Guazhou County ( Chinese : 瓜州县 ; pinyin : Guāzhōu Xiàn ), formerly (until 2006) Anxi County ( 安西县 ; Ānxī Xiàn ), is a county in the northwest of Gansu province, China . It is under the administration of Jiuquan City.
154-596: Emperor Wudi (140-87 BCE) had the Great Wall extended northwestward all the way to the Gate of Jade ( Yumen Pass ), the westernmost garrison town near Dunhuang . He then set up a system of garrisons all along this part of the Great Wall and put its headquarters in a town called Anxi (“Tranquil West”) and where the northern and southern Silk Routes historically diverged." The name Guazhou (land/prefecture of melons) has
308-724: 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
462-471: A 2,000-man force led by Han Qianqiu (韩千秋) and Queen Dowager Jiu's brother Jiu Le (樛乐) to try to assist the king and the queen dowager, Lü staged a coup d'état and had the king and the queen dowager killed. Lü then made another son of Zhao Yingqi, Zhao Jiande , king and went on to annihilate the Han forces under Han and Jiu. Several months later, Emperor Wu commissioned a five-pronged attack against Nanyue. In 111 BC,
616-415: A Chanyu died, power could pass to his younger brother if his son was not of age. This system, which can be compared to Gaelic tanistry , 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 the 12th Chanyu died in 60 BC, power was taken by Woyanqudi , a grandson of the 12th Chanyu's cousin. Being something of
770-473: A Chinese woman whom Zhao Xing's father Zhao Yingqi had married while he served as an ambassador to Han – were both in favor of becoming incorporated into Han. This was opposed by the senior prime minister, Lü Jia (吕嘉), who wanted to maintain the kingdom's independence. Queen Dowager Jiu tried to goad the Chinese ambassadors into killing Lü, but the Chinese ambassadors were hesitant to do so. When Emperor Wu sent
924-607: A branch led by a "Huyan King" (呼衍王) continued to resist. The Huyan King was last mentioned in 151 when he launched an attack on Yiwu but was driven away by Han forces. According to the fifth-century Book of Wei , the remnants of Northern Chanyu's tribe settled as Yueban (悅般), near Kucha and subjugated the Wusun ; while the rest fled across the Altai mountains towards Kangju in Transoxania . It states that this group later became
1078-486: 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 . In 53 BC Huhanye (呼韓邪) 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,
1232-443: A century earlier, a Chinese General named Wiman had taken the throne of Gojoseon and had established Wiman Joseon at Wanggeom-seong , (modern Pyongyang ), which became a nominal Han vassal. When Wiman's grandson King Ugeo refused to permit Jin 's ambassadors to reach China through his territories, Emperor Wei sent an ambassador She He (涉何) to Wanggeom to negotiate a right of passage with King Ugeo, but King Ugeo refused and had
1386-407: A circle of young loyal supporters from ordinary backgrounds and promoted them to middle-level positions in order to infiltrate executive ranks in the government. These newly established officials, known as the "insider court" (内朝), took orders and reported directly to Emperor Wu. They had real influence over the operation of government affairs though lower in rank. They became a powerful counter against
1540-527: A crucial political alliance with Princess Guantao. Princess Guantao's daughter Chen Jiao , also known by the milk name A'Jiao (阿嬌), was of marriageable age (which was legally marked at the time by menarche ), making her at least eight years older than the young prince. Due to this age difference, Emperor Jing initially did not approve of this union. According to the Wei-Jin era fable Hanwu Stories (漢武故事 / 汉武故事 also called Stories of Han Wudi ), during
1694-532: A daughter from that marriage. However, her mother Zang Er (臧儿) (a granddaughter of the one-time Prince of Yan, Zang Tu , under Emperor Gao ) was told by a soothsayer that both Wang Zhi and her younger sister would one day become extremely honoured. She then got the idea to offer her daughters to the then crown prince Liu Qi, and forcibly divorced Wang Zhi from her husband at the time. After being offered to Liu Qi, Wang Zhi bore him three daughters – Princess Yangxin , Princess Nangong (南宫公主), and Princess Longlü. On
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#17327659872871848-525: A dualistic system of political organisation with the left and right branches of the Xiongnu divided on a regional basis. The chanyu or shanyu , a ruler equivalent to the Emperor of China , exercised direct authority over the central territory. Longcheng (around the Khangai Mountains , Otuken ) ( Chinese : 龍城; Mongolian : Luut; lit. "Dragon City") became the annual meeting place and served as
2002-482: A failed plan to trick a force of 30,000 Xiongnu into an ambush of 300,000 Han soldiers. While neither side suffered any casualties, the Xiongnu retaliated by increasing their border attacks, leading many in the Han court to abandon the hope for peace with the Xiongnu. The failure of the Mayi operation prompted Emperor Wu to switch the Han army's doctrine from the traditionally more defensive chariot – infantry warfare to
2156-459: A general escort She back to Han territory. When they got close to Han borders, She assassinated the general and claimed to Emperor Wu that he had defeated Joseon in battle. Emperor Wu, unaware of his deception, made him the military commander of the Commandery of Liaodong (modern central Liaoning ). King Ugeo, offended, made a raid on Liaodong and killed She. In response, Emperor Wu commissioned
2310-559: A great strain on the national treasury and caused difficulties on the locales that he visited, twice causing the governors of commanderies to commit suicide after they were unable to supply the emperor's entire train. In 112 BC, a crisis in the Kingdom of Nanyue (modern Guangdong , Guangxi, and northern Vietnam ) erupted, leading to military intervention. At that time, the King Zhao Xing and his mother Queen Dowager Jiu (樛太后) –
2464-472: A highly mobile and offensive cavalry-against-cavalry warfare. At the same time, he expanded and trained officers from his royal guards. After a series of defeats by Wei Qing (the half-brother of Emperor Wu's favourite concubine) and Wei's nephew, Huo Qubing between 127 and 119 BC, the Xiongnu were expelled from the Ordos Desert and Qilian Mountains . As a result of these territorial acquisitions,
2618-503: A hybrid Legalist – Confucian doctrine. In the field of historical social and cultural studies, Emperor Wu is known for his religious innovations and patronage of the poetic and musical arts, including development of the Imperial Music Bureau into a prestigious entity. It was also during his reign that cultural contact with western Eurasia was greatly increased, directly and indirectly. During his reign as Emperor, he led
2772-714: A length of fortified wall along the border of the Hexi Corridor, colonizing the area with 700,000 Chinese soldier-settlers. The Battle of Mobei (119 BC) saw Han forces invade the northern regions of the Gobi Desert . The two generals led the campaign to the Khangai Mountains where they forced the Chanyu to flee north of the Gobi Desert, and then out of the Gobi Desert. The Xiongnu, destabilized and worried about further Han attacks, retreated further north into
2926-517: A long contentious history; the name first appeared in records from the Warring States period , but Chinese historians have debated (since the 3rd century) whether it referred to a region in modern-day Gansu or Shaanxi . From Northern Wei to Sui dynasty , Guazhou Prefecture contained both modern-day Dunhuang and Guazhou counties; in the Tang dynasty, the western region surrounding Dunhuang
3080-658: A major defeat to the Xianbei, who killed their chanyu Youliu and took his skin as a trophy. With the Northern Xiongnu in disarray, the Han general, Dou Xian launched an expedition and crushed them at the Battle of Ikh Bayan in 89. After another Han attack in 91, the Northern Chanyu fled with his followers to the northwest, never to be seen again, while the Northern Xiongnu that remained behind surrendered to
3234-713: A marquis of the Xubu clan as the new chanyu , but after his death, an elderly nominal king was put in his place. The cohesion of the Southern Xiongnu began to erode, and while the other tribes appear to distant themselves from the ongoing Han civil war, the Xiuchuge stayed on the offensive. In the 190s, the Xiuchuge allied themselves with the Heishan bandits of the Taihang Mountains before retreating west as
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#17327659872873388-664: A mediator in seeking the Emperor's reconciliation with his powerful grandmother. Princess Guantao took every opportunity to influence the Grand Empress and also constantly made demands on behalf of her nephew / son-in-law. Emperor Wu, already unhappy with his lack of an heir and Empress Chen's spoiled behavior, was further enraged by her mother Princess Liu Piao's greed, that she took a lot from him in everything she did for him. However, Emperor Wu's mother, Empress Dowager Wang, convinced him to tolerate Empress Chen and Liu Piao for
3542-419: 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 random unrelated commoner women falsely labeled as "princesses" and members of the Han imperial family multiple times when they were practicing Heqin marriage alliances with
3696-541: A number of years, as deemed auspicious or to commemorate some event. Thus, the practice for dating years during the reign of Wudi was represented by the n year of the [Reign Year Name] (where n stands for an ordinal integer) and "Reign Year Name" for the specific name of that regnal year. This practice was continued by later emperors until the Ming and Qing eras, whereby the emperors of the two dynasties used only one reign name for their entire reign (unless interrupted, as in
3850-436: A plan that many dynasties would repeat later: creating national monopolies for salt and iron . The national treasury would further purchase other consumer goods when the prices were low and sell them when the prices were high at profit, thus replenishing the treasury while at the same time making sure the price fluctuation would not be too great. In 109 BC, Emperor Wu started yet another territorial expansion campaign . Nearly
4004-515: A role in defeating the Northern Xiongnu. However, with the decline of their northern counterpart, the Southern Xiongnu continued to suffer the brunt of raids, this time by the Xianbei people of the steppe. In addition to the poor living conditions of the frontiers, the Chinese court would also interfere in the Southern Xiongnu's politics and install chanyu s loyal to the Han. As a result, the Southern Xiongnu often rebelled, at times joining forces with
4158-526: A royal relative and the Prince of Huainan. Minyue nobles, fearful of the massive Chinese force, assassinated their king Luo Ying (骆郢) and sought peace. Emperor Wu then imposed a dual-monarchy system on Minyue by creating kings out of Luo Ying's brother Luo Yushan (雒余善) and nobleman Zou Chou (驺丑), thus ensuring internal discord in Minyue . Although initially launched as a punitive expedition by Emperor Wu against
4312-546: A second and shorter captivity by Xiongnu. After the Prince of Hunxie surrendered the Gansu region, the path to Xiyu became clear and regular embassies between Han and the Xiyu kingdoms commenced. Another expansion plan, this one aimed at the south-west, was aimed at the eventual conquest of Nanyue, which was viewed as an unreliable vassal. The plan was to first obtain submission of the south-western tribal kingdoms—the largest of which
4466-432: A subsequent royal gathering, Princess Guantao held the 5-year-old Liu Che in her arms and asked the nephew whether he wanted to marry his first cousin A'Jiao. The young prince boasted that he would "build a golden house for her" if they were married. Princess Guantao then used the boy's response as a divine sign to convince Emperor Jing to finally agree to the arranged marriage between Liu Che and Chen Jiao. This inspired
4620-521: A surprise attack on the Xiongnu at the border markets. In 127 BC, the Han general Wei Qing retook the Ordos. In 121 BC, the Xiongnu suffered another setback when Huo Qubing led a force of light cavalry westward out of Longxi and within six days fought his way through five Xiongnu kingdoms. The Xiongnu Hunye king was forced to surrender with 40,000 men. In 119 BC both Huo and Wei, each leading 50,000 cavalrymen and 100,000 footsoldiers (in order to keep up with
4774-526: A tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources , inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu , the supreme leader after 209 BC, founded the Xiongnu Empire . After overthrowing their previous overlords, the Yuezhi , the Xiongnu became the dominant power on the steppes of East Asia , centred on
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4928-490: A two-pronged attack (one by land and one by sea) against Joseon. Initially, Joseon offered to become a vassal, but peace negotiations broke down by the Chinese forces' refusal to let a Joseon force escort its crown prince to Chang'an to pay tribute to Emperor Wu. Han took over the Joseon lands in 108 BC and established four commanderies. Xiongnu The Xiongnu ( Chinese : 匈奴 , [ɕjʊ́ŋ.nǔ] ) were
5082-426: A usurper, he tried to put his own men in power, which only increased the number of his enemies. The 12th Chanyu'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 14th Chanyu. The Woyanqudi faction then set up his brother, Tuqi, as Chanyu (58 BC). In 57 BC three more men declared themselves Chanyu. Two dropped their claims in favor of
5236-415: Is a reference to the Han dynasty of which he was a part. His family name is "Liu"; the ruling family or clan of the Han dynasty shared the family name of "Liu", the family name of Liu Bang , the founding father of the Han dynasty. The character "Di" ( 帝 ) is a title: this is the Chinese word which in imperial history of China means "emperor". The character "Wu" ( 武 ) literally means "martial" or "warlike", but
5390-427: Is also related to the concept of a particular divinity in the historical Chinese religious pantheon existing at that time. Combined, "Wu" plus "di" makes the name "Wudi", the emperor's posthumous name used for historical and religious purposes, such as offering him posthumous honours at his tomb. The emperor's temple tablet name is Shizong (世宗) One of Han Wudi's innovations was the practice of changing reign names after
5544-662: Is considered one of the greatest emperors in Chinese history due to his strong leadership and effective governance, which made the Han dynasty one of the most powerful nations in the world. Michael Loewe called the reign of Emperor Wu the "high point" of "Modernist" (classically justified Legalist) policies, looking back to "adapt ideas from the pre-Han period." Especially later in his life, some of his most trusted advisers were proponents of Shang Yang , but did not necessarily support Shang Yang's harsh punishments. Despite establishing an autocratic, centralised state, Emperor Wu adopted
5698-514: Is ideally suited for wind farms, earning the nickname "world's wind warehouse". From the east the wind blows through a high, narrow valley formed by the Qilian and Beishan mountains, reaching 8.3 metres per second and energy density of 703 watts per cubic metre. The mainline Lanxin Railway and branch line Dunhuang Railway intersect at Liugou Railway Station in the county. Xiaowan and Guazhou are
5852-690: Is the modern Mandarin Chinese pronunciation, from the Mandarin dialect spoken now in Beijing, which came into existence less than 1,000 years ago. The Old Chinese pronunciation has been reconstructed as * xiuoŋ-na or * qhoŋna . Sinologist Axel Schuessler (2014) reconstructs the pronunciations of 匈奴 as * hoŋ-nâ in Late Old Chinese (c. 318 BCE) and as * hɨoŋ-nɑ in Eastern Han Chinese ; citing other Chinese transcriptions wherein
6006-407: 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
6160-531: The Chinese idiom "putting Jiao in a golden house" (金屋藏嬌). Now sealed in the marriage alliance with Consort Wang, Princess Guantao began incessantly criticising Lady Li in front of Emperor Jing. Over time, Emperor Jing started to believe his sister's words, so he decided to test out Lady Li. One day he asked Lady Li whether she would happily foster-care the rest of his children if he were to pass away, only to have her rudely refuse to comply. This made Emperor Jing angry and worried that if Liu Rong were to inherit
6314-546: The Greater Yuezhi and Kangju , which resulted in further diplomatic missions to Central Asia. Although historical records do not describe him as being aware of Buddhism , emphasizing rather his interest in shamanism , the cultural exchanges that occurred as a consequence of these embassies suggest that he received Buddhist statues from Central Asia, as depicted in the murals found in the Mogao Caves . Emperor Wu
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6468-641: The Han conquest of Gojoseon in what is now present-day North Korea and Manchuria . Han Chinese colonists in the Xuantu and Lelang commanderies of northern Korea would later fight against frequent raids by the Goguryeo and Buyeo kingdoms. However, they would engage in mostly peaceful trade relations with surrounding Korean peoples over the centuries, the latter of whom became gradually and significantly influenced by Chinese culture . The exploration into Xiyu
6622-577: The Han forces captured the Nanyue capital Panyu (番禺, modern Guangzhou ) and annexed the entire Nanyue territory into Han, establishing ten commanderies. That same year, one of the co-kings of Minyue (modern Fujian ), Luo Yushan, was fearful that Han would attack his kingdom next and made a pre-emptive attack against Han, capturing a number of towns in former Nanyue and in the other border commanderies. In 110 BC, under Han military pressure, Luo Yushan's co-king Luo Jugu (骆居古) assassinated him and surrendered
6776-462: The Hephthalites . Coincidentally, the Southern Xiongnu were plagued by natural disasters and misfortunes—in addition to the threat posed by Punu. Consequently, in 50 AD, the Southern Xiongnu submitted to tributary relations with Han China. The system of tribute was considerably tightened by the Han, to keep the Southern Xiongnu under control. The chanyu was ordered to establish his court in
6930-728: The 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. Another Han Chinese General who defected to the Xiongnu was Li Guangli , general in the War of
7084-497: The Mongolian Plateau . The Xiongnu were also active in areas now part of Siberia , Inner Mongolia , Gansu and Xinjiang . Their relations with adjacent Chinese dynasties to the south-east were complex—alternating between various periods of peace, war, and subjugation. Ultimately, the Xiongnu were defeated by the Han dynasty in a centuries-long conflict , which led to the confederation splitting in two, and forcible resettlement of large numbers of Xiongnu within Han borders. During
7238-640: The Ongi River ( Mongolian : Онги гол ) in Mongolia and suggests that it was originally a dynastic name rather than an ethnic name. 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
7392-537: The Qin ty . 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 board of Qin. They were likely to attack the Qin dynasty when they suffered natural disasters. The first known Xiongnu leader was Touman , who reigned between 220-209 BC. In 215 BC, Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang sent General Meng Tian on
7546-461: The Qin , Zhao and Yan states were encroaching and conquering various nomadic territories that were inhabited by the Xiongnu and other Hu peoples. The Zhao–Xiongnu War is a notable example of these campaigns. 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
7700-492: The Siberian regions where they suffered starvation due to livestock loss from harsh climates. The battle was however also costly for the Han forces, which lost almost 80% of their warhorses. The cost of the war led the central Han government to introduce new levies, increasing the burden on average peasants, and the population census of the empire showed a significant drop from famines and people fleeing to avoid having to pay
7854-542: The Sixteen Kingdoms era, listed as one of the " Five Barbarians ", their descendants founded the dynastic states of Han-Zhao , Northern Liang and Helian Xia in northern China. Attempts to associate the Xiongnu with the nearby Sakas and Sarmatians were once controversial. However, archaeogenetics has confirmed their interaction with the Xiongnu, and also possibly their relation to the Huns . The identity of
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#17327659872878008-593: 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
8162-622: 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 general, Ban Chao , was initially successful, but the Han soon had to temporarily withdraw due to matters back home in 75. For the next decade, the Northern Xiongnu had to endure famines largely in part due to locust plagues. In 87, they suffered
8316-578: 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. Ban Chao , Protector General (都護; Duhu ) of the Han dynasty, embarked with an army of 70,000 soldiers in a campaign against the Xiongnu remnants who were harassing the trade route now known as the Silk Road . His successful military campaign saw the subjugation of one Xiongnu tribe after another. Ban Chao also sent an envoy named Gan Ying to Daqin (Rome). Ban Chao
8470-620: The Wuhuan and receiving support from the Xianbei. Meanwhile, the Xiuchuge people, a branch of Xiongnu within China not attached to the Southern Xiongnu, was gaining momentum during the mid-2nd century. During the late 2nd century AD, the Southern Xiongnu were drawn into the rebellions then plaguing the Han court. In 188, the chanyu sent troops to help the Han suppress a rebellion in Hebei —many of
8624-613: 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
8778-445: The political child marriage officially became Empress Chen . The Han dynasty up to this point was run according to a Taoist wu wei ideology, championing economic freedom and government decentralization . With regard to foreign policy-wise, periodic heqin was used to maintain a de jure "peace" with the powerful Xiongnu confederacy to the north. These policies were important in stimulating economic recovery following
8932-578: The post-Qin dynasty civil war , but had their drawbacks. The non-interventionist policies resulted in loss of monetary regulation and political control by the central government, allowing the feudal vassal states to become powerful and unruly, culminating in the Rebellion of the Seven States during Emperor Jing's reign. Nepotism among the ruling class also stagnated social mobility and encouraged nobles' rampant disregard of laws, leading to
9086-461: The "outsider court" (外朝) made up of the Three Lords and Nine Ministers that, at the time, were mostly composed of anti-reformists. Furthermore, Emperor Wu sent out nationwide edicts appealing to grassroots scholars such as Gongsun Hong to enrol in government services in an attempt to break the stranglehold that the older-generation noble class had on the nation's levers of power. In 138 BC,
9240-575: The Chinese general Li Ling , grandson of the famous Han dynasty general Li Guang . Li Ling was captured by the Xiongnu and defected in the first century BCE. 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 put Qasar Qaghan to
9394-468: 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
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#17327659872879548-657: The Han court, but at this time the Han court was in disorder from the clash between Grand General He Jin and the eunuchs, and the intervention of the warlord Dong Zhuo . The chanyu had no choice but to settle down with his followers around Pingyang , south of the Fen River in Shanxi . In 195, he died and was succeeded as chanyu by his brother Huchuquan . North of the Fen River, the rebels prevented Yufuluo and his family from returning to their home. They initially elected
9702-411: The Han court. Emperor Wu dispatched an amphibious expedition force led by Wang Hui (王恢) and Han Anguo (韩安国) to address the Minyue threat. Again fearing the Han intervention, Luo Yushan (雒余善), the younger brother of Minyue's King Ying, orchestrated a coup with other Minyue nobles, killed his brother with a spear, decapitated the corpse and sent the severed head to Wang. Following the campaign, Minyue
9856-409: The Han dynasty successfully opened up the Northern Silk Road , allowing direct access to trade with Central Asia. This also provided a new supply of high-quality horse breeds from Central Asia, including the famed Ferghana horse (ancestors of the modern Akhal-Teke ), further strengthening the Han army. Emperor Wu then reinforced this strategic asset by establishing five commanderies and constructing
10010-414: The Han dynasty through its greatest territorial expansion. At its height, the Empire's borders spanned from the Fergana Valley in the west, to northern Korea in the east, and to northern Vietnam in the south. Emperor Wu successfully repelled the nomadic Xiongnu from systematically raiding northern China, and dispatched his envoy Zhang Qian into the Western Regions in 139 BC to seek an alliance with
10164-403: The Han envoys did not remove their tallies of authority, and if they did not allow their faces to be tattooed, they could not gain entrance into the yurts. Wang Wu and his company removed their tallies, submitted to tattoo, and thus gained entry. The Shanyu looked upon them very highly. The ruler of the Xiongnu was called the Chanyu . Under him were the Tuqi Kings . The Tuqi King of the Left
10318-407: The Han forces. The two states of Minyue and Dongyue were then completely annexed under the Han rule. In 135 BC, when Minyue attacked Nanyue , Nanyue also sought assistance from Han even though it probably had enough strength to defend itself. Emperor Wu was greatly pleased by this gesture, and he dispatched an expedition force to attack Minyue, over the objection of one of his key advisors, Liu An ,
10472-404: The Han. In 94, dissatisfied with the newly appointed chanyu, the surrendered Northern Xiongnu rebelled and acclaimed Fenghou as their chanyu, who led them to flee outside the border. However, the separatist regime continued to face famines and the growing threat of the Xianbei, prompting 10,000 of them to return to Han in 96. Fenghou later sent envoys to Han intending to submit as a vassal but
10626-486: The Han. Enraged, Emperor Wu sent a combined army led by generals Han Yue (韩说), Yang Pu, Wang Wenshu (王温舒) and two marquesses of Yue ancestry. The Han army crushed the rebellion, and the Dongyue kingdom began to fragment after King Yushan stubbornly refused to surrender. Elements of the Dongyue army defected and turned against their ruler. Eventually, the king of the other Minyue state, Zou Jugu (驺居股), conspired with other Dongyue nobles to kill King Yushan before surrendering to
10780-409: The Heavenly Horses , who also married a daughter of the Hulugu Chanyu. The Han Chinese diplomat Su Wu married a Xiongnu woman given by Li Ling when he was arrested and taken captive. Han Chinese explorer Zhang Qian married a Xiongnu woman and had a child with her when he was taken captive by the Xiongnu. The Yenisei Kyrgyz khagans of the Yenisei Kyrgyz Khaganate claimed descent from
10934-403: The Meiji district of Xihe Commandery and the Southern Xiongnu 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. The Southern Xiongnu served as auxillaries to defend the northern borders for the Han and played
11088-543: 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
11242-509: The Prince of Huainan (a previously trusted adviser of Emperor Wu, and closely enough related to have imperial pretensions) and his brother Liu Ci (刘赐), the Prince of Hengshan, were accused of plotting treason. They committed suicide; their families and many alleged co-conspirators were executed. Similar action was taken against the other vassal Princes, and by the end of the reign, all the vassal kingdoms had been political and militarily disabled. A famous wrongful execution happened in 117 BC, when
11396-475: The Qin general Meng Tian. Under Modu's leadership, the Xiongnu became so strong that they began 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). Gaozu (Gao-Di) after agreed to all Modu's terms, such as ceding the northern provinces to the Xiongnu and paying annual taxes, he
11550-674: 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 . When the Xiongnu had been driven north, to today's Mongolia. In the winter of 200 BC, following a Xiongnu siege of Taiyuan , Emperor Gaozu of Han personally led
11704-730: 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
11858-527: The Xiongnu feared that it would set a precedent for unending military service to the Han court. At the time, the Xiuchuge had rebel in Bing province and kill the Chinese provincial inspector. The rebellious faction among the Southern Xiongnu allied with the Xiuchuge and killed their chanyu as well. His son Yufuluo , entitled Chizhisizhu ( 持至尸逐侯 ), succeeded him, but was then overthrown by the rebels in 189. He travelled to Luoyang (the Han capital) to seek aid from
12012-601: The Xiongnu in one liezhuan (arrayed account) of his Records of the Grand Historian ( c. 100 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
12166-443: 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 Liu Jing [ zh ]
12320-621: The Xiongnu into a more formidable polity, able to form larger armies and exercise improved strategic coordination. Two years later, in 207 BC, the Qin dynasty fell, and after a period of internal conflict , it was replaced by the Western Han dynasty in 202 BC. 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
12474-595: 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
12628-572: 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 chanyu ' s court. Nevertheless, in 46 AD, Punu ascended
12782-451: The advice of General Yang Pu (杨仆), Emperor Wu rejected a military solution, and the Han forces arrived home without attacking Dongyue, though border garrisons were told to prepare for any military conflicts. After King Yushan was informed of this, he became overly confident and proud and responded by revolting against the Han, proclaiming himself emperor and assigned his "Han-devouring generals" (吞汉将军) to invade neighbouring regions controlled by
12936-419: The autonomous kingdom of Nanyue , the entire Nanyue territory (which includes modern Guangdong , Guangxi , and North Vietnam ) had been conquered by the Emperor's military forces and annexed into the Han Empire by 111 BC. Military tension had long existed between China and the northern " barbarians ", mainly because the fertile lands of the prosperous agricultural civilization presented attractive targets for
13090-532: The case of Emperor Yingzong of Ming ). In 104 BCE (1st year of the Tai'chu (太初) era), a new calendar was put into effect: the Tai'chu calendar (太初历). This calendar came about due to the observations of three officials (Gongsun Qing (公孙卿), Hu Sui (壶遂) and Sima Qian (author of Shiji ) that the calendar then in use was in need of reform. Among other reforms, the Taichu calendar made the zheng month (正月, also known as
13244-555: The commanderies, initially nearby Chang'an , but later extending to much farther places, worshipping the various gods on the way, perhaps again in search of immortality . He also had a succession of magicians whom he honoured with great things. In one case, he even made one a marquess and married his daughter, the Eldest Princess Wei, to him; that magician, Luan Da , was later exposed as a fraud and executed. Emperor Wu's expenditures on these tours and magical adventures put
13398-399: The crown prince to the Prince of Linjiang (臨江王) and exiling him from the capital city Chang'an in 150 BC. Lady Li was stripped of her titles and placed under house arrest ; she died of depression not long after. Liu Rong was arrested two years later for illegal seizure of imperial shrine lands and committed suicide while in custody. As Empress Bo had been deposed one year earlier in 151 BC,
13552-466: The day of Liu Qi's accession to the throne as Emperor Jing of Han (upon the death of his father Emperor Wen in 156 BC), Wang Zhi gave birth to Liu Che and was promoted to a consort for giving birth to a royal prince. While she was pregnant, she claimed that she dreamed of a sun falling into her womb. Emperor Jing was ecstatic over the divine implication, and made the young Liu Che the Prince of Jiaodong (胶东王) on 16 May 153 BC. An intelligent boy, Liu Che
13706-404: The desert, but was able to escape around 129 BC and eventually made it to Yuezhi, which by then had relocated to Samarkand . While Yuezhi refused to return, it and several other kingdoms in the area, including Dayuan ( Kokand ) and Kangju , established diplomatic relations with Han. Zhang was able to deliver his report to Emperor Wu when he arrived back in the capital Chang'an in 126 BC after
13860-508: The emperor even went so far as to construct a "House of Life" ( shou gong ) chapel at his Ganquan palace complex (in modern Xianyang , Shaanxi) specifically for this purpose, in 118 BC. One of the religious rituals that Emperor Wu organized was the Suburban Sacrifice, and the nineteen hymns entitled Hymns for Use in the Suburban Sacrifice were written in connection with these religious rites and published during Wu's reign. It
14014-536: The emperor on the Lunar New Year . In the same year, another envoy Qijushan (稽居狦) 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
14168-510: The end of her life. But now with the military firmly in his control, Emperor Wu's political survival was assured, and his grandmother or anyone else could no longer threaten to dethrone him as directly, easily and quickly as before. In the same year, Emperor Wu's newly favoured concubine Wei Zifu became pregnant with his first child, effectively clearing his name and silencing any political enemies who had schemed to use his alleged infertility as an excuse to have him removed. When this news reached
14322-609: The ethnic core of Xiongnu has been a subject of varied hypotheses, because only a few words, mainly titles and personal names, were preserved in the Chinese sources. The name Xiongnu may be cognate with that of the Huns and/or the Huna , although this is disputed. Other linguistic links—all of them also controversial—proposed by scholars include Turkic , Iranian , Mongolic , Uralic , Yeniseian , or multi-ethnic. The pronunciation of 匈奴 as Xiōngnú [ɕjʊ́ŋnǔ]
14476-415: The final step to defeat Lady Li — she persuaded a minister to officially advise Emperor Jing that he make Lady Li empress, as Liu Rong was already the crown prince. Emperor Jing, already firm in his view that Lady Li must not be made empress, was enraged and believed that Lady Li had conspired with government officials. He executed the clan of the minister who had made that proposal, and deposed Liu Rong from
14630-511: The first month) the beginning of a new year, rather than the tenth month in the Zhuanxu calendar. From then on, the Chinese calendar had retained the property of having the first month as the beginning of the year. Liu Che was the 11th son of Liu Qi , the oldest living son from Emperor Wen of Han . His mother Wang Zhi (王娡) was initially married to a commoner named Jin Wangsun (金王孫) and had
14784-474: The former state of Jin (in the area of the modern province of Shanxi ) as official religious functionaries of his new empire. Emperor Wu worshiped the divinity Tai Yi (or, Dong Huang Tai Yi), a deity to whom he was introduced by his shaman advisers, who were able to provide him with the experience of having this god (and other spiritual entities, such as the Master of Fate, Si Ming ) summoned into his presence;
14938-455: The gods of heaven and earth to seek immortality. He then decreed that he would return to Mount Tai every five years to repeat the ceremony, but only did so once in 98 BC. Many palaces were built for him and the princes to accommodate the anticipated cycles of the ceremony. It was around this time that, in reaction to the large expenditures by Emperor Wu that had exhausted the national treasury, his agricultural minister Sang Hongyang conceived of
15092-445: The government. While his mother, Empress Dowager Wang, and his uncle Tian Fen were still heavily influential, they also benefited from the death of the old woman, especially the mother of Emperor Wu, but they lacked the ability to restrain the Emperor's actions. Emperor Wu began military campaigns focused on territorial expansion. This decision nearly destroyed his empire in its early stages. Reacting to border incursions by sending out
15246-404: 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 (the Xiongnu ruler) to Han Chinese who joined the Xiongnu and Xiongnu in Han service. The daughter of
15400-541: The interests of the nobles and were swiftly defeated by his powerful grandmother Grand Empress Dowager Dou , who held real political power in the Han court and supported the conservative factions. Most of the reformists were punished: Emperor Wu's two noble supporters Dou Ying (窦婴) and Tian Fen (田蚡, Empress Dowager Wang's half-brother and Emperor's uncle) lost their positions, and his two mentors Wang Zang (王臧) and Zhao Wan (赵绾) were impeached, arrested and forced to commit suicide in prison. Emperor Wu, deprived of any allies,
15554-518: The kingdom to Han. However, Emperor Wu did not establish commanderies in Minyue's former territory; instead, he moved its people to the region between the Yangtze and Huai Rivers. Later that year, Emperor Wu, at great expense, carried out the ancient ceremony of the Feng and Shan sacrifices fengshan (封禅) at Mount Tai ; this involved the worship of heaven and earth and presumably a secret petition to
15708-544: 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
15862-539: The local garrison. However the tiger tally , which was needed to authorize any use of armed forces, was in Grand Empress Dowager Dou's possession at the time. Yan Zhu, as the appointed imperial ambassador, circumvented this problem by executing a local army commander who refused to obey any order without seeing the tiger tally and coerced the governor of Kuaiji to mobilize a large naval fleet to Dong'ou's rescue . Seeing that superior Han forces were on
16016-427: 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
16170-507: The minister of agriculture Yan Yi (颜异), was falsely accused of committing a crime, though he was actually targeted because he had previously offended the emperor by opposing a plan to effectively extort double tributes out of princes and marquesses. Yan was executed for "internal defamation" of the emperor, and this caused the officials to be fearful and willing to flatter the emperor. Starting about 113 BC, Emperor Wu began to display further signs of abusing his power. He began to incessantly tour
16324-440: The mobility of the Xiongnu, many of the non-cavalry Han soldiers were mobile infantrymen who traveled on horseback but fought on foot), and advancing along different routes, forced the chanyu and his Xiongnu court to flee north of the Gobi Desert . 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
16478-464: The names of their largest cities, Dunhuang and Anxi. Since the modern era, Dunhuang County continues to be the name for the western county; however, Anxi County decided to revert to the Guazhou name in 2006 due to its greater recognizability in historical texts, with tourism in mind. Guazhou County is divided to 9 towns, 1 ethnic town, 2 townships, 3 ethnic townships and 1 other. The county's location
16632-438: The nation to "rest and recover" (休养生息). Despite the periodic humiliation of appeasement and providing gifts, the Han borders were still frequented by Xiongnu raids for the next seven decades. Following the death of his powerful grandmother, Emperor Wu decided that Han China had sufficiently recovered enough to support a full-scale war. He first ended the official policy of peace with the Battle of Mayi in 133 BC, which involved
16786-556: The necessity of important policy reforms, but neither Emperor Wen nor Emperor Jing was willing to risk implementing such changes. Unlike the emperors before him, the young and vigorous Emperor Wu was unwilling to put up with the status quo . Only a year into his reign in late 141 BC, Emperor Wu took the advice of Confucian scholars and launched an ambitious reform, known in history as the Jianyuan Reforms (建元新政). The reforms included: However, Emperor Wu's reforms threatened
16940-647: The northern tribes was left to their vassal, the Qin state . To the west, the Pazyryk culture (6th-3rd century BC) immediately preceded the formation of the Xiongnus. A Scythian culture, it was identified by excavated artifacts and mummified humans, such as the Siberian Ice Princess , found in the Siberian permafrost , in the Altay Mountains , Kazakhstan and nearby Mongolia . To
17094-476: The opportunity for Consort Wang and the young Liu Che to gain the emperor's favour. When Emperor Jing's older sister, Eldest Princess Guantao (馆陶长公主) Liu Piao (刘嫖), offered to marry her daughter with Chen Wu [ zh ; ko ] ( 陳午 ), the Marquess of Tangyi, to Liu Rong, Lady Li rudely rejected the proposal out of her dislike of Princess Guantao, who often procured new concubines for Emperor Jing and
17248-605: 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 the Laoshang Chanyu , continued his father's expansionist policies. Laoshang succeeded in negotiating with Emperor Wen terms for
17402-596: The poorer but more militaristic horseback nomads . The threat posed to the Xiongnu by the northward expansion of the Qin Empire ultimately led to the consolidation of the many tribes into a confederacy. Following the end of the Chu-Han Contention , Emperor Gao of Han realized that the nation was not yet strong enough to confront the Xiongnu. He therefore resorted to the so-called "marriage alliance", or heqin , in order to ease hostility and buy time for
17556-517: The position of empress was left open and Emperor Jing made Consort Wang empress four months later. The seven-year-old Liu Che, now legally the oldest son of the Empress, was made crown prince in 149 BC. In 141 BC, Emperor Jing died and Crown Prince Liu Che ascended to the throne as Emperor Wu at the age of 15. His grandmother Empress Dowager Dou became the grand empress dowager , and his mother became Empress Dowager Wang . His cousin-wife A'Jiao from
17710-498: The primary ancestors of the Xiongnu, and that the Xiongnu formed through substantial and complex admixture 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 . These tribes are recorded as harassing Zhou territory, but at
17864-466: The principles of Confucianism as the state philosophy and code of ethics for his empire and started a school to teach future administrators the Confucian classics . These reforms had an enduring effect throughout the existence of imperial China and an enormous influence on neighbouring civilizations. The personal name of Emperor Wu was Liu Che (劉徹). The use of "Han" ( 漢 ) in referring to emperor Wu
18018-445: The reign of Emperor Wen , the break did not come until 133 BC, following an abortive trap to ambush the chanyu at Mayi . By that point the empire was consolidated politically, militarily and economically, and was led by an adventurous pro-war faction at court. In that year, Emperor Wu reversed the decision he had made the year before to renew the peace treaty. Full-scale war broke out in autumn 129 BC, when 40,000 Han cavalry made
18172-555: The reign of Huduershi (18 AD–48), 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. 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
18326-442: The rise of local despots who bullied and oppressed the population. The heqin policy also failed to protect the Han borders against nomadic raids, with Xiongnu cavalries invading as close as 300 li (100 miles, 160 km) from the capital during Emperor Wen's reign, and over 10,000 border residents abducted or enslaved during Emperor Jing's reign. Prominent politicians like Jia Yi and Chao Cuo had both previously advised on
18480-589: 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 BCE, just before the Zhao-Xiongnu War ; however, sinologist Edwin Pulleyblank (1994) contends that pre-241-BCE references to the Xiongnu are anachronistic substitutions for the Hu people instead. Sometimes
18634-563: 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, and is of unknown ethno-linguistic origin, and 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. Western Han historian Sima Qian composed an early yet detailed exposition on
18788-568: The southern autonomous state of Minyue (in modern-day Fujian ) invaded the weaker neighbouring state of Dong'ou (in modern-day Zhejiang ). After their king Zuo Zhenfu (驺贞复) died on the battlefield, the battered Dong'ou desperately sought help from the Han court. After a heated court debate over whether to offer military intervention for such a distant vassal state, Emperor Wu dispatched a newly promoted official Yan Zhu (严助) to Kuaiji (then still located in Suzhou , rather than Shaoxing ) to mobilize
18942-448: The state of Huainan, Liu An , who was hoping the young Emperor Wu's infertility would allow him to ascend to the throne, went into a state of denial and rewarded anyone who told him that Emperor Wu was still childless. In 135 BC, Grand Empress Dowager Dou died, removing the last major obstacle against Emperor Wu's ambition for reform. After the death of Grand Empress Dowager Dou in 135 BC, Emperor Wu had full and unrivaled control of
19096-529: The sword. The news brought to Chang'an by Kyrgyz ambassador Zhuwu Hesu (註吾合素). The Han dynasty made preparations for war when the Han Emperor Wu dispatched the Han Chinese explorer 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
19250-550: The taxes. Emperor Wu carried out an invasion of the northern Korean Peninsula and established the Commandery of Canghai , but abandoned it in 126 BC. Some of the military colonies established at that time survived into the 4th century, leaving behind various particularly well-preserved funerary artefacts. After the conquest of Nanyue in 111 BC, Emperor Wu launched a second invasion of the Korean peninsula and by 108 BC completed
19404-483: 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,
19558-405: The throne and Lady Li to become empress dowager , many of his concubines might suffer the tragic fate of Consort Qi in the hands of Empress Lü . Princess Guantao then began to openly praise her son-in-law-to-be to her royal brother, further convincing Emperor Jing that Liu Che was a far better choice for heir apparent than Liu Rong. Taking advantage of the situation, Consort Wang put in place
19712-645: 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 . The rump kingdom under Punu, around the Orkhon (modern north central Mongolia) became known as the Northern Xiongnu , with Punu, becoming known as
19866-463: The time being, as his aging grandmother was declining physically and would soon die. He spent the next few years pretending to have given up any political ambition, playing the part of a docile hedonist , often sneaking out of the capital Chang'an to engage in hunting and sightseeing and posing as an ordinary nobleman. Knowing that the conservative noble classes occupied every level of the Han court, Emperor Wu changed his strategy. He secretly recruited
20020-582: The time of Modu's death in 174 BC, the Xiongnu were recognized as the most prominent of the nomads bordering the Chinese Han empire According to the Book of Han , later quoted in Duan Chengshi 's ninth-century Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang : Also, according to the Han shu , Wang Wu (王烏) and others were sent as envoys to pay a visit to the Xiongnu. According to the customs of the Xiongnu, if
20174-624: The time the Zhou were expanding northwards, encroaching on their traditional lands, especially into the Wei River valley . Archaeologically, the Zhou expanded to the north and the northwest at the expense of the Siwa culture . 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 . Thereafter the task of dealing with
20328-419: The troops, Emperor Wu sent his armies in all directions but the sea. Following the successful manoeuvre against Minyue in 138 BC, Emperor Wu resettled the people of Dang'an into the region between the Yangtze and Huai Rivers. In 135 BC, Minyue saw an opportunity to take advantage of the new and inexperienced king of Nanyue , Zhao Mo . Minyue invaded its south-western neighbour and Zhao Mo sought help from
20482-475: The trust of the Xiongnu leader. While Zhang Qian did not succeed in this mission, his reports of the west provided even greater incentive to counter the Xiongnu hold on westward routes out of the Han Empire, and the Han prepared to mount a large scale attack using the Northern Silk Road to move men and material. While the Han dynasty was making preparations for a military confrontation since
20636-525: The two other stations on the Dunhuang Railway located in the county. There are two national highways running through the country, China National Highway 215 (Hongliuyuan) and China National Highway 312 (Hongliuyuan). 39°50′0″N 97°34′0″E / 39.83333°N 97.56667°E / 39.83333; 97.56667 Emperor Wu of Han Emperor Wu of Han (156 – 29 March 87 BC), born Liu Che and courtesy name Tong ,
20790-459: The velar nasal medial -ŋ- , after a short vowel, seemingly played the role of a general nasal – sometimes equivalent to n or m –, Schuessler proposes that 匈奴 Xiongnu < * hɨoŋ-nɑ < * hoŋ-nâ might be a Chinese rendition, Han or even pre-Han, of foreign * Hŏna or * Hŭna , which Schuessler compares to Huns and Sanskrit Hūṇā . However, the same medial -ŋ- prompts Christopher P. Atwood (2015) to reconstruct * Xoŋai , which he derives from
20944-452: The way, Minyue forces became fearful and retreated. This was a huge political victory for Emperor Wu and set the precedent of using the Emperor's decrees to bypass the tiger tally, removing the need for cooperation from his grandmother; Of course, this did not mean that Grand Empress Dowager Dou's influence and intervention would disappear, she was a serious and insurmountable obstacle and competing authority in administration for Emperor Wu until
21098-409: The western region, part of his report indicated that embassies could more easily reach Shendu (India) and Anxi ( Parthia ) by going through the south-western kingdoms. Encouraged by the report, Emperor Wu sent ambassadors in 122 BC to try to persuade Yelang and Dian (modern eastern Yunnan ) into submission again. Han Gaozu , founder of the Han dynasty, had installed shaman cultists from the area of
21252-475: Was Yelang (modern Zunyi , Guizhou)—so that a route for a potential back-stabbing attack on Nanyue could be made. The Han ambassador Tang Meng (唐蒙) was able to secure the submission of these tribal kingdoms by giving their kings gifts; Emperor Wu established the Commandery of Jianwei (犍为, headquarters in modern Yibin , Sichuan) to govern over the tribes, but eventually abandoned it after being unable to cope with local revolts. Later, after Zhang Qian returned from
21406-585: Was a serious matter. These enemies of Emperor Wu wished to replace him with his uncle Liu An , the King of Huainan , who was renowned for his expertise in Taoist ideology. Even Emperor Wu's own maternal uncle Tian Fen switched camps and sought Liu An's favor, as he predicted the young emperor would not be in power for long. Emperor Wu's political survival now relied heavily on the lobbying of his influential aunt / mother-in-law, Princess Guantao (Liu Piao), who served as
21560-408: 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
21714-614: Was also during this time that Emperor Wu began to show a fascination with immortality . He began to associate with magicians who claimed to be able to, if they could find the proper ingredients, create divine pills that would confer immortality. However, he himself punished others' use of magic severely. In 130 BC, for example, when the witch Chu Fu tried to approach Empress Chen to teach her sorcery and love spells to curse Consort Wei and regain Emperor Wu's affections, he dispatched Zhang Tang to execute Chu Fu for witchcraft, which
21868-537: Was considered to be Emperor Jing's favourite son from a very young age. Emperor Jing's formal wife, Empress Bo , was childless. As a result, Emperor Jing's oldest son Liu Rong , born to Lady Lì (栗姬, Emperor Jing's favorite concubine and mother of three of his first four sons), was made crown prince in 153 BC. Lady Li, feeling certain that her son would become the future emperor, grew arrogant and intolerant, and frequently threw tantrums at Emperor Jing out of jealousy over him bedding other women. Her lack of tact provided
22022-459: Was created the Marquess of Dingyuan (定遠侯, i.e., "the Marquess who stabilized faraway places") for his services to the Han Empire and returned to the capital Luoyang at the age of 70 years and died there in the year 102. Following his death, the power of the Xiongnu in the Western Regions increased again, and the emperors of subsequent dynasties did not reach as far west until the Tang dynasty . When
22176-431: Was diffusing the favor received by Lady Li. Insulted by the rejection, Princess Guantao then approached the next favorite of Emperor Jing's concubines – none other than Consort Wang, who had been observing these developments quietly from the sidelines. Guantao offered to marry her daughter to the consort's young son, Liu Che, then aged only 5. Seizing the opportunity, Consort Wang accepted the offer with open arms, securing
22330-406: Was dispatched for negotiations. The peace settlement eventually reached between the parties included a Han princess given in marriage to the chanyu (called heqin ) ( Chinese : 和親 ; lit. 'harmonious kinship'); periodic gifts to the Xiongnu of silk , distilled beverages and rice ; equal status between the states; and a boundary wall as mutual border. This first treaty set
22484-417: Was first started in 139 BC, when Emperor Wu commissioned Zhang Qian to seek out the Kingdom of Yuezhi , which had been expelled by Xiongnu from the modern Gansu region. Zhang was to entice the kingdom to return to its ancestral lands with promises of Han military assistance, with the intention that Yuezhi forces would fight against the Xiongnu. Zhang was immediately captured by Xiongnu once he ventured into
22638-613: Was illegal at the time. Around the same time, perhaps as a sign of what would come to be, Emperor Wu began to trust governing officials who were harsh in their punishment, believing that such harshness would be the most effective method to maintain social order and so placing these officials in power. For example, one such official, Yi Zong (义纵), became the governor of the Commandery of Dingxiang (part of modern Hohhot , Inner Mongolia) and executed 200 prisoners, even though they had not committed capital crimes; he then executed their friends who happened to have been visiting. In 122 BC, Liu An ,
22792-401: Was normally the heir presumptive. Next lower in the hierarchy came more officials in pairs of left and right: the guli , the army commanders, the great governors, the danghu and the gudu . Beneath them came the commanders of detachments of one thousand, of one hundred, and of ten men. This nation of nomads, a people on the march, was organized like an army. After Modu, later leaders formed
22946-409: Was now the subject of conspiracies designed to have him removed from the throne. For example, his first wife Empress Chen Jiao was unable to become pregnant. In an attempt to remain his first love, she had prohibited him from having other concubines. Emperor Wu's political enemies used his childlessness as an argument to seek to depose him, as the inability of an emperor to propagate a royal bloodline
23100-530: Was rejected. The Northern Xiongnu were scattered, with most of them being absorbed the Xianbei. In 118, a defeated Fenghou brought around a mere 100 followers to surrender to Han. Remnants of the Northern Xiongnu held out in the Tarim Basin as they allied themselves with the Nearer Jushi Kingdom and captured Yiwu in 119. By 126, they were subjugated by the Han general, Ban Yong , while
23254-452: Was renamed "Western Shazhou" while the region around Anxi was named Guazhou, with both falling under the administrative unit of "Shazhou". Later, Shazhou became the exclusive name of the region around Dunhuang. The naming of these two regions (Shazhou and Guazhou) largely persisted till the Qing dynasty. In the 18th century, the Qing dynasty replaced the regional names "Shazhou" and "Guazhou" with
23408-569: Was split into a dual monarchy: Minyue was controlled by a Han proxy ruler, Zou Chou (驺丑), and Dongyue (东越) was ruled by Luo Yushan. As Han troops returned from the Han–Nanyue War in 111 BC, the Han government debated military action against Dongyue. Dongyue, under King Lou Yushan, had agreed to assist the Han campaign against Nanyue, but the Dongyue army never reached there, blaming the weather while secretly relaying intelligence to Nanyue. Against
23562-410: 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
23716-518: Was the seventh emperor of the Han dynasty from 141 to 87 BC. His reign lasted 54 years – a record not broken until the reign of the Kangxi Emperor more than 1,800 years later – and remains the record for ethnic Han emperors. His reign resulted in a vast expansion of geopolitical influence for the Chinese civilization , and the development of a strong centralized state via governmental policies, economical reorganization and promotion of
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