Editing Mongols (section)

=== In the Chinese classics ===
{{see also|Timeline of Mongols prior to the Mongol Empire}}
[[File:元骑马武士俑1.jpg|thumb|left|[[Yuan dynasty]] Mongol rider]]
The Donghu are mentioned by [[Sima Qian]] as already existing in [[Inner Mongolia]] north of [[Yan (state)|Yan]] in 699–632 BCE along with the [[Shanrong]]. Unofficial Chinese sources such as ''[[Yi Zhou Shu]]'' ("Lost Book of Zhou")<ref>''Yi Zhou Shu'', [https://ctext.org/lost-book-of-zhou/wang-hui/zh "Wanghui jie"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203155740/https://ctext.org/lost-book-of-zhou/wang-hui/zh |date=2021-12-03 }} quote: "'''東胡'''黃羆。... 正北空同、大夏、莎車、姑他、旦略、豹胡、代翟、匈奴、樓煩、月氏、孅犁、其龍、'''東胡'''，請令以橐駝、白玉、野馬、騊駼、駃騠、良弓為獻。"</ref> and the ''[[Classic of Mountains and Seas]]''<ref>''Classic of Mountains and Seas'', [https://ctext.org/shan-hai-jing/hai-nei-xi-jing?searchu=%E6%9D%B1%E8%83%A1&searchmode=showall#result "Classic of the Regions Within the Seas: West"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203155740/https://ctext.org/shan-hai-jing/hai-nei-xi-jing?searchu=%E6%9D%B1%E8%83%A1&searchmode=showall#result |date=2021-12-03 }} quote: "'''東胡'''在大澤東。夷人在'''東胡'''東。" translation: "Donghu are located east of the Great Marsh. [[Dongyi|Yi people]] are located east of Donghu."</ref> project the Donghu's activities back to the [[Shang dynasty]] (1600–1046 BCE). However, the Hu (胡) were not mentioned among the non-Shang ''fang'' (方 "border-region"; modern term ''fāngguó'' [[:zh:方國|方國]] "fang-countries") in the extant oracle bones from the Shang period.<ref>For a list of known fang-countries see Anderson, Matthew Mccutchen. (2015). "Change and Standardization in Anyang: Writing and Culture in Bronze Age China". ''Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations''. 1589. [https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1589 https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1589] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524194604/https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1589/ |date=2022-05-24 }} pp. 96–98</ref>

The Xianbei formed part of the Donghu confederation, and possibly had in earlier times some independence within the Donghu confederation as well as from the Zhou dynasty. During the Warring States the poem "[[The Great Summons]]" ({{CJKV|t=大招|s=大招|p=Dà zhāo}}) in the anthology [[Chu Ci|Verses of Chu]] mentions small-waisted and long-necked Xianbei women,<ref>''Chu Ci'', [https://ctext.org/chu-ci/da-zhao#n51934 "Da Zhao"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318135244/https://ctext.org/chu-ci/da-zhao#n51934 |date=2022-03-18 }}. quote: "小腰秀頸，若'''鮮卑'''只。". translation (by Gopal Sukhu, 2017): "And she is as small-waisted and long-necked [a]s a '''Xianbei''' woman."</ref> and possibly also the book ''[[Guoyu (book)|Discourses of the States]]'', which states that during the reign of [[King Cheng of Zhou]] (reigned 1042–1021 BCE) the Xianbei came to participate at a meeting of Zhou subject-lords at Qiyang (岐阳) (now [[Qishan County]]) but were only allowed to perform the fire ceremony under the supervision of [[Chu (state)|Chu]] since they were not [[Vassal state#Ancient China|vassals]] (诸侯) by [[Fengjian|enfeoffment and establishment]]. The Xianbei chieftain was appointed joint guardian of the ritual torch along with Chu viscount [[Xiong Yi (11th century BC)|Xiong Yi]].<ref>''Discourses of the States'', [https://ctext.org/guo-yu/jin-yu-ba "Discourses of Jin 8"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203161711/https://ctext.org/guo-yu/jin-yu-ba |date=2021-12-03 }} quote: "昔成王盟諸侯于岐陽，楚為荊蠻，置茅蕝，設望表，與鮮卑守燎，故不與盟。今將與狎主諸侯之盟，唯有德也，子務德無爭先，務德，所以服楚也。"</ref><ref>Zhang, Zhengming. (2019) A History Of Chu (Volume 1) Honolulu: Enrich Professional Publishing. p. 42-46</ref>{{efn|Zhang Zhengming (2017) accepts the reading 鮮卑<ref>Zhang, Zhengming. (2019) A History Of Chu (Volume 1) Honolulu: Enrich Professional Publishing. [https://books.google.com/books?id=kthDEAAAQBAJ&q=xianbei+%E9%AE%AE%E5%8D%91 p. 45] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003212058/https://books.google.com/books?id=kthDEAAAQBAJ&q=xianbei+%E9%AE%AE%E5%8D%91 |date=2023-10-03 }}. quote: "and tending the shrine flames together with the '''Xianbei 鮮卑''' clan leader."</ref> (also seen in the early 19th century version published by Jinzhang bookstore ({{lang|zh|錦章図書局}}) in Shanghai<ref name = "gy-wul-2-36">''Guoyu'', explained by Wei Zhao, "Jinyu 8". Jinzhang Bookstore's version, vol. 2 [https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:WUL-bunko01_01820_%E5%9C%8B%E8%AA%9E_2.pdf&page=36 p. 36] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109001052/https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:WUL-bunko01_01820_%E5%9C%8B%E8%AA%9E_2.pdf&page=36 |date=2023-11-09 }} Waseda University Library's copy</ref>) as the ethnonym of the people who accompanied the Chu. However, 鮮卑 Xianbei is likely a scribal error for '''鮮牟 Xianmou''' (as in other versions like Sibu Congkan ([[:w:zh:四部叢刊|四部叢刊]]),<ref name = "gy-sbck-140">''Guoyu'', explained by Wei Zhao, "Jinyu 8". 1st edition Sibu Congkan version, vol. 3 [https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=en&file=77610&page=140#%E9%AE%AE%E7%89%9F p. 140] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230613202958/https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=en&file=77610&page=140#%E9%AE%AE%E7%89%9F |date=2023-06-13 }} of 154</ref> or [[Siku Quanshu]] ([[:w:zh:四庫全書|四庫全書]])<ref name = "gy-skqs-42">''Guoyu'', explained by Wei Zhao, "Jinyu 8". Siku Quanshu version, vol. 3-7, [https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=en&file=68900&page=42#%E9%AE%AE%E7%89%9F p. 42] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230613202956/https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=en&file=68900&page=42#%E9%AE%AE%E7%89%9F |date=2023-06-13 }} of 148</ref>). [[Eastern Wu]] scholar [[Wei Zhao (Eastern Wu)|Wei Zhao]] states that the 鮮牟 Xianmou were an [[Dongyi|Eastern Yi]] nation,<ref name = "gy-sbck-140-wz">''Guoyu'', "Jinyu 8", explained by Wei Zhao, 1st edition Sibu Congkan version, vol. 3 [https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=en&file=77610&page=140#%E9%AE%AE%E7%89%9F%E6%9D%B1%E5%A4%B7%E5%9C%8B p. 140] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230613202958/https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=en&file=77610&page=140#%E9%AE%AE%E7%89%9F%E6%9D%B1%E5%A4%B7%E5%9C%8B |date=2023-06-13 }} of 154. quote: "鮮牟東夷國"</ref><ref name = "gy-skqs-43">''Guoyu'', "Jinyu 8", explained by Wei Zhao. Siku Quanshu version, vol. 3-7, [https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=en&file=68900&page=43#%E9%AE%AE%E7%89%9F p. 43] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230613202959/https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=en&file=68900&page=43#%E9%AE%AE%E7%89%9F |date=2023-06-13 }} of 148. quote: "鮮牟東夷國"</ref> while the 鮮卑 Xianbei were of [[Shanrong|Mountain Rong]] origin.<ref>''Guoyu'', explained by Wei Zhao, "Qiyu", 1st edition Sibu Congkan version, vol. 2, [https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=en&file=77609&page=90#%E5%B1%B1%E6%88%8E%E4%BB%8A%E4%B9%8B%E9%AE%AE%E5%8D%91 p. 90] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230613203001/https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=en&file=77609&page=90#%E5%B1%B1%E6%88%8E%E4%BB%8A%E4%B9%8B%E9%AE%AE%E5%8D%91 |date=2023-06-13 }} of 160, quote: "山戎今之鮮卑"</ref><ref>''Guoyu'', explained by Wei Zhao, "Qiyu". Siku Quanshu version, vol. 6-8, [https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=en&file=68894&page=28 p. 28] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230613203210/https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=en&file=68894&page=28 |date=2023-06-13 }} of 111, quote: "山戎今之鮮卑"</ref> The apparent scribal error results in contradicting statements, apparently by Wei Zhao, that the Xianbei were an Eastern Yi nation<ref name = "gy-wul-2-36-dy">''Guoyu'', explained by Wei Zhao, "Jinyu 8". Jinzhang Bookstore's version, vol. 2 [https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:WUL-bunko01_01820_%E5%9C%8B%E8%AA%9E_2.pdf&page=36 p. 36] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109001052/https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:WUL-bunko01_01820_%E5%9C%8B%E8%AA%9E_2.pdf&page=36 |date=2023-11-09 }}. quote: "鮮卑東夷國". Waseda University Library's copy</ref> and a people of Mountain Rong origin.<ref name="gy-wul-1-42-sr">''Guoyu'', explained by Wei Zhao, "Qiyu". Jinzhang Bookstore's version, [https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:WUL-bunko01_01820_%E5%9C%8B%E8%AA%9E_1.pdf&page=42 p. 42] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231116155305/https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:WUL-bunko01_01820_%E5%9C%8B%E8%AA%9E_1.pdf&page=42 |date=2023-11-16 }}. quote: "山戎今之鮮卑". Waseda University Library's copy</ref> [[Huang Pilie]] (1763-1825) states that the reading 鮮卑 Xianbei was inauthentic and identifies the 鮮牟 Xianmou with '''根牟 [[Genmou]]''', an Eastern Yi nation conquered by the [[Lu (state)|Lu state]] in the 9th year of Duke Xuan of Lu's reign (600 BCE).<ref>''[[Spring and Autumn Annals|Chunqiu]] [[Zuo Zhuan]]'' "Duke Xuan's 9th year" [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%98%A5%E7%A7%8B%E5%B7%A6%E6%B0%8F%E5%82%B3/%E5%AE%A3%E5%85%AC#%E7%B6%93_9 jing] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405052350/https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%98%A5%E7%A7%8B%E5%B7%A6%E6%B0%8F%E5%82%B3/%E5%AE%A3%E5%85%AC#%E7%B6%93_9 |date=2023-04-05 }}; quote:（ 秋，取根牟。）; rough translation: "In autumn, [Lu] conquered Genmou." [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%98%A5%E7%A7%8B%E5%B7%A6%E6%B0%8F%E5%82%B3/%E5%AE%A3%E5%85%AC#%E5%82%B3_9 zhuan] ; quote:（秋，取根牟，言易也。）; rough translation: "In autumn, [Lu] conquered Genmou. It's said that was easy."</ref><ref>[[Du Yu]], 《春秋經傳集解》 ''Chunqiu Zuozhuan - Collected Explanations'', "vol. 2" [https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&file=77349&page=151#%E6%A0%B9%E7%89%9F%E6%9D%B1%E5%A4%B7%E5%9C%8B%E4%B9%9F p. 151 of 190] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109000700/https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&file=77349&page=151#%E6%A0%B9%E7%89%9F%E6%9D%B1%E5%A4%B7%E5%9C%8B%E4%B9%9F |date=2023-11-09 }}. quote:（ 根牟東夷國也 ）</ref><ref>Xu Yuangao & Wang Shumin (2002). 國語集解 (''Discourses of the States - Collected Explanations'') Publisher: [[Zhonghua Book Company]]. p. 430. quote:（ 黃丕烈曰：「鮮牟，一本作『鮮卑』，非。『鮮牟』即宣九年之『根牟』也，…… 。」）; rough translation: "Huang Pilie said: 'Xianmou (鮮牟), in one copy it is written as Xianbei (鮮卑), which is inauthentic. The Xianmou (鮮牟) are the Genmou (根牟) in (Duke) Xuan's 9th year. [...].'"</ref>}}

These early Xianbei came from the nearby [[Zhukaigou culture]] (2200–1500 BCE) in the [[Ordos Desert]], where maternal DNA corresponds to the Mongol [[Daur people]] and the Tungusic [[Evenks]]. The Zhukaigou Xianbei (part of the [[Ordos culture]] of Inner Mongolia and northern [[Shaanxi]]) had trade relations with the Shang. [[Liu Song dynasty]] commentator Pei Yin (裴駰), in his Jixie (集解), quoted [[Han dynasty#Eastern Han|Eastern Han dynasty]] scholar Fu Qian (服虔)'s assertion that [[Shanrong]] (山戎) and Beidi (北狄) are ancestors of the present-day Xianbei (鮮卑).<ref>[[Sima Qian]]'s [[Shiji]], [https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E5%8F%B2%E8%A8%98%E4%B8%89%E5%AE%B6%E8%A8%BB/%E5%8D%B7110 ch. 110] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720135707/https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E5%8F%B2%E8%A8%98%E4%B8%89%E5%AE%B6%E8%A8%BB/%E5%8D%B7110 |date=2021-07-20 }}, with commentaries; text: "服虔云：「山戎蓋今鮮卑。」"</ref><ref>''Shiji: Sanjiazhu'', text: "〔一〕集解服虔曰:「山戎, 北狄, 蓋今鮮卑也。」, [https://books.google.com/books?id=29pjCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT491 page 491]"</ref> Again in Inner Mongolia another closely connected core Mongolic Xianbei region was the [[Upper Xiajiadian culture]] (1000–600 BCE) where the Donghu confederation was centered.

After the Donghu were defeated by Xiongnu king [[Modu Chanyu]], the [[Xianbei]] and [[Wuhuan]] survived as the main remnants of the confederation. [[Tadun]] Khan of the Wuhuan (died 207 AD) was the ancestor of the proto-Mongolic [[Kumo Xi]].<ref>[[Xin Tangshu]] 219. 6173.</ref> The Wuhuan are of the direct Donghu royal line and the ''[[New Book of Tang]]'' says that in 209 BCE, Modu Chanyu defeated the Wuhuan instead of using the word Donghu. The Xianbei, however, were of the lateral Donghu line and had a somewhat separate identity, although they shared the same language with the Wuhuan. In 49 CE the Xianbei ruler Bianhe (Bayan Khan?) raided and defeated the Xiongnu, killing 2000, after having received generous gifts from [[Emperor Guangwu of Han]]. The Xianbei reached their peak under [[Tanshihuai]] (reigned 156–181) who expanded their vast but short lived [[Xianbei#Xianbei Confederation|confederation]].
[[File:Genomic_evidence_from_Avar_period_human_remains.png|thumb|Analysis of DNA extracted from the remains of [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]] found in Hungary has provided evidence that they originated in what is now Mongolia.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gnecchi-Ruscone |first1=Guido Alberto |title=Ancient genomes reveal origin and rapid trans-Eurasian migration of 7th century Avar elites |journal=Cell |date=14 April 2022 |volume=185 |issue=8 |pages=1402–1413.e21 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2022.03.007 |pmid=35366416 |pmc=9042794 |s2cid=247859905 |language=en |issn=0092-8674}}</ref>]] 
Three prominent groups split from the [[Xianbei state]] as recorded by the Chinese histories: the [[Rouran]] (claimed by some to be the [[Pannonian Avars]]), the [[Khitan people]] and the [[Shiwei people|Shiwei]] (a subtribe called the "Shiwei Menggu" is held to be the origin of the Genghisid Mongols).<ref>University of California, Berkeley. Project on Linguistic Analysis, ''Journal of Chinese linguistics'', p. 154</ref> Besides these three Xianbei groups, there were others such as the [[Murong]], [[Duan (tribe)|Duan]] and [[Tuoba]]. Their culture was nomadic, their religion [[shamanism]] or [[Buddhism]] and their military strength formidable. There is still no direct evidence that the Rouran spoke [[Mongolic languages]], although most scholars agree that they were Proto-Mongolic.<ref>Thomas Hoppe, ''Die ethnischen Gruppen Xinjiangs: Kulturunterschiede und interethnische'', p. 66</ref> The Khitan, however, had two scripts of their own and many Mongolic words are found in their half-deciphered writings.

Geographically, the [[Tuoba]] Xianbei ruled the southern part of Inner Mongolia and northern China, the Rouran ([[Yujiulü Shelun]] was the first to use the title [[khagan]] in 402) ruled eastern Mongolia, western Mongolia, the northern part of Inner Mongolia and northern Mongolia, the Khitan were concentrated in eastern part of Inner Mongolia north of [[Korea]] and the Shiwei were located to the north of the Khitan. These tribes and kingdoms were soon overshadowed by the rise of the [[First Turkic Khaganate]] in 555, the [[Uyghur Khaganate]] in 745 and the [[Yenisei Kirghiz]] states in 840. The Tuoba were eventually absorbed into China. The Rouran fled west from the Göktürks and either disappeared into obscurity or, as some say, invaded Europe as the Avars under their Khan, [[Bayan I]]. Some Rouran under Tatar Khan migrated east, founding the [[Tatar confederation]], who became part of the [[Shiwei people|Shiwei]]. The Khitans, who were independent after their separation from the [[Kumo Xi]] (of [[Wuhuan]] origin) in 388, continued as a minor power in Manchuria until one of them, [[Abaoji]] (872–926), established the [[Liao dynasty]] (916–1125).