Editing Xiongnu (section)

=== Tributary relations with the Han ===
In 53 BC [[Huhanye]] decided to enter into tributary relations with [[Han China]].{{sfn|Grousset|1970|pp=[https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppesh00prof/page/37 37–38]}} The original terms insisted on by the Han court were that, first, the Chanyu or his representatives should come to the capital to pay homage; secondly, the Chanyu should send a hostage prince; and thirdly, the Chanyu should present tribute to the Han emperor. The political status of the Xiongnu in the Chinese world order was reduced from that of a "brotherly state" to that of an "outer vassal" (外臣).

[[File:Bronze seal of a Xiongnu chief (seal, reverse image, transcription).jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.5|Bronze seal of a Xiongnu chief, conferred by the Eastern Han government. Inscribed 漢匈奴/歸義親/漢長 ("The Chief of the Han Xiongnu, who have returned to righteousness and embraced the Han"). Seal, impression, and transcription in standard characters.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Psarras |first1=Sophia-Karin |title=Han Material Culture: An Archaeological Analysis and Vessel Typology |date=2 February 2015 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-316-27267-1 |page=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YLD0BQAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PR19 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>]]
Huhanye sent his son, the "wise king of the right" Shuloujutang, to the Han court as hostage. In 51 BC he personally visited Chang'an to pay homage to the emperor on the [[Chinese New Year|Lunar New Year]]. In the same year, another envoy Qijushan was received at the [[Ganquan Palace]] in the north-west of modern [[Shanxi]].{{sfn|Fairbank|Têng|1941}} On the financial side, Huhanye was amply rewarded in large quantities of gold, cash, clothes, silk, horses and grain for his participation. Huhanye made two further homage trips, in 49 BC and 33 BC; with each one the imperial gifts were increased. On the last trip, Huhanye took the opportunity to ask to be allowed to become an imperial son-in-law. As a sign of the decline in the political status of the Xiongnu, [[Emperor Yuan of Han|Emperor Yuan]] refused, giving him instead five ladies-in-waiting. One of them was [[Wang Zhaojun]], famed in Chinese folklore as one of the [[Four Beauties]].

When Zhizhi learned of his brother's submission, he also sent a son to the Han court as hostage in 53&nbsp;BC. Then twice –in 51 BC and 50 BC– he sent envoys to the Han court with tribute. But having failed to pay homage personally, he was never admitted to the tributary system. In 36 BC, a junior officer named [[Chen Tang (general)|Chen Tang]], with the help of Gan Yanshou, protector-general of the Western Regions, assembled an expeditionary force that defeated him at the [[Battle of Zhizhi]] and sent his head as a trophy to Chang'an.

Tributary relations were discontinued during the reign of Huduershi (18–48 AD), corresponding to the political upheavals of the [[Xin dynasty]]. The Xiongnu took the opportunity to regain control of the western regions, as well as neighboring peoples such as the [[Wuhuan]]. In 24 AD, Hudershi even talked about reversing the tributary system.