Editing Xiongnu (section)

=== Descendants and later states in northern China ===
[[Fang Xuanling]]'s [[Book of Jin|''Book of Jin'']] lists nineteen Xiongnu tribes that resettled within the Great Wall: [[Chuge]] (屠各), [[Xianzhi]] (鮮支), Koutou (寇頭), Wutan (烏譚), [[Tiele people|Chile]] (赤勒), Hanzhi (捍蛭), Heilang (黑狼), [[Chisha]] (赤沙), Yugang (鬱鞞), Weisuo (萎莎), Tutong (禿童), Bomie (勃蔑), Qiangqu (羌渠), [[Alat tribe|Helai]] (賀賴), Zhongqin (鐘跂), Dalou (大樓), Yongqu (雍屈), Zhenshu (真樹) and Lijie (力羯). Among the nineteen tribes, the Chuge, also known as the Xiuchuge, were the most honored and prestigious.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fang |first=Xuanling |publisher=[[Commercial Press]] |year=1958 |location=Beijing |language=zh |script-title=zh:晉書 |title=Jìnshū |trans-title=[[Book of Jin]] |author-link=Fang Xuanling}} Vol. 97</ref>

With the fall of the Southern Xiongnu state, the Xiongnu name gradually lost its unifying influence among its descendants, only ever invoked for political and symbolic purposes or as a generic label for tribes that did not belong to one of the major ethnic groups at the time. In [[Bingzhou]], the Chuge identity held more weight than that of the Xiongnu among the Five Divisions, while those excluded from the group mingled with tribes from various ethnicities and were referred to as "''[[Hu (people)|hu]]''" or other vague terms for the non-Chinese. Many of them began adopting Chinese family names such as Liu, which was prevalent among the Five Divisions.''{{sfn|Tang|2010|loc=ch.〈魏晋杂胡考 一 屠各〉}}'' 

Nonetheless, the Xiongnu are classified as one of the "[[Five Barbarians]]" of the [[Sixteen Kingdoms]] period. The [[Han-Zhao]] and [[Helian Xia]] dynasties were both founded by rulers on the basis of their Xiongnu ancestry. The [[Northern Liang]], established by the [[Lushuihu]], is sometimes categorized as a Xiongnu state in recent historiographies. [[Shi Le]], the founder of the [[Later Zhao]] dynasty, was a descendant of the Xiongnu Qiangqu tribe, although by his time, he and his people had become a separate ethnic group known as the [[Jie people|Jie]].

==== Han-Zhao dynasty (304–329) ====
{{Main|Han-Zhao|Chuge}}

===== Han (304–319) =====
[[File:Sixteen Kingdoms 317 AD (2).jpg|thumb|The [[Han-Zhao|Han-Zhao dynasty]] in 317 AD, shortly after the fall of the [[Western Jin dynasty]].]]
Eventually, the Five Divisions grew weary of subservience and attempted to assert their own power. The Commander of the Left Division, [[Liu Bao]] briefly unified them during the mid-3rd century before the [[Cao Wei]] and the [[Jin dynasty (266–420)|Western Jin]] courts intervened and forced them back into five. To further ensure their loyalty, nobles of the Five Divisions had to send their children to the Chinese capital as hostages, where they became accustomed to Chinese [[Confucianism|Confucian]] teachings and culture. They were even allowed to hold government offices under the Jin, but their status remained low compared to their Chinese peers. Amidst the [[War of the Eight Princes]] in 304, as Jin authority was collapsing in northern China, the Five Divisions took the opportunity to rebel.

[[Liu Yuan (Han-Zhao)|Liu Yuan]], the son of Liu Bao and a general serving under one of the Jin princes, was offered by the Five Divisions to lead their rebellion. After deceiving his prince, Liu Yuan returned to Bingzhou and was acclaimed as the Grand ''Chanyu''. Later that year, he declared himself the King of Han. Liu Yuan and his family members were Chuge people, but he also claimed to be a direct descendant of the Southern Xiongnu ''chanyus'' and depicted his state as a continuation of the [[Han dynasty]], citing that his alleged ancestors were married to Han princesses through ''[[heqin]].<ref name=":0" />{{sfn|Tang|2010|loc=ch.〈魏晋杂胡考 一 屠各〉}} ''He adopted the Chinese ruling system and allowed the Han Chinese and non-Chinese tribes to serve under him. In 308, he elevated his title to Emperor of Han, and in 309, he settled his capital at [[Linfen|Pingyang]].

The Western Jin, devastated by war and natural disasters, was unable to stop the growing threat of the Han. A few months after [[Liu Cong (Han-Zhao)|Liu Cong]] took the Han throne, the Jin imperial army was annihilated by his forces in 311. Soon, the Han descended upon the Jin capital [[Luoyang]], sacking the city and capturing [[Emperor Huai of Jin]] in an event known as the [[Disaster of Yongjia]]. In 316, the Jin restoration in [[Chang'an]], headed by [[Emperor Min of Jin|Emperor Min]], was also crushed by the Han. After the fall of Chang'an, the remnants of the Jin south of the [[Yangtze|Yangtze river]] at [[Jiankang]] re-established themselves as the [[Eastern Jin dynasty]] in 318.{{sfn|Grousset|1970|pp=[https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppesh00prof/page/56 56–57]}}

Despite military success, the Han's imperial authority was limited. They suffered from internal strife under Liu Cong, who was described as a cruel and dissolute ruler. Faced with stern opposition from his own ministers, he greatly empowered his [[Consort kin|consort kins]] and [[Eunuchs in China|eunuchs]] to counter them, throwing the Han court into a power struggle which ended in a brutal purge. Liu Cong also failed to constrain [[Shi Le]], a general of [[Jie people|Jie]] ethnicity who effectively held the eastern parts of the empire. After Liu Cong's death in 318, the consort kin, [[Jin Zhun]] massacred the imperial family in Pingyang before he was defeated by a combined force led by Liu Cong's cousin, [[Liu Yao]], and Shi Le.

===== Former Zhao (319–329) =====
During Jin Zhun's rebellion, the Han loyalists that escaped the massacre acclaimed [[Liu Yao]] as the new emperor. In 319, he moved the capital from Pingyang to his base in Chang'an and renamed the dynasty as Zhao. Unlike his predecessors, Liu Yao appealed more to his Xiongnu ancestry by honouring [[Modu Chanyu]] and distancing himself from the state's initial positioning of Han restoration. However, this was not a break from Liu Yuan, as he continued to honor Liu Yuan and [[Liu Cong (Han-Zhao)|Liu Cong]] posthumously; it is hence known to historians collectively as [[Han-Zhao]]. That same year, Shi Le proclaimed independence and formed his own state of Zhao, challenging Liu Yao for hegemony over northern China. For this reason, Han-Zhao is also known to historians as the Former Zhao to distinguish it from Shi Le's [[Later Zhao]].

Liu Yao retained control over the [[Guanzhong]] region and expanded his domain westward by campaigning against remnants of the Jin, [[Former Liang]] and [[Chouchi]]. Eventually, Liu Yao led his army to fight Later Zhao for control over [[Luoyang]] but was captured by Shi Le's forces in battle and executed in 329. Chang'an soon fell to Later Zhao and the last of Former Zhao's forces were destroyed. Thus ended the Han-Zhao dynasty; northern China would be dominated by the Later Zhao for the next 20 years.{{sfn|Grousset|1970|pp=[https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppesh00prof/page/57 57–58]}} The Chuge people would remain a prominent ethnic group in northern China for the next two centuries.

==== Tiefu tribe and Helian Xia dynasty (309–431) ====
{{Main|Xia (Sixteen Kingdoms)}}
[[File:统万城.JPG|thumb|Remnants of [[Tongwancheng]], capital of the [[Hu Xia dynasty|Helian Xia dynasty]] in present-day [[Jingbian County]], [[Shaanxi]].]]
The chieftains of the [[Tiefu]] tribe were descendants of [[Qubei]] and were related to another tribe, the [[Dugu (surname)|Dugu]]. Based on their name, which meant a person whose father was a Xiongnu and mother was a [[Xianbei]], the Tiefu had mingled with the Xianbei, and records refer to them as "[[Wuhuan]]", which by the 4th-century had become a generic term for miscellaneous ''[[Hu (people)|hu]]'' tribes with [[Donghu people|Donghu]] elements.{{sfn|Tang|2010|loc=ch.〈魏晋杂胡考 四 乌丸〉}} In 309, their chieftain, [[Liu Hu (Tiefu)|Liu Hu]] rebelled against the Western Jin in Shanxi but was driven out to [[Shuofang Commandery]] in the [[Ordos Loop]]. The Tiefu resided there for most of their existence, often as a vassal to their stronger neighbours before their power was destroyed by the [[Northern Wei]] dynasty in 392.

[[Liu Bobo]], a surviving member of the Tiefu, went into exile and eventually offered his services to the [[Qiang (historical people)|Qiang]]-led [[Later Qin]]. He was assigned to guard Shuofang, but in 407, angered by Qin holding peace talks with the Northern Wei, he rebelled and founded a state known as the [[Hu Xia dynasty|Helian Xia dynasty]]. Bobo strongly affirmed his Xiongnu lineage; his state name of "Xia" was based on the claim that the Xiongnu were descendants of the [[Xia dynasty]], and he later changed his family name from "Liu" (劉) to the more Xiongnu-like "Helian" (赫連), believing it inappropriate to follow his matrilineal line from the Han. Helian Bobo placed the Later Qin in a perpetual state of warfare and greatly contributed to its decline. In 418, he conquered the [[Guanzhong]] region from the [[Jin dynasty (266–420)|Eastern Jin dynasty]] after the [[Liu Yu's Northern Expeditions|Jin destroyed Qin]] the previous year.

After Helian Bobo's death in 425, the Xia quickly declined due to pressure from the Northern Wei. In 428, the emperor, [[Helian Chang]] and capital were both captured by Wei forces. His brother, [[Helian Ding]] succeeded him and conquered the [[Western Qin]] in 431, but that same year, he was ambushed and imprisoned by the [[Tuyuhun]] while attempting a campaign against [[Northern Liang]]. The Xia was at its end, and the following year, Helian Ding was sent to Wei where he was executed.

[[Tongwancheng]] (meaning "Unite All Nations"), was one of the capitals of the Xia that was built during the reign of Helian Bobo. The ruined city was discovered in 1996<ref>{{Citation|title = Sand-covered Hun City Unearthed|place = [[China|CN]]|publisher = China|url = http://www.china.org.cn/english/travel/45103.htm}}</ref> and the State Council designated it as a cultural relic under top state protection. The repair of the Yong'an Platform, where Helian Bobo reviewed parading troops, was completed and restoration on the {{Convert|31|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall turret follows.<ref>{{Citation |title=National Geographic |edition=online |url=http://www.geographic.hu/index.php?act=napi&id=5207}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |language=hu |last=Obrusánszky |first=Borbála |date=10 October 2006 |trans-title=Huns in China |title=Hunok Kínában |journal=Amsterdam Studies |issn=1873-3042 |issue=3 |url=http://www.federatio.org/as/AS_0003.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718081823/http://www.federatio.org/as/AS_0003.pdf |archive-date=18 July 2013 |url-status=live |access-date=18 August 2008}}</ref>

==== Juqu clan and Northern Liang dynasty (401–460) ====
{{Main|Northern Liang|Lushuihu}}
The Juqu clan were a [[Lushuihu]] family that founded the [[Northern Liang|Northern Liang dynasty]] in modern-day [[Gansu]] in 397. Recent historiographies often classify the Northern Liang as a "Xiongnu" state, but there is still ongoing debate on the exact origin of the Lushuihu. A leading theory is that the Lushuihu were descendants of the [[Yuezhi|Lesser Yuezhi]] that had intermingled with the [[Qiang (historical people)|Qiang]] people, but based on the fact that the Juqu's ancestors once served the Xiongnu empire, the Lushuihu could still be considered a branch of the Xiongnu. Regardless, contemporaneous records treat the Lushuihu as a distinct ethnic group.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zhou |first=Yiliang |title=《魏晋南北朝史论集》 |date=June 1997 |publisher=[[Beijing University Press]] |isbn=978-7-301-03191-9 |location=Beijing |language=zh |chapter=〈北朝的民族問題與民族政策〉}}</ref>{{sfn|Tang|2010|loc=ch.〈魏晋杂胡考 二 卢水胡〉}} The Northern Liang was known for its propagation of [[Buddhism]] in Gansu through their construction of Buddhist sites such as the [[Tiantishan Caves|Tiantishan]] and [[Mogao Caves|Mogao]] caves, and for being the last of the so-called Sixteen Kingdoms after it was conquered by the [[Northern Wei|Northern Wei dynasty]] in 439.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bell |first1=Alexander Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=77hHrXX4COgC&pg=PA107 |title=Didactic Narration: Jataka Iconography in Dunhuang with a Catalogue of Jataka Representations in China |date=2000 |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |isbn=978-3-8258-5134-7 |page=107 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Whitfield |first1=Roderick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EWmmCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA55 |title=Cave Temples of Mogao at Dunhuang: Art History on the Silk Road: Second Edition |last2=Whitfield |first2=Susan |last3=Agnew |first3=Neville |date=15 September 2015 |publisher=Getty Publications |isbn=978-1-60606-445-0 |page=55 |language=en}}</ref> There was also the Northern Liang of [[Gaochang]], which existed between 442 and 460.