Editing Inner Mongolia (section)

=== Early history ===
{{see also|Han dynasty in Inner Asia|Tang dynasty in Inner Asia}}
[[Slab Grave Culture|Slab Grave cultural]] monuments are found in Northern, Central and Eastern [[Mongolia]], Inner Mongolia, North-Western China, Southern, Central-Eastern and Southern [[Baikal Lake|Baikal]] territory. Mongolian scholars prove that this culture related to the [[Proto-Mongols]].<ref>''History of Mongolia'', Volume I, 2003.</ref>

During the [[Zhou dynasty]], Central and Western Inner Mongolia (the [[Hetao]] region and surrounding areas) were inhabited by nomadic peoples such as the [[Loufan (people)|Loufan]], Linhu and [[Beidi|Dí]], while Eastern Inner Mongolia was inhabited by the [[Donghu people|Donghu]]. During the [[Warring States period]], [[King Wuling of Zhao|King Wuling]] (340–295 BC) of the [[state of Zhao]] based in what is now [[Hebei]] and [[Shanxi|Shanxi Provinces]] pursued an expansionist policy towards the region. After destroying the [[Beidi|Dí]] [[state of Zhongshan]] in what is now Hebei province, he defeated the Linhu and [[Loufan (people)|Loufan]] and created the [[Yunzhong Commandery]] near modern [[Hohhot]]. King Wuling of Zhao also built a long wall stretching through the Hetao region. After [[Qin Shi Huang]] created the first unified Chinese empire in 221 BC, he sent the general [[Meng Tian]] to [[Qin's campaign against the Xiongnu|drive the Xiongnu from the region]] and incorporated the old Zhao wall into the Qin dynasty Great Wall of China. He also maintained two commanderies in the region: [[Jiuyuan Commandery|Jiuyuan]] and Yunzhong and moved 30,000 households there to solidify the region. After the Qin dynasty collapsed in 206 BC, these efforts were abandoned.<ref>Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian.</ref>

During the [[Western Han dynasty]], [[Emperor Wu of Han|Emperor Wu]] sent the general [[Wei Qing]] to [[Han–Xiongnu War|reconquer the Hetao region from the Xiongnu]] in 127 BC. After the conquest, Emperor Wu continued the policy of building settlements in Hetao to defend against the Xiong-Nu. In that same year, he established the commanderies of [[Shuofang Commandery|Shuofang]] and [[Wuyuan Commandery|Wuyuan]] in Hetao. At the same time, what is now Eastern Inner Mongolia was controlled by the [[Xianbei]], who would, later on, eclipse the Xiongnu in power and influence.

During the [[Eastern Han dynasty]] (25–220 AD), Xiongnu who surrendered to the Han dynasty began to be settled in Hetao and intermingled with the Han immigrants in the area. Later on, during the [[Western Jin dynasty]], it was a Xiongnu noble from Hetao, [[Liu Yuan (Han Zhao)|Liu Yuan]], who established the [[Han Zhao]] kingdom in the region, thereby beginning the [[Sixteen Kingdoms]] period that saw the disintegration of northern China under a variety of Han and non-Han (including Xiongnu and Xianbei) regimes.

The [[Sui dynasty]] (581–618) and [[Tang dynasty]] (618–907) re-established a unified Chinese empire and like their predecessors, they conquered and settled people into Hetao, though once again these efforts were aborted when the Tang empire began to collapse. Hetao (along with the rest of what now consists Inner Mongolia) was then taken over by the [[Liao dynasty]] founded by the [[Khitan people|Khitans]], a nomadic people originally from what is now the southern part of Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia. They were followed by the [[Western Xia]] of the [[Tangut people|Tangut]]s, who took control of what is now the western part of Inner Mongolia (including Western Hetao). The Khitans were later replaced by the [[Jurchens]], precursors to the modern [[Manchu people|Manchus]], who established the [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin dynasty]] over Manchuria and Northern China.