consort. Again, Modun conceded to the request over his minister's objections who were now saying that they should attack the Dong Hu instead. After this, the Dong Hu began to invade Xiongnu lands to the west of them. Then the Dong Hu sent an envoy to Modun saying that Modun had no use for a certain uninhabited area that was "1,000 li square and laid between the Xiongnu and the Dong Hu. The envoy asked Modun if the Dong Hu could have "this wasteland" for themselves. Modun consulted his ministers who then told him that they should let the Dong Hu have it since it was of no use to the Xiongnu. This time, Modun flew into a rage, declaring that "land is the basis of the nation." He then executed all of his ministers who had advised him to give the land away. After that, he immediately launced a surprise attack against the Dong Hu. The Dong Hu were completely unprepared to defend themselves. Their leader was killed, his subjects were taken prisoner, and their domestic animals were seized.

Next, according to Sima Qian:2

"Maodun [Modun] rode west and attacking and routing the Yuezhi [Yeuh-chih], and annexed the lands of the ruler of Loufan and the ruler of Boyang south of the Yellow River. Thus he recovered possession of all the lands which the Qin general Meng Tian had taken from the Xiongnu; the border between his country and the Han now followed the old line of dedences south of the Yellow River, and ftom there he marched into the Chaona and Fushi districts and then invaded Yan and Dai.
 
"At this time the Han forces were stalemated in battle with the armies of Xiang Yu, and China was exhausted by warfare. Thus Maodun was able to strengthen his position, massing a force of over 300,000 crossbowmen."

After digressing to discuss the structure of the Xiongnu government of leaders and some Xiongnu customs, Sima Qian returns to the topic of Modun's early conquests:3

"Shortly after the period described above, Maodun launched a seies of campaigns to the north, conquering the tribes of Hunyu [Huün-yu], Qushe [Ch'ü-yi], Dingling [Ting-ling], Gekun [Ko-k'un], and Xinli [Hsin-li]. Thus the nobles and high ministers of the Xiongnu were all won over by Maodun, considering him a truly worthy leader."

Citing not only Shi Ji 110 but also Shih chih chu-yi 110 and Shih chih chu-yi 2319, Han Shu 94A, and Han Shu 3753, Di Cosmo writes:4

"In the north, Modun subjugated peoples known as the Huün-yu, Ch'ü-yi, Ting-ling, Ko-k'un, and Hsin-li, who were located in northern Mongolia and western Siberia."

Christian writes:5

 

"His [Modun's] power now reached to the Han defensive lines that crossed the Ordos. He extended it to the north by defeating several tribes of pastoralists and hunter-gatherers in central and southern Siberia. Domination of the north Mongolian borderlands gave the Hsiung-nu access to the furs and other goods of the Siberian forest lands and also the metals of the Mongolian Altai. Victories in the Mongolian steppes, the forest lands of the north, and the borderlands of the Ordos and eastern Kansu [southwest of the Ordos], built up Motun's [Modun's] authority, wealth and prestige so that:'the nobles and high ministers of the Hsiung-nu [Xiongnu] were all won over by Motun [Modun], considering him a truly noteworthy leader.'

  
 
207 BCE Qin forces defeated by rebels; Qin emperor Qin Er Shi committed suicide; Ziyin succeeded him. Qin (Chi'n) military forces were severely defeated by general Xiang Yu in the Battle of Julu (Chulu). 200,000 Qin soldiers surrendered to Xiang Yu. He had them all buried alive. Soon afterwards, Qin Er Shi was forced by Zhao Gao to commit suicide. In December, Zha Gao made Ziyin (Chih Yin), a close relative of Qin Er Shi, the new emperor. Ziyin is posthumously known as Qin San Shi (Ch'in San Shih).1
Winter (Jan-Mar) 206 BCE Qin Emperor surrendered to the Zhu rebels; Qin Dynasty ended; China was split into two kingdoms: Western Chu and Han. The new Qin emperor Ziyin murdered Zha Gao. When the Chu general Liu Bang penetrated Guanzhong and attacked the Qin capitol, Xiangyang,Emperor Ziyin surrendered to him. When Xiang Yu arrived at Hangu Pass, the eastern gateway to Guanzhong, he saw that the pass was occupied by Liu Bang's troops, a sign that Guanzhong was already under Liu Bang's control. Liu Bang's general Cao Wushang sent a messenger to see Xiang Yu, saying that Liu Bang would become King of Guanzhong in accordance with King Huai II's earlier promise, while Ziyin would be appointed as Liu's Chancellor. Xiang Yu was furious after hearing that. Xiang Yu invited Liu Bang to attend a banquet while secretly preparing to kill him during the feast. However, Xiang's uncle Xiang Bo managed to spoil the plan. At the feast, Liu Bang became aware of Xiang Yu's true intentions and escaped back to his camp. Liu Bang and his troops evacuated from Xianyang and retreated westwards later. Xiang Yu paid no attention to Liu Bang's presumptive title and led his troops into Xianyang. Xiang ordered the execution of ex-Emperor Ziying and his family, as well as the destruction of the Epang Palace by fire. Xiang Yu offered King Huai II the more honourable title of "Emperor Yi of Zhu." Xiang Yu proclaimed himself "Hegemon-King of Western Chu" and split the former Qin empire into Eighteen Kingdoms. The land of Guanzhong, rightfully Liu Bang's according to King Huai II's earlier promise, was granted by Xiang to three surrendered Qin generals instead. Liu Bang was relocated to Hanzhong (Han-chung) in the remote, Bashu region (in what is now Sechuan Province) and granted the title of "King of Han."1
206 BCE (after winter) Liu Bang returned to Guanzhong. While Xiang Yu was away suppressing the rebellion in Qi, Liu Bang led his troops to seize Guanzhong and several lands, including Xiang Yu's capital city of Pengcheng (present-day Xuzhou) at one point. The forces of Western Chu and Han then engaged in a power struggle for supremacy over China for about five years, known as the Chu-Han contention, with victories and defeats for both sides in various battles.1
203 BCE The war turned in favor of Liu Bang. Initially, Western Chu had an advantage over Han, but the tide turned in favour of the latter in 203 BC, after Xiang Yu and Liu Bang came to an armistice, known as the Treaty of Honggou, that divided China into east and west under their domains respectively. Soon afterwards, Liu Bang renounced the treaty and attacked Xiang Yu, taking Xiang by surprise and scoring a series of victories in the following battles.1
202 BCE Liu Bang totally defeated Xiang Lu and became the first emperor of the Western Han dynasty. Liu Bang's forces defeated Xiang Yu's at the Battle of Gaixia. Xiang Yu committed suicide and Western Chu surrendered. Liu Bang unified China. With the support of his subjects, he became the first emperor of the Western Han dynasty. He later became known as Emperor Gao (Kao) or Gaozu (Kao-tsu).1
201 BCE
Modern Taiyuan prefecture in Shanxi state in China.
Modern Taiyuan prefecture
in Shanxi state, China.
Click on image to view source.
Modern Shouzhou and Taiyuan prefecture in Shanxi state.
Modern Shouzhou and Taiyuan
prefectures in Shanxi state.
Click on image to view source.
The Han marquis King Xin in Mayi surrendered to the Xiongnu and joined them after they attacked Mayi. The Emperor Gaozu (Kao-tsu, Liu Bang) had demoted King Xin [Hsin], the former king of Hann, down to a marquis. Xin's capital was at Mayi [Ma-yi]. (The city of Mayi is in what is now in the modern prefect of Shuozhou,in the modern state of Shanxi (Shansi). See maps at right.) The Xiongnu surrounded Mayi and attacked in great force. King Xin sent an appeal for military aid to Emperor Gaozu in Taiyuan. (The city of Taiyuan (T'ai-yuan) is now the capital of both the modern state of Shanzi and the modern prefecture of Taiyuan in Shanxi. The prefecture of Taiyuan is south of the prefecture of Shouzhou (Shou-chou), with the modern prefecture of Xinzhou (Hsin-chou) between them. See maps at right.) But Gaozu simply sent back a reprimand, telling Xin he should have more courage. After receiving this reply, Xin surrendered to the Xiongnu and made a pact with the them. Xin planned a rebellion against the emperor in Taiyuan. The Xiongnu, with King Xin on their side, went south across Mount Juzhou (Kou-shou Mountains), invaded the and marched as far as the city of Jinyang in the Taiyuan commandery.1
200 BCE Emperor Liu Bang led an army against the Xiongnu; he was defeated and made tributary concessions to the Xiongnu. The Emperor Liu Bang personally led two hundred thousand Chinese troops to attack the Xiongnu and put a stop the rebellion of King Xin. Thirty percent of his soldiers lost their fingers from frost-bite during the march to reach the Xiong-nu forces in Shanxi province. When the emperor and his army made contact with the Xiong-nu, the number of Xiong-nu they first encountered seemed relatively small. The Xiongnu hastily retreated from the advancing Han. The Han gave pursuit with the emperor himself and his vanguard at the front of their formation. The emperor and his vanguard were well ahead of the rest of the Han forces when they reached the fortified frontier town of Bing Qeng (Ping-ch'eng, modern Pingluchen, about 150 kilometers west of Ta-t'ung) near Mount Baideng (Pai-teng). They entered the town. Suddenly, they found themselves surrounded by a great number of Xiongnu archers mounted on horses outside the walls of the town. The Xiongnu cavalry was swirling around the town in circles. The horses were of four different colors. Each color was for a different Xiongnu army. The Xiongnu retreat had been a ruse to entrap the emperor. The emperor and his vanguard remained surrounded in the town by the four Xiongnu armies for seven days without hope of rescue. Then one of the emperor's counselors named Zhen Bing (Chen Ping) managed to reach the wife of Modun. He boasted to her of the number and beauty of the emperor's concubines and hinted to her that they might well replace her if Modun advanced and captured the emperor's palace in Taiyuan. The empress used her influence on her husband. Modun made a deal with the emperor. The emperor and his men were allowed to leave the town in safety. In exchange, the emperor and his army returned peacefully to Taijuan while Modun and his four armies did not withdraw until they stripped the surrounding country of every head of livestock and all the pieces of property that their spare horses could carry.1
199 BCE Emperor Liu Bang was confronted by rebellious aristocrats of three northern principalities; he sought further appeasement with Modun. Xin, the ruler of the principality of Hann who had defected to Modun's side in the conflict with the Emperor Liu Bang, became a Xiongnu general. He and some other Chinese aristocrats of semi-autonomus principilaties continued to make attacks against the emperor regardless of the agreement that had been made between Motun and Liu Bang. One of the other Chinese aristocratics was Chen Xi who was the prime minister of Dai Principality and was a friend of Xin. Others were of the principalities of Yen-men and Yun-chung. The emperor came to realize that he must take great measures to appease Modun.1
198 BCE The Chinese-Xiongnu "Peace-Through-Kinship" Treaty of 198 BCE Han Emperor Liu Bang made a long-lasting peace treaty with Modun. It was to apply to future sovereigns on both sides. The treaty was designed by Liu Ching, a counselor of Liu-Bang who had advised Liu Bang in 200 BCE, before Han army was launched into the expedition that resulted in the humiliating Han defeat at Mount Baideng, not to go against the Xiongnu.1 The Han acknowledged their military inferiority to the Xiongnu by agreeing:
  • to supply the Xiongnu with regular gifts of silk, wine, grain, and other goods;
  • to have a royal Han princess, the oldest daughter of the Han emperor, marry the shanyu;
  • to treat the Xiongnu as diplomatic equals;
  • to formally relinquish control of the Ordos region north of the defensive walls built during the Ch'in Dynasty Period.

In return, the Xiongnu agreed to not raid or invade the realms of the Han dynasty. Modun did marry a royal princess who was allegedly the daughter of the emperor. (The original annals of the Han Dynasty reveal that she was not in fact the eldest daughter of Liu Bang. The empress would not allow it.)

The treaty actually offered much to both sides:2

  • the Han and the Xiongnu were mutually guaranteed that there would be no aggression from the other side.

  • With Han support, the Xiongnu was able to control most nomadic tribes north of the Han border and prevent them from making incursions into Han territory.

  • The Xiongnu elite were provided by the Chinese with a stable stream of luxury goods gathered and concentrated from the whole of China by the Han government. The redistribution of these goods by the shanyu kept the tribal leaders united under his sovereignty and also provided generous awards to those who served the shanyu personally. Possession of and access to more of such items enhanced a person's personal prestige as well as providing luxury.

Also, the counselor Liu Ching had a hidden agendas implicitly in the treaty:3

  • a corruption campaign--the Han would periodically send to the Xiongnu those valuable luxury goods that they craved. This would soften them and make them dependent.

  • an indoctrination campaign--the Han would send special teachers to the Xiongnu who would instruct them in the rules of proper conduct according to Confucius. By marrying the Han emperor's daughter, the Xiongnu shanyu Modun became the Han emperor's son-in-law. Then that made Modun's son, his heir-apparent, the grandson of the son-in-law. According to Confucious, the heir-apparent would then be in a position inferior to the emperor, his grandfather. He would then be a subject of the emperor. By extension, when Modun's son became shanyu, all of his subjects would foremostly be subjects of the emperor.

That was the plan, anyway.
June 1, 195 BCE The first Han Emperor, Liu Bang, died. He was succeeded by his son Liu Yang who became Emperor Hui of Han. Emperor Liu Bang (Liu Pang) died from a lingering illness. The illness began when he was recovering from a wound. The wound was from a stray arrow that had struck him while he was in a battle against the rebel Ying Bu (Ying Pu). He was posthumously given the name Emperor Gaozu (Kao Tsu) of Han. He was succeeded as emperor by his son the crown prince Liu Ying (b. 210 BCE) who became Emperor Hui of Han.1 But the new emperor was dominated by his mother, the empress dowager Lü Zhi (Lü Chih). She was the effective ruler of the Han Empire during his reign.2
192 BCE Modun sent an apparent marriage proposal to the ageing dowager empress Lu. She humbly rejected it. Trade with the Han Empire was becoming increasingly desired by the Xiongnu. Han resentment had been building up against the Xiongnu. With each treaty renewal, the amount of tribute paid by the Han Empire to the Xiongnu increased substantially. At the same time, Xiongnu there continued to be raids into the empire. They were on a lesser scale than they were before the treaty of 198 BCE, but they were just as frequent. They were usually made by Han renegades or tribal people that the shanyu could not well control, but they made the Han Chinese feel as if they weren't getting the benefits due to them in return for their tributes. The resentment peaked when, in 192 BCE, the shanyu Modun sent a message to the dowager empress Lu suggesting that, since they were both widowed and of the same age, they might do well living in each others company. The dowager empress felt so offended by the message that she wanted to prepare her Han army for war. But her more prudent counselors and ministers talked her out of going to war against the Xiongnu. Instead, she sent a reply to the shanyu saying that he would not be happy living with her since her teeth and hair were falling out and that she was not worthy of his lowering himself. She stated that her country had done nothing wrong and that she hoped that he would not do harm to it. In his book, A History of China (c. 2009)1, John Keays suggests that a more subtle interpretation of the Shanyu's original message regards the phrase "to exchange the things I have for the things that I do not have" as expressing a wish to do more commercial trade with the Han Empire. The Hans' hidden agenda of making the Xiongnu more dependent on Chinese produce was being realised. With the renewal of the "peace-through-kinship" treaty between the Han Empire and the Xiongnu, access to Han markets along the frontier became an increasingly significant part of the treaty.
188 BCE Emperor Hui of Han died. He was succeeded by his son Liu Gong who became the Emperor Qianshao of Han. Emperor Hui of Han died of an unspecified illness. His mother the Empress Dowager Lu had him replaced by one of his sons, Liu Gong, who is posthumously known as Emperor Qianshao (Ch'ian Shao) of Han. Emperor Hui had not had any sons by his wife, Empress Zhang Yan (Chang Yan). The mothers of all his sons were concubines. But Empress Zhang Yan had adopted Liu Gong. At the time when he became emperor, Liu Bang believed that the Empress Zhang Yan was his true mother by birth. And he was not yet old enough to take on the full duties and responsibilities of an emperor. His grandmother Lü, now the Grand Empress Dowager, continued to be the effective ruler of the Han Empire.1
184 BCE Emperor Qianshao of Han died. He was succeeded by his half-brother Liu Hong who became Emperor Houshao of Han. Some time before the Emperor Quianshao, common name Liu Gong, died, he learned that his real mother was not Empress Zhang Yan, but instead was a concubine of his father. He also found out that his grandmother, the Grand Empress Dowager Lü, had instigated the Empress Zhang Yan to kill hs real mother. He was heard to remark that, when he grew up, Lü would pay for this. Lü found out about what he had learned and what he had said about it. She had him secretly imprisoned and had it publicly announced that he was ill and could not receive anyone. After a time, she declared that he was insane and she had him deposed. Finally, she had him killed and had his younger half-brother, Liu Hong succeed him. Liu Hong is posthumously known as the Emperor Houshao.1
180 BCE The Grand Empress Dowager Lü died; Emperor Houshao was deposed and replaced by Prince Liu Heng of Dai who became Emperor Wen of Han (Personal name: Heng). The Grand Empress Dowager Lü died of an illness. Soon afterwards, the high ministers of the Han government joined together in a coup. They exterminated the Lü clan, the powerful family of the former grand empress dowager. They deposed Emperor Houshao and made his uncle, Prince Liu Heng of Dai, the new emperor. By the end of the same year, Emperor Houshao was executed. Prince Liu Heng of Dai is posthumously known as Emperor Wen of Han.1
177 BCE, Fifth-month
Xiongnu invasions in 177 BCE
Xiongnu invasions, 177 BCE
Click on image to enlarge it.
The Xiongnu entered undisturbed the Baidi and Shang commanderies. They left after a very large army of Han Chinese cavalry arrived nearby. The Baidi (Pai-ti) Commandery was a military district in the southwest part of the "Great Bend" of the Yellow River. The Shang Commandery was a military district in the northern part of what is now the modern province of Shaanxi (Shensi), in the "Great Bend." The Xiongnu forces were led by the "Wise King of the Right" who governed the western half of the Xiongnu empire, but was subordinate to the shanyu. After they entered these commandaries, they pillaged the non-Chinese "foreign" people living there as frontier guards for the Han Chinese. The Xiongnu finally withdrew from the two commanderies after a Han force of eight-five thousand cavalry arrived in the Kaonu (Kao-nu) district, northeast of the present-day city of Yenan in Shaanxi province. This is just a typical example of such temporary Xiongnu invasions, each of which involved the nomadic incursion of tens of thousands of Xiongnu for a period of several months. Such invasions were against the "peace-through-kinship" treaties which forbade any raids. The Chinese continued to deliver tributes to the Xiongnu in spite of such violations. The ability of the Xiongnu to threaten the Han Empire and the failure of the appeasement strategy to prevent actual attacks made the situation at the north and northwestern frontiers a virtually permanent crisis.1
175 BCE The Xiongnu defeated the Yuezhi and dominated all of what is now the modern province of Xinjiang (Sinkiang). Modun sent his son Laoshang (proper name: Jizhu1) as "Wise King of the Right," i.e., as commander of the Xiongnu (Hsiung-nu) forces and governor of the Xiongnu people in the western side of the Xiongnu empire, to defeat the Yuezhi (Yeüh-chih). This task was accomplished. The leader of the Yuezhi was killed and his skull was made into a drinking cup.2 In a letter to the Han emperor Wen, Modun stated:
 

"With the assistance of Heaven, the talent of officers and soldiers, and the strength of horses the wise king of the right has succeeded in destroying the Yüe-chih, and in unspairingly killing them or bringing them into submission. Lou-lan, the Wu-sun, the Hu-chieh, and other twenty-six states contiguous to them are now part of the Hsiung-nu. All the people who draw the bow now become one one family and the northern region has been pacified."3

  
 
The defeat of the Yuezhi, submission of the Loulan (Lou-lan), the Wusun (Wu-sun), the Huzhieh (Hu-chieh), and twenty-six states contiguous to them gave the Xiongnu (Hsiung-nu) control of the prosperous oasis-city-states of Sinkiang as well as contact with the rulers of Ferghana and Sogdia.4 (Ferghana was spread across what is now part of central and eastern Kyrgyzstan and eastern Tajikistan, east of the Syr Darya (Jaxartes) River. Sogdia was centered in what is now southeastern Uzbekistan, between the Amu Darya (Oxus) and Syr Darya (Jaxartes) Rivers. Sogdia also included part of what is now western Kyrgistan and western Tajikistan.)
174 BCE Modun, the shanyu of the Xiongnu, died; his son Lao Shang (proper name: Jizhu) succeeded him as shanyu.1
173 BCE The Yuezhi overran the Wusun. In 173 BCE,1 the Yuezhi attacked and overran the Wusun. Nandoumi, the kunmo (supreme chieftain) of the Wusun, was killed. Some time later, his infant son Liejiaomi was left in the wild. Liejiaomi was eventually found by the Xiongnu. According to a legend recorded in the Hanshu (an ancient Chinese history text that is sequel to Sima Quien's Shiji), Liejiaomi was suckled by a she-wolf and fed meat by ravens while he was in the wild. Liejiaomi was eventually found by the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu's shanyu Jizhu (a.k.a. Lao Shang) adopted Liejiaomi and raised him. When Liejiaomi came of age, Jizhu saw to it that he was made the kunmo of the Xiongnu like his father had been. Jizhu also made Liejiaomi the commander of the far western region of the Xiongnu Empire as a vassal of the Xiongnu.2

FOOTNOTES TO MAIN TEXT

By 350 BCE: Recognition of Xiongnu

1Christian, D., A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia, Vol. I (Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers, 1998), pp. 128, 184; Legg, S., The Barbarians of Asia (New York: Dorset Press, 1970.), pp. 75-76.

2Christian, op. cit., pp. 128, 184; ElanguageSchool.net--Xiongnu. According to both of these sources, the Ordu region was the original base of the Xiongnu.

3Legg, op. cit., p. 75. Legg considers Mongolia to have been the prime domain of the Xiongnu.

4Christian, op. cit., pp. 128, 184; Wikipedia--"Donghue people"; Wikipedia--"Xiongnu".

5Christian, op. cit., pp. 128, 184; Grousset, op. cit., pp. 27-28; Mongolia: A Country Study--"Xiongnu and Yuehzhi"; "The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia" by Craig Benjamin; EconomicExpert.com--"Yuezhi".

6Christian, op. cit., pp. 128, 184; Grousset, op. cit., p. 29; Wikipedia--"Wusun"; EconomicExpert.Com--"Wusun"; All Experts-Encyclopedia--"Wusun"; MapsOf.net--"Migration route of Wusun in Western Han Dynasty".

7Sima Qian and Watson, Burton (tr.), Records of the Grand Historian: Qin Dynasty (Hong Kong & New York: Renditions-Columbia University Press, 1993), p. 26. I leave out much of the middle of the paragraph quoted, as I indicate in the quotation with "..."; the clarifications placed in between lower-case brackets ("[ ]") are entirely my own insertions.

8Sima Qian and Watson, Burton (tr.), Records of the Grand Historian: Han Dynasty II Revised Edition (Hong Kong & New York: Renditions-Columbia University Press, 1993), p. 129.

9Sima Qian and Watson, Burton (tr.), Records of the Grand Historian: Han Dynasty II Revised Edition (Hong Kong & New York: Renditions-Columbia University Press, 1993), p. 137.

10Wikipedia--"Xiongnu".

11Legg, op. cit., p. 77.

12Christian, op. cit., p. 184; Legg, op. cit., p.76; Grousset, op. cit., p. 28 (in regard to the Yuezhi only--on p. 29, Grousset considers it plausible that the Wusun originally spoke an Indo-European language, but does not endorse the notion as firm fact.); EconomicExpert.com--"Yuezhi";Wikipedia--"Yuezhi". (In Wikipedia--"Wusun" there are some reservations given about accepting the notion that the Wusun were originally Indo-European.)

13Wikipedia--"Quanrong".

256 BCE: End of the Zhou Dynasty

1Wikipedia--"Zhou Dynasty"

221 BCE: Beginning of the Imperial Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty

1The Anchor Atlas of World History, Volume 1: From the Stone Age to the Eve of the French Revolution, (New York: Anchor Books/Doubleday, 1974), p. 41; Wikipedia--"Qin Dynasty"; Wikipedia--"Qin Shi Huang".

220-209 BCE: The Reign of Xiongnu Ruler Touman (Toumen).

1AllEmpires.com--"The Xiongnu Empire" by Ishan

215-214 BCE: General Meng Tian of the Qin drove barbarian tribes out from the Ordos, and he began construction of a "Great Wall".

1The main text of the translation given here is from Sima Qian and Watson, Burton (tr.), Records of the Grand Historian: Han Dynasty II Revised Edition (Hong Kong & New York: Renditions-Columbia University Press, 1993), pp. 133-34. The substitute words in lower-case brackets ("[ ]") are from the translation in Di Cosmo, Nicola Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2002), p. 174.

2Sima Qian and Watson, Burton (tr.),Records of the Grand Historian: Qin Dynasty (Hong Kong & New York: Renditions-Columbia University Press, 1993), pp. 52-53.

3 Di Cosmo, Nicola Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2002), p. 130; Di Cosmo quotes a passage in an anonymous letter sent to the King of Yen, and recorded in the Chan-kuo ts'e; he argues that, in the letter, "...the name 'Yueh' is used as a generic term for the non-Chinese peoples of the south, while 'Hu' describes non-Chinese peoples of the north. We can thus reasonably say that, by the end of the fourth century B.C., the term 'Hu' applied to various northern ethnic groups (tribes, groups of tribes, and even states) speaking different languages and generally found living scattered across a wide territory."

4Sima Qian and Watson (trans.), Records of the Grand Historian: Qin Dynasty (Hong Kong & New York: Renditions-Columbia University Press, 1993), p. 79.

5Ibid., pp. 207-08.

6www.ChinaKnowledge.Org --"Chinese History - Non-Chinese peoples and neighboring states: Rong ".

7www.ChinaKnowledge.org - History--"Non-Chinese peoples and neighboring states: Di".

8Di Cosmo, op. cit., p. 175.

9Man, John. The Great Wall (Philadelphia: De Capo Press, 2008), p. 52.

10Di Cosmo, op. cit., pp. 178-79.

11Keay, John, China: A History (New York: Basic Books, 2009), p. 131.

210 BCE: The Qin Emperor died.

1Wikipedia--"Qin Shi Huang".

210-209 BCE: Touman tried to have his first son Modun killed; Touman's plot is foiled; Modun had his father killed and succeeded him as Shanyu of the Xiongnu confederacy.

1Christian, op. cit., p. 209 gives 209 BCE as the year that "Mo-tun" (Maodun) assumed the title of "shan-yu" (shanyu). Di Cosmo, op. cit., p. 186, also gives 209 BCE as the year for this. I allow for one year between the event of Touman giving Modun as a hostage to the Yeuzhi and the event of Modun taking the title of shanyu.

2 Sima Qian and Watson, Burton (tr.), Records of the Grand Historian: Han Dynasty II Revised Edition (Hong Kong & New York: Renditions-Columbia University Press, 1993), p. 134.

209 BCE: Rebellions against the second Qin emperor arose and fell.

1Wikipedia--"Qin Er Shi".

208 BCE: Descendents of royal families of former states rebelled.

1Wikipedia--"Liu Bang".

208-202 BCE: Modun created a Xiongnu Empire—he expanded Xiongnu territory in all directions.

1Sima Qian and Watson, Burton (tr.), Records of the Grand Historian: Han Dynasty II Revised Edition (Hong Kong & New York: Renditions-Columbia University Press, 1993), p. 135.

2Ibid., pp. 135-36.

3Ibid., p. 138.

4Di Cosmo, op. cit., p. 188.

5Christian, op. cit., pp. 185-86.

207 BCE: Qin forces defeated by rebels; Qin emperor committed suicide. Ziyin succeeded him.

1Wikipedia--"Qin Er Shi"; Wikipedia--"Battle of Julu"; Wikipedia--"Xiang Yu"; Wikipedia--"Ziying".

206 BCE: Qin Emperor surrendered to the Zhu rebels; end of Qin Dynasty; China was split into two kingdoms: Western Chu and Han.

1Wikipedia--"Ziying"; Wikipedia--"Xiang Yu"; Wikipedia--"Emperor Gaozu of Han"; "Liu Bang and Xiang Yu" by Chung Yoon-Ngan.

206 BCE: Liu Bang returned to Guanzhong.

1Wikipedia-"Liu Bang".

203 BCE: The war turned in favor of Liu Bang.

1Wikipedia-"Liu Bang".

202 BCE: Liu Bang totally defeated Xiang Lu and became the first emperor of the Western Han dynasty.

1Wikipedia-"Liu Bang".

201 BCE: The Han marquise King Xin in Mayi surrendered to the Xiongnu and joined them after they attacked Mayi.

1 Sima Qian and Watson, Burton, Records of the Grand Historian [Shi ji]: Han Dynasty II, Revised Edition, p. 138 [Shi ji 110]; Di Cosmo, op. cit., p. 190—Di Cosmo cites the Chung-kuo li-shih ti-t'u chi and gives details not found in Shi ji 110; www.ImperialChina.org -- "The Huns, Part I" by Ah Xiang, first paragraph under the sub-heading "Huns Attacking Han Chinese."

200 BCE: Emperor Liu Bang led an army against the Xiongnu; he was defeated and made tributary concessions to there Xiongnu.

1Most of the details are from Legg, op. cit., p. 92; but these have been combined here with some details from: Sima Qian and Watson, Burton, Records of the Grand Historian [Shi ji]: Han Dynasty II, Revised Edition, pp. 138-39 [Shi ji 110]; Di Cosmo, op. cit., pp. 190, 192; Christian, op. cit., p. 186; and www.ImperialChina.org -- "The Huns, Part I" by Ah Xiang, first paragraph under the sub-heading "Huns Attacking Han Chinese."

199 BCE: Emperor Liu Bang was confronted by rebellious aristocratics of three northern principalities; he sought further appeasement with Modun.

1Di Cosmo, op. cit., p. 192; www.ImperialChina.org -- "The Huns, Part I" by Ah Xiang, first paragraph under the sub-heading "Huns Attacking Han Chinese."

198 BCE: The Chinese-Xiongnu Treaty of 198 BCE

1Di Cosmo, op. cit., p. 193.

2Christian, op. cit., p. 187; Di Cosmo, op. cit., pp. 193-94.

3 Di Cosmo, op. cit., p. 194.

195 BCE: The first Han Emperor, Liu Bang, died. He was succeeded by his son Liu Yang.

1Wikipedia--"Emperor Gaozu of Han".

2Wikipedia--"Emperor Hui of Han"; Wikipedia--"Empress Dowager Lü".

192 BCE: Modun sent an apparent marriage proposal to the ageing dowager empress Lu. She humbly rejected it. Trade with the Han Empire was becoming increasingly desired by the Xiongnu.

1Keay, op. cit., pp. 133-34.

188 BCE: Emperor Hui of Han died. He was succeeded by his son Liu Gong who became the Emperor Qianshao of Han.

1Wikipedia--"Emperor Hui of Han"; Wikipedia--"Liu Gong"; Wikipedia--"Empress Dowager Lü".

184 BCE: Emperor Qianshao of Han died. He was succeeded by his half-brother Liu Hong who became Emperor Houshao of Han.

1Wikipedia--"Liu Gong"; Wikipedia--"Empress Dowager Lü".

180 BCE: The Grand Empress Dowager Lü died; Emperor Houshao was deposed and replaced by Prince Liu Heng of Dai who became Emperor Wen of Han.

1Wikipedia--"Emperor Houshao of Han"; Wikipedia--"Empress Dowager Lü".

177 BCE, Fifth month: The Xiongnu entered undisturbed the Baidi and Shang commanderies. They left after a very large army of Han Chinese cavalry arrived nearby.

1 Sima Qian and Watson, Burton, Records of the Grand Historian [Shi ji]: Han Dynasty II, Revised Edition, p. 140 [Shi ji 110]; Di Cosmo, op. cit., p. 204.

175 BCE: The Xiongnu defeated the Yuezhi and dominated all of what is now the modern province of Xinjiang (Sinkiang). The Yuezhi began a series of migrations westwards.

1"The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia" by Craig Benjamin; Wikipedia--"Laoshang Chanyu.

2Christian, op. cit., p. 187; Grousset, op. cit., p. 27. Christian gives Modun's son's name, Lao Shang; Christian gives the son's title, "Wise King of the Right;" Christian also gives the date 175 BCE for the events. Both sources credit Modun's sun with the defeat of the Yeuh-chi and mention the decapitation of the Yeuh-chih's leader.

3Di Cosmo, op. cit., p. 196; Di Cosmo gives the complete text as printed here. Christian, op. cit., p. 187 gives a one-sentence summary of the letter.

4Christian, op. cit., p. 187.

174 BCE: Modun, the shanyu of the Xiongnu, died; his son Lao Shang succeeded him as shanyu.

1Christian, op. cit., p. 187; Wikipedia--"Laoshang Chanyu.

173 BCE: The Yuezhi overran the Wusun.

1Transoxiana.org--"The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia" by Craig Benjamin. Benjamin cites the Han Shu 61 4B.

2Wikipedia--"Wusun" (The opening paragraph has an error, making a statement about the Wusun that applies to the Yuezhi only--it was the Yuezhi, not the Wusun, who migrated to the Ili Valley to get away from the Xiongnu. But the later section under the heading "History" has it straight.)

 

 

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