WATSON, B, (1962). Records of the Grand Historian of China. Translated from the Shih chi of Ssu-ma Ch'ien. New York and London, Columbia University Press. Pàg. 155-192.

Shih chi 110: The Account at the Hsiung-nu

From the time of the Three Dynasties on, the Hsiung-nu have been a source of constant worry and harm to China. The Han has attempted to determine the Hsiung-nu's periods of strength and weakness so that it may adopt defensive measures or launch punitive expeditions as the circumstances allow. Thus I made The Account of the Hsiung-nu.

The ancestor of the Hsiung-nu was a descendant of the rulers of the Hsia dynasty by the name of Ch'un-wei. As early as the time of Emperors Yao and Shun and before, we hear of these people, known as Mountain Barbarians, Hsien-yün, or Hun-chu, living in the region of the northern barbarians and wandering from place to place pasturing their animals. The animals they raise consist mainly of horses, cows, and sheep, but include such rare beasts as camels, asses, mules, and the wild horses known as t'ao-t'u and t'o-chi. They move about in search of water and pasture and have no walled cities or fixed dwellings, nor do they engage in any kind of agriculture. Their lands, however, are divided into regions under the control of various leaders. They have no writing, and even promises and agreements are only verbal. The little boys start out by learning to ride sheep and shoot birds and rats with a bow and arrow, and when they get a little older they shoot foxes and hares, which are used for food. Thus all the young men are able to use a bow and act as armed cavalry in time of war. It is their custom to herd their flocks in times of peace and make their living by hunting, but in periods of crisis they take up arms and go off on plundering and marauding expeditions. This seems to be their inborn nature. For long-range weapons they use bows and arrows, and swords and spears at close range. If the battle is going well for them they will advance, but if not, they will retreat, for they do not consider it a disgrace to run away. Their only concern is self-advantage, and they know nothing of propriety or righteousness.
From the chiefs of the tribe on down, everyone eats the meat of the domestic animals and wears clothes of hide or wraps made of felt or fur. The young men eat the richest and best food, while the old get what is left over, since the tribe honors those who are young and strong and despises the weak and aged. On the death of his father, a son will marry his stepmother, and when brothers die, the remaining brothers will take the widows for their own wives. They have no polite names but only personal names, and they observe no taboos in the use of personal names.
When the power of the Hsia dynasty declined, Kung Liu, the ancestor of the Chou dynasty, having lost his position as minister of grain, went to live among the Western Jung barbarians, adopting their ways and founding a city at Pin. Some three hundred years later the Jung and Ti tribes attacked Kung Liu's descendant, the Great Lord Tan-f fu. Tan-fu fled to the foot of Mount Ch'i and the whole population of Pin followed after him, founding a new city there. This was the beginning of the Chou state.
A hundred and some years later Ch'ang, the Chou Earl of the West, attacked the Ch'üan-i-shih tribe, and ten or twelve years later, his son, King Wu, overthrew Emperor Chou, the last ruler of the Shang dynasty, and founded a new capital at Lo. He also occupied the regions of Feng and Hao, drove the barbarians north beyond the Ching and Lo rivers, and obliged them to bring tribute to his court at specified times. Their lands were known as "the submissive wastes."
Some two hundred years later, when the power of the Chou dynasty had declined, King Mu attacked the Ch'üan barbarians and brought back with him four white wolves and four white deer which he had seized. From this time on, the peoples of the "submissive wastes" no longer journeyed to court. (At this time the Chou adopted the penal code of Marquis Fu.)
Some two hundred years after the time of King Mu, King Yu of the Chou, egged on by his beloved concubine Pao-ssu, quarreled with Marquis Shen. In anger, Marquis Shen joined forces with the Ch'üan barbarians and attacked and killed King Yu at the foot of Mount Li. Eventually the barbarians seized the region of Chiao-huo from the Chou, occupied the area between the Ching and Wei rivers, and invaded and plundered the central region of China. Duke Hsiang of Ch'in came to the rescue of the Chou court, and King Yu's successor King P'ing abandoned the regions of Feng and Hao and moved his capital east to the city of Lo. (At this time Duke Hsiang of Ch'in attacked the barbarians and advanced as far as Mount Ch'i; as a result he was for the first time ranked among the feudal lords of the Chou dynasty.)
Sixty-five years later [704 B.c.] the Mountain Barbarians crossed through the state of Yen and attacked Ch'i. Duke Li of Ch'i fought with them in the suburbs of his capital. Forty-four years later the Mountain Barbarians attacked Yen, but Yen reported its distress to Duke Huan of Ch'i, who rode north and attacked the barbarians, driving them off.
Some twenty years later the barbarians rode as far as the capital city of Lo and attacked King Hsiang of the Chou; King Hsiang fled to the city of Fan in Cheng. Previously King Hsiang had wanted to attack the state of Cheng and had therefore married a daughter of the barbarians and made her his queen; then, with the aid of the barbarian forces, he had made his attack on Cheng. Having accomplished his purpose, however, he cast aside his barbarian queen, much to her resentment. King Hsiang's stepmother, Queen Hui, had a son named Tzu-tai whom she wished to place on the throne, and therefore Queen Hui, her son, and the barbarian queen agreed to cooperate with the barbarian attackers from within the capital by opening the city to them. Thus the barbarians were able to enter, defeat and drive out King Hsiang, and set up Tzu-tai as Son of Heaven in his place.
After this the barbarians occupied the area of Lu-hun, roaming as far east as the state of Wei, ravaging and plundering the lands of central China with fearful cruelty. The empire was deeply troubled, and therefore the poets in the Book of Odes wrote:

We smote the barbarians of the north.

We struck the Hsien-yün
And drove them to the great plain.
We sent forth our chariots in majestic array
And walled the northern regions.

After King Hsiang had been driven from his throne and had lived abroad for four years, he sent an envoy to the state of Chin to explain his plight. Duke Wen of Chin, having just come to power, wanted to make a name for himself as dictator and protector of the royal house, and therefore he raised an army and attacked and drove out the barbarians, executing Tzu-tai and restoring King Hsiang to his throne in Lo.
At this time Ch'in and Chin were the most powerful states in China. Duke Wen of Chin expelled the Ti barbarians and drove them into the region west of the Yellow River between the Yün and Lo rivers; there they were known as the Red Ti and the White Ti. Shortly afterwards, Duke Mu of Ch'in, having obtained the services of Yu Yü, succeeded in getting the eight barbarian tribes of the west to submit to his authority.
Thus at this time there lived in the region west of Lung the Mienchu, the Hun-jung, and the Yüan tribes. North of Mounts Ch'i and Liang and the Ching and Ch'i rivers lived the I-ch'ü, Ta-li, Wu-chih, and Ch'ü-yen tribes. North of Chin were the Forest Barbarians and the Lou-fan, while north of Yen lived the Eastern Barbarians and Mountain Barbarians. All of them were scattered about in their own little valleys, each with their own chieftains. From time to time they would have gatherings of a hundred or more men, but no one tribe was capable of unifying the others under a single rule.
Some hundred years later Duke Tao of Chin sent Wei Chiang to make peace with the barbarians, so that they came to pay their respects to the court of Chin. A hundred or so years after this, Viscount Hsiang of the Chao family of Chin crossed Mount Chü-chu, defeated the barbarians, and annexed the region of Tai, bringing his state into contact with the Hu-ho tribe. Shortly afterwards he joined with the viscounts of the Hann and Wei families in wiping out their rival, Chih Po, and dividing up the state of Chin among the three of them. Thus the Chao family held possession of Tai and the lands north of Mount Chü-chu, while the Wei family held the provinces of Ho-hsi [Ordos] and Shang, bordering the lands of the barbarians.
After this the I-ch'ü tribes began to build walls and fortifications to protect themselves, but the state of Ch'in gradually ate into their territory and, under King Hui, finally seized twenty-five of their forts. King Hui also attacked the state of Wei, forcing it to cede to him the provinces of Ho-hsi and Shang.
During the reign of King Chao of Ch'in the ruler of the I-ch'ü barbarians had illicit relations with King Chao's mother, the Queen Dowager Hsüan, by whom he had two sons. Later the queen dowager deceived and murdered him at the Palace of Sweet Springs and eventually raised an army and sent it to attack and ravage the lands of the I-ch'ü. Thus Ch'in came into possession of Lung-hsi, Pei-ti, and Shang Provinces, where it built long walls to act as a defense against the barbarians.
At the same time King Wu-ling of Chao changed the customs of his people, ordering them to adopt barbarian dress and to practice riding and shooting, and then led them north in a successful attack on the Forest Barbarians and the Lou-fan. He constructed a defensive wall stretching from Tai along the foot of the Yin Mountains to Kaoch'üeh, establishing the three provinces of Yün-chung, Yen-men, and Tai.
A little later a worthy general named Ch'in K'ai appeared in the state of Yen. He had earlier been sent as a hostage to the barbarians and had won their deepest confidence; on returning to his state, he led an attack on the Eastern Barbarians, defeating and driving them over a thousand li from the border of the state. (The Ch'in Wu-yang who took part with Ching K'o in the attempted assassination of the king of Ch'in was this man's grandson.) Yen also constructed a long wall from Tsao-yang to Hsiang-p'ing and set up the provinces of Shang-ku, Yü-yang, Yu-pei-p'ing, Liao-hsi, and Liao-tung to guard against the attacks of the barbarians.
By this time China, the land of caps and girdles, was divided among seven states, three of which bordered the territory of the Hsiung-nu. Later, while the Chao general Li Mu was living, the Hsiung-nu did not dare to cross the border of Chao.
Finally Ch'in overthrew the other six states, and the First Emperor of the Ch'in dispatched Meng T'ien to lead a force of a hundred thousand men north to attack the barbarians. He seized control of all the lands south of the Yellow River and established border defenses along the river, constructing forty-four walled district cities overlooking the river and manning them with convict laborers transported to the border for garrison duty. He also built the Direct Road from Chiuyüan to Yün-yang. Thus he utilized the natural mountain barriers to establish the border defenses, scooping out the valleys and constructing ramparts and building installations at other points where they were needed. The whole line of defenses stretched over ten thousand li from Lin-t'ao to Liao-tung and even extended across the Yellow River and through Yang-shan and Pei-chia.
At this time the Eastern Barbarians were very powerful and the Yüeh-chih were likewise flourishing. The Shan-yü or chieftain of the Hsiung-nu was named T'ou-man. T'ou-man, unable to hold out against the Ch'in forces, had withdrawn to the far north, where he lived with his subjects for over ten years. After Meng T'ien died and the feudal lords revolted against the Ch'in, plunging China into a period of strife and turmoil, the convicts which the Ch'in had sent to the northern border to garrison the area all returned to their homes. The Hsiung-nu, the pressure against them relaxed, once again began to infiltrate south of the bend of the Yellow River until they had established themselves along the old border of China.
T'ou-man's oldest son, the heir apparent to his position, was named Mo-tun, but the Shan-yü also had a younger son by another consort whom he had taken later and was very fond of. He decided that he wanted to get rid of Mo-tun and set up his younger son as heir instead, and he therefore sent Mo-tun as a hostage to the Yüeh-chih nation. Then, after Mo-tun had arrived among the Yüeh-chih, T'ou-man made a sudden attack on them. The Yüeh-chih were about to kill Mo-tun in retaliation, but he managed to steal one of their best horses and escape, eventually making his way back home. His father, struck by his bravery, put him in command of a force of ten thousand cavalry.
Mo-tun had some arrows made that whistled in flight and used them to drill his troops in shooting from horseback. "Shoot wherever you see my whistling arrow strike!" he ordered, "and anyone who fails to shoot will be cut down!" Then he went out hunting for birds and animals, and if any of his men failed to shoot at what he himself had shot at, he cut them down on the spot. After this, he shot a whistling arrow at one of his best horses. Some of his men hung back and did not dare shoot at the horse, whereupon Mo-tun at once executed them. A little later he took an arrow and shot at his favorite wife. Again some of his men shrank back in terror and failed to discharge their arrows, and again he executed them on the spot. Finally he went out hunting with his men and shot a whistling arrow at one of his father's finest horses. All his followers promptly discharged their arrows in the same direction, and Mo-tun knew that at last they could be trusted. Accompanying his father, the Shan-yü T'ou-man, on a hunting expedition, he shot a whistling arrow at his father and every one of his followers aimed their arrows in the same direction and shot the Shan-yü dead. Then Mo-tun executed his stepmother, his younger brother, and all the high officials of the nation who refused to take orders from him, and set himself up as the new Shan-yü.
At this time the Eastern Barbarians were very powerful and, hearing that Mo-tun had killed his father and made himself leader, they sent an envoy to ask if they could have T'ou-man's famous horse that could run a thousand li in one day. Mo-tun consulted his ministers, but they all replied, "The thousand-li horse is one of the treasures of the Hsiung-nu people. You should not give it away!"
"When a neighboring country asks for it, why should I begrudge them one horse?" he said, and sent them the thousand-li horse.
After a while the Eastern Barbarians, supposing that Mo-tun was afraid of them, sent an envoy to ask for one of Mo-tun's consorts. Again Mo-tun questioned his ministers, and they replied in a rage, "The Eastern Barbarians are unreasoning beasts to come and request one of the Shan-yü's consorts. We beg to attack them!"
But Mo-tun replied, "If it is for a neighboring country, why should I begrudge them one woman?" and he sent his favorite consort to the Eastern Barbarians.
With this the ruler of the Eastern Barbarians grew more and more bold and arrogant, invading the lands to the west. Between his territory and that of the Hsiung-nu was an area of over a thousand li of uninhabited land; the two peoples made their homes on either side of this wasteland.6 The ruler of the Eastern Barbarians sent an envoy to Mo-tun saying, "The Hsiung-nu have no way of using this stretch of wasteland which lies between my border and yours. I would like to take possession of it!"
When Mo-tun consulted his ministers, some of them said, "Since the land is of no use you might as well give it to him," while others said, "No, you must not give it away!"
Mo-tun flew into a rage. "Land is the basis of the nation!" he said. "Why should I give it away?" And he executed all the ministers who had advised him to do so.
Then he mounted his horse and set off to attack the Eastern Barbarians, circulating an order throughout his domain that anyone who was slow to follow would be executed. The Eastern Barbarians had up until this time despised Mo-tun and made no preparations for their defense; when Mo-tun and his soldiers arrived, they inflicted a crushing defeat, killing the ruler of the Eastern Barbarians, taking prisoner his subjects, and seizing their domestic animals. Then he returned and rode west, attacking and routing the Yüeh-chih, and annexed the lands of the ruler of Lou-fan and the ruler of Po-yang south of the Yellow River. Thus he recovered possession of all the lands which the Ch'in general Meng T'ien had taken away from the Hsiung-nu; the border between his territory and that of the Han empire now followed the old line of defenses south of the Yellow River, and from there he marched into the Ch'ao-na and Fu-shih districts and then invaded Yen and Tai.
At this time the Han forces were stalemated in battle with the armies of Hsiang Yü, and China was exhausted by warfare. Thus Mo-tun was able to strengthen his position, massing a force of over three hundred thousand skilled crossbowmen.
Over a thousand years had elapsed from the time of Ch'un-wei, the ancestor of the Hsiung-nu, to that of Mo-tun, a vast period during which the tribes split up and scattered into various groups, sometimes expanding, sometimes dwindling in size. Thus it is impossible to give any ordered account of the lineage of the Hsiung-nu rulers. When Motun came to power, however, the Hsiung-nu reached their peak of strength and size, subjugating all of the other barbarian tribes of the north and turning south to confront China as an enemy nation. As a result of this, it is possible to give an account here of the later Hsiung-nu rulers and of the offices and titles of the nation.
Under the Shan-yü are the Wise Kings of the Left and Right, the left and right Lu-li kings, left and right generals, left and right commandants, left and right household administrators, and left and right Ku-tun marquises. The Hsiung-nu word for "wise" is "t'u-ch'i", so that the heir of the Shan-yü is customarily called the "T'u-ch'i King of the Left." Among the other leaders, from the wise kings on down to the household administrators, the more important ones command ten thousand horsemen and the lesser ones several thousand, numbering twenty-four leaders in all, though all are known by the title of "Ten Thousand Horsemen." The high ministerial offices are hereditary, being filled from generation to generation by the members of the Hu-yen and Lan families, and in more recent times by the Hsü-pu family. These three families constitute the aristocracy of the nation. The kings and other leaders of the left live in the eastern sector, the region from Shang-ku east to the lands of the Hui-mo and Ch'ao-hsien peoples. The kings and leaders of the right live in the west, the area from Shang Province west to the territories of the Yüeh-chih and Ch'iang tribes. The Shan-yü has his court in the region north of Tai and Yün-chung. Each group has its own area, within which it moves about from place to place looking for water and pasture. The Left and Right Wise Kings and Lu-li kings are the most powerful, while the Ku-tun marquises assist the Shan-yü in the administration of the nation. Each of the twenty-four leaders in turn appoints his own "chiefs of a thousand," "chiefs of a hundred," and "chiefs of ten," as well as his subordinate kings, prime ministers, chief commandants, household administrators, chü-ch'ü officials, and so forth.
In the first month of the year the various leaders come together in a small meeting at the Shan-yü's court to perform sacrifices, and in the fifth month a great meeting is held at Lung-ch'eng at which sacrifices are conducted to the Hsiung-nu ancestors, Heaven and Earth, and the gods and spirits. In the autumn, when the horses are fat, another great meeting is held at the Tai Forest when a reckoning is made of the number of persons and animals.
According to Hsiung-nu law, anyone who in ordinary times draws his sword a foot from the scabbard is condemned to death. Anyone convicted of theft has his property confiscated. Minor offenses are punished by flogging and major ones by death. No one is kept in jail awaiting sentence longer than ten days, and the number of imprisoned men for the whole nation does not exceed a handful.
At dawn the Shan-yü leaves his camp and makes obeisance to the sun as it rises, and in the evening he makes a similar obeisance to the moon. In seating arrangements the left side or the seat facing north is considered the place of honor. The days wu and chi of the ten-day week are regarded as most auspicious.
In burials the Hsiung-nu use an inner and an outer coffin, with accessories of gold, silver, clothing, and fur, but they do not construct grave mounds or plant trees on the grave, nor do they use mourning garments. When a ruler dies, the ministers and concubines who were favored by him and who are obliged to follow him in death often number in the hundreds or even thousands.
Whenever the Hsiung-nu begin some undertaking, they observe the stars and the moon. They attack when the moon is full and withdraw their troops when it wanes. After a battle those who have cut off the heads of the enemy or taken prisoners are presented with a cup of wine and allowed to keep the spoils they have captured. Any prisoners that are taken are made slaves. Therefore, when they fight, each man strives for his own gain. They are very skillful at using decoy troops to lure their opponents to destruction. When they catch sight of the enemy, they swoop down like a flock of birds, eager for booty, but when they find themselves hard pressed and beaten, they scatter and vanish like the mist. Anyone who succeeds in recovering the body of a comrade who has fallen in battle receives all of the dead man's property.
Shortly after the period described above, Mo-tun launched a series of campaigns to the north, conquering the tribes of Hun-yü, Ch'ü-she, Ting-ling, Ko-k'un, and Hsin-li. Thus the nobles and high ministers of the Hsiung-nu were all won over by Mo-tun, considering him a truly worthy leader.
At this time Kao-tsu, the founder of the Han, had just succeeded in winning control of the empire and had transferred Hsin, the former king of Hann, to the rulership of Taise" with his capital at Ma-i. The Hsiung-nu surrounded Ma-i and attacked the city in great force, whereupon Hann Hsin surrendered to them. With Hann Hsin on their side, they then proceeded to lead their troops south across Mount Chüchu and attack T'ai-yüan, marching as far as the city of Chin-yang. Emperor Kao-tsu led an army in person to attack them, but it was winter and he encountered such cold and heavy snow that two or three out of every ten of his men lost their fingers from frostbite. Mo-tun feigned a retreat to lure the Han soldiers on to an attack. When they came after him in pursuit, he concealed all of his best troops and left only his weakest and puniest men to be observed by the Han scouts. With this the entire Han force, supplemented by three hundred and twenty thousand infantry, rushed north to pursue him; Kao-tsu led the way, advancing as far as the city of P'ing-ch'eng.
Before the infantry had had a chance to arrive, however, Mo-tun swooped down with four hundred thousand of his best cavalry, surrounded Kao-tsu on White Peak, and held him there for seven days. The Han forces within the encirclement had no way of receiving aid or provisions from their comrades outside, since the Hsiung-nu cavalry surrounded them on all sides, with white horses on the west side, greenish horses on the east, black horses on the north, and red ones on the south.
Kao-tsu sent an envoy in secret to Mo-tun's consort, presenting her with generous gifts, whereupon she spoke to Mo-tun, saying, "Why should the rulers of these two nations make such trouble for each other? Even if you gained possession of the Han lands, you could never occupy them. And the ruler of the Han may have his guardian deities as well as you. I beg you to consider the matter well!"
Mo-tun had previously arranged for the troops of Wang Huang and Ghao Li, two of Hann Hsin's generals, to meet with him, but though the appointed time had come, they failed to appear and he began to suspect that they were plotting with the Han forces. He therefore decided to listen to his consort's advice and withdrew his forces from one corner of the encirclement. Kao-tsu ordered his men to load their crossbows with arrows and hold them in readiness pointed toward the outside. These preparations completed, they marched straight out of the encirclement and finally joined up with the rest of the army.
Mo-tun eventually withdrew his men and went away, and Kao-tsu likewise retreated and abandoned the campaign, dispatching Liu Ching to conclude a peace treaty with the Hsiung-nu instead.
After this Hann Hsin became a general for the Hsiung-nu, and Chao Li and Wang Huang violated the peace treaty by invading and plundering Tai and Yün-chung. Shortly afterwards, Ch'en Hsi revolted and joined with Hann Hsin in a plot to attack Tai. Kao-tsu dispatched Fan K'uai to go and attack them; he recovered possession of the provinces and districts of Tai, Yen-men, and Yün-chung, but did not venture beyond the frontier.
At this time a number of Han generals had gone over to the side of the Hsiung-nu, and for this reason Mo-tun was constantly plundering the region of Tai and causing the Han great worry. Kao-tsu therefore dispatched Liu Ching to present a princess of the imperial family to the Shan-yü to be his consort. The Han agreed to send a gift of specified quantities of silk floss and cloth, grain, and other food stuffs each year, and the two nations were to live in peace and brotherhood. After this Mo-tun raided the frontier less often than before. Later Lu Wan, the king of Yen, revolted and led his party of several thousand followers across the border to surrender to the Hsiung-nu; they roamed back and forth in the region from Shang-ku to the east, causing considerable disturbance.
After Emperor Kao-tsu passed away, Emperor Hui and Empress Lü in turn ruled the country. At this time the Han had just come to power and the Hsiung-nu, unimpressed by its strength, were behaving with great arrogance. Mo-tun even sent an insulting letter to Empress Lü. She wanted to launch a campaign against him, but her generals reminded her that "even Emperor Kao-tsu, with all his wisdom and bravery, encountered great difficulty at P'ing-ch'eng," and she was finally persuaded to give up the idea and resume friendly relations with the Hsiung-nu.
When Emperor Wen came to the throne he renewed the peace treaty with the Hsiung-nu. In the fifth month of the third year of his reign [177 B.C.], however, the Hsiung-nu Wise King of the Right invaded the region south of the Yellow River, plundering the loyal barbarians of Shang Province who had been appointed by the Han to guard the frontier, and murdering and carrying off a number of the inhabitants. Emperor Wen ordered the chancellor Kuan Ying to lead a force of eighty-five thousand carriages and cavalry to Kao-nu, where they attacked the Wise King of the Right. The latter fled beyond the frontier. The emperor in person visited T'ai-yüan, at which time the king of Chi-pei revolted. When the emperor returned to the capital he disbanded the army which Kuan Ying had used in the attack on the barbarians.
The following year the Shan-yü sent a letter to the Han court which read:

The great Shan-yü whom Heaven has set up respectfully inquires of the emperor s health. Formerly the emperor broached the question of a peace alliance, and I was most happy to comply with the intentions expressed in his letter. Certain of the Han border officials, however, imposed upon and insulted the Wise King of the Right, and as a result he heeded the counsel of Hou-i, Lu-hou, Nan-chih, and others of his generals and, without asking my permission, engaged in a skirmish with the Han officials, thus violating the pact between the rulers of our two nations and rupturing the bonds of brotherhood that joined us. The emperor has twice sent letters complaining of this situation and I have in turn dispatched an envoy with my answer, but my envoy has not been allowed to return, nor has any envoy come from the Han. As a result, the Han has broken off peaceful relations and our two neighboring countries are no longer bound in alliance.
Because of the violation of the pact committed by the petty officials, and the subsequent events, I have punished the Wise King of the Right by sending him west to search out the Yüeh-chih people and attack them. Through the aid of Heaven, the excellence of his fighting men, and the strength of his horses, he has succeeded in wiping out the Yüeh-chih, slaughtering or forcing to submission every member of the tribe. In addition he has conquered the Lou-lan, Wu-sun, and Hu-chieh tribes, as well as the twenty-six states nearby, so that all of them have become a part of the Hsiung-nu nation. All the people who live by drawing the bow are now united into one family and the entire region of the north is at peace.
Thus I wish now to lay down my weapons, rest my soldiers, and turn my horses to pasture; to forget the recent affair and restore our old pact, that the peoples of the border may have peace such as they enjoyed in former times, that the young may grow to manhood, the old live out their lives in security, and generation after generation enjoy peace and comfort.
However, I do not as yet know the intentions of the emperor. Therefore I have dispatched my palace attendant Hsi-hu-ch'ien to bear this letter. At the same time I beg to present one camel, two riding horses, and eight carriage horses. If the emperor does not wish the Hsiung-nu to approach his frontier, then he should order the officials and people along the border to withdraw a good distance back from the frontier. When my envoy has arrived and delivered this, I trust that he will be sent back to me.

The envoy bearing the letter arrived in the region of Hsin-wang during the sixth month. When it was delivered to the emperor, he began deliberations with his ministers as to whether it was better to attack or make peace. The high officials all stated, "Since the Shan-yü has just conquered the Yüeh-chih and is riding on a wave of victory, he cannot be attacked. Moreover, even if we were to seize the Hsiung-nu lands, they are all swamps and saline wastes, not fit for habitation. It would be far better to make peace."
The emperor agreed with their opinion and in the sixth year of the former part of his reign [174 B.C.] he sent an envoy to the Hsiung-nu with a letter which read as follows:

The emperor respectfully inquires about the health of the great Shan-yü. Your palace attendant Hsi-hu-ch'icn has brought us a letter which states: "The Wise King of the Right, without asking my permission, heeded the counsel of Hou-i, Lu-hou, Nan-chih, and others of his generals, violating the pact between the rulers of our two nations and rupturing the bonds of brotherhood that joined us, and as a result the Han has broken off peaceful relations with me, and our two neighboring countries are no longer bound in alliance. Because of the violation of the pact committed by the petty officials, I have punished the Wise King of the Right by sending him west to attack the Yüeh-chih. Having completed the conquest of the region, I wish to lay down my weapons, rest my soldiers, and turn my horses to pasture; to forget the recent affair and restore our old pact so that the peoples of the border may have peace, the young may grow to manhood, the old live out their lives in security, and generation after generation enjoy peace and comfort."
We heartily approve these words. This indeed is the way the sage rulers of antiquity would have spoken.
The Han has made a pact of brotherhood with the Hsiung-nu, and for this reason we have sent generous gifts to you. Any violations of the pact or ruptures of the bonds of brotherhood have been the work of the Hsiung-nu. However, as there has been an amnesty since the affair of the Wise King of the Right occurred, you need not punish him too severely. If your intentions are really those expressed in your letter, and if you will make them clearly known to your various officials so that they will henceforth act in good faith and commit no more violations of the pact, then we are prepared to honor the terms of your letter.
Your envoy tells us that you have led your troops in person to attack the other barbarian nations and have won merit, suffering great hardship on the field of battle. We therefore send you from our own wardrobe an embroidered robe lined with patterned damask, an embroidered and lined underrobe, and a brocaded coat, one each; one comb; one sash with gold ornaments; one gold-ornamented leather belt; ten rolls of embroidery; thirty roles of brocade; and forty rolls each of heavy red silk and light green silk, which shall be delivered to you by our palace counselor I and master of guests Chien.

Shortly after this, Mo-tun died and his son Chi-chu was set up with the title of Old Shan-yü. When Chi-chu became Shan-yü, Emperor Wen sent a princess of the imperial family to be his consort, dispatching a eunuch from Yen named Chung-hsing Shuo to accompany her as her tutor. Chung-hsing Shuo did not wish to undertake the mission, but the Han officials forced him to do so. "My going will bring nothing but trouble to the Han!" he warned them.
After Chung-hsing Shuo reached his destination, he went over to the side of the Shan-yü. who treated him with the greatest favor.
The Hsiung-nu had always had a liking for Han silks and food stuffs, but Chung-hsing Shuo told them, "All the multitudes of the Hsiung-nu nation would not amount to one province in the Han empire. The strength of the Hsiung-nu lies in the very fact that their food and clothing are different from those of the Chinese, and they are therefore not dependent upon the Han for anything. Now the Shan-yü has this fondness for Chinese things and is trying to change the Hsiung-nu customs. Thus, although the Han sends no more than a fifth of its goods here, it will in the end succeed in winning over the whole Hsiung-nu nation. From now on, when you get any of the Han silks, put them on and try riding around on your horses through the brush and brambles! In no time your robes and leggings will be torn to shreds and everyone will be able to see that silks are no match for the utility and excellence of felt or leather garments. Likewise, when you get any of the Han foodstuffs, throw them away so that the people can see that they are not as practical or as tasty as milk and kumiss!"
He also taught the Shan-yü's aides how to make an itemized accounting of the number of persons and domestic animals in the country.
The Han letters addressed to the Shan-yü were always written on wooden tablets one foot and one inch in length and began, "The emperor respectfully inquires about the health of the great Shan-yü of the Hsiung-nu. We send you the following articles, etc., etc." Chunghsing Shuo, however, instructed the Shan-yü to use in replying to the Han a tablet measuring one foot two inches, decorated with broad stamps and great long seals, and worded in the following extravagant manner: "The great Shan-yü of the Hsiung-nu, born of Heaven and Earth and ordained by the sun and moon, respectfully inquires about the health of the Han emperor. We send you the following articles, etc., etc."
When one of the Han envoys to the Hsiung-nu remarked scornfully that Hsiung-nu custom showed no respect for the aged, Chung-hsing Shuo began to berate him. "According to Han custom," he said, "when the young men are called into military service and sent off with the army to garrison the frontier, do not their old parents at home voluntarily give up their warm clothing and tasty food so that there will be enough to provide for the troops?"
"Yes, they do," admitted the Han envoy.
"The Hsiung-nu make it clear that warfare is their business. And since the old and the weak are not capable of fighting, the best food and drink are naturally allotted to the young men in the prime of life. So the young men are willing to fight for the defense of the nation, and both fathers and sons are able to live out their lives in security. How can you say that the Hsiung-nu despise the aged?"
"But among the Hsiung-nu," the envoy continued, "fathers and sons sleep together in the same tent. And when a father dies, the sons marry their own stepmothers, and when brothers die, their remaining brothers marry their widows! These people know nothing of the elegance of hats and girdles, nor of the rituals of the court!"
"According to Hsiung-nu custom," replied Chung-hsing Shuo, "the people eat the flesh of their domestic animals, drink their milk, and wear their hides, while the animals graze from place to place, searching for pasture and water. Therefore, in wartime the men practice riding and shooting, while in times of peace they enjoy themselves and have nothing to do. Their laws are simple and easy to carry out; the relation between ruler and subject is relaxed and intimate, so that the governing of the whole nation is no more complicated than the governing of one person. The reason that sons marry their stepmothers and brothers marry their widowed sisters-in-law is simply that they hate to see the clan die out. Therefore, although the Hsiung-nu encounter times of turmoil, the ruling families always manage to stand firm. In China, on the other hand, though a man would never dream of marrying his stepmother or his brother's widow, yet the members of the same family drift so far apart that they end up murdering each other! This is precisely why so many changes of dynasty have come about in China! Moreover, among the Chinese, as etiquette and the sense of duty decay, enmity arises between the rulers and the ruled, while the excessive building of houses and dwellings exhausts the strength and resources of the nation. Men try to get their food and clothing by farming and raising silkworms and to insure their safety by building walls and fortifications. Therefore, although danger threatens, the Chinese people are given no training in aggressive warfare, while in times of stability they must still wear themselves out trying to make a living. Pooh! You people in your mud huts-you talk too much! Enough of this blabbering and mouthing! Just because you wear hats, what does that make you?"
After this, whenever the Han envoys would try to launch into any sermons or orations, Chung-hsing Shuo would cut them off at once. "Not so much talk from the Han envoys! Just make sure that the silks and grainstuffs you bring to the Hsiung-nu are of the right measure and quality, that's all. What's the need for talking? If the goods you deliver are up to measure and of good quality, all right. But if there is any deficiency or the quality is no good, then when the autumn harvest comes we will take our horses and trample all over your crops!"
Day and night he instructed the Shan-yü on how to maneuver into a more advantageous position.
In the fourteenth year of Emperor Wen's reign [166 B.C.] the Shan-yü led a force of one hundred and forty thousand horsemen through the Ch'ao-na and Hsiao passes, killing Sun Ang, the chief commandant of Pei-ti Province, and carrying off large numbers of people and animals.
Eventually he rode as far as P'eng-yang, sent a surprise force to break into and burn the Hui-chung Palace, and dispatched scouts as far as the Palace of Sweet Springs in Yung.
Emperor Wen appointed the palace military commander Chou She and the chief of palace attendants Chang Wu as generals and put them in command of a force of a thousand chariots and a hundred thousand horsemen to garrison the vicinity of Ch'ang-an and guard the capital from the barbarian invaders. He also appointed Lu Ch'ing, the marquis of Ch'ang, as general of Shang Province; Wei Su, the marquis of Ning, as general of Pei-ti; Chou Tsao, the marquis of Lung-lü, as general of Lung-hsi; Chang Hsiang-ju, u, the marquis of Tung-yang, as general in chief; and Tung Ch'ih, the marquis of Ch'eng, as general of the vanguard, and sent them with a large force of chariots and cavalry to attack the barbarians. The Shan-yü remained within the borders of the empire for a little over a month and then withdrew. The Han forces pursued him beyond the frontier but returned without having been able to kill any of the enemy.
The Hsiung-nu grew more arrogant day by day, crossing the border every year, killing many of the inhabitants, and stealing their animals. Yün-chung and Liao-hsi suffered most severely, while in Tai Province alone over ten thousand persons were killed. The Han court, greatly distressed, sent an envoy with a letter to the Hsiung-nu, and the Shan-yü in turn dispatched one of his household administrators to apologize and request a renewal of the peace alliance.
In the second year of the latter part of his reign [162 B.C.] Emperor Wen sent an envoy to the Hsiung-nu with a letter that read:

The emperor respectfully inquires about the health of the great Shan-yü. Your envoys, the household administrator and chü-ch'ü Tiao Ch'ü-nan and the palace attendant Han Liao, have delivered to us two horses, which we have respectfully accepted.
According to the decree of the former emperor, the land north of the Great Wall, where men wield the bow and arrow, was to receive its commands from the Shan-yü, while that within the wall, whose inhabitants dwell in houses and wear hats and girdles, was to be ruled by us; thus might the countless inhabitants of these lands gain their food and clothing by agriculture, weaving, or hunting; father and son live side by side; ruler and minister enjoy mutual security; and all forsake violence and rebellion. Now we have heard that certain evil and deluded men, succumbing greedily to the lure of gain, have turned their backs upon righteousness and violated the peace alliance, forgetting the fate of the countless inhabitants and disrupting the concord which existed between the rulers of our two states.
This, however, is an affair of the past. In your letter, you say that "since our two countries have been joined again in peace and the two rulers are once more in concord," you desire "to rest your soldiers and turn your horses to pasture, in order that generation after generation may know prosperity and joy and we may make a new beginning in peace and harmony." We heartily approve these words. The sage, it is said, renews himself daily, reforming and making a new beginning in order that the old people may have rest and the young grow to manhood, that each may preserve his own life and fulfill the years which Heaven has granted him. So long as we and the Shan-yü join in walking this road, following the will of Heaven and pitying the people, bestowing the blessing of peace on generation after generation without end, then there will be no one in the whole world who will not benefit.
Our two great nations, the Han and the Hsiung-nu, stand side by side. Since the Hsiung-nu dwell in the north, where the land is cold and the killing frosts come early, we have decreed that our officials shall send to the Shan-yü each year a fixed quantity of millet, leaven, gold, silk cloth, thread, floss, and other articles.
Now the world enjoys profound peace and the people are at rest. We and the Shan-yü must be as parents to them. When we consider past affairs, we realize that it is only because of petty matters and trifling reasons that the plans of our ministers have failed. No such matters are worthy to disrupt the harmony that exists between brothers.
We have heard it said that Heaven shows no partiality in sheltering mankind, and Earth no bias in bearing it up. Let us, then, with the Shan-yü, cast aside these trifling matters of the past and walk the great road together, wiping out former evils and planning for the distant future, in order that the peoples of our two states may be joined together like the sons of a single family. Then, from the countless multitudes of the people down to the very fish and turtles, the birds which fly above, all creatures that walk or breathe or move, there will be none that fail to find peace and profit and relief from peril.
To allow men to come and go without hindrance is the way of Heaven. Let us both forget past affairs. We have pardoned those of our subjects who fled to the Hsiung-nu or were taken prisoner. Let the Shan-yü likewise ask no further concerning Chang Ni and the other Hsiung-nu leaders who surrendered to us.
We have heard that the rulers of ancient times made their promises clearly known and that, once they had given their consent, they did not go back on their words. The Shan-yü should consider this well, so that all the world may enjoy profound peace. Once the peace alliance has been concluded, the Han shall not be the first to violate it! Let the Shan-yü ponder these words!

When the Shan-yü expressed his willingness to abide by the peace agreement, Emperor Wen issued an edict to the imperial secretary which read:

The great Shan-yü of the Hsiung-nu has sent us a letter signifying that the peace alliance has been concluded. No action need be taken concerning those who have fled from one state to the other, since they are not sufficiently numerous to affect the population or size of our territories. The Hsiung-nu shall not enter within our borders, nor shall the Han forces venture beyond the frontier. Anyone who violates this agreement shall be executed. It is to the advantage of both nations that they should live in lasting friendship without further aggression. We have given our consent to this alliance, and now we wish to publish it abroad to the world so that all may clearly understand it.

Four years later the Old Shan-yü Chi-chu died and was succeeded by his son Chün-ch'en. After Chün-ch'en assumed the title of Shan-yü, Emperor Wen once more renewed the former peace alliance. Chunghsing Shuo continued to act as adviser to the new Shan-yü.
A little over a year after Chün-ch'en became Shan-yü [158 B.C.] the Hsiung-nu again violated the peace alliance, invading Shang and Yünchung provinces in great numbers; thirty thousand horsemen attacked each province, killing and carrying off great numbers of the inhabitants before withdrawing. The emperor dispatched three generals with armies to garrison Pei-ti, the Chü-chu Pass in Tai, and the Flying Fox Pass in Chao, at the same time ordering the other garrisons along the border to guard their defenses in order to hold off the barbarians. He also stationed three armies in the vicinity of Ch'ang-an at Hsi-liu, at Chi-men north of the Wei River, and at the Pa River, so as to be prepared for the barbarians in case they entered that area. The Hsiung-nu cavalry poured through the Chü-chu Pass in Tai, and the signal fires along the border flashed the news of their invasion to Ch'ang-an and the Palace of Sweet Springs. After several months the Han troops reached the border, but by that time the Hsiung-nu had already withdrawn far beyond and the Han troops were recalled.
A year or so later Emperor Wen passed away and Emperor Ching came to the throne. At this time Liu Sui, the king of Chao, sent envoys in secret to negotiate with the Hsiung-nu. When Wu, Ch'u, Chao, and the other states revolted, the Hsiung-nu planned to cooperate with Chao and cross the border, hut the Han forces besieged and defeated the king of Chao, and the Hsiung-nu called off their plans for an invasion.
After this Emperor Ching once more renewed the peace alliance with the Hsiung-nu, allowing them to buy goods in the markets along the Han border and sending them supplies and a princess of the imperial family, as had been done under the earlier agreements. Thus, throughout Emperor Ching's reign, although the Hsiung-nu from time to time made small plundering raids across the border, they did not carry out any major invasion.
When the present emperor came to the throne he reaffirmed the peace alliance and treated the Hsiung-nu with generosity, allowing them to trade in the markets of the border stations and sending them lavish gifts. From the Shan-yü on down, all the Hsiung-nu grew friendly with the Han, coming and going along the Great Wall.
The emperor then dispatched Nieh Weng-i, a native of the city of Ma-i, to carry contraband goods to the Hsiung-nu and begin trading with them. This done, Nieh Weng-i deceived them by offering to hand over the city of Ma-i to the Shan-yü, intending by this ruse to lure him into the area. The Shan-yü trusted Nieh Weng-i and, greedy for the wealth of Ma-i, set out with a force of a hundred thousand cavalry and crossed the border at the barrier of Wu-chou. The Han in the meantime had concealed three hundred thousand troops in the vicinity of Ma-i, headed by four generals under the imperial secretary Han Ankuo, who was the leader of the expeditionary forces, ready to spring on the Shan-yü when he arrived.
The Shan-yü crossed the Han border but was still some hundred li from Ma-i when he began to notice that, although the fields were full of animals, there was not a single person in sight. Growing suspicious, he attacked one of the beacon warning stations. A defense official of Yen-men who had been patrolling the area but had caught sight of the barbarian invaders had at this time taken refuge in the warning station, for he knew of the plan of the Han forces to ambush them. When the Shan-yü attacked and captured the warning station, he was about to put the defense official to death when the latter informed him of the Han troops hiding in the valley. "I suspected as much!" exclaimed the Shan-yü in great alarm, and proceeded to lead his forces back to the border. After they had safely crossed the border he remarked, "Heaven was on my side when I captured this defense official. In effect Heaven sent you to warn me!" and he awarded the defense official the title of "Heavenly King."
The Han forces had agreed to wait until the Shan-yü had entered Ma-i before launching their attack but, since he never proceeded that far, they had no opportunity to strike. Meanwhile another Han general, Wang Hui, had been ordered to lead a special force from Tai and attack the Hsiung-nu baggage train, but when he heard that the Shan-yü had retreated and that his forces were extremely numerous, he did not dare to make an attack. When it was all over the Han officials condemned Wang Hui to execution on the grounds that, though he was the one who had engineered the entire plot, he had failed to advance when the time came.
After this the Hsiung-nu broke off friendly relations with the Han and began to attack the border defenses wherever they happened to be. Time and again they crossed the frontier and carried out innumerable plundering raids. At the same time they continued to be as greedy as ever, delighting in the border markets and longing for Han goods, and the I-Ian for its part continued to allow them to trade in the markets in order to sap their resources.
Five years after the Ma-i campaign, in the autumn [129 B.C.], the Han government dispatched four generals, each with a force of ten thousand cavalry, to make a surprise attack on the barbarians at the border markets. General Wei Ch'ing rode out of Shang-ku as far as Lung-ch'eng, killing or capturing seven hundred of the enemy. Kungsun Ho proceeded from Yün-men, but took no captives. Kung-sun Ao rode north from Tai Province, but was defeated by the barbarians and lost over seven thousand of his men. Li Kuang advanced from Yen-men, but was defeated and captured, though he later managed to escape and return to the Han. On their return, Kung-sun Ao and Li Kuang were thrown into prison by the Han officials but were allowed to purchase a pardon for their offenses and were reduced to the status of commoners.
In the winter the Hsiung-nu several times crossed the border on plundering expeditions, hitting hardest at Yü-yang. The emperor dispatched General Han An-kuo to garrison Yü-yang and protect it from the barbarians. In the autumn of the following year twenty thousand Hsiung-nu horsemen invaded the empire, murdered the governor of Liao-hsi, and carried off over two thousand prisoners. They also invaded Yü-yang, defeated the army of over a thousand under the command of the governor of Yü-yang, and surrounded Han An-kuo's camp. Han An-kuo at this time had a force of over a thousand horsemen under his command, but before long even these were on the point of being wiped out. Relief forces arrived from Yen just in time, and the Hsiung-nu withdrew. The Hsiung-nu also invaded Yen-men and killed or carried off over a thousand persons.
The Han then dispatched General Wei Ch'ing with a force of thirty thousand cavalry to ride north from Yen-men, and Li Hsi to ride out from Tai Province to attack the barbarians. They succeeded in killing or capturing several thousand of the enemy.
The following year Wei Ch'ing again rode out of Yün-chung and proceeded west as far as Lung-hsi, attacking the kings of the Lou-fan and Po-yang barbarians south of the Yellow River, capturing or killing several thousand of the enemy, and seizing over a million cattle and sheep. Thus the Han regained control of the area south of the bend of the Yellow River and began to build fortifications at So-fang, repairing the old system of defenses that had been set up by Meng T'ien during the Ch'in dynasty and strengthening the frontier along the Yellow River The Han also abandoned claims to the district of Shih-pi and the region of Tsao-yang that had formed the extreme northern part of the province of Shang-ku, handing them over to the Hsiung-nu. This took place in the second year of the era yüan-so [127 B.C.].
The following winter the Shan-yü Chün-ch'en died and his younger brother, the Lu-li King of the Left, I-chih-hsieh, set himself up as Shan-yü. He attacked and defeated Chün-ch'en's heir, Yü-tan, who fled and surrendered to the Han. The Han enfeoffed Yü-tan as marquis of She-an, but he died several months later.
The summer after I-chih-hsieh became Shan-yü the Hsiung-nu invaded the province of Tai with twenty or thirty thousand Cavalry, murdering the governor, Kung Yu, and carrying off over a thousand persons. in the fall the Hsiung-nu struck again, this time at Yen-men, killing or carrying off over a thousand of the inhabitants. The following year they once more invaded Tai, Ting-hsiang, and Shang Provinces with thirty thousand cavalry in each group, killing or carrying off several thousand persons. The Wise King of the Right, angry that the Han had seized the territory south of the Yellow River and built fortifications at So-fang, several times crossed the border on plundering raids; he even went so far as to invade the region south of the river, ravaging So-fang and killing or carrying off a large number of the officials and inhabitants.
In the spring of the following year [124 B.C.] the Han made Wei Ch'ing a general in chief and sent him with an army of over a hundred thousand men and six generals to proceed north from So-fang and Kaoch'üeh and strike at the barbarians. The Wise King of the Right, convinced that the Han forces could never penetrate far enough north to reach him, had drunk himself into a stupor when the Han army, marching six or seven hundred li beyond the border, appeared and surrounded him in the night. The king, greatly alarmed, barely escaped with his life, and his best horsemen managed to break away in small groups and follow after him; the Han, however, succeeded in capturing fifteen thousand of his men and women, including over ten petty kings.
In the autumn a Hsiung-nu force of ten thousand cavalry invaded Tai Province, killed the chief commandant Chu Ying, and carried off over a thousand men.
In the spring of the following year [123 B.C.] the Han again dispatched the general in chief Wei Ch'ing with six generals and a force of over a hundred thousand cavalry; they rode several hundred li north from Ting-hsiang and attacked the Hsiung-nu. All in all they succeeded in killing or capturing over nineteen thousand of the enemy, but in the engagements the Han side lost two generals and over three thousand cavalry. Of the two generals one of them, Su Chien, the general of the right, managed to escape, but the other, Chao Hsin, the marquis of Hsi, who was acting as general of the vanguard, surrendered to the Hsiung-nu when he saw that his men could not win a victory.
Chao Hsin was originally a petty king of the Hsiung-nu who later went over to the side of the Han. The Han enfeoffed him as marquis of Hsi and made him general of the vanguard, sending him to accompany Su Chien, the general of the right, on a different line of advance from that of the rest of the expedition. Chao Hsin and the forces under his command were alone, however, when they encountered the Shan-yü's men, and as a result his troops were wiped out. The Shan-yü. having accepted Chao Hsin's surrender, appointed him to the rank of Tzu-tz'u king, gave him his own sister as a wife, and began to plot with him against the Han. Chao Hsin advised the Shan-yü to withdraw farther north beyond the desert instead of maneuvering near the Chinese border. In this way he would be able to lure the Han troops after him and, when they were thoroughly exhausted, take advantage of their weakness to wipe them out. The Shan-yü agreed to follow this plan.
The following year ten thousand barbarian horsemen invaded Shang-ku and killed several hundred inhabitants.
In the spring of the next year [121 B.C.] the Han dispatched the general of swift cavalry Ho Ch'ü-ping to lead ten thousand cavalry out of Lung-hsi. They rode more than a thousand li beyond Mount Yen-chih and attacked the Hsiung-nu, killing or capturing over eighteen thousand of the enemy cavalry, defeating the Hsiu-t'u king, and seizing the golden man which he used in worshiping In the summer Ho Ch'ü-ping, accompanied by Kung-sun Ao, the Ho-ch'i marquis, led a force of twenty or thirty thousand cavalry some two thousand li out of Lung-hsi and Pei-ti to attack the barbarians. They passed Chü-yen, attacked in the region of the Ch'i-lien Mountains, and captured or killed over thirty thousand of the enemy, including seventy or more petty kings and their subordinates.
Meanwhile the Hsiung-nu invaded Yen-men in Tai Province, killing or carrying off several hundred persons. The Han dispatched Chang Ch'ien, the P0-wang marquis, and General Li Kuang to ride out of Yu-pei-p'ing and attack the Hsiung-nu Wise King of the Left. The Wise King of the Left surrounded Li Kuang's army and came near to wiping out his four thousand men, though he managed to inflict extraordinary damage on the enemy. Chang Ch'ien's forces came to the rescue just in time and Li Kuang was able to escape, but the Han losses amounted to several thousand men. When the armies returned to the capital, Kung-sun Ao was accused of having arrived late at a rendezvous with Ho Ch'ü-ping and was condemned to die along with Chang Ch'ien; both men purchased pardons and were reduced to the rank of commoners.
The Shan-yü was angry at the Hun-yeh and Hsiu-t'u kings who lived in the western part of his domain because they had allowed the Han to capture or kill twenty or thirty thousand of their men; in the autumn he sent them a summons, intending to execute them. The Hun-yeh and Hsiu-t'u kings, terrified, sent word to the Han that they were willing to surrender. The Han dispatched Ho Ch'ü-ping to go and meet them, but on the way the Hun-yeh king murdered the Hsiu-t'u king and combined the latter's forces with his own. When he surrendered to the Han, he had a force of over forty thousand men, though it was commonly referred to as a force of a hundred thousand. Having gained the allegiance of the Hun-yeh king, the Han found itself far less troubled by barbarian invasions in the regions of Lung-hsi, Pei-ti, and Ho-hsi. It therefore moved a number of poor people from east of the Pass to the region south of the bend of the Yellow River known as New Ch'in, which had been seized from the Hsiung-nu, in order to populate the area, and reduced the number of garrison troops along the border west of Pei-ti to half.
The following year [120 B.C.] the Hsiung-nu invaded Yu-pei-p'ing and Ting-hsiang with a force of twenty or thirty thousand cavalry in each region, killing or carrying off over a thousand persons before withdrawing.
In the spring of the following year [119 B.C.] the Han strategists plotted together, saying, "Chao Hsin, the marquis of Hsi, who is acting as adviser to the Shan-yü. is convinced that, since the Hsiung-nu are living north of the desert, the Han forces can never reach them." They agreed therefore to fatten the horses on grain and send out a force of a hundred thousand cavalry, along with a hundred and forty thousand horses to carry baggage and other equipment (this in addition to the horses provided for transporting provisions). They ordered the force to split up into two groups commanded by the general in chief Wei Ch'ing and the general of swift cavalry Ho Ch'ü-ping. The former was to ride out of Ting-hsiang and the latter out of Tai; it was agreed that the entire force would cross the desert and attack the Hsiung-nu.
When the Shan-yü received word of the approach of these armies, he ordered his baggage trains to withdraw to a distance and, with his finest soldiers, waited on the northern edge of the desert, where he closed in battle with the army of Wei Ch'ing. The battle continued throughout the day and, as evening fell, a strong wind arose. With this the Han forces swooped out to the left and right and surrounded the Shan-yü. The Shan-yü. perceiving that he was no match for the Han forces, abandoned his army and, accompanied by only a few hundred of his finest horsemen, broke through the Han encirclement and fled to the northwest. The Han forces set out after him in the night and, though they did not succeed in capturing him, cut down or seized nineteen thousand of the enemy on the way. They proceeded north as far as Chao Hsin's fort at Mount T'ien-yen before turning back.
After the Shan-yü had fled, his soldiers, mingling with the Han forces in the confusion, little by little made their way after him. It was therefore a considerable time before the Shan-yü was able to reassemble his army again. The Lu-li king of the right, believing that the Shan-yü had been killed in battle, declared himself the new Shan-yü. but when the real Shan-yü gathered his forces together again the Lu-li king renounced the title and resumed his former position.
Ho Ch'ü-ping had meanwhile advanced some two thousand li north from Tai and closed in battle with the Hsiung-nu Wise King of the Left. The Han forces killed or captured over seventy thousand of the enemy and the wise king and his generals all fled. Ho Ch'ü-ping performed a Feng sacrifice at Mount Lang-chü-hsü and a Shan sacrifice at Mount Ku-yen, gazing out across the sea of sand before returning. After this the Hsiung-nu withdrew far from the Chinese border, and their leaders no longer established their courts south of the desert.
In the territory beyond the Yellow River from So-fang west to Ling-chü the Han established irrigation works and set up garrison farms here and there, sending fifty or sixty thousand officials and soldiers to man them. Gradually the farms ate up more and more territory until they bordered the lands of the Hsiung-nu to the north.
In the campaign just concluded, when the two Han generals advanced north in great force and surrounded the Shan-yü. the Han had succeeded in killing or capturing eighty or ninety thousand of the enemy. At the same time, however, twenty or thirty thousand Han soldiers lost their lives in the expedition and over a hundred thousand horses were killed. Thus, although the Hsiung-nu had withdrawn far to the north to nurse their wounds, the Han, being short of horses, was unable to strike at them again. Following the advice of Chao Hsin, the Hsiung-nu dispatched an envoy to the Han court to use soft words and request a peace alliance. When the emperor referred the proposal to his ministers for deliberation, some of them spoke in favor of a peace pact, while others urged that the Han pursue the Hsiung-nu and force them to submission. Jen Ch'ang, the chief secretary to the chancellor, announced his opinion, "Since the Hsiung-nu have just recently been defeated and their spirits broken, they should be treated as foreign vassals and required to come to the border in the spring and autumn to pay their respects to the Han."
The emperor accordingly sent Jen Ch'ang to the Shan-yü with this counterproposal. When the Shan-yü heard Jen Ch'ang's suggestion, he flew into a rage and detained him in his camp, refusing to send him back to China. (Earlier, one of the Hsiung-nu envoys had gone over to the side of the Han and remained in China and the Shan-yü therefore detained Jen Ch'ang by way of retaliation.)
The Han then began to gather together a force of men and horses in preparation for another campaign, but just at that time the general of swift cavalry Ho Ch'ü-ping died and so for several years the Han made no further attacks on the Hsiung-nu.
The Shan-yü I-chih-hsieh, after having ruled for thirteen years, died and was succeeded by his son Wu-wei. This occurred in the third year of the yüan-ting era [114 B.C.]. At the time that Wu-wei became Shan-yü. the Son of Heaven made his first imperial tour of the various provinces, and after that the Han armies were busy in the south putting down the rebellion in the two kingdoms of Southern and Eastern Yüeh, so no attacks were made on the Hsiung-nu. The Hsiung-nu for their part likewise made no raids across the border.
Three years after Wu-wei became Shan-yü the Han, having wiped out the kingdom of Southern Yüeh, dispatched the former master of carriage Kung-sun Ho at the head of a force of fifteen thousand cavalry; they rode more than two thousand li north from Chiu-yüan, advancing as far as Fu-chü-ching before turning back, but they did not catch sight of a single Hsiung-nu. The Han also dispatched Chao P'o-nu, the former Ts'ung-p'iao marquis, with over ten thousand cavalry to ride out of Ling-chü; Chao P'o-nu proceeded several thousand li, reaching the Hsiung-ho River before turning back, but he too failed to see a single Hsiung-nu.
At this time the emperor was making a tour of the border. When he reached So-fang, he held an inspection of one hundred and eighty thousand cavalry soldiers in order to make a display of military might, at the same time dispatching a man named Kuo Chi to the Shan-yii to make sure that the Hsiung-nu were fully informed of the event.
When Kuo Chi reached the Hsiung-nu, the Hsiung-nu master of guests asked him what his business was. Replying in very polite and humble terms, Kuo Chi said, "I would like to wait until I am granted an audience with the Shan-yü before stating my business."
When he was shown before the Shan-yü he said, "The head of the king of Southern Yüeh hangs above the northern gate of the Han capital. Now, if you are able, advance and engage the Han forces in battle! The Son of Heaven has led his troops in person and is waiting on the border. But if you are not able, then turn your face to the south and acknowledge yourself a subject of the Han! Why this useless running away and hiding far off north of the desert in a cold and bitter land where there is no water or pasture? It will get you nowhere!"
When he had finished speaking, the Shan-yü, livid with rage, ordered the master of guests who had ushered him in to be cut down on the spot. He detained Kuo Chi and would not let him return to China; later he moved him to the shore of the Northern Sea [Lake Baikal]. In the end, however, the Shan-yü refused to be provoked into invading the Han border but turned his horses to pasture, rested his troops, and practiced archery and hunting instead, sending envoys to the Han from time to time to speak with soft words and honeyed phrases and request a peace alliance.
The Han in turn sent Wang Wu and others as envoys to observe the Hsiung-nu. According to Hsiung-nu law, unless an envoy from the Han surrendered his credentials and allowed his face to be tattooed in black, he would not be admitted to the Shan-yü's tent. Wang Wu had been born in the north and was familiar with the barbarian customs, and therefore he readily gave up his credentials, submitted to the tattooing, and was able to gain admittance to the Shan-yü's tent. The Shan-yü showed a great liking for him and pretended to agree amiably with whatever he said, even with the suggestion that he send his son, the heir apparent to the position of Shan-yü, as a hostage to the Han in order to secure a peace alliance. The Han then dispatched Yang Hsin as envoy to the Hsiung-nu.
At this time the Han forces in the east had conquered the barbarian states of Hui-mo and Ch'ao-hsien and made provinces out of them, while in the west the Han had created the province of Chiu-ch'üan in order to drive a wedge between the Hsiung-nu and the Ch'iang barbarians and cut off communications between them. It had also established relations with the Yüeh-chih people and Ta-hsia [Bactria] farther west and had sent an imperial princess to marry the ruler of the Wu-sun people, all in an effort to create a split between the Hsiung-nu and the states to the west which had up to this time aided and supported them. In addition, the Han continued to expand its agricultural lands in the north until the frontier had been pushed out as far as Hsüan-lei. In spite of all these moves, however, the Hsiung-nu did not dare to voice any objections. This year Chao Hsin, the marquis of Hsi, who had been acting as adviser to the Shan-yü, died.
The Han administrators believed that the Hsiung-nu had already been sufficiently weakened and could now be made to acknowledge themselves subjects of the Han and submit to Chinese rule, and therefore they bad dispatched Yang Hsin as envoy to the Shan-yü. But Yang Hsin was by nature very outspoken and unyielding and had never been high in the Han bureaucracy; the Shan-yü showed no liking for him. When summoned for an interview in the Shan-yü's tent, he refused to surrender his credentials, and so the Shan-yü had mats spread outside his tent and received Yang Hsin there. "If you wish to conclude a peace alliance," Yang Hsin announced when he had been shown into the Shan-yü's presence, "you must send your heir to the Han court as a hostage!"
"That is not the way things were done under the old alliance!" the Shan-yü objected. "Under the old alliance the Han always sent us an imperial princess, as well as allotments of silks, foodstuffs, and other goods, in order to secure peace, while we for our part refrained from making trouble on the border. Now you want to go against the old ways and make me send my son as a hostage. I have no use for such proposals!"
It is the way with the Hsiung-nu that, whenever an envoy from the Han comes who is not a high court official, if he is the scholarly Confucian type, they assume that he has come to lecture them and they do all they can to squelch his rhetoric, while if he is a young man, they assume he has come with assassination in mind and concentrate on destroying his nerve. Every time a Han envoy arrives among the Hsiung-nu, they send an envoy of their own to the Han in exchange. If the Han detains the Hsiung-nu envoy, then the Hsiung-nu detain the Han envoy and will not release him until they have received what they consider just treatment.
After Yang Hsin returned from his mission to the Hsiung-nu, the Han dispatched Wang Wu again, and once more the Shan-yü began to talk in a mild and conciliatory way, hoping to be given a sizable grant of Han goods. As part of the deception he told Wang Wu, "I would like to make a trip to the Han and visit the Son of Heaven so that face to face we may swear a pact of brotherhood!"
When Wang Wu returned and reported on his mission, the Han built a residence for the Shan-yü in Ch'ang-an. The Shan-yü, however, sent word that "unless some important member of the Han government is sent as envoy, I cannot discuss the matter seriously."
Meanwhile the Hsiung-nu dispatched one of their important men as envoy to the Han. When the man reached China, however, he fell ill and, although the Han doctors gave him medicine and tried to cure him, he unfortunately died. The Han then sent Lu Ch'ung-kuo to act as envoy and to accompany the body of the dead Hsiung-nu back to his country, spending several thousand gold pieces on a lavish funeral for him. Lu Ch'ung-kuo was given the seals of a two-thousand picul official to wear at his belt and bore assurances to the Hsiung-nu that "this man is an important official of the Han." The Shan-yü, however, was convinced that the Han had murdered the Hsiung-nu envoy and therefore detained Lu Ch'ung-kuo and refused to let him return to China. By this time everyone on the Han side was of the opinion that the Shan-yü had only been deceiving Wang Wu with empty talk and in fact had no intention of coming to China or sending his son as a hostage. After this the Hsiung-nu several times sent surprise parties of troops to raid the border, and the Han for its part conferred on Kuo Ch'ang the title of "Barbarian Quelling General" and sent Chao P'o-nu, the marquis of Cho-yeh, to garrison the area from So-fang to the east and defend it against the Hsiung-nu.
Lu Ch'ung-kuo had been detained by the Hsiung-nu for three years when the Shan-yü Wu-wei died, having ruled for ten years. He was succeeded by his son, Wu-shih-lu. Wu-shih-lu was still young and was therefore called the Boy Shan-yü. The change took place in the sixth year of the yüan-feng era [105 B.c.].
After this the Shan-yü gradually moved farther to the northwest, so that the soldiers of his left or eastern wing occupied the area north of Yün-chung, while those of his right wing were in the area around Chiuch'üan and Tun-huang provinces.
When the Boy Shan-yü came to power the Han dispatched two enseveral thousand persons. The Han general Jen Wen, however, came to the rescue, attacking the Hsiung-nu and forcing them to give up all the spoils and prisoners they had taken.
This year the Sutrishna General Li Kuang-li defeated the kingdom of Ta-yüan, cut off the head of its ruler, and returned. The Hsiung-nu tried to block his return but could not reach him in time. In the winter they planned an attack on the City for Receiving Surrender, but just at that time the Shan-yü died. The Shan-yü Kou-li-hu had ruled for only a year when he died. The Hsiung-nu set up his younger brother, Chü-ti-hou, the former chief commandant of the left, as Shan-yü.
At this time the Han had just conquered the kingdom of Ta-yüan, and its might filled the neighboring states with terror. The emperor had hopes of carrying out the final suppression of the Hsiung-nu and issued an edict which read:

Emperor Kao-tsu has left us the task of avenging the difficulties which he suffered at P'ing-ch'eng. Furthermore, during the reign of Empress Lü the Shan-yü sent to the court a most treasonable and insulting letter. In ancient times when Duke Hsiang of Ch'i avenged an insult which one of his ancestors nine generations earlier had suffered, Confucius praised his conduct in the Spring and Autumn Annals.

This year was the fourth year of the era t'ai-ch'u 101 B.C.].
After Chü-ti-hou became Shan-yü he returned all of the Han envoys who had not gone over to his side. Thus Lu Ch'ung-kuo and the others were able to come home. When the new Shan-yü assumed the rule, he was afraid that the Han would attack him and so he said, "I consider that I am but a little child. How could I hope to equal the Han Son of Heaven? The Son of Heaven is like a father to me."
The Han dispatched the general of palace attendants Su Wu to present generous gifts to the Shan-yü. With this the Shan-yü grew increasingly arrogant and behaved with great rudeness, betraying the hopes of the Han.
The following year Chao P'o-nu managed to escape from the Hsiung-nu and return home. The year after, the Han sent Li Kuang-li with thirty thousand cavalry north from Chiu-ch'üan to attack the Wise King of the Right in the Heavenly Mountains. He killed or captured over ten thousand of the enemy before returning. The Hsiung-nu, however, surrounded him in great force and he was barely able to escape; six or seven out of every ten of his men were killed.
The Han also sent Kung-sun Ao north from Hsi-ho; at Mount Cho-t'u he joined forces with Lu Po-te, but neither of them succeeded in killing or capturing any of the enemy. The Han also sent the cavalry commandant Li Ling with a force of five thousand infantry and cavalry to march north from Chü-yen. After they had proceeded over a thousand ii they engaged the Shan-yü in battle. Li Ling killed or wounded over ten thousand of the enemy, but his provisions soon gave out and his men began to scatter and flee for home. The Hsiung-nu then surrounded Li Ling, who surrendered to them. Most of his men were wiped out, only four hundred of them managing to return to safety. The Shan-yü treated Li Ling with great honor and gave him his own daughter for a wife.
Two years later the Han again dispatched Li Kuang-li with sixty thousand cavalry and a hundred thousand infantry to march north from So-fang. Lu Po-te led some ten thousand men to join them, while Han Yüeh advanced with thirty thousand infantry and cavalry from Wu-yüan. Kung-sun Ao proceeded from Yen-men with ten thousand cavalry and thirty thousand infantry. When the Shan-yü received word of their advance, he moved all his family and wealth far to the north beyond the Yü-wu River. He himself, with ten thousand cavalry, waited south of the river and engaged Li Kuang-li in battle. Li Kuangli's lines broke and he began to retreat, fighting a running battle with the Shan-yü for over ten days. But when word reached him that his entire family had been wiped out as a result of the witchcraft affair,'6 he and all his men surrendered to the Hsiung-nu. Only one or two out of every thousand men who set out with him managed to return to China. Han Yüeh did not succeed in killing or capturing any of the enemy, while Kung-sun Ao, though he fought with the Wise King of the Left, was unable to win any advantage and likewise retreated. From all the parties that went out to attack the Hsiung-nu this year, among those who returned there were none to testify as to what degree of success the various generals had achieved and therefore no honors were awarded. An imperial edict had been issued ordering the arrest of the grand physician Sui Tan. He in turn gave out the news that Li Kuang-li's family had been exterminated and thereby caused Li Kuang-li to surrender to the Hsiung-nu.

The Grand Historian remarks: When Confucius wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals, he was very open in treating the reigns of the early dukes of Lu, Yin, and Huan; but when he came to the later period of Dukes Ting and Ai, his writing was much more covert. Because in the latter case he was writing about his own times, he did not express his judgments frankly, but used subtle and guarded language.
The trouble with the ordinary run of men these days who discuss Hsiung-nu affairs is that they seek only for some temporary advantage, resorting to any kind of flattery in order to have their own views accepted, without considering what the effect may be on all parties concerned. At the same time the generals and military leaders, relying upon the vastness and might of China, grow increasingly bold, and the ruler follows their advice in making his decisions. Thus no profound achievement is ever reached.
Emperor Yao in ancient times, as wise as he was, was not completely successful as a ruler; the nine provinces of China had to wait until the reign of Emperor Yu before they knew real peace. If one would establish a truly worthy dynasty such as those of old, therefore, nothing is more important than selecting the right generals and ministers! Nothing is more important than selecting the right generals and ministers!