Han–Xiongnu War (215 BC–200 BC)

Han-Xiongnu War (BC 215-BC 200)
	Part of Han-Xiongnu wars
Date	BC 215-BC 200
Location	Northern China
Result	Xiongnu victory
Territorial; changes	Xiongnus seized trade routes and taxed the Han Dynasty
Belligerents
Commanders and leaders
Strength
Casualties and losses

The Han-Xiongnu War (BC 215-200) or Modu's Raids on China was the first series of wars between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu.^{[citation needed]}

Modu's China Campaign(BC 215)

In 215 BC and the years that followed, the general Meng T'ien drove the Xiongnu north, taking the passes in the Yin Mountains and some places south of the Yellow River. Modu, on his campaign, brought them back under Xiongnu control. As a result, Xiongnu territory expanded from P'ing-liang to Fu-shih. In addition, points of commercial and military strategic value also fell into Xiongnu hands.^[1]

Siege of Ma-i

In order to counter the Xiongnu attacks, Emperor Gaozu took some precautionary measures. In 201 BC, he sent Hsin, the king (prince/ruler) of the Han region, to the Ma-i region to defend its borders against the Xiongnus. In the fall of the same year, Hsin, who had been besieged by Mo-tu's forces for a long time, sent envoys to the Xiongnus several times to seek peace. His frequent contacts with the Xiongnus led to his being denounced as a traitor by the Han emperor. Realizing the situation, Hsin surrendered the city of Ma-i to the Xiongnu, fearing he would be killed.^[1]

Battle of Baideng

Attack of Xiongnu

After Mo-du defeated the Dong-hu, Yuezhi and other steppe tribes, his army exceeded 300,000 thousand. Now, with the steppe under his control, he could enter China. After the Xiongnus took Ma-i, they crossed the Kou-chu Mountain in the south with their troops. They attacked Ta'i-yuen and reached the gates of Chin-yang. In response, the Han ruler Gaozu personally led his army to counterattack. In winter, however, they encountered terrible cold.^[2] Three out of every ten soldiers lost their fingers from the cold. Mo-du then pretended to flee in defeat and drew the Han soldiers to him, and the Han soldiers began to pursue him as planned. Meanwhile, the Xiongnu vanguard made some attacks but failed and their commander was killed.^[3] In fact, Mo-du hid his strong warriors and showed the weak ones.^[3]^[2]

Battle and Siege

The Han army with all its might (320,000 men, mostly infantry) began to chase them north. Gaozu led his own troops to Ping-cheng, but not all the infantry had arrived. Mo-du with 400,000 horsemen surrounded the emperor on Baideng mountain. For seven days the Chinese soldiers in the ring could neither help each other or receive supplies.^[4]In a difficult situation, Gaozu had to buy his freedom. He sent valuable gifts to Mo-du's wife.Satisfied with the gifts, she told Modu that "the rulers of these two countries should not cause such difficulties and that even if he conquered the land, he would not be able to adapt to it, and that the Han ruler had guardian spirits, which Chan-yu should take into account. Modu and Wang-huan and Chao-li, the generals of Prince Hsin of Han on his side, had agreed on a place to meet. But they did not arrive, so Modu opened a corner of the siege, taking into account the possibility of Chinese intrigue and what his Khatun had said. Gaozu and his army then burst out of the corner and merged with the rest of the army after which they retreated. Modu also retreated, abandoning his battle formation.^[2]^[5]

Treaty

A peace treaty was signed between the Xiongnu and Han dynasty. According to the treaty, Chanyu was to marry a Han princess and a certain amount of silk, wine and food was to be sent to the Xiongnus. This was to be done several times a year. The Han and Xiongnu states would be considered equal states and the Han Chinese would no longer look down on the Xiongnu and in return the Xiongnu would not raid. At first it was suggested that the Emperor send his own daughter, but the Empress cried so much that a beautiful girl from the palace was chosen and sent.^[1]

Aftermath

After this battle, Modu chose to adopt a more domineering attitude towards China. When Emperor Huei ascended to the throne in 192 BC, he again sent a Chinese princess to marry Modu. During this emperor's reign, his mother Lu held the main power. This time Mo-tu wrote a letter to her and said: "I am a lonely widow ruler, born among the reeds and raised in the wild steppes of the cattle and horse lands. I have been to the border region many times, longing to travel to China. Your Majesty is also a widow ruler leading a lonely life. We both live a life deprived of pleasures and have no means of entertaining ourselves. It is my hope that we can exchange what we have for what we lack."^[3]

Empress Lu replied to this letter as follows: "I am getting old and my strength is weakening. My hair and teeth are falling out, and I cannot even walk properly and steadily. Chan-yü must have heard much exaggerated news. I am not worthy of him lowering himself so low. However, my country has done nothing wrong and I hope that he will refrain from harming my country." Mo-tu then gave up his demands and sent an envoy to thank the empress. It was reported that the Ho-ch'in treaty continued to be implemented as before.^[3]

Roughly 15 years after that date, in 176 BC, Motu sent a letter to Emperor Hsiao Wen, further increasing his boldness. Although there was an agreement between the two countries, the Chinese prepared an army of 80,000 men to counter Xiongnu's raids south of the Yellow River by the Right (western) Sage of the Xiongnus. In this letter, Mo-tu presented himself as the great ch'an-yü of the Xiongnus founded by Tengri. He wrote: "With the help of the Sky(Kok-Tengri), the excellence of our fighting men and the strength of our horses, we have succeeded in sweeping away Yuezhi, subduing or forcing every member into submission. Moreover, we have conquered the Lou-lan, Wu-sun and Hu-chie tribes, as well as 26 surrounding states, so that they have all become part of the Xiongnu's people. All the bow-drawing peoples are now united in one family and the whole northern region is at peace. So now I want to lay down my arms, rest my soldiers and put my horses out to pasture. I want to forget this recent event and put our old treaty back into force."^[3] This letter was discussed at Han court for a long time and Chanyu's wishes were accepted in view of his victories.^[1]^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Records of the Historian Chapters from the Shih chi of Ssu-ma Ch'ien. Translated by Watson, Burton. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 160, 161.
^ ^a ^b ^c ENCYCLOPAEDIA XIONGNU. Ulaan Baatar: Institute of Archaelogy Mongolian Acedemy of Sciens. 2013. p. 21. ISBN 978-99973-0-009-6.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Taşağıl, Ahmet (2019). Hunlar: Bozkırın İlk İmparatorluğu [The Huns: First Empire of Steppes] (in Turkish). İstanbul: Yeditepe. pp. 87–88. ISBN 978-605-7800-53-4.
^ De Groot, M. Die Hunnen der vorchirstlichen (in German). Vol. 1. Berlin. p. 63.
^ HULSEWÉ, A. F. P. CHINA IN CENTRAL ASIA THE EARLY STAGE: 125 B.C.-A.D. 23 AN ANNOTATED TRANSLATION OF CHAPTERS 61 AND 96 OF THE HISTORY OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY(Han Shu). INSTITUTUM SINOLOGICUM LUGDUNO BATAVUM. pp. 136, 137.

[:0-1] Records of the Historian Chapters from the Shih chi of Ssu-ma Ch'ien. Translated by Watson, Burton. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 160, 161.

[:3-2] ENCYCLOPAEDIA XIONGNU. Ulaan Baatar: Institute of Archaelogy Mongolian Acedemy of Sciens. 2013. p. 21. ISBN 978-99973-0-009-6.

[:4-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Taşağıl, Ahmet (2019). Hunlar: Bozkırın İlk İmparatorluğu [The Huns: First Empire of Steppes] (in Turkish). İstanbul: Yeditepe. pp. 87–88. ISBN 978-605-7800-53-4.

[4] De Groot, M. Die Hunnen der vorchirstlichen (in German). Vol. 1. Berlin. p. 63.

[5] HULSEWÉ, A. F. P. CHINA IN CENTRAL ASIA THE EARLY STAGE: 125 B.C.-A.D. 23 AN ANNOTATED TRANSLATION OF CHAPTERS 61 AND 96 OF THE HISTORY OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY(Han Shu). INSTITUTUM SINOLOGICUM LUGDUNO BATAVUM. pp. 136, 137.

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