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The submission of the Huns

In his relations with non-Chinese peoples, Emperor Hsüan was especially
fortunate, for a dispute over the succession to the Hun throne
induced one of its claimants to come to the Chinese court and acknowledge
Chinese overlordship; Chinese assistance then enabled this claimant
to establish himself firmly on the Hun throne and to drive his rival far
away. A Chinese expedition finally ended this rival's career.

The Huns (Hsiung-nu) were a race of nomads, occupying the present
inner and outer Mongolia, who were in the habit of making annual raids
upon the settled Chinese to the south when winter gave them respite
from the care of their flocks and herds. Pelliot (La haute Asie, p. 6)
remarks that the Hsiung-nu were identical with the Huns of the great
European invasions. In their raids, these Huns not only took Chinese
animals and food, but also captives to be sold as slaves. Capture for
the slave-trade was probably the most profitable feature of these raids.

To protect themselves, the Chinese built the Great Wall, and organized
local militia for its defense. This system proved effective against small
bands of raiders. Following the example of the Ch'in First Emperor,
a Hun of the Lüan-ti clan, with the given name Mao-tun or Moduk,
however united the Hun tribes and established himself as their emperor
or Shan-yü (the last word of a phrase meaning, "Great Son of Heaven.")
Thereafter it was possible for large bands of Huns to gather and break
through the Great Wall. Emperor Kao was almost captured in a
campaign to drive Lüan-ti Mao-tun out of Chinese territory. Defeated
Chinese rebels regularly fled to the Huns and were welcomed by them,
bringing with them Chinese mechanical and military skill. The Empress
of Emperor Kao made peace and friendship with the Huns, sending them
a girl of the imperial clan to be a wife of the Shan-yü.

This arrangement did not, however, permanently stop the Hun raids.
In the time of Emperor Wen, the Huns raided almost within sight of
Ch'ang-an. Emperor Ching adopted the policy of encouraging Hun
dissensions by giving high noble rank to noble Hun rebels who surrendered
to the Chinese. Irritated by the constant Hun raids, Emperor Wu had
sent army after army deep into Hun territory, driving them out of inner
Mongolia and defeating them severely in outer Mongolia. At one time
the Shan-yü was actually surrounded by an overwhelming Chinese
force, but he succeeded in slipping away. The Chinese emperors
followed the policy of making large and valuable grants to barbarian
princes who came to pay homage; worn out by Emperor Wu's sledgehammer
blows and attracted by the prospect of Chinese gifts, in the time
of Emperor Chao, the Shan-yü thought of coming to the Chinese court,
in order to be allowed to inhabit inner Mongolia. His envoy, unfortunately,
became ill and died in Ch'ang-an; hence suspicion and pride kept
the Shan-yü from taking any further steps and led him to continue the
Hun raids. In 71, at the appeal of the Wu-sun, an Aryan tribe inhabiting
the present Ili valley, Emperor Hsüan sent five armies deep
into Hun territory, but the Huns had withdrawn and could not be found.
The Wu-sun, however, achieved a signal victory over the Huns, for which
Emperor Hsüan rewarded the Chinese Colonel, Ch'ang Hui, who had
been sent to give them moral support. Thus the Chinese and Huns
continued to oppose each other.

In 60 B.C., Shan-yü Hsü-lu-ch'üan-chü died. The succession to the Hun
throne was not fixed; the Hun kings were summoned to select his successor,
but, before they arrived, a Yen-chih or Hun empress seated the
deceased Shan-yü's younger brother upon the vacant throne. He proved
tyrannical and cruel, dismissing the sons and brothers of his predecessor,

and offending some of his nobles. They consequently set up a son of his
predecessor as Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh, and defeated the other Shan-yü,
who then committed suicide. Other claimants for the throne now appeared,
until in 57 B.C. there were five Shan-yü. Civil war eliminated
all but Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh, whereupon three more claimants appeared,
including Shan-yü Chih-chih, who was an elder brother, probably a
half-brother of Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh. Shan-yü Chih-chih moreover
succeeded in defeating Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh and occupied the region
of the Hun capital near the present Urga. Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh now
appealed to the Chinese for aid and sent his son to the Chinese court to
be an attendant upon the Emperor. Shan-yü Chih-chih countered by
similarly sending one of his sons to the Chinese court. Shan-yü Hu-hanhsieh
had now to find a more effective way of securing Chinese aid, so
in 52 B.C., he requested permission to come in person to the grand court
at the first of the Chinese year, bring tribute, and pay homage to the
Son of Heaven.

Such an event had never happened before, that the emperor of a powerful
neighboring state should come to pay homage to a Chinese emperor.
It was hence necessary to determine how the Shan-yü should be treated
and what rites should be used. The court officials urged that he be
treated as a vassal king and be ranked below the Chinese vassal kings.
But Hsiao Wang-chih, an independent-minded and learned Confucian,
advised that the Shan-yü should be treated as a guest, i.e., an equal of
the Emperor, since it would be better to attach the barbarians by kindness
and generosity than to alienate them by harshness and humbling
them. Since they were not settled inhabitants, they could not be apprehended
and subjugated. Therefore it would be better to influence
them by benevolence and righteousness, so that they would be led to
be trustful and yielding. Emperor Hsüan adopted this wise advice, and
had Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh treated as a guest. He was given an imperial
seal like that of the Chinese emperor (24 A: 21a). It was arranged that
the Shan-yü's retinue should be given a view of the imperial cortege,
and he was entertained at a great banquet during which he was shown
the imperial treasures. He was given rich presents and sent back after
a month or so.

Patriotic and proud Huns had opposed Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh's personal
submission to the Chinese, saying that it made them the laughing-stock
of the world. On Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh's return, the Chinese supplied
him with a large escort of Chinese cavalry, and allowed him to establish
himself in inner Mongolia and to take refuge in the Chinese fortifications
beyond the border. He was given large quantities of grain. The second

year after, Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh again came to the Chinese court and
received even greater presents. Shan-yü Chih-chih had expected that
when Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh once went to the Chinese court, he would
not be able to return, but now he had not only returned but was greatly
enriched by Chinese presents and grain, so that the Huns flocked to
him. As a consequence, Shan-yü Chih-chih gave up all hope of being
able to conquer his rival and moved to the west to carve himself out a
kingdom there. In 36 B.C., during the reign of Emperor Yüan, a notable
Chinese expedition pursued and beheaded him. Thus Chinese support
proved able to determine the succession to the Hun throne, and the Huns
at last became vassals of the Chinese.

The Chinese subjugation of the Huns by diplomacy and gifts, after
military conquest had failed to subjugate them, is quite typical of the
best Chinese foreign policy. Against settled towns, such as those in
the Tarim basin, military attacks could be permanently successful; but
against a nomadic people, who could move out of reach when an expedition
threatened them and could return to their steppes to attack the
settled Chinese at the opportune moment, massed military attacks could
have little permanent effect. Hence diplomacy and material assistance
offered the best method of dealing with the Huns.