The Xiongnu and the Sixteen Kingdoms 304439

1
The Xiongnu and the Sixteen Kingdoms (304-439)

• Readings
• Barfield, Thomas, The Perilous Frontier, Ch. 2, 
  "The Hsiung-nu Empire" OR
• Barfield, Thomas, The Xiongnu Confederacy
  Organization and Foreign Policy, Journal of
  Asian Studies, Vol 41, No. 1, Nov, 1981, pp
  45-61. OR
• Sinor, Denis, Inner Asia, a Syllabus, The
  Xiongnu, Ch. 11 OR
• Sinor, Denis, Cambridge History of Early Asia, ,
  Ch 5 pp 118-149.

2
The Xiongnu and the Sixteen Kingdoms

• Introduction
• Sixteen Kingdoms (304-439)
• Xiongnu kingdoms
• Establishment of Han-Zhao/Former Zhao (304-312)
• Hebei Shansi border
• Governing the Han-Zhao
• The Establishment of Later Zhao (319-312)
• Hebei Shansi border
• Governing the Later Zhao
• The end of the Later Zhao
• Establishment of the Northern Liang (397-439)
• Gansu Corridor
• The End of the Northern Liang
• The Xia (Da Xia) (407-439)
• Ordos Pateau

3
Introduction

• The nomads used to try to keep out of Chinese
  civil wars.
• But when the Han Dynasty was falling apart, it
  invited the Xiongnu, Xianbei and others to help
  crush the rebels (188).
• After the Han dynasty collapsed, China was
  divided into three kingdoms Wei ? (220-265)
  along the northern border, Shu-Han ?? (221-263)
  in Sichuan, and Wu ? (222-280) in the south.
• The Wei Kingdom headed by Cao Caos ?? family and
  it tried to keep Chinas frontier secure by using
  a policy of indirect rule over the tribal peoples
  settled in Chinas borders.
• It provided liberal subsidies and access to trade
  for nomads living beyond its control.
• It settled 19 tribes of the Xiongnu around
  Taiyuan ?? but the Xiongnu maintained their own
  political organization and lifestyle within
  Chinas borders.
• The Chinese held the Xiongnu Shanyu hostage but
  the Xiongnu remained a potential threat as the
  local leaders became more powerful.

4
Introduction (2)

• In 265, the Sima family who had served the Wei
  kingdom usurped the throne and established the
  Jin ? dynasty (265-420).
• Since Wei had already conquered Shu-Han the Sima
  family needed only to conquer the southern
  kingdom of Wu to unify all of China.
• There were few problems with the nomads in the
  north as the Jin dynasty maintained Weis old
  policies.
• After the Jin united the country, it tried to
  disband much of the military but many of the Jin
  Princes in the provinces refused to disband their
  personal armies.
• The soldiers from the disbanded armies were
  unemployed and many sold weapons to border
  tribes.
• The Jin found that their best protection was to
  supply gifts and trade to the frontier so that
  the nomads would continue to extort the Dynasty
  but would not try to destroy it.

5
Introduction (3)

• The first Jin emperor divided his new empire into
  19 provinces and appointed princes to manage
  these regions 28 members of the Sima family had
  been enfeoffed and so power was decentralized.
• The Dynasty included 15 emperors but at times
  there were 18 little rulers fighting among
  themselves for imperial authority.
• Beginning around 292, the Jin faced internal
  conflict with factions at court using
  assassination to clear away rivals.
• Provincial princes began to fight for power,
  negotiating for support from frontier tribes
  eight princes fought for dominance from 300-306.
• These conflicts reached a climax around 300 as
  battles destroyed Jin unity.
• During these struggles, one of the Sima princes
  asked a Xiongnu leader, Liu Yuan ?? (d.310), who
  claimed to be a direct descendant of Mao Dun and
  a Han princess, to help him.

6
Introduction (4)

• The nomads were used to combining different
  ethnic groups into confederations under
  established tribal leaders.
• In so doing, the steppe tribes could quickly
  recruit allies and put an army on the field.
• They were used to attacking weak spots,
  supporting themselves by raids, and fighting to
  destroy their opponents rather than to induce
  retreat.
• When internal order collapsed in China, the
  frontier people with the best opportunity of
  moving in were the Xiongnu who had a powerful
  military force.
• Rather than support a Chinese warlord, the
  Xiongnu revolted (304) and established their own
  state -- named Later Han later renamed Zhao .
• By 317, the different nomadic peoples had chased
  the Jin government south into the Jiangnan
  (present day Nanjing) beyond the Yangzi
  River--where the dynasty is known as the Eastern
  Jin.

7
Introduction (5)

• The founder of the first Xiongnu state, Liu Yuan,
  tried to gain legitimacy by using the concept of
  fraternal succession he said
• I am also a nephew of the Han we are elder and
  younger brothers. When the elder brother dies,
  the younger succeeds.
• His son succeeded him and led the armies to sack
  the Jin dynastic capitals of Luoyang in 311 and
  Changan in 316 capturing and later executing the
  two Jin emperors.
• The success of Liu Yuan in establishing a Kingdom
  in China encouraged other nomadic groups to
  invade and occupy China.
• This led to the period called the Sixteen
  Kingdoms when northern China was ruled by
  different non-Han groups at different times.
• By 325, 60-70 of the Chinese elite had fled to
  Jiangkang, present day Nanjing, and and continued
  to proclaim themselves the only legitimate rulers
  of China known to history as the Eastern Jin
  Dynasty (317-420).

8
Introduction (6)

• Aside from the Xiongnu, four other tribes the
  Di, Jie, Xianbei, and the Qiang -- also set up
  their own states.
• All of the 16 kingdoms had little administrative
  experience in ruling sedentary peoples and so
  they could conquer but could not effectively
  rule.
• These military dynasties, though often powerful,
  were short and were replaced by more
  sophisticated states that had developed a system
  of government which combined tribal armies with a
  Chinese-style bureaucracy.

9
The Sixteen Kingdoms (304-439)
10
Xiongnu Kingdoms
11
Establishment of Han-Zhao

• Han-Zhao, in the southwestern part of Shanxi
  Province, represented two states the Han state
  founded in 304 by Liu Yuan, and the Zhao state
  proclaimed by Liu Yao, grandson of Liu Yuan.
• The Xiongnu royal lineage had been given the
  imperial surname Liu by the Han dynasty.
• Yuan ?? (r.304-439) had been a hostage at the Jin
  court and had picked up a classical Chinese
  education he called his dynasty Later Han as
  he claimed it to be a continuation of the Han
  dynasty.
• The Xiongnu had decided to establish their own
  state as
• The Jin state had dissolved into civil war and it
  was clear that the rulers of Han origin could not
  meet the needs of the Xiongnu.
• The Wei/Jin policy of keeping the Shanyu as a
  hostage at court produced a sinicized leader who
  had ambitions to rule China himself.
• Periodically, the Xiongnu had argued that they
  were related to the Han dynastys imperial house
  and were more entitled to the throne than the Wei
  and Jin usurpers.

12
Governing the Han-Zhao

• The Xiongnu were divided in their approach toward
  the conquest of China one faction favored the
  establishment of a Chinese-style government while
  the other pushed for simple domination of China
  with as little administration as possible.
• When Liu Yuan founded the state he wanted to
  become a Chinese emperor, take over Chinese
  culture as a whole and give up the traditional
  Xiongnu cultural traditions and way of life.
• Since he was educated at the Jin court he created
  a Chinese-style court at his capital.
• He constructed a legal claim to the Chinese
  throne and appointed officials in the Chinese
  manner.
• He believed that by creating a Chinese-style
  court he could win over the Chinese elite and the
  majority of the population which were Chinese
  (Han origin).
• His policy for conquest was to keep the
  population intact for future production.

13
Governing the Han-Zhao (2)

• His court attracted many Chinese refugees
  including officials who were fleeing other parts
  of China.
• Liu Yuan and his family were Chinese trained so
  it did not create problems for them but it was
  not popular among the Xiongnu who felt that it
  was a danger to tribal supremacy.
• Liu Yuan was able to control his tribal
  supporters but his son and successor, Liu Cong,
  was unable to do so.
• His gradson, Liu Yao needed to reclaim the
  loyalty of tribal leaders and so he renamed the
  state Zhao in order to
• Emphasize his connection to the great Xiongnu
  leader, Mao Dun
• Disconnect the link between the state and the
  Han Dynasty.

14
The Establishment of the Later Zhao (319-351)

• The opposition to Liu Yuan and Liu Cong was led
  by a more old fashioned leader, Shi Le ??
  (274-333).
• Shi Le had been sold as a slave by the Jin
  officials when he was a boy but he escaped and
  became a famous bandit.
• Later he joined Liu Yuan and became a general.
• Disillusioned followers left Liu Yuan and went
  over to Shi Le.
• Shi Les policy was the use of extreme violence,
  rewarding followers with loot and supporting the
  army by the extortion of local populations.
• In 310, he raided across China, killing 100,000
  Chinese.
• He exterminated a party of 48 Jin princes and
  destroyed Luoyang.
• His conquests covered an enormous amount of
  territory but he would withdraw rather than
  defend it.

15
The Establishment of the Later Zhao (2)

• Shi Les successes attracted more followers who
  deserted Liu Yuans son. Liu Cong, who found it
  difficult to compete because he was concerned
  with maintaining the productivity of China in the
  long term while Shi Le was interested only in the
  short term.
• When Liu Cong died in 319, his son, Liu Yao ??
  tried to win the disaffected tribal leaders back
  by giving up the name Later Han and renaming the
  dynasty Zhao.
• Shi Le refused to recognize the succession of Liu
  Yao and established his own Later Zhao dynasty
  (319-351).
• In 329, Shi Le captured and executed Liu Yao he
  took over Liu Yaos territory and murdered as
  many members of the Liu clan as he could.

16
Governing the Later Zhao

• Shi Les methods of government were those of the
  steppe and he preferred to reduce northern China
  to pasture land as it would then be better for
  the Xiongnu horses.
• Now that most of northern China was in his hands,
  administration was a big problem.
• In order to continue ruling China, he had to put
  together a government administration but he could
  not trust the Chinese who were his victims.
• Since his tribal organization was not able to
  administer, he hired foreigners men who had no
  power bases but were loyal to him only and were
  motivated by self interest.
• He imposed order from the top and put large
  armies in the field and terrorized all China.

17
End of the Later Zhao

• Shi Le was succeeded by his son, Shi Hong ??
  (313-334) whose his reign was very short as his
  cousin, Shi Hu ?? (r.334-349), -- a distant
  nephew of Shi Le -- deposed him and exterminated
  his family and descendants.
• Shi Hu ruled the empire with a heavy hand,
  imposing heavy taxes and labor burdens and
  spending much of his effort on constructing
  palaces and collecting concubines.
• He first named his son, Shi Sui (??) his
  successor in 337 but killed him later in the
  year.
• He then named another son, Shi Xuan (??) as his
  successor but favored another son, Shi Tao (??),
  and a rivalry between the brothers soon
  developed.
• In 348, Shi Xuan killed his brother, Shi Tao, and
  considered assassinating his father.
• Shi Hu killed him and named a new successor to
  the throne -- his youngest son Shi Shi (??).

18
End of the Later Zhao (2)

• In summer 349, when Shi Hu was near death, he
  named two regents for his heir.
• But his empress and her supporters issued false
  edicts imprisoning and exiling the regents.
• After Shi Hus death, his heir succeeded to the
  throne but government was controlled by the
  mother.
• He was on the throne for only 33 days when his
  uncle, Shi Zun ?? (d.349), with the support of
  Ran Min ??, marched to the capital and overthrew
  the emperor and his mother.
• Shi Zun had promised to make Ran Min the Crown
  Prince but reneged on his promise and Ran Min
  became very dissatisfied.
• Ran Min ?? (d.352) was of Han origin he and his
  father had served the Shi family.
• In the winter 349, in fear of Ran Min, Shi Zun
  called a meeting of the princes announcing that
  he would execute Ran Min.

19
End of the Later Zhao (3)

• One of the princes attending the meeting,
  reported the news to Ran Min, who acted quickly,
  surrounded the palace, captured and executed Shi
  Zun, his mother, his empress and officials loyal
  to Shi Zun.
• Ran Min first appointed a puppet emperor, but
  kept control of the government.
• Eventually, Ran Min executed the puppet emperor
  and established himself as emperor of a new
  dynasty named Wei ?.
• After Ran Min took over the throne he began to
  exterminate the Xiongnu and other foreigners in
  349, he killed about 200,000 foreigners.
• His action provoked an uprising of the non-Han
  and the Xianbei kingdom of Former Yan took
  advantage of this situation, captured Ran Min and
  executed him.
• The Xiongnu kingdom then collapsed and the
  Murong Xianbei set up a more successful state
  structure.

20
The Northern Liang

• The Liang region occupied the Gansu corridor, a
  string of oases running from the Ordos desert
  toward Turkistan.
• It was bordered in the north by the edge of the
  Mongolian steppe and the Mongolian nomads
  periodically attacked it.
• To the south, it bordered on mountainous terrain
  occupied by the sedentary Qiang and Di peoples
  and the Tu-yu-hun nomads.
• To the west were oases of Turkistan which had
  close cultural and economic ties with the Liang.
• The Gansu oases had a large Chinese population
  and had been an integral part of the Han
  dynasties frontier defense since the time of Han
  Wudi.

21
The Northern Liang (2)

• The province is isolated and the economy was
  built around a series of self-sufficient oases.
• External trade was based on the caravan trade in
  luxury goods, pastoral products and minerals like
  salt.
• Liang was too distant from the population and
  power centers in China to be able to expand.
• No dynasty based in Liang ever conquered north
  China as its armies would find itself separated
  from its source of supplies and reinforcements.
• Liangs defensive positions were excellent and
  opponents would have to use up their resources
  going from oasis to oasis.
• After the end of the Jin Dynasty, the Liang
  region, was the home of a number of new
  dynasties.

22
The Northern Liang (3)

• There were five Kingdoms named Liang
• The Former Liang ?? (320-376) Han
• The Later Liang ?? (386-403) Di/Qiang
• The Northern Liang ?? (397-439) - Xiongnu
• Southern Liang (397-414) Xianbei
• The Western Liang ?? (400-421-421) Han
• The Northern Liang was founded as a result of a
  revolt of the Xiongnu ??, Juqu Mengsun ????,
  against the Later Liang ruler, Lü Guang ?? (of Di
  ancestry).
• All rulers of the Northern Liang called
  themselves kings (wang) ?.
• By the time of Lü Guangs death, the Liang had
  collapsed into three states Northern Liang
  (397-439), Southern Liang (397-414) and Western
  Liang (400-21).

23
The End of The Northern Liang

• When the buffer state, Later Liang fell to the
  Later Qin (whose rulers were of Qiang ethnicity),
  Northern Liang was brought into direct conflict
  with the Southern Liang.
• The Northern Liang ruler died in 433 and the
  Northern Wei attacked the Northern Liang and
  eliminated it.
• The heir of the Northern Liang, Juqu Mujian ????,
  surrendered to Northern Wei in 439.
• Other sons of Juqu Mengsun fled to the west where
  they established the kingdom of Gaochang ?? that
  was destroyed by the Rouran ?? tribe in 460.
• All of the Liang states lasted until the they
  were incorporated into a unified north China by
  the Northern Wei.
• By 439, North China was united as the Northern
  Wei under the Tuoba of Xianbei ethnicity.

24
The Xia (Da Xia) Dynasty

• The Tiefu ?? was a western branch of the Xiongnu.
  
• With their base in central and northern Shensi,
  they posed a serious threat to Tuoba
  consolidation and expansion in the north during
  the 4th century.
• The son of the last Tia-fu leader, Liu Bo Bo,
  founded the Xia dynasty (407-431).
• Liu Bo Bo was also a direct descendant of Mao
  Dun.
• Unlike his immediate predecessors of the Han-Zhao
  dynasty who had adopted the royal Han name of
  Liu, Bo Bo stressed steppe traditions and
  returned to the old Xiongnu imperial clan name of
  Helian ??.

25
The Xia Dynasty (2)

• The government was tribal and rejected Chinese
  forms of administration.
• All the rulers called themselves emperors but
  made no effort to expand.
• In 423, the Northern Wei outflanked Xia by
  gaining control of the Chinese plain after the
  capture of Luoyang.
• In 430, the Tuoba captured Changan and the Xia
  Dynasty was destroyed within a year.
• Although the Xia lasted up to 431, its capital
  was a heavily fortified city that served as a
  frontier garrison until the Song Dynasty.
• Its ruins were discovered in the Qing Dynasty and
  can still be seen in present-day Inner Mongolia.

26
Summary

• The first Xiongnu Dynasty had fallen because the
  nomads thought the court was too Chinese and had
  deserted it.
• Liu Yuan was able to control his tribal
  supporters but his son and successor, Liu Cong
  (r.310-18) could not.
• The creation of a Chinese-style state was not
  popular among the Xiongnu who felt that it was a
  danger to tribal supremacy.
• The first Zhao dynasty, created by Liu Yuans
  grandson, was not able to command the loyalty of
  the tribal leaders and was defeated by Shi Le.
• The second Zhao Dynasty of Shi Le and Shi Hu fell
  as it was unable to provide a competent
  government for its Chinese subjects who revolted.
• The territory occupied by the Northern Liang was
  too remote for expansion and the rulers did not
  declare themselves as emperors.
• Apart from Liu Yuan, all of the rulers of the
  Xiongnu kingdoms tried to return to its tribal
  roots so as not to threaten the tribal leaders
  (ex. Liu Bobo of Da Xie).
• The Xianbei had become very powerful and was able
  to conquer all of the nomadic kingdoms and unify
  northern China under the Northern Wei.

27
Review
28
Next Reading

• The Qiang/Di unites Northern China under the
  Former Qin
• Barfield, Thomas, The Perilous Frontier, Ch. 3,
  The collapse of Central Order, pp. 101-10
• OR
• Sinor, Denis, Inner Asia, a Syllabus, Ch 12
• Kleeman, Terry F. Great Perfection Da Cheng
  religion and ethnicity in a Chinese millennial
  kingdom (Honolulu) University of Hawaii Press,
  c1998, The Great Perfection, 1-106, OR
• .