Modu's Hun Empire and Early Han Dynasty

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Modu's Hun Empire and Early Han Dynasty
 
In AD 308, Hunnic king Liu Yüan proclaimed himself emperor of Hunnic Han Dynasty on basis of one sound logic: Hunnic kings had historically ackowledged that they were the nephews of Han Chinese emperors. By designating his dynasty as 'Han', he intended to play the card of asserting the so-called 'Mandate of Heaven'.
 
The Huns, as a group of people having origin from China's Xia Dynasty and dwelling in Ordos and Hetao originally, came to the Chinese Turkistan as an outsider. Han Emperor Liu Bang led 300,000 army to attack the Huns in 200 BC. After a defeat, Han China signed a peace treaty with the Huns by means of inter-marriage with Han princesses. Peace ensued with intermittent Hunnic raids around the northern border.
 
Huns Attacking Yuezhi Of Chinese Turkistan
Huns then raided to the west. According to Chinese history, the Hunnic Chanyu wrote to Han emperor saying that he ordered one of his kings, Youxianwang (rightside virtuous king), to strike at the Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) as a punishment for breaking peace near the Chinese border. In 175-174 BC, Hunnic Chanyu's letter mentioned that they defeated Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) people by conquering Loulan, Wusun and Hujie etc, altogether 26 statelets in Chinese Turkistan. Hunnic Chanyu Laoshang (son of Modok Chanyu) used the skull of Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) king as his utensil for drinking. (The skull utensil would become Hunnic legacy which would be retrieved for employment on major celebrations. People would have to admire the Hunnic spirit to preserve this piece of work after hundreds of years of wars, turmoils and relocations.)
 
In 173 BC, Han Emperor Wendi replied to Modok Chanyu emphasizing the wish for peace. Soon after that, Modok died, and his son, Jiyu, got enthroned as Laoshang Chanyu. Wendi ordered that an eunuch by the name of Zhongxing Shuo accompany a Han princess to the Huns. Zhongxing Shuo tricked Laoshang Chanyu in saying that Han Dynasty intended the Huns to wear silk clothes instead of cavalry clothes. Zhongxing Shuo would instigate the Huns in attacking the Han, and he also taught the Huns how to count cattle and horses.
 
In Chinese Turkistan, the Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) and their affiliates, Kangju and Wusun, had previously all dwelled in the so-called Qilian Mountains area of Gansu Province. Gua Di Zhi stated that Yuezhi country included ancient Liangzhou, Ganzhou, Suzhou, Yanzhou and Shazhou, i.e., today's Gansu and Shenxi Provinces. When they moved to Central Asia, under the attacks of the Huns, they used the city name of 'Zhaowu' of Gansu as their family name, for sake of not forgetting their roots. Some history account mentioned that altogether 500 thousand (?) Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) took part in this migration, and this group of people would later set up the Kushan Empire in Bactria and Afghanistan during the period of 141-128 BC. (Bactria, translated as 'da xia' in Chinese, was also mistaken by Wang Guowei as a validation of his extrapolation of Xia's You-yu-shi clan as equivalent to Yuezhi. Wang Guowei speculated that Yuezhi people, after their defeat in the hands of Huns, fled to Bactria to found a similar 'xia' kingdom and that even the later 'Tu-huo-luo' kingdom of Afghanistan could be a mutation of the ancient pronunciation for 'da xia'. I expounded on Wang Guowei's blunder earlier in this section. Note that Bactria existed at the time of Alexandre Invasion which was before the Yuezhi migrated to the west.) In c. AD 50, Kujula Kadphises united the five Yueh-chih tribes and established the Kushan Empire. Later, King Kanishka extended the Kushan Empire to the Tarim Basin, covering territories from Persia to Transoxiana to Tarim Basin to the Ganges in Upper Indus, with Buddhism as the state religion.
 
After being defeated by the Huns in 174-161 BC, the Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) first migrated to today's Ili area. In the west, Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) pushed out the Scythians. Under the attack of their Wusun affiliates, Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) migrated southwest in 141-128 BC to the Oxus Valley, pushing out the Scythians again. The son of Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) was ordered to stay behind in Gansu Province and they were referred to as the Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) Minor [Lesser Yüeh-chih] and survived in Western China for hundreds of years. The new country in Central Asia would be called Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) Major [Greater Yüeh-chih]. This touched off a wave of 'chain reaction'. The Scythians went to take over Greco-Bactria kingdom. The Wushun people, previously enslaved by the Yüeh-chih, went on a revenge against the Yüeh-chih. Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) people were driven away from the Scythian land by the Wusun Statelet. Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) moved on to occupy Bactria. The Scythians, under the pressure of the Kushan Yüeh-chih, entered India after 135 BC and finished the last remaining Greeks there. Kushan Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) followed the path of the Scythians certainly and they would dominate Central Asia for hundreds of years.
 
Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) people were not weak at the beginning. The Huns, in fact, needed to send in hostage to the Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) on the contrary. The father of Hunnic Chanyu Modu had at first planned to borrow the Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) knife in killing Modu so that he could have his junior son succeed him. Modu was dispatched to Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) as a hostage, but the Huns attacked the Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) thereafter. Modu had barely escaped the Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) alive. Later, in 202 BC, Modu killed his father and brother and named himself 'Chanyu', i.e., the king or emperor of the Huns. When the king of Eastern Hu nomads heard about Modu's patricide, he challenged Modu by sending emissary to Modu and demanding the 'qianli-ma' ('winged steed') and again Modu's wife. Modu gave up the horse and his wife on the first two occasions and then attacked the Dong Hu nomads when asked to secede the land between the Huns and the Dong Hu. Modu defeated the Dong Hu nomads and killed their king. After that, the Huns attacked the west and forced the Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) to the Oxus Valley where their descendants refused to forge an alliance with Zhang Qian the Han Chinese emissary in fighting the Huns.
 
The Huns then defeated two other tribal states called 'Loufan' and 'Baiyang' (white sheep) which were located between the Huns and the Chinese. (Baiyang King was recorded to have dwelled south of the Yellow River.)
 
Hunnic Government Structure & Dragon Reverance
The Huns had preyed upon Chinese Turkistan to exact tributes and taxes. The Huns, according to Ban Gu, devised an official entitled 'Tongpu Duwei' in 92 BC(?), similar to governor, and sent this person to the post in charge of ancient tribal states of Yanqi [Karashahr], Weixu and Weili, located to the southwest of today's Urumqi. ('tongpu', i.e., two Chinese characters borrowed by the Huns, literally means "servants", which was to manifest the Hunnic master-slave relationship with Chinese Turkistan.) Hunnic 'Ri-zhu-wang' (king of sun chasing) was usually stationed in the 'west court', while Hunnic 'central court' was always in Outer Mongolia. Huns possesseed an 'east court' which was in charge of eastern Mongolia and Manchuria.
 
Modok established his government in rightside (you) and leftside (zuo) structure, and altogether would be 24 chieftans, including:
rightside vituous king and leftside vituous king;
rightside luli king and leftside luli king;
rightside grand general and leftside grand general;
rightside grand duwei and leftside grand duwei;
rightside grand danghu and leftside grand danghu;
rightside gudu-hou and leftside gudu-hou (hou meaning marquis).
Princes were usually given the title of 'Tuqi' or 'Zhuqi', meaning virtuous. Virtuous kings took charge of danghu, with 10,000 cavalry.
 
Huns were recorded to have reverance for the 'Dragon'. Their capital was called by a Chinese name of 'ting'. In this sense, the Huns are the true descendants of the Dragon. Ancient Chinese, however, disliked the Dragon, and it could be shown in the proverb, 'Shegong Hao Long', i.e., the Old Man Shegong's Pretentious Fondness for Dragons. Ban Gu recorded that once a year, the Huns would converge in Chanyu's court in the first month of the year, and in the month of May, would converge in a spot in central Mongolia for dragon reverance. The place is called 'Long Cheng' (Dragon city) or 'Huang Long' (i.e., yellow dragon). The Huns revered ancestors, Heaven/Earth and ghosts & spirits. There was a reference to a Hunnic pilgrimage called 'San Long Si', i.e., Three Dragon Pilgrimage. The later Jurchens would call their capital in Manchuria by a same name, i.e., Huanglong-fu. Reading through the rituals of Euro-Asian nomadic peoples, the conclusion is that dragon reverance was a popular shamanism. In the month of August, the Huns had the autumn worshipping festival, with a requirement that they must revere at a forest. Li Ling and Su Wu, in their correspondence, mentioned this custom, and later Donghu would erect trees for reverance should they fail to find a forest. Huns also looked to the stars and moon as signs for actions: They would launch an attack when there was a full moon. Also recorded would be their live burial customs, and ministers and concubines, in maybe hundreds, would be included.
 
Among Hunnic tribal affiliations, the Tuge (Zhuge) tribal affiliation was the most elite, and the Hunnic 'chanyu' would be selected out of this group. The Huns enjoyed 4 big family names: Huyan, Po, Lan, and Qiao. Huyan could assume the title of leftside or rightside 'sun chasing kings', Po the title of leftside or rightside 'juqu', Lan leftside or rightside 'danghu', and Qiao leftside or rightside 'duhou'. Huyan and po (xupo) families used to have inter-marriages with chanyu family. (Later Xianbei boasted of Huyan and Lan surnames, too.) Xupo was in charge of justice. The posts of 'gudu-hou' would be acting like prime ministers. Hunnic 24 chieftans would have the levels of qian-zhang (1,000 head), bai-zhang (100 head), shi-zhang (10 head), and other titulars like xiang, duwei, danghu, juqu.
 
Huns Attacking Han Chinese
When the Huns raided northern China and encircled the city of Mayi (today's northern Shanxi Prov) in 201 BC, first Han Emperor Liu Bang sent Xin, King of Han(2) Principality, to resist the Huns. But Xin, after being encircled by 100-200 thousand Huns, decided to negotiate with the Huns for peace. Emperor Liu Bang accused Xin of being a coward, and Xin, for fear of punishment, surrendered to Modu. Emperor Liu Bang led 300,000 army to attack the Huns in 200 BC. The Huns, with an army of 400 thousand, then encircled the vanguard army led by first Han Emperor Liu Bang (i.e., Han Gaozu) on Mount Baideng for 7 days. Mount Baideng is to the south of today's Datong County, Shanxi Prov. It was said that Modu had placed 4 groups of horses with respective colors in four directions, arranging his battle engagement in a strategical way. The siege was ended only after Liu Bang's counsellor, Chen Ping, bribed Modu's wife by bragging about the number of beauties in Chinese court and hinting that they could replace her should Modu succeed in capturing the Chinese capital. When attacked by the Huns again, Liu Bang's counsellor, Liu Jing, proposed that the elder princess be married over to Modu. Liu selected a court maid of honor and sent her to Modu as his own daughter. Liu Jing (Lou Jing) further proposed that the prestigious families of former Zhou principalities, Chu-Zhao-Jing(3) families of Chu in sourthern China and Tian-Huai families of Qi in Shandong Province, be relocated to Chang'an for sake of defence against the Huns as well as easy supervision of those Zhou Dynasty people. Altogether over 100 thousand people, including many ex-Zhou noble families dispatched by other kings in their respective principalities, were relocated to Chang'an.
 
After King of Han (2) Principality defected to the Huns, Chen Xi, the prime minister of Dai Principality and a friend of Han2 Xin the Marquis of Huaiying), rebelled against Han (4) Emperor. Chen Xi himself defected to the Huns after losing battles to Han Emperor, while Han2 Xin (who had earlier encouraged Chen Xi to plot the rebellion out of anger at Han Emperor for demoting him to marquis from king) was executed together with his wife and mother's lineages, so-called 3 lineage extinction, by Han Empress Luu-hou. King Peng Yue of Liang Principality did not answer the call to quell the Chen Xi rebellion. He was arrested by Emperor Liu Bang and put to death by Empress Luu-hou. King Ying Bu of Huainan Principality was accused by his minister of plotting to rebel against Han Emperor, and during the battle, he wounded Han Emperor Liu Bang with an arrow. Ying Bu was killed by his relative, King Wu Chen of Changsa Principality. During the conflict of Chen Xi rebellion, Chen had requested for aid from Hunnic Chanyu Modu; Modu, however, did not assist Chen Qi at the beginning because of his inter-marriage with Han Dynasty. King Lu Wan of Yan Principality sent his general (Zhang Sheng) to Modu in the attempt of stopping Modu from aiding Chen Xi. But, Zhang Sheng, incited by the son of ex-Yan king Zang Tu who had been seeking asylum with the Huns, had decided to go againt Lu Wan's will. King Lu Wan acquiesced when he thought to himself that the non-Liu kings had now been reduced to only two, himself and King of Changsa Principality while Han Emperor Liu Bang had conferred 8 king titles to his own kinsmen (6 being Liu Bang's own sons and 2 the sons of his two brothers). The 8 kings would be for Qi, Chu, Dai, Wu, Zhao, Liang, Huaiyang and Huainan. Han Emperor sent his general Fan Kuai to campaign against King Lu Wan when he heard of the Yan Principality's collusion with the Huns. Han Emperor passed away shortly. King Lu Wan, hearing about the emperor's death, drove his people northward and surrendered to Hunnic Chanyu Modu. King Lu Wan was conferred the title of 'Eastern Hun Ru King'. (Lu Wan's wife would later come to see Empress Luhou for a talk of return to China, and Lu Wan's grandson defected back to China years later.)
 
After the death of Han Emperor Liu Bang, Hunnic Chanyu Modu sent over a letter humiliating Han Empress Luu-hou (Lühou) via a proposition of a marriage between him and Empress Luu-hou and hence a combination of the Hunnic Empire and the Han Empire. Empress Luu-hou declined it and sent over some other Liu family girl to continue the inter-marriage with the Huns.
 
Emperor Wendi Continuing Intermarriage Policy With Huns
When Emperor Xiaowendi (Wendi) got enthroned in 179 BC, he continued the inter-marriage policy. But the Huns still harassed the border, and Hunnic Rightside Virtuous King invaded south of Yellow River in 176 BC. Wendi dispatched prime minister Guan Ying and an army of 85,000 and Huns fled across the river. In 175-174 BC, Hunnic Chanyu sent an messenger claiming that he had penalized Rightside Virtuous King by sending him on a campaign against Yuezhi in the west.
 
In early time period of Former Han Dynasty (202 B.C. - A.D. 220), Han emperors used to marry princess to Hunnic kings in exchange for peace, which proved to be futile. (Many times, the Han emperors used court maids of honor in lieu of princess. In contrast, later Tang Dynasty sent orthodox princess to Tibet.) In 173 BC, Han Emperor Wendi replied to Modok Chanyu emphasizing the wish for peace. Soon after that, Modok died, and his son, Jiyu got enthroned as Laoshang Chanyu. Wendi ordered that an eunuch by the name of Zhongxing Shuo accompany a Han princess to the Huns. Zhongxing Shuo would instigate the Huns in attacking the Han, and he also taught the Huns how to count cattle and horses. Zhongxing Shuo also made the size of bamboo for Chanyu letters to be double the size of Han Emperor, and paraphrased the chanyu as 'Born by Heaven & Earth and Confirmed by Sun & Moon'. By 165 BC, i.e., the 14th year of Emperor Xiaowendi, Huns, with 140,000 cavalry, raided into China again, attacked Xiaoguan Pass, killed the Han official 'du-wei' (governing captain) of Beidi Commandary and burnt down an ex-Qin rotating palace (Palace Linguang), and attacked ex-Qin rotating Palace of Ganquan in the Yongzhou Commandary area. Emperor Xiaowendi dispatched 100000 cavalry, led by Zhou She & Zhang Wu, against the Huns by stationing the army next to Chang'an city. Lu Qing, Wei Xiao, Zhou Zao, Zhang Xiangru and Dong Chi were ordered to attack the Huns. The Huns stayed put for several months before retreating out of "sai" [border garrison] in face of Han armies which accumulated in the number of hundreds of thousands. Thereafter, Huns harassed the border almost yearly, inflicting damages in the border areas of Yunzhong & Liaodong. In 161 BC, Wendi replied to Laoshang Chanyu, acknowledging the gifts sent by Hunnic Juqu & Danghu emissaries and emphasizing the need to maintain the peace between the two countries. Laoshang Chanyu replied that he had decreed that whoever invade Han border would be penalized by death. In 159 BC, Laoshang Chanyu died, and his son, Junchen, got enthroned. Wendi continued the inter-marriage policy. Two years later, Huns invaded Shangjun and Yunzhong with 30,000 cavalry, respectively, and killed Chinese at the borderline. Emperor Wendi frequently dispatched 3 columns of armies against the Hunnic invasions by stationing them at Beidi, Juzhu [Daixian county] and Feihukou as well as reinforced capital defence at Xiliu, Jimen and Bashang. Months later, Huns retreated from Juzhu after Han army came to the border.
 
Emperor Jingdi
When Emperor Jingdi got enthroned in 156 BC, he continued the inter-marriage policy. At one time, King of Zhao, together with Chu King and Yue King, for sake of rebelling against the emperor, had requested with the Huns for support. Once Zhao rebellion was quelled, Huns agreed to inter-marriage. Huns had small scale border harassment throughout Emperor Jingdi's reign.
 
Han Emperor Wudi's Abortive Attempt At Ambushing Huns
It would be during the reign of Emperor Wudi (140-86 BC) that the Chinese fought back. Huns and Chinese traded with each other at the foot of the Great Wall till a Han emissary from Mayi city was dispatched to the Huns for setting up a trap to ambush the Huns. Huns were seduced to Wuzhou-sai border garrison with the offer of riches of Mayi city. A Han general by the name of Wang Hui was the person who proposed that Han army set up a trap to attract the Huns into an ambush. Yushi Dafu Han An'guo led 300,000 army and set up a trap at Mayi, but Hunnic Chanyu, suspicious of the quietness along the way, caught a Han captain [Shi Xingjiao at Yanmen] who disclosed the ambush scheme. Huns, in the number of 100,000 cavalry, fled home. Chanyu conferred the title of "tian-wang [heaven king]" onto Shi Xingjiao. Wang Hui, with 30,000 men, did not dare to attack the Huns when Huns retreated and he was imprisoned for his cowardice. Hence the Huns declined inter-marriage and began to raid into China frequently. Ban Gu stated that the Huns also traded with Han Dynasty in border fairs at the same time.
 
Zhang Qian's Trip To Central Asia
From the mouth of a defecting Hun, Wudi learnt about the relocation of Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) Major to the west of the Huns. Hence, in 138 BC, Wudi sent an emissary called Zhang Qian, a Hun guide called Tangyifu and 100 people on a trek across the west. Zhang Qian was arrested by the Huns soon, and he was forced to live among the Huns for dozens of years and he had married and born two children. Zhang, however, did not forget about Wudi's order, and he fled with his Hun guide to the west and reached the state of Dawan (Kokand?, Fergana Valley). With the assistance from Dawan king, he was escorted to Kangju where the Kanju king assisted him further on his trip to Bactria, the place where the Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) Major had settled down. Zhang Qian returned to China after another arrest by the Huns. Sima Qian and history chornicles called Zhang Qian's travel to the west by the term of "piercing the vacuum" as an eulogy of his personal verification of the West.
 
Upon Zhang's return from the west, after a span of 13 years, Emperor Wudi first ordered 4 expeditions to the southwest of China to search for a route to India. This is because Zhang Qian reported that he saw Zangke (a place in today's Sichuan Province) bamboo products and Sichuan clothing which the Bactria merchants said were shipped over from India. Wudi got in touch with Yelang Statelet and Tian-Yue Statelet etc.
 
Han Emperor Wudi Campaigns Against Huns
Han Emperors Wendi and Jingdi were renowned for their frugality. Their policies as to the Huns would be pacification. Han Emperor Wudi, however, embarked upon a policy of expansion. Five years after abortive Mayi trap, at about 129 BC, Huns raided into Chinese territories again. Han Emperor Wudi dispatched four generals and 40000 cavalry against the Huns at Huguan Pass Trade Fair. Wudi dispatched 4 columns of armies against the Huns, with Wei Qing departing from Shanggu (today's Huailai County, Hebei Prov), Gongsun Ao from Dai Prefecture (today's Guangling, Shanxi Prov and Weixian County, Hebei Prov), Gongsun He from Yunzhong (today's Tuoketuo County, Inner Mongolia), and Li Guang from Yanmen or Yanmenguan Pass (today's Youyue County, Shanxi Prov). Only Wei Qing won a small victory by capturing 700 Huns. General Li Guang barely escaped after being captured by Huns. Li Guang etc was demoted for his defeat. Huns, in the winter, attacked Yuyang area, near Peking. The next year, Huns, with 20,000 cavalry, invaded Manchuria and killed Liaoxi Tai Shou (i.e., grand governor or grand guardian of Western Liaoning area). Huns then invaded Yuyang, near Beijing, and almost finished the thousand cavalry led by An'guo and retreated when Han relief army arrived. Huns invaded Yanmen next and killed about 1000 people. General Han Anguo was defeated. Li Guang was called upon again and he was assigned the post of governor of You (rightside) Beiping (the name for today's Beijing), a place that belongs to today's northern areas of Tianjin Principality. Li Guang stayed there for five years before he was recalled to the capital again.
 
When Huns raided Beijing area again, Wudi dispatched Wei Qing and 30000 soldiers out of Yanmen Pass, and General Li Xi out of Dai Prefecture. Wei Qing won some small victories again by killing and capturing 1000 Huns. In 127 BC, Huns attacked Shanggu and Yuyang (today's northeastern Beijing, Hebei Prov). Wudi ordered Wei Qing and Li Xi on a campaign out of Yunzhong to reach Longxi (today's Weisui and Tiaohe Rivers, Gansu Prov). Wei Qing departed from Yunzhong and campaigned all the way to Longxi of Gansu, and he defeated two Hunnic kings in Baiyang and Loufan territories, took over Hunnic land south of the Yellow River, captured and killed thousands of Huns, and looted millions of sheep. Wei Qing was conferred the title of Marquis Changping. Wudi, in imitation of Qin Shihuangdi, ordered the construction of a castle on the north bank of the north Yellow River Bend, and two commandaries, Wuyuan and Shuofang, were set up. Ban Gu stated that Han Dynasty abandoned two counties in Shanggu for the Huns. In the following winter, around 126 BC, Hunnic Junchen Chanyu died, and brother King Zuo-you-li-wang Yi-zi-ye made himself the Hunnic chanyu. Yi-zi-ye defeated the son of Hunnic Junchen Chanyu, and son of Hunnic Junchen Chanyu surrendered to Han.
 
Between 130 and 121 B.C., Chinese armies drove the Huns back across the Great Wall, and weakened the Huns in Gansu Province as well as Inner Mongolia. Famous Chinese generals, like Wei Qing and Li Guang would emerge in this time period.
 
Around 126 BC, Hunnic Chanyu Junchen died. Junchen's son (Yudan) was driven off by Junchen's brother, Leftside Guli King, and this would be the Hunnic Chanyu Yizhiye. Yudan fled to Han court and was conferred the title of Marquis She'an. Marquis She'an died in few months. In the summer, tens of thousands of Hunnic cavalry invaded Dai-jun. Huns killed 'Tai Shou' [magistrate] Gong You of Dai Prefecture and captured over thousand people. In the autumn, the Huns attacked Yanmen Pass and killed over thousand people. The next year, Huns repeatedly attacked Dai, Dingxiang and Shangjun. Hunnic Youxianwang (rightside virtuous king) tried to retake the Shuofang Commandary for recovering the lost territories south of the Yellow River. Hunnic Youxianwang raided Shuofang and south of the Yellow River repeatedly.
 
In spring of 124 BC, Wudi ordered Wei Qing to lead an army of 100,000 on a campaign against Hunnic Youxianwang in Gaoque by departing Shuofang. Wei Qing, after trekking over 300 kilometers, captured 15000 Huns and over 10 chieftans via a surprise attack at the night. Drunken Hunnic Youxianwang escaped. In the autumn, Huns raided Dai-jun, killed captain Zhu Yang ['Du-wei' Zhu Ying?] and captured 1000 Chinese. The next spring, Wei Qing was conferred the post as 'Da Jiangjun' (namely, the Grand General), commanded 6 generals, and obtained the auxiliary support from General Su Jian, Li Ju, Gongsun He, and Li Cai. Wudi, meantime, ordered General Li Xi to attack the Huns from the east. Wei Qing was ordered to counter-attack the Huns with command of 6 generals and 100,000 strong army. Wei brought his nephew, Huo Qubing, with him. Wei Qing departed Ding-Xiang area, trekked hundred li distance, and captured and killed 19000 Huns at a cost of losing two Han generals and 3000 cavalry: Zhao Xin (a defector Hunnic chieftan who was conferred a title of marquis) surrendered to the Huns after a defeat in the hands of Hunnic Chanyu's main bulk of army, and Su Jian escaped after a defeat in the hands of the Huns. Wudi personally stood up to give Wei a toast, and ministers went to the capital's gate to greet Wei's victorious return. Hunnic Chanyu was delighted at capturing Zhao Xin, married his sister to him, and built a castle called 'Zhao Xin City' for him. Su Jian escaped during the process of Zhao Xin's surrender to the Huns, while Huo Qubing was able to capture the prime minister and the uncle of the Hunnic Chanyu. Huo Qubing was conferred the title of Marquis Guanjun-hou. Meantime, Zhang Qian was conferred the title of Marquis Bowang-hou [i.e., marquis who looked beyond] for his western tour. Zhao Xin somehow pursuaded Hunnic Chanyu Yizhiye into stopping harassing Han for some time. The next year, Huns briefly raided Shanggu and killed over hundred people.
 
In the spring of ensuing year, Emperor Wudi ordered expeditions to the Western Corridor. Departing from Longxi (Gansu Province), Huo Qubing, with over 100,000 cavalry, attacked the Huns in and around Yanzhi [Yanqi] Mountains and killed or captured 8000 Huns. Huo killed two Hunnic kings, King Zhelan and King Luhou, captured the prince of Hunnic king Hunye (Kunye), and grabbed the gold statute of King Xiutu (Xiuzhu). In 121 BC, Wudi ordered another campaign, with Huo Qubing and Gongsun Ao [marquis heqi-hou] departing from northern border of Longxi & Beidi, while Li Guang and Zhang Qian departed from the Beijing area of Youbeiping for attack on Hunnic leftside virtuous king. Huo crossed Juyan Lake area and attacked the Huns in and around Qilian Mountains, with 30000 Huns either captured or killed. But Li Guang lost more than half of his 4000 soldiers after being encircled by Hunnic leftside virtuous king while Zhang Qian was demoted for not sending relief to Li Guang at the eastern frontier on time.
 
In the autumn, Hunnic King Hunye (Kunye), for fear of punishment by Hunnic Chanyu, killed King Xiutu (Xiuzhu) and surrendered his 40000 people to Huo Qubing. Wudi relocated the Huns to five prefectures: Longxi, Beidi (today's northeastern Gansu Prov), Shangjun (today's northeastern Shenxi Prov), Shuofang, and Yunzhong. Wudi further set up Wuwei and Qiuquan Commandaries in the old territories of King Hunye (Kunye). Han Dynasty relocated poverty-stricken people of Guan-zhong area to the Hunnic territory of Xin-Qin-zhong, and reduced garrison to the west of Beidi by half. The next spring, Huns raided Youbeiping and Dingxiang with tens of thousands of cavalry and inflicted a casualty of thousands on the Chinese.
 
Campaigns Deep Into Outer Mongolia
In spring of 119 BC, Wudi ordered another campaign against the Huns who dwelled to the north of Gobi at the advice of Zhao Xin. With 200000 [100000 per Ban Gu] cavalry, 100000 soldiers and auxiliary and logistic horses numbering 140000, Han armies attcked the Huns deep into today's Outer Mongolia. Wei Qing departed from Dai, while Huo Qubing departed from Dingxiang for a union at north of Gobi. After one day fierce fighting, Hunnic Chanyu fled with hundreds of cavalry when Han armies launched a two prong attacks in a strong winter at dusk. Han armies chased all the way to "Zhao Xing City", capturing or killing 19000 Huns. Hunnic Rightside 'gu-li' King, thinking that his Chanyu might have died, would assume the post of chanyu and give up the post after the return of the real chanyu. Hu Qubing also fought against Hunnic leftside virtuous king after travelling 2000 li distance from Dai area and captured or killed 70000 Huns. Hu Qubing reached Langjuxu-shan Mountain and Linhan-hai Lake in Outer Mongolia. On this occasion, Li Guang committed suicide for his missing the schedule. With Huns gone, Han Dynasty established 'military farming' from Shuofang to Lingju in the west and assigned 50000-60000 soldiers.
 
Han Princess Marrying Over To Wusun [Ili]
Zhang Qian told Emperor Wudi that Han should marry over a princess to the Wusun Statelet so that the Huns would lose their support in Western China, a strategy called 'cutting off the right arm of the Huns'. Zhang said that Wusun originally dwelled around Dunhuang, Gansu Provice and the areas around the Qilian Mountains, together with Yüeh-chih. But Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) attacked them. The son of Wusun king would ask the Huns to help them in defeating the Yüeh-chih. When Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) took over Scythian land, Wu-sun went on to drive the Yueh-chih (Yuezhi) to Bactria.
 
In 119 B.C., Zhang was ordered again to go west with hundreds of messengers. When those messegers returned to the capital, they did a calculation and derived the number of 36 statelets across the west of China.
 
Zhang Qian's second trip culminated in the inter-marriage between Wusun and Han Dynasty, with Han Princess Xieyou and Xijun married with Wusun king [i.e., "kunmo"] consecutively.
 
Wudi sent expeditions into the Hunnic territories frequently, and historians said he had used up his royal savings in waging the war on the Huns. Wudi's extravagent lifestyle would also be embodied by his war efforts to retrieve the 'Heavenly Horses' (flying horses) in the Central Asia. The Wusun horses were originally called 'Tian Ma', namely, the Heavenly Horses, but later Emperor Wudi renamed the Wusun horses 'Xi Ji Ma' or western-most horses while the Dawan horses were given the name of 'Tian Ma'.
 
What Silk Road Contributed To World Civilization
Aly Mazaheri, an ethnic Iranian and a French sinologist, in La Route De La Soie (1983), claimed that China needed only "Fergana stallions" from the rest of the world, while the rest of the world needed everything from China, all faciliated by the Silk Road. Aly Mazaheri stated that at the time Persian King Sha-na-di-er dispatched last mission to Manchu Qing Emperor Qianlong [reign 1736-1795], British had taken over 75% of the trade between Orient and Occident while Russians had the other 25%.
 
Silk Road, in Aly Mazaheri's opinions, had lost its role not due to the discovery of sea route, but due to the newly manufactured products that had come to replace the traditional Chinese products shipped over from Silk Road: i.e., synthetic musk replacing Chinese musk; products of industrial revolution replacing Chinese iron cast ovens, iron wok, steel nails, pliers, needles, scissors, iron file, and hammers; Venice tin-coated glass replacing Chinese bronze mirrors; Swedish matches replacing Chinese fire-making sickle that Europe had utilized for 18 centuries; and Russian water-mark paper replacing high quality Chinese paper in 19th century. Further, Aly Mazaheri pointed out that the Europeans had confusion about the identity of China by stating that Portuguese governor in India dispatched Benoit Goez on an overland trip via silk road to verify that the Khitay was the same as China, which culminated in Benoit Goez's arrival in Suzhou [Gansu Prov] in AD 1604.
 
Han Emperor Wudi Reversing 'Intermarriage' Policy To Have Huns Send In Hostage
At the pursuasion of Zhao Xin, Hunnic Chanyu Yi-zi-ye requested for peace with Han. Emperor Wudi agreed to peace after reflecting on the loss of over 100,000 horses. Wudi sent emissary, Ren Pi, to the Huns, but Ren Pi was detained by the Huns. Ban Gu stated that Han stopped attacking the Huns after the death of Huo Qubing. Years later, Hunnic Chanyu Yi-zi-ye died after being on the throne for 13 years. Son Wu-wei assumed the chanyu throne during the 3rd year of Yuanding Era, i.e., 114 BC. Han Dynasty was busy fighting two Yue statelets in the south, while Huns refrained from attacking the border in the north.
 
Three years after Hunnic chanyu Wu-wei enthronement, Han Dynasty quelled the southern Yue statelets. Gongsun Ao, with 15000 cavalry, was dispatched to the north from Jiuquan. After trekking 2000 li distance, Gongsun Ao failed to locate the Huns. Meanwhile, Zhao Ponu, with 10000 cavalry, departed from Lingju, and failed to locate the Huns after reaching Xiongnu-he-shui [Hun Water] River. Emperor Wudi personally descended upon Shuofang Commandary and received welcome from 180000 cavalrymen. Wudi dispatched emissary Guo Ji to Hunnic chanyu for informing about the decapitated head of Southern Yue King. Chanyu executed his Hunnic minister who advocated a meeting with Guo Ji and retained Guo Ji as a hostage at Bei-hai-shang [i.e., Lake Baikal]. Han emissary, Wang Wu, went to see Hunnic chanyu by blackening his face via Hunnic cutoms and pursuaded chanyu about sending over prince to Han court as a hostage. Another Han emissary, Yang Xin, also visited chanyu.
 
At this time, Han court had conquered northern Korea as well as established Jiuquan-jun commandary on the silk road for segregating the Qiangs from the Huns. Han court had also dispatched emissaries to Yuezhi, Bactria, and Wusun. Han princess was married over to Wusun king as a means of diffusing Hunnic support in the west. Han established two more border garrisons to the north without invoking any complaint from the Huns. Yang Xin, refusing to put aside Han court's diplomatic symbol, discussed 'intermarriage' with Chanyu outside of the tent. Yang Xin insisted that Huns send in their prince as a hostage before Han court could renew intermarriage. Huns and Chinese did not back down from each other's positions, and Huns and Chinese often retained opposite party's emissaries as retaliation. After Yang Xin returned to Han court, Wang Wu was dispatched to the Huns again. Hunnic chanyu claimed that he was eager to go to Chinese capital for seeing the emperor for sake of imperial bestowals. Han court built a residency for chanyu at the capital. However, chanyu merely dispatched a noble to Han court. When this Hun died of illness, chanyu retained Han emissary Lu Chongguo on the pretext that Chinese had murdered the noble. Huns dispatched cavalry for pillaging the border again. Guo Chang was stationed east of Shuofang commandary for guarding against the Huns. In 105 BC, i.e., 6th year of Yuanfeng Era, Hunnic Chanyu Wu-wei died. Son Zhan-shi-lu enthroned. Han court dispatched emissaries for condoling the Huns. However, the Huns retained the Han emissaries. Huns and Chinese retained opposite party's emissaries for more than one dozen batches.
 
General Huo Qubing earlier set up the Qiuquan and Wuwei Commandaries in Gansu Province, and later more commandaries were set up, Zhangye and Dunhuang. For the first time, Chinese colonized in non-Chinese territories. Civilians were relocated to guard the posts along with the army. After General Li Guangli campaigned against the ancient state of Dawan (Kokand?, Fergana Valley) in Central Asia, more posts were set up on the Silk Road. From Dunhuang to the Qinhaihu Lake, 'farming soldiers' were stationed.
 
Han Emperor Wudi Campaigns Against Turkistan & Central Asia
When the small statelets, like Gushi and Loulan, harassed Han emissaries, Emperor Wudi sent General Zhao Puonu on a campaign against the two statelets in 109 BC. General Zhao caught the King of Loulan statelet and conquered Gushi statelet.
 
When Dawan (Kokand?, Fergana Valley) refused to trade their horses with Han, and further killed Han emissry and robbed the gold horse, Emperor Wudi sent General Li Guangli on a campaign against Dawan in 104 BC. General Li Guangli's first campaign, with tens of thousands of convicts, failed to capture a city called Yuecheng in between. General Li Guangli returned with less than 20% of the forces in about 2 years, but Emperor Wudi stopped him from coming inside of the Yuemen (Jade Gate) Pass. General Li Guangli stayed in Dunhuang.
 
At this time, another Han general, i.e., Zhao Puonu, lost 20,000 men to the Huns. Wudi decided to conquer Dawan first before concentrating on the Huns. He ordered 60,000 second-class citizens and convicts on a new campaign against Dawan, with logistical support of 100,000 buffalos and 30,000 horses. After a siege of over 40 days, in 102 BC, Dawan (Kokand?, Fergana Valley) killed their king and surrendered to Han. Li Gaungli retrieved a dozen top-class horses and over 3,000 middle-class horses, and returned.
 
At the time Li Gaungli campaigned in Central Asia, Huns had internal turmoils. When Huns suffered calamity in husbandry due to severe cold winter, Hunnic rightside and leftside 'duwei' [captains] stealthily collaborated with Chinese in toppling chanyu. Han court built a "surrender castle" for the Hunnic captains to use. Chinese forces, about 20000 cavalry headed by Zhao Puonu, departed for joint actions. Chanyu found out about the plot and killed the Hunnic captains. Zhao Puonu caught a few thousand Huns. Before Zhao Puonu returned to "surrender castle", 80000 Hunnic cavalry surrounded him. Zhao Puonu was caught by the Huns when seeking water outside of the camp at night. Hunnic chanyu then lay siege of "surrender castle", withdrew from the siege after failure to sack it, and pillaged the border.
 
The next year, during the 3rd year reign, Hunnic chanyu died while on the way of personally leading an attack at "surrender castle" again. Hunnic rightside virtuous king Ju-li-hu, i.e., Zhan-shi-lu's uncle and Wu-wei's brother, assumed the throne as chanyu in 102 BC, i.e., 3rd year of Taichu Era.
 
New Hunnic Chanyu Calling Himself A Nephew
To counter Huns, Xu Ziwei built catsles along the road of hundred li distance beyond Wuyuan-sai garrison; Han Sui and Wei Kang acted as auxiliary support; and Lu Bode built citadel at Lake Juyan-ze. (At one time during Tang Dynasty, Lake Juyan, where E-ji-na River flew to, still possessed 300 square kilometers in size.) In 101 BC, Han Dynasty established military farming in today's Luntai & Quli and assigned an official entitled "emissarial colonel" ["i.e., shi zhe xiao wei"] there. In the autumn, Huns raided Yunzhong, Dingxiang, Wuyuan and Shuofang commandaries and killed few thousand Han people. Hunnic rightside virtuous king raided Jiuquan and Zhangye to the west and captured few thousand people. Hearing that General Li Guangli was returning from Central Asia, the Huns planned for an ambush on the road but changed mind later. Hunnic chanyu, with a reign of less than one year, died of illness in the winter. Brother, i.e., rightside grand duwei [captain] assumed the chanyu post.
 
In 101 BC, Han Emperor Wudi proposed a general attack at the Huns for avenging on first Han emperor's defeat in the hands of the Huns as well as first Han empress's humiliation of being asked for marriage with Modok. The new Hunnic chanyu, for appeasing the Chinese, released all emissaries and hostages who refused to surrender to Huns, including Lu Chongguo. Chanyu pretended to be humble by calling himself a nephew. However, once Su Wu brought to the Huns huge amount of money and wealth, Hunnic chanyu became arrogant again. The next year, Zhao Puonu fled back to Han court from Hunnic captivity.
 

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