The Xiongnu Empire Strikes Back Quiz

Answer: Mongolia

Probably hailing from the Ordos Plateau in northwest China, the Xiongnu moved to the area that is now known as Mongolia during the 3rd century BC. After displacing the Yuezhi, a people of likely Indo-European origin who had become dominant in the area, they founded an empire that lasted for about 300 years. Besides Mongolia, the territories ruled by the Xiongnu included the eastern parts of modern-day Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, southern Siberia, and parts of northern China (Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, and the present-day provinces of Gansu and Xinjiang).

As the Xiongnu had no writing system, most of what we know about them comes from Chinese sources - especially from the writings of prominent Chinese historian Sima Qian (145-90 BC), who in his "Records of the Grand Historian" wrote about the first 2,000 years of Chinese history. In Sima Qian's writing, the nomadic Xiongnu represent an uncivilized society, polar opposites of the sedentary, civilized Huaxia (the Chinese).

Answer: Huns

In pre-Han China, the Xiongnu were often classified as "Hu people", a blanket term for nomadic tribes that later came to denote the non-Han ethnic groups known as Wu Hu, or Five Barbarians. The name Xiongnu (previously transliterated as "Hsiung-nu") is believed to have been an ethnic slur, roughly translated as "offspring of slaves". The identification of the Xiongnu with the Huns, the nomadic people from Central Asia who, led by the infamous Attila, invaded parts of Western Europe in the 5th century AD, is based on the similarity of the two names. However, the name "Huns" was used for other nomadic steppe peoples, not necessarily related to the "European" Huns.

A number of hypotheses have been put forward regarding the origins of the Xiongnu. Some scholars believe they spoke a Turkic, Mongolic or Siberian language, while others have suggested an Indo-European origin, and a possible relation with other influential steppe civilizations such as the Sarmatians and the Scythians. On the other hand, it has also been suggested that the Xiongnu confederation included people of multiple ethnicities - a theory that seems to have been proved true by the skeletal remains found in burial sites.

The painting in the photo, by French turn-of-the-20th-century painter Georges Antoine Rochegrosse, depicts Attila and the Huns sacking a Roman villa.

Answer: Chanyu

Chanyu, or Shanyu ("great Son of Heaven") was the title used by the supreme rulers of the Xiongnu and other Inner Asian nomadic peoples. The earliest named Chanyu was Touman (T'u-man), who in 215 BC was defeated by the Qin Chinese and forced to leave the Ordos region. In 209, his eldest son, Modu, had him killed (together with his stepmother and younger brother, their father's favourite), and assumed the title of Chanyu. With his forceful personality, which commanded absolute obedience, Modu managed to unify the various Xiongnu tribes, and established a powerful empire, taking advantage of the weakness of the Qin Dynasty after its first emperor's death. At the time of its highest expansion (ca. 176 BC, two years before Modu's death), the Xiongnu Empire stretched from the Pamir Mountains in the west to the Liao River in the east, reaching north almost to Lake Baikal, and covering an area of about 9 million km² (3.47 million sq mi).

Though, as pointed out in the previous question, there is no definitive evidence of the Xiongnu's Turkic origin, Modu has become an icon of "Turkishness" with the name of Mete Han ("brave khan"): the Turkish Armed Forces trace their founding date to 209 BC, the year in which Modu Chanyu seized power. In recent popular culture, the ruthless leader of the Huns in Disney's animated film "Mulan" (1998) is named Shan Yu.

The photo shows a collage of images of the Mongol khans, starting with the notorious Genghis Khan. The title "khan", a variation of "khagan", was used by the rulers of nomadic peoples of Turkic and Mongolic origin; some scholars have suggested that the language of the Xiongnu may be the ultimate source of the word.

Answer: herding

In Chinese sources, the Xiongnu are described as a nomadic herding people that lived in yurts (cobbled felt tents), and wandered in search of pasture for their herds of sheep, cattle and horses. Some of the customs described in those texts are similar to those practiced by other nomadic peoples of Central Asia. The Xiongnu were a shamanistic society that worshiped the sky (called Chengli, the Chinese transcription of the Turkic word Tengri), the sun, the moon and the earth; some sources also mention the custom of sacrificing white horses and drinking their blood during religious ceremonies. Unlike the Chinese, they had no ideographic form of writing: on the basis of objects found in burial sites, some scholars have concluded that the Xiongnu may have used a script similar to Eurasian runes.

By the 1st century BC, when many Xiongnu tribes had settled, and the confederation had become a power to be reckoned with, they started practicing agriculture, adopting many Chinese customs (such as living in houses and wearing silk garments).

The Mongolian wild horses that appear in the photo are likely descendants of the horses of the Xiongnu.

Answer: bow and arrow

The main reason why the Xiongnu were so feared by the Chinese was the nomads' remarkable skill in shooting a bow from horseback - essential for hunting and warfare in the Central Asian steppes. These mounted archers were able to outrun and outshoot the Chinese infantry during the Xiongnu's frequent border raids. Not surprisingly, the Xiongnu came to be referred to as "Those Who Draw the Bow". According to Sima Qian, the Xiongnu were trained to hunt and fight on horseback from an early age. While the Chinese infantry favoured crossbows, the Xiongnu archers used short, composite bows; they reportedly wore trousers or leggings rather than robes. They may also have used rudimentary stirrups (which originated in India around the 2nd century BC, but were still unknown in China) which provided balance and support when shooting arrows. The Xiongnu's successful use of mounted archers led the Chinese to adopt some of their techniques - such as the wearing of trousers, and in later centuries the development of iron stirrups.

The glazed earthenware figurine in the photo, dating from the Han Dynasty, shows a mounted archer in the act of shooting his bow.

Answer: exacting tribute

According to early Chinese sources, the Xiongnu border raids began in the 4th century BC, possibly even earlier. The states that were later unified by the Qin Dynasty had already built fortifications against the incursions of nomadic tribes, which were connected by new walls by order of Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of unified China. The Han dynasty extended the Wall further west, to what is now the province of Gansu; the photo shows a corner tower at Jayiu Pass, the western terminus of the Ming Great Wall in northwestern Gansu.

The chief purpose of the Xiongnu raids was to force the Chinese to pay annual tribute (silk, liquor, rice and other foodstuffs) by putting constant pressure on their borders. Even though the Xiongnu, coming from a nomadic culture used to hardship, came to rely on those goods, the power to exact tribute from China was a matter of status for Chanyus, who used tribute to reward their followers. Eventually, between 127 and 119 BC, under Emperor Wu of Han, the Chinese managed to repel the Xiongnu raids in northern China, though at the cost of tens of thousands of lives. In the mid-1st century BC, when the Xiongnu Empire was weakened, the roles were reversed, and the Xiongnu began to pay tribute to the Han emperors.

Answer: marriage alliance

In the winter of 200 BC, Emperor Gaozu - the founder of the Han Dynasty - narrowly escaped being captured at the Battle of Baideng, won by the Xiongnu; therefore, the Han tried a different strategy to put an end to the Xiongnu raids. As well as sending tribute to the fierce nomads (Q. 6), they started arranging marriages between Xiongnu leaders and Han princesses or noblewomen. This practice, established in 198 BC, came to be known as "heqin" ("harmonious kinship"). When Gaozu died in 195 BC, Modu Chanyu asked for the hand of his widow, Empress Lü, who reportedly was so infuriated by his proposal that she almost declared war on the Xiongnu. Dissuaded by her advisors from this course of action, the Empress politely refused Modu's suit, sending gifts to soften the blow. Indeed, "heqin" proved much more advantageous to the Xiongnu than to the Chinese: with each successive marriage alliance, there was an increase in the the "gifts" that accompanied the union. The practice of "heqin" also extended to Han officers and officials, who married Xiongnu princesses, contributing to the mixing of the two ethnic groups. This form of appeasement, however, did not stop the Han and the Xiongnu from being at war with each other for the best part of 200 years.

The most famous of the "heqin" princesses was Wang Zhaojun, one of China's famed Four Beauties. Intelligent and accomplished as well as beautiful, Wang was part of Emperor Yuan's harem; however, she had never been visited by him, and had instead become a palace lady-in-waiting. In 33 BC she volunteered to become the bride of Huhanye, the 14th Chanyu of the Xiongnu: escorted by imperial officials, Wang embarked on a long journey north during the winter (depicted in the 17th-century silk scroll a detail of which is shown in the photo) to reach her new husband. The marriage was successful, and a long period of peace ensued.

Answer: levirate

The word "levirate" comes from the Latin word "levir", meaning "brother-in-law". In patriarchal societies, women were often regarded as men's possessions, and left without resources if their husband died: this kind of marriage provided protection to a widow and her children, and guaranteed that the deceased man's inheritance would remain within the clan. In Xiongnu and other Central Asian societies, since a woman was entitled to marry someone from the same lineage as her deceased husband, she could also marry a stepson, in case a brother-in-law was not available. Indeed, when her husband, Huhanye, died in 31 BC, Wang Zhaojun (Q. 7) married her stepson, Huhanye's son by his first wife, who became the next Chanyu. According to some historians, in parts of Central Asia the custom of levirate marriage continued up to the mid-20th century, especially in times of economic uncertainty.

In Judaism, the practice of levirate marriage was known as "yibbum", and mentioned in the book of Deuteronomy. In the photo is shown a painting by Rembrandt's school depicting Tamar and Judah, an early example of this practice (though Judah was Tamar's father-in-law rather than her brother-in-law or stepson).

As its name implies, sororate marriage involves a widower marrying his deceased wife's sister; polyandry implies a woman having more than a husband, and endogamy means marrying within a specific social group.

Answer: animals, especially predators

In the 1920s, a number of tombs believed to be the burial sites of several Xiongnu Chanyus were excavated by a Russian team in Mongolia; these tombs contained various artifacts that revealed accomplished crafting techniques. Known as Noin-Ula, this site - located in the valley of the Selenga River north of Ulaanbaatar - consists of over 200 large mounds (kurgans) covering timber burial chambers. Among the valuable foreign artifacts found in Noin-Ula, there are embroidered carpets of likely Eurasian origin. The presence of such objects in Xiongnu burial sites has led some historians to believe that the people engaged in trade along the Silk Road as well as raiding.

The object in the photo (now in Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an) is known by the name of Gold Monster: it is a gold figurine of a deer with the head of an eagle, whose huge antlers contain ten further eagle heads. This object shows the influence of the art of other steppe peoples, in particular the Sarmatians and the Scythians, known for the beauty of their gold artifacts. A characteristic of the iconography used by steppe peoples, including the Xiongnu, is the emphasis on scenes of animal predation - such as a tiger carrying or devouring prey, or carnivores attacking herbivores.

Answer: they split into a northern and a southern branch

The Xiongnu system of lateral succession - in which a Chanyu was succeeded by his brother rather than his eldest son - inevitably led to conflict. A civil war broke out in 60 BC, with different lineages claiming the throne after the death of the 12th Chanyu; eventually, Huhanye (Q. 7) became the supreme ruler of the Xiongnu after years of strife.

In 48 AD, the succession struggle between Punu, the son of Huduershi, the 20th Chanyu, and his uncle Bi led to the fracturing of the Xiongnu Empire: a confederation of eight tribes, who supported Bi as Chanyu, seceded from Punu's kingdom and established the kingdom of the Southern Xiongnu. The Northern Xiongnu kingdom was obliterated by the Xianbei, another nomadic steppe people, in about 155 AD, and disappeared from Chinese historical records. On the other hand, the Southern Xiongnu, though heavily dependent on the Han for trade, and plagued by constant strife, lasted until the mid-5th century AD, when they assimilated with the Chinese or other peoples that inhabited the region.

In 1996, the ruins of Tongwancheng ("city ruling ten thousand"), the largest city of the Southern Xiongnu, built in the early 5th century AD, were discovered in the Chinese province of Shaanxi. The city's rulers, known as Hu Xia, claimed to be descendants of Modu Chanyu.

The photo shows a reconstruction of the attire of a "Hunn" warrior that can be viewed at the Central State Museum of Kazakhstan, in the country's former capital of Almaty.