Predecessors The territories associated with the Xiongnu in central/east Mongolia were previously inhabited by the
Slab Grave Culture (
Ancient Northeast Asian origin), which persisted until the 3rd century BC. Genetic research indicates that the Slab Grave people were the primary ancestors of the Xiongnu, and that the Xiongnu formed through substantial and complex mixture with West Eurasians. During the
Western Zhou (1045–771 BC), there were numerous conflicts with nomadic tribes from the north and the northwest, variously known as the
Xianyun,
Guifang, or various "Rong" tribes, such as the
Xirong,
Shanrong or
Quanrong. The Quanrong put an end to the Western Zhou in 771 BC, sacking the Zhou capital of
Haojing and killing the last Western Zhou king
You. A
Scythian culture, it was identified by excavated artifacts and mummified humans, such as the
Siberian Ice Maiden, found in the
Siberian
permafrost, in the
Altai Mountains,
Kazakhstan and nearby
Mongolia. To the south, the
Ordos culture had developed in the
Ordos Loop (modern
Inner Mongolia,
China) during the
Bronze and early
Iron Age from the 6th to 2nd centuries BC. Of unknown ethno-linguistic origin, it is thought to represent the easternmost extension of Indo-European-speakers. The
Yuezhi were displaced by the Xiongnu expansion in the 2nd century BC, and had to migrate to Central and Southern Asia.
Early history Western Han historian
Sima Qian composed an early yet detailed exposition on the Xiongnu in one
liezhuan (arrayed account) of his
Records of the Grand Historian ( BC), wherein the Xiongnu were alleged to be descendants of a certain
Chunwei, who in turn descended from the "lineage of Lord Xia", a.k.a.
Yu the Great. Even so, Sima Qian also drew a distinct line between the settled
Huaxia people (Han) to the pastoral nomads (Xiongnu), characterizing them as two polar groups in the sense of a civilization versus an uncivilized society: the
Hua–Yi distinction. Sima Qian also mentioned Xiongnu's early appearance north of
Wild Goose Gate and
Dai commanderies before 265 BC, just before the
Zhao-Xiongnu War; however,
sinologist Edwin Pulleyblank (1994) contends that pre-241-BC references to the Xiongnu are anachronistic substitutions for the
Hu people instead. Sometimes the Xiongnu were distinguished from other nomadic peoples; namely, the
Hu people; yet on other occasions, Chinese sources often just classified the Xiongnu as a
Hu people, which was a blanket term for
nomadic people. Even Sima Qian was inconsistent: in the chapter "Hereditary House of Zhao", he considered the Donghu to be the Hu proper, yet elsewhere he considered Xiongnu to be also Hu. Ancient China often came in contact with the
Xianyun and the
Xirong nomadic peoples. In later Chinese historiography, some groups of these peoples were believed to be the possible progenitors of the Xiongnu people. These nomadic people often had repeated military confrontations with the
Shang and especially the
Zhou, who often conquered and enslaved the nomads in an expansion drift. During the
Warring States period, the armies from the
Qin,
Zhao and
Yan states were encroaching and conquering various nomadic territories that were inhabited by the Xiongnu and other Hu peoples. Pulleyblank argued that the Xiongnu were part of a
Xirong group called
Yiqu, who had lived in
Shaanbei and had been influenced by China for centuries, before they were driven out by the
Qin dynasty.
Qin's campaign against the Xiongnu expanded Qin's territory at the expense of the Xiongnu. After the unification of Qin dynasty, Xiongnu was a threat to the northern border of Qin. They were likely to attack the Qin dynasty when they suffered natural disasters.
State formation The first known Xiongnu leader was
Touman, who reigned between 220 and 209 BC. In 215 BC, Chinese Emperor
Qin Shi Huang sent General
Meng Tian on a
military campaign against the Xiongnu. Meng Tian defeated the Xiongnu and expelled them from the
Ordos Loop, forcing
Touman and the Xiongnu to flee north into the
Mongolian Plateau. In 210 BC, Meng Tian died, and in 209 BC, Touman's son
Modu became the Xiongnu
chanyu. In order to protect the Xiongnu from the threat of the
Qin dynasty,
Modu Chanyu united the Xiongnu into a powerful
confederation. This transformed the Xiongnu into a more formidable polity, able to form larger armies and exercise improved strategic coordination. The Qin dynasty fell in 207 BC, and was replaced by the
Western Han dynasty in 202 BC after a period of
internal conflict. This period of Chinese instability was a time of prosperity for the Xiongnu, who adopted many
Han agriculture techniques such as slaves for heavy labor and lived in Han-style homes. After forging internal unity,
Modu Chanyu expanded the Xiongnu empire in all directions. To the north he conquered a number of nomadic peoples, including the
Dingling of southern Siberia. He crushed the power of the
Donghu people of eastern Mongolia and Manchuria as well as the
Yuezhi in the
Hexi Corridor of
Gansu, where his son, Jizhu, made a
skull cup out of the Yuezhi king. Modu also retook the original homeland of Xiongnu on the
Yellow River, which had previously been taken by the Qin general Meng Tian. Under Modu's leadership, the Xiongnu became powerful enough to threaten the Han dynasty. In 200 BC, Modu besieged the first Han dynasty emperor
Gaozu (Gao-Di) with his 320,000-strong army at Peteng Fortress in Baideng (present-day Datong, Shanxi). After Gaozu (Gao-Di) agreed to all Modu's terms, such as ceding the northern provinces to the Xiongnu and paying annual taxes, he was allowed to leave the siege. Although Gaozu was able to return to his capital Chang'an (present-day
Xi'an), Modu occasionally threatened the Han's northern frontier and finally in 198 BC, a peace treaty was settled. Xiongnu in their expansion drove their western neighbour Yuezhi from the Hexi Corridor in year 176 BC, killing the Yuezhi king and asserting their presence in the
Western Regions. By the time of Modu's death in 174 BC, the Xiongnu were recognized as the most prominent of the nomads bordering the Han empire According to the
Book of Han, later quoted in
Duan Chengshi's ninth-century
Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang:
Xiongnu hierarchy , in the
Central State Museum of Kazakhstan. The ruler of the Xiongnu was called the
chanyu. Under him were the
tuqi kings. (
Chinese: 龍城;
Mongolian: Luut; lit. "Dragon City") became the annual meeting place and served as the Xiongnu capital. The ruins of Longcheng were found south of
Ulziit District,
Arkhangai Province, in 2017. North of
Shanxi with the Tuqi King of the Left was holding the area north of Beijing and the Tuqi King of the Right was holding the
Ordos Loop area as far as
Gansu.
Marriage diplomacy with Han dynasty In the winter of 200 BC, following a Xiongnu
siege of
Taiyuan,
Emperor Gaozu of Han personally led a military campaign against
Modu Chanyu. At the
Battle of Baideng, he was ambushed, reputedly by Xiongnu cavalry. The emperor was cut off from supplies and reinforcements for seven days, only narrowly escaping capture. The Han dynasty sent commoner women falsely labeled as "princesses" and members of the Han imperial family to the Xiongnu multiple times when they were practicing
Heqin () marriage alliances with the Xiongnu in order to avoid sending the emperor's daughters. The Han sent these "princesses" to marry Xiongnu leaders in their efforts to stop the border raids. Along with arranged marriages, the Han sent gifts to bribe the Xiongnu to stop attacking. After the defeat at
Pingcheng in 200 BC, the Han emperor abandoned a military solution to the Xiongnu threat. Instead, in 198 BC, the courtier was dispatched for negotiations. The peace settlement eventually reached between the parties included a Han princess given in marriage to the
chanyu; periodic gifts to the Xiongnu of
silk,
distilled beverages and
rice; equal status between the states; and a
boundary wall as a mutual border. region and western part of North China, 2nd century BC, bronze - Ethnological Museum, Berlin. According to
Frankfort, the wrestlers are Xiongnu, and their horses have Xiongnu-type
horse trappings. This first treaty set the pattern for relations between the
Han and the Xiongnu for sixty years. Up to 135 BC, the treaty was renewed nine times, each time with an increase in the "gifts" to the Xiongnu Empire. In 192 BC,
Modun even asked for the hand of
Emperor Gaozu of Han widow
Empress Lü Zhi. His son and successor, the energetic Jiyu, known as
Laoshang Chanyu, continued his father's expansionist policies. Laoshang succeeded in negotiating terms with
Emperor Wen for the maintenance of a large scale government sponsored market system. While the Xiongnu benefited handsomely, from the Chinese perspective marriage treaties were costly, very humiliating and ineffective. Laoshang Chanyu showed that he did not take the peace treaty seriously. On one occasion his scouts penetrated to a point near
Chang'an. In 166 BC he personally led 140,000 cavalry to invade
Anding, reaching as far as the imperial retreat at Yong. In 158 BC, his successor sent 30,000 cavalry to attack
Shangdang and another 30,000 to
Yunzhong. The Xiongnu also
practiced marriage alliances with Han dynasty officers and officials who defected to their side by marrying off sisters and daughters of the
chanyu to Han Chinese who joined the Xiongnu and Xiongnu in Han service. The daughter of Laoshang Chanyu (and older sister of
Junchen Chanyu and
Yizhixie Chanyu) was married to the Xiongnu General
Zhao Xin, the Marquis of Xi who was serving the Han dynasty. The daughter of
Qiedihou Chanyu was married to the
Han Chinese General
Li Ling after he surrendered and defected. Li Ling was captured by the Xiongnu and defected in the first century BC. And since the Tang royal Li family also claimed descent from Li Guang, the Kirghiz Khagan was therefore recognized as a member of the Tang Imperial family. This relationship soothed the relationship when Kyrgyz khagan
Are (阿熱) invaded
Uyghur Khaganate and executed Qasar Qaghan. The news brought to
Chang'an by Kyrgyz ambassador Zhuwu Hesu (註吾合素).
Han–Xiongnu wars in 2 AD The
Han dynasty made preparations for war when the
Emperor Wu dispatched
Zhang Qian to explore the mysterious kingdoms to the west and to form an alliance with the Yuezhi people in order to combat the Xiongnu. During this time Zhang married a Xiongnu wife, who bore him a son, and gained the trust of the Xiongnu leader. Major logistical difficulties limited the duration and long-term continuation of these campaigns. According to the analysis of Yan You (嚴尤), the difficulties were twofold. Firstly there was the problem of supplying food across long distances. Secondly, the weather in the northern Xiongnu lands was difficult for Han soldiers, who could never carry enough fuel. According to official reports, the Xiongnu lost 80,000 to 90,000 men, and out of the 140,000 horses the Han forces had brought into the desert, fewer than 30,000 returned to the Han Empire. In 104 and 102 BC, the Han fought and won the
War of the Heavenly Horses against the Kingdom of
Dayuan. As a result, the Han gained many
Ferghana horses which further aided them in their battle against the Xiongnu. As a result of these battles, the Han Empire controlled the strategic region from the
Ordos and Gansu corridor to
Lop Nor. They succeeded in separating the Xiongnu from the
Qiang peoples to the south, and also gained direct access to the
Western Regions. Because of strong Han control over the Xiongnu, the Xiongnu became unstable and were no longer a threat to the Han Empire.
Xiongnu Civil War (60–53 BC) When a chanyu died, power could pass to his younger brother if his son was not of age. This system normally kept an adult male on the throne, but could cause trouble in later generations when there were several lineages that might claim the throne. When
Xulüquanqu Chanyu died in 60 BC, power was taken by
Woyanqudi, a grandson of Xulüquanqu's cousin. Being something of a usurper, he tried to put his own men in power, which only increased his number of his enemies. Xulüquanqu's son fled east and, in 58 BC, revolted. Few would support Woyanqudi and he was driven to suicide, leaving the rebel son,
Huhanye, as the chanyu. The Woyanqudi faction then set up his brother, Tuqi, as chanyu in 58 BC. In 57 BC three more men declared themselves
chanyu. Two dropped their claims in favor of the third who was defeated by Tuqi in that year and surrendered to Huhanye the following year. In 56 BC Tuqi was defeated by Huhanye and committed suicide, but two more claimants appeared: Runzhen and Huhanye's elder brother
Zhizhi Chanyu. Runzhen was killed by Zhizhi in 54 BC, leaving only Zhizhi and Huhanye. Zhizhi grew in power, and, in 53 BC, Huhanye moved south and submitted to the Chinese. Huhanye used Chinese support to weaken Zhizhi, who gradually moved west. In 49 BC, a brother to Tuqi set himself up as
chanyu and was killed by Zhizhi. In 36 BC, Zhizhi was killed by a Chinese army while trying to establish a new kingdom in the far west near
Lake Balkhash.
Tributary relations with the Han In 53 BC
Huhanye decided to enter into tributary relations with
Han China. The original terms insisted on by the Han court were that, first, the
Chanyu or his representatives should come to the capital to pay homage; secondly, the
Chanyu should send a hostage prince; and thirdly, the
Chanyu should present tribute to the Han emperor. The political status of the Xiongnu in the Chinese world order was reduced from that of a "brotherly state" to that of an "outer vassal" (外臣). Huhanye sent his son, the "wise king of the right" Shuloujutang, to the Han court as hostage. In 51 BC he personally visited Chang'an to pay homage to the emperor on the
Lunar New Year. In the same year, another envoy Qijushan was received at the
Ganquan Palace in the north-west of modern
Shanxi. On the financial side, Huhanye was amply rewarded in large quantities of gold, cash, clothes, silk, horses and grain for his participation. Huhanye made two further homage trips, in 49 BC and 33 BC; with each one the imperial gifts were increased. On the last trip, Huhanye took the opportunity to ask to be allowed to become an imperial son-in-law. As a sign of the decline in the political status of the Xiongnu,
Emperor Yuan refused, giving him instead five ladies-in-waiting. One of them was
Wang Zhaojun, famed in Chinese folklore as one of the
Four Beauties. When Zhizhi learned of his brother's submission, he also sent a son to the Han court as hostage in 53 BC. Then twice –in 51 BC and 50 BC– he sent envoys to the Han court with tribute. But having failed to pay homage personally, he was never admitted to the tributary system. In 36 BC, a junior officer named
Chen Tang, with the help of
Gan Yanshou, protector-general of the Western Regions, assembled an expeditionary force that defeated him at the
Battle of Zhizhi and sent his head as a trophy to Chang'an. Tributary relations were discontinued during the reign of Huduershi (18–48 AD), corresponding to the political upheavals of the
Xin dynasty. The Xiongnu took the opportunity to regain control of the western regions, as well as neighboring peoples such as the
Wuhuan. In 24 AD, Hudershi even talked about reversing the tributary system.
Southern Xiongnu and Northern Xiongnu . The Xiongnu's new power was met with a policy of appeasement by
Emperor Guangwu. At the height of his power, Huduershi even compared himself to his illustrious ancestor, Modu. Due to growing regionalism among the Xiongnu, however, Huduershi was never able to establish unquestioned authority. In contravention of a principle of
fraternal succession established by Huhanye, Huduershi designated his son Punu as
heir-apparent. However, as the eldest son of the preceding chanyu, Bi (Pi)—the Rizhu King of the Right—had a more legitimate claim. Consequently, Bi refused to attend the annual meeting at the chanyus court. Nevertheless, in 46 AD, Punu ascended the throne. In 48 AD, a confederation of eight Xiongnu tribes in Bi's power base in the south, with a military force totalling 40,000 to 50,000 men, seceded from Punu's kingdom and acclaimed Bi as chanyu. This kingdom became known as the
Southern Xiongnu ().
Northern Xiongnu The rump kingdom under Punu, around the
Orkhon (modern north central Mongolia) became known as the
Northern Xiongnu (), with Punu, becoming known as the
Northern Chanyu. In 49 AD, the Northern Xiongnu was dealt a heavy defeat to the Southern Xiongnu. That same year, Zhai Tong, a Han governor of
Liaodong also enticed the
Wuhuan and
Xianbei into attacking the Northern Xiongnu. Soon, Punu began sending envoys on several separate occasions to negotiate peace with the Han dynasty, but made little to no progress. In the 60s, the Northern Xiongnu resumed hostilities as they attempted to expand their influence into the
Western Regions and launched raids on the Han borders. In 73, the Han responded by sending
Dou Gu and Geng Chong to lead a
great expedition against the Northern Xiongnu in the
Tarim Basin. The expedition, which saw the exploits of the famed general,
Ban Chao, was initially successful, but the Han had to temporarily withdraw in 75 due to matters back home. Ban Chao remained behind and maintained Chinese influence over the Western Regions before his death in 102.'' .
Southern Xiongnu Coincidentally, the Southern Xiongnu were plagued by natural disasters and misfortunes—notwithstanding the threat posed by Punu. Hence, in 50 AD, the Southern Xiongnu submitted to tributary relations with Han China. The
Chanyu was ordered to establish his court in Meiji County,
Xihe Commandery while his followers were resettled in eight frontier commanderies. At the same time, large numbers of Chinese were also resettled in these commanderies, in mixed Han-Xiongnu settlements. Economically, the Southern Xiongnu became reliant on trade with the Han and annual subsidies from the Chinese court. The Southern Xiongnu served as auxiliaries in defending the northern frontier from nomadic forces and even played a role in defeating the Northern Xiongnu. However, even with the fall of their northern counterpart, they continued to suffer the brunt of incessant raids, this time by the
Xianbei people of the steppe. In addition to the poor climate and living conditions of the frontiers, their politics were also interfered with by the Chinese court, who often installed
chanyus who were partial towards Han interests. As a result, the Southern Xiongnu rebelled from time to time, occasionally joining forces with the
Wuhuan and receiving support from the Xianbei. During the late 2nd century AD, the
Chanyu began sending his people to deal with the Han's internal matters; first against the
Yellow Turban Rebellion and then against the Wuhuan in
Hebei in 188. Many of the Xiongnu feared that his actions would set a precedent for unending military service to the Han court. At the time, another vassal, the
Xiuchuge, had rebelled in
Bingzhou and killed the provincial inspector. Subsequently, a rebellious faction among the Southern Xiongnu allied with them and killed the
Chanyu as well. The Han court appointed his son,
Yufuluo, entitled Chizhi Shizhu, to succeed him, but he was expelled from his territory by the rebels. Yufuluo travelled to
Luoyang to seek aid from the Han court, but the court was in disorder from the clash between Grand General
He Jin and the
eunuchs, and the eventual intervention of the warlord
Dong Zhuo. The
Chanyu later settled down with his followers around
Pingyang, east of the
Fen River in
Shanxi, where he died and was succeeded by his brother
Huchuquan in 195. Meanwhile, the rebels initially elected their
own chanyu, but after he died just a year into his reign, they left the position vacant and had an elderly nominal king put in his place. As the
chanyu authority dissipated, many of the Southern Xiongnu tribes broke away and avoided the ongoing
Han civil war. Yufuluo's group and the Xiuchuge were drawn into the conflict and were later subdued by the warlord
Cao Cao.'''' The Southern Xiongnu upheaval caused several frontier commanderies such as
Shuofang and
Yunzhong to be lost to hostile tribes, prompting Cao Cao to abolish and abandon them. In 216, he detained Huchuquan in the city of
Ye and reorganized the last vestiges of the Southern Xiongnu into the
Five Divisions (; Left, Right, South, North and Centre) around
Taiyuan Commandery in modern-day
Shanxi, bringing them closer to the Chinese court's influence. The office of
chanyu remained with Huchuquan at Ye until his death, after which it became vacant. The Five Divisions were placed under the supervision of his uncle,
Qubei, with each division being led by a local chief, who in turn was under the surveillance of a Chinese resident. This was aimed at preventing the tribes in Shanxi from engaging in rebellion, and also allowed Cao Cao to use them as auxiliaries in his cavalry.
Descendants and later states in northern China Fang Xuanling's
Book of Jin lists nineteen Xiongnu tribes that resettled within the Great Wall:
Chuge (屠各),
Xianzhi (鮮支), Koutou (寇頭), Wutan (烏譚),
Chile (赤勒), Hanzhi (捍蛭), Heilang (黑狼),
Chisha (赤沙), Yugang (鬱鞞), Weisuo (萎莎), Tutong (禿童), Bomie (勃蔑), Qiangqu (羌渠),
Helai (賀賴), Zhongqin (鐘跂), Dalou (大樓), Yongqu (雍屈), Zhenshu (真樹) and Lijie (力羯). Among the nineteen tribes, the Chuge, also known as the Xiuchuge, were the most honored and prestigious. With the fall of the Southern Xiongnu, the Xiongnu name gradually disappeared among their descendants as they were instead lumped into various ill-defined "
Hu" groups, collectively known as "miscellaneous Hu" (;
záhú). The politics of the Five Divisions was dominated by the Chuge, becoming the new label for their people, while outside of the group, the Xiongnu intermixed with families outside their group such as the
Han Chinese,
Xianbei and
Wuhuan. Many of them adopted Chinese family names such as
Liu, which was especially prevalent among the Five Divisions.'''' Nonetheless, the Xiongnu are often classified in historiography as one of the "
Five Barbarians" of the
Sixteen Kingdoms period, as the
Han-Zhao (
Chuge/
Luandi),
Northern Liang (
Lushuihu) and
Helian Xia (
Tiefu) were all established by families with Xiongnu roots. The founder of the
Later Zhao,
Shi Le was also a descendant of the Qiangqu tribe, but by his time, he and his people were known as the
Jie, who are considered separate from the Xiongnu within the Five Barbarians category.
Han-Zhao dynasty (304–329) in 317 AD, shortly after the fall of the
Western Jin dynasty. The Five Divisions eventually grew tired of subservience and attempted to reassert their own power. The Commander of the Left Division,
Liu Bao briefly unified them during the mid-3rd century before the
Cao Wei and the
Western Jin courts intervened and forced them back into five. To further ensure their loyalty, nobles of the Five Divisions had to send their children to the Chinese capital,
Luoyang as hostages, where they became
sinicized and accustomed to
Confucian scholar culture. They were even allowed to hold government offices, but their status remained low compared to their Chinese peers. At the turn of the 4th century, the Western Jin fell into a series of princely civil war, and as the Jin military deteriorated, the princes looked towards the frontier vassal tribes to replenish their forces. Under these circumstances, the Five Divisions plotted to breakaway in 304. The conspirators acclaimed
Liu Yuan, the son of Liu Bao and a general under one of the Jin princes, as the leader of their rebellion. After deceiving his prince that he would bring the Five Divisions as reinforcements, Liu Yuan returned to
Shanxi and was welcomed by his people as the Grand
Chanyu. Later that year, he declared himself the King of Han. Modern scholars suggest that Liu Yuan was a
Chuge, but in contemporary records, he claimed direct descent from the Southern Xiongnu
chanyus through
Yufuluo. For legitimacy, he depicted his state as a continuation of the
Han dynasty, citing that his alleged ancestors were married to Han princesses through
heqin since the time of
Emperor Gaozu. He adopted the Chinese system of rule for his government and allowed the ethnic Han and non-Chinese tribes to serve under him. He later elevated his title to Emperor of Han and settled at
Pingyang as his capital.'' or that they specifically descended from the
Sogdian,
Lesser Yuezhi, or
Ket people. The earliest recorded Jie was
Shi Le. He was initially a slave to a Chinese magnate before joining Liu Yuan's rebellion, rising through the ranks and eventually establishing the
Later Zhao dynasty in 319. As Later Zhao triumphed over Former Zhao and conquered most of northern China, Shi Le incorporated the Jie and other Hu groups into his core in the
Hebei region and granted them privileged positions as
Guoren (國人; "countryman"). The Jie and Hu dominated northern China for a time, but ethnic tension was evident between them and the common Han Chinese people, especially during the oppressive reign of
Shi Hu. When the Later Zhao fell into civil war in 349, the Chinese paramount general,
Ran Min, issued an infamous massacre by offering to reward any Han Chinese for every Jie or Hu person they killed. Around 200,000 people were massacred, and the Later Zhao was destroyed two years later, after which the Jie seemingly disappeared from history.
Tiefu tribe and Helian Xia dynasty (309–431) (meaning "Unite All Nations"), was one of the capitals of the Xia that was built during the reign of Helian Bobo, located in present-day
Jingbian County,
Shaanxi. The ruined city was discovered in 1996 and the State Council designated it as a cultural relic under top state protection. The repair of the Yong'an Platform, where Helian Bobo reviewed parading troops, was completed and restoration on the tall turret follows. The chieftains of the
Tiefu tribe descended from
Qubei and were distantly related to the Han-Zhao imperial clan. Based on their name, a term for people with Xiongnu fathers and Xianbei mothers, the tribe had likely intermingled with the
Xianbei. Records also refer to them as "
Wuhuan", which by the 4th-century was a blanket term for Hu groups with
Donghu (Xianbei and Wuhuan) backgrounds. In 309, their chieftain,
Liu Hu rebelled against the Western Jin in Shanxi but was driven out to
Shuofang Commandery in the
Ordos Plateau. The Ordos was largely abandoned during the fall of Han and had become home to an assortment of nomadic tribes. After their arrival, the Tiefu grew into a prominent tribe in the region and developed a rivalry with the Xianbei
Tuoba tribe of the northern grasslands. In 392, the Tuoba, ruling as the
Northern Wei dynasty, carried out a large-scale assault against the Tiefu that decimated the tribe.
Liu Bobo, a surviving member of the Tiefu, went into exile and eventually submitted to the
Qiang-led
Later Qin, who garrisoned him at Shuofang. The Qin relied on the vassalage of the tribes in Ordos to defend their northern frontier, particularly from the Northern Wei. However, after suffering a pivotal defeat at the
Battle of Chaibi, the Qin were coerced into appeasement and conciliation by the Wei. In 407, angered by peace talks between Qin and Wei, Liu Bobo rebelled and united the Ordos tribes through force to establish the
Helian Xia dynasty. Liu Bobo strongly affirmed his Xiongnu lineage; his state name of "Xia" was based on the claim that the Xiongnu's lineage came from the
Xia dynasty. He later changed his family name from "Liu" (劉) to the Xiongnu-sounding "Helian" (赫連), believing it inappropriate to follow his matrilineal line from the Han. Helian Bobo placed the Later Qin in a perpetual state of warfare and greatly contributed to its decline. In 418, he brought the empire to its peak by seizing the
Guanzhong region from the
Eastern Jin dynasty, roughly a year after
Jin conquered the Later Qin. Following Helian Bobo's death in 425, the Xia quickly declined due to increased military pressure from the Northern Wei. In 428, the emperor,
Helian Chang and capital were both captured by Wei forces. His brother,
Helian Ding succeeded him and vanquished the
Western Qin in 431, but that same year, he was ambushed and imprisoned by the
Tuyuhun while attempting a campaign against
Northern Liang. The Xia was at its end, and the following year, Helian Ding was sent to Wei where he was executed.
Juqu clan and Northern Liang dynasty (401–460) The Juqu clan were a
Lushuihu family that founded the
Northern Liang dynasty in modern-day
Gansu in 397. There is debate on whether Lushuihu was simply a general term for Hu people living in northwestern China or referred to a specific ethnic group. A leading theory is that the Lushuihu originated from the
Lesser Yuezhi that intermingled with the
Qiang people, but based on the fact that the Juqu's ancestors once served the Xiongnu empire, the Lushuihu could still be considered a branch of the Xiongnu. The Northern Liang was known for its propagation of
Buddhism in the
Hexi Corridor through their construction of Buddhist sites such as the
Tiantishan and
Mogao caves, and for being the last of the Sixteen Kingdoms, falling to the
Northern Wei dynasty in 439. The Northern Liang of
Gaochang also existed as a
rump state between 442 and 460 before they were wiped out by the
Rouran Khaganate.
Assimilation and integration After the Northern Wei unified northern China in 439, the remaining Xiongnu scions continued to intermarry and rendered military service to the Wei, though they would also rebel from time to time. The most powerful among these peoples was
Erzhu Rong of the Qihu (契胡; possibly an extraction of the
Jie), a Wei commander who violently seized control of the imperial government in 528. A few clans among the Xianbei aristocracy also had Xiongnu ancestry, such as the
Dugu (a cousin branch of the Tiefu), Helan and
Yuwen. The Yuwen notably founded the
Western Wei (535–557) and
Northern Zhou (557–581) dynasties. The last prominent offshoot of the Xiongnu was the
Jihu (稽胡), also known as the Buluoji (步落稽) or Mountain Hu (山胡), who inhabited the mountainous areas of
Shaanbei and western
Shanxi. They were described as being descendants of the Five Divisions but had thoroughly mixed with the other ethnic groups of the region for centuries, developing a distinct language and culture while still living among the Han Chinese. The Jihu led several revolts against the ruling dynasties and were last mentioned in the 7th century during the
Tang dynasty, with their disappearance representing the Xiongnu's complete assimilation into Chinese society. == Significance ==