Editing Xiongnu (section)

=== Early history ===
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| image1            = Buckle boar hunting NMAT 48-8 n06 (composite).jpg
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| footer            = A nomad horseman spearing a boar, discovered in [[Saksanokhur]], [[Tajikistan|South Tajikistan]], 1st–2nd century AD.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Marshak |first1=Boris Ilʹich |title=Peerless Images: Persian Painting and Its Sources |date=1 January 2002 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-09038-3 |page=9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XUyajzkDJ50C&pg=PA9 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |date=1997 |last1=Ilyasov |first1=Jangar Ya. |last2=Rusanov |first2=Dmitriy V. |title=A Study on the Bone Plates from Orlat|language =en |issn=0917-1614|journal=Silk Road Art and Archaeology |volume= 5 |publisher=The Institute of Silk Road Studies |location=Kamakura, Japan |issue=1997/98 |pages=107–159 |quote-page=127 |quote=The image on this belt-buckle represents a rider striking a wild boar with a spear. |url=https://www.academia.edu/7847889}}</ref> According to [[Henri-Paul Francfort|Francfort]], [[Saksanokhur gold buckle|this decorative belt buckle]] may have been made for a patron related to the Xiongnu, and may be dated to the 2nd-1st century BC. The rider wears the steppe dress, his hair is tied into a hairbun characteristic of the oriental steppes, and his horse has characteristically Xiongnu [[horse trappings]].<ref name="HPF">{{cite journal |last1=Francfort |first1=Henri-Paul |author-link=Henri-Paul Francfort |title=Sur quelques vestiges et indices nouveaux de l'hellénisme dans les arts entre la Bactriane et le Gandhāra (130 av. J.-C.-100 apr. J.-C. environ) |trans-title=On some vestiges and new indications of Hellenism in the arts between Bactria and Gandhāra (130 BC-100 AD approximately) |journal=Journal des Savants |date=2020 |pages=35–39 |url=https://www.academia.edu/45042820 |quote=Page 36: "A renowned openwork gold plate found on the surface of the site depicts a wild boar hunt at the spear by a rider in steppe dress, in a frame of ovals arranged in cells intended to receive inlays (fig. 14). We can today attribute it to a local craft whose intention was to satisfy a horserider patron originating from the distant steppes and related to the Xiongnu" (French: "On peut aujourd'hui l'attribuer à un art local dont l'intention était de satisfaire un patron cavalier originaire des steppes lointaines et apparenté aux Xiongnu."){{pb}}p. 36: "We can also clearly distinguish the crupper adorned with three rings forming a chain, as well as, on the shoulder of the mount, a very recognizable clip-shaped pendant, suspended from a chain passing in front of the chest and going up to the pommel of the saddle, whose known parallels are not to be found among the Scythians but in the realm of the Xiongnu, on bronze plaques from Mongolia and China" (French: "les parallèles connus ne se trouvent pas chez les Scythes mais dans le domaine des Xiongnu").{{pb}}p. 38: "The hairstyle of the hunter, with long hair pulled back and gathered in a bun, is also found at [[Takht-i Sangin]]; it is that of the eastern steppes, which can be seen on [[:File:Steppes horseman hunting.jpg|the wild boar hunting plaque "des Iyrques"]] (fig. 15)" (French: La coiffure du chasseur, aux longs cheveux tirés en arrière et rassemblés en chignon, se retrouve à [[Takht-i Sangin]]; C'est celle des steppes orientales, que l'on remarque sur les plaques de la chasse au sanglier «des Iyrques» (fig. 15)}}</ref>
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[[Han dynasty#Western Han|Western Han]] historian [[Sima Qian]] composed an early yet detailed exposition on the Xiongnu in one ''liezhuan'' (arrayed account) of his ''[[Records of the Grand Historian]]'' ({{circa|lk=no|100}} BC), wherein the Xiongnu were alleged to be descendants of a certain [[Chunwei]], who in turn descended from the "lineage of Lord Xia", a.k.a. [[Yu the Great]].<ref>"The Account of the Xiongnu, Records of the Grand Historian",Sima Qian.DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004216358_00</ref><ref>Shiji [https://ctext.org/shiji/xiong-nu-lie-zhuan Ch. 110: Xiongnu liezhuan] quote: "匈奴，其先祖夏后氏之苗裔也，曰淳維。"</ref> Even so, Sima Qian also drew a distinct line between the settled [[Huaxia]] people (Han) to the pastoral nomads (Xiongnu), characterizing them as two polar groups in the sense of a civilization versus an uncivilized society: the [[Hua–Yi distinction]].{{sfn|Di Cosmo|2002|p=2}} Sima Qian also mentioned Xiongnu's early appearance north of [[Yanmen Commandery|Wild Goose Gate]] and [[Dai Commandery|Dai]] commanderies before 265 BC, just before the [[Zhao-Xiongnu War]];<ref>''[[Shiji]]'' [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%8F%B2%E8%A8%98/%E5%8D%B7081#%E9%99%84_%E6%9D%8E%E7%89%A7 Vol. 81 "Stories about Lian Po and Lin Xiangru - Addendum: Li Mu"] text: "李牧者，趙之北邊良將也。常居代鴈門，備匈奴。" translation: "About [[Li Mu]], he was a good general at [[Zhao (state)|Zhao]]'s northern borders. He often stationed at Dai and Wild Goose Gate, prepared [against] the Xiongnu."</ref><ref>Theobald, Ulrich (2019) [http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Zhou/personslimu.html "Li Mu 李牧"] in ''ChinaKnowledge.de - An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art''</ref> however, [[sinologist]] [[Edwin G. Pulleyblank|Edwin Pulleyblank]] (1994) contends that pre-241-BC references to the Xiongnu are anachronistic substitutions for the [[Donghu people|Hu people]] instead.{{sfn|Pulleyblank|1994|pp=518–520}}{{sfn|Schuessler|2014|p=264}} Sometimes the Xiongnu were distinguished from other nomadic peoples; namely, the [[Donghu people|Hu people]];{{sfn|Bunker|2002|pp=27–28}} yet on other occasions, Chinese sources often just classified the Xiongnu as a [[Five Barbarians|''Hu'' people]], which was a blanket term for [[nomadic people]].{{sfn|Pulleyblank|1994|pp=518–520}}{{sfn|Di Cosmo|2002|p=129}} Even Sima Qian was inconsistent: in the chapter "Hereditary House of Zhao", he considered the Donghu to be the Hu proper,<ref name = "hu proper">''Shiji'', [https://ctext.org/shiji/zhao-shi-jia#n6694 "Hereditary House of Zhao"] quote: "今中山在我腹心，北有燕，東有'''胡'''，西有林胡、樓煩、秦、韓之邊，而無彊兵之救，是亡社稷，柰何？" translation: "([[King Wuling of Zhao]] to [http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Zhou/personslouhuan.html Lou Huan]:) Now [[Zhongshan (state)|Zhongshan]] is at our heart and belly [note: Zhao surrounded Zhongshan, except on Zhongshan's north-eastern side], [[Yan (state)|Yan]] to the north, '''Hu''' to the east, Forest Hu, [[Loufan_County#Name|Loufan]], [[Qin (state)|Qin]], [[Han (Warring States)|Han]] at our borders to the west. Yet we have no strong army to help us, surely we will lose our country. What is to be done?"</ref><ref name = "ZGC">Compare a parallel passage in ''[[Stratagems of the Warring States]]'', "King Wuling spends his day in idleness", quote: "自常山以至代、上黨，東有燕、'''東胡'''之境，西有樓煩、秦、韓之邊，而無騎射之備。" [https://jenniferdodgson.wixsite.com/warringstates/wuling Jennifer Dodgson's translation]: "From [[Mount Heng (Shanxi)|Mount Chang]] to [[Dai_(Spring_and_Autumn_period)|Dai]] and [[Shangdang Commandery|Shangdang]], our lands border Yan and the '''Donghu''' in the east, and to the west we have the Loufan and shared borders with Qin and Han. Nevertheless, we have no mounted archers ready for action."</ref> yet elsewhere he considered Xiongnu to be also Hu.<ref name = "xiongnu hu">''Shiji'', [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%8F%B2%E8%A8%98/%E5%8D%B7110 Vol. 110 "Account of the Xiongnu"]. quote: "後秦滅六國，而始皇帝使蒙恬將十萬之眾北擊'''胡'''，悉收河南地。…… '''匈奴'''單于曰頭曼，頭曼不勝秦，北徙。" translation: "Later on, Qin conquered the six other states, and the [[Qin Shi Huang|First Emperor]] dispatched general [[Meng Tian]] to lead a multitude of 100,000 north to attack the '''Hu'''; and he took all lands south the Yellow River. [...] The '''Xiongnu''' chanyu was Touman; Touman could not win against Qin, so [they] fled north."</ref>{{sfn|Pulleyblank|1994|pp=518–520}}

Ancient China often came in contact with the [[Xianyun]] and the [[Xirong]] nomadic peoples. In later Chinese historiography, some groups of these peoples were believed to be the possible progenitors of the Xiongnu people.{{sfn|Di Cosmo|2002|p=107}} These nomadic people often had repeated military confrontations with the [[Shang dynasty|Shang]] and especially the [[Zhou dynasty|Zhou]], who often conquered and enslaved the nomads in an expansion drift.{{sfn|Di Cosmo|2002|p=107}} During the [[Warring States period]], the armies from the [[Qin (state)|Qin]], [[Zhao (state)|Zhao]] and [[Yan (state)|Yan]] states were encroaching and conquering various nomadic territories that were inhabited by the Xiongnu and other Hu peoples.{{sfn|Di Cosmo|1999|pp=892–893}}

Pulleyblank argued that the Xiongnu were part of a [[Xirong]] group called [[Yiqu]], who had lived in [[Shaanbei]] and had been influenced by China for centuries, before they were driven out by the [[Qin dynasty]].{{sfn|Pulleyblank|1994|pp=514–523}}{{sfn|Pulleyblank|2000|p=20}} [[Qin's campaign against the Xiongnu]] expanded Qin's territory at the expense of the Xiongnu.{{sfn|Di Cosmo|1999|pp=892–893, 964}} After the unification of Qin dynasty, Xiongnu was a threat to the northern border of Qin. They were likely to attack the Qin dynasty when they suffered natural disasters.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rawson |first=Jessica |date=2017 |title=China and the steppe: reception and resistance |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0003598X16002763/type/journal_article |journal=[[Antiquity (journal)|Antiquity]] |volume=91 |issue=356 |pages=375–388 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2016.276 |s2cid=165092308 |issn=0003-598X}}</ref>