Editing Wusun (section)

===As Han allies===
Some time after the Han-Wusun negotiations ended, the Han inflicted several blows to the Xiongnu.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> The Han then threatened war upon the Wusun, after which Liejiaomi finally agreed to an alliance, sending tributary horses and accepting [[Princess Xijun]] as his wife.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> Along with the Yuezhi and the Kangju of the [[Ferghana Valley]], the Wusun became the main suppliers of horses for the Han.<ref name="Wood53">{{harvnb|Wood|2004|pp=53–54}}</ref> The Xiongnu had however also sent a princess to marry Liejiaomi, and the Xiongnu princess was declared his senior consort, with Xijun becoming his junior wife.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> Since Liejiaomi was already an old man, Xijun was married to his successor Cenzou, which Wu agreed with.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> Xijun wrote a famous poem, the ''Beichouge'', in which she complains about her exile in the land of the "[[barbarian]]s":

{{Blockquote|My family sent me off to be married on the other side of heaven. They sent me a long way to a strange land, to the king of Wusun. A domed lodging is my dwelling place with walls of felt. Meat is my food, with fermented milk as the sauce. I live with constant thoughts of my home, my heart is full of sorrow. I wish I were a golden swan, returning to my home country.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/><ref name="Wood57">{{harvnb|Wood|2004|p=57}}</ref>}}

Xijun bore the Wusun a daughter but died soon afterward, at which point the Han court sent [[Princess Jieyou]] to succeed her.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> After the death of Cenzou, Jieyou married Wengguimi, Cenzou's cousin and successor. Jieyou lived for fifty years among the Wusun and bore five children, including the oldest Yuanguimi, whose half-brother Wujiutu was born to a Xiongnu mother.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> She sent numerous letters to the Han requesting assistance against the Xiongnu.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/>

Around 80&nbsp;BC, the Wusun were attacked by the Xiongnu, who inflicted a devastating defeat upon them.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/><ref name="ChineseHistory"/> In 72&nbsp;BC, Kunmi, chief of the Wusun requested assistance from the Han against the Xiongnu.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/><ref name="ChineseHistory"/> The Han sent an army of 160,000&nbsp;men, inflicting a crushing defeat upon the Xiongnu, capturing much booty and many slaves.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> In the campaign the Han captured the [[Tarim Basin]] and the [[city-state]] of [[Cheshi]] ([[Turpan]] region), a previous ally of the Xiongnu, giving them direct contact with the Wusun.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> Afterwards the Wusun allied with the [[Dingling]] and [[Wuhuan]] to counter Xiongnu attacks.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> After their crushing victory against the Xiongnu the Wusun increased in strength, achieving significant influence over the city-states of the Tarim Basin.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> The son of the Kunmi became the ruler of [[Yarkant County|Yarkand]], while his daughter became the wife of the lord of [[Kucha]].<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/> They came to play a role as a third force between the Han and the Xiongnu.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/>

Around 64&nbsp;BC, according to the ''Book of Han'', Chinese agents were involved in a plot with a Wusun kunmi known as Wengguimi ("Fat King") and to kill a Wusun kunmi known to the Chinese as Nimi ("Mad King"). A Chinese deputy envoy called Chi Tu who brought a doctor to attend to Nimi was punished with castration by the Han dynasty when he returned to China for treating the mad king's illness instead of killing him which the Han court ordered them to do.<ref name="Wood59">{{harvnb|Wood|2004|p=59}}</ref><ref name="FH155">{{harvnb|François|Hulsewé|1979|p=155}}</ref>

In 64&nbsp;BC another Han princess was sent to Kunmi Wengguimi, but he died before her arrival. Han emperor [[Emperor Xuan of Han|Xuan]] then permitted the princess to return, since Jieyou had married the new Kunmi, Nimi, the son of Cenzou. Jieyou bore Nimi the son Chimi. Prince Wujiutu later killed Nimi, his half-brother. Fearing the wrath of the Han, Wujiutu adopted the title of Lesser Kunmi, while Yuanguimi was given the title Greater Kunmi. The Han accepted this system and bestowed both of them with the [[Heirloom Seal of the Realm|imperial seal]]. After both Yuanguimi and Chimi were dead, Jieyou asked Emperor Xuan for permission to return to China. She died in 49&nbsp;BC. Over the next decades the institution of the Greater and Lesser Kunmi continued, with the Lesser Kunmi being married to a Xiongnu princess and the Greater Kunmi married to a Han princess.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/>

In 5&nbsp;BC, during the reign of [[Wuzhuliu|Wuzhuliu Chanyu]] (8&nbsp;BC{{snd}}AD&nbsp;13), the Wusun attempted to raid [[Yueban]] pastures, but Wuzhuliu repulsed them, and the Wusun commander had to send his son to the Yueban court as a hostage. The forceful intervention of the Chinese usurper [[Wang Mang]] and internal strife brought disorder, and in 2&nbsp;BC one of the Wusun chieftains brought 80,000&nbsp;Wusun to Kangju, asking for help against the Chinese. In a vain attempt to reconcile with China, he was duped and killed in 3&nbsp;AD.<ref name="kulichki1">{{cite book |author=Gumilev L.N. |title=History of Hun People |location=Moscow |series=Science |chapter=12 |chapter-url=http://gumilevica.kulichki.net/HPH/hph12.htm |language=ru}}</ref><ref name="Taishan45">{{harvnb|Taishan|2004|p=45}}</ref>

In 2&nbsp;AD, [[Wang Mang]] issued a list of four regulations to the allied Xiongnu that the taking of any hostages from Chinese vassals, i.e. Wusun, [[Wuhuan]] and the statelets of the [[Western Regions]], would not be tolerated.<ref name="FH192">{{harvnb|François|Hulsewé|1979|p=192}}</ref>

In 74&nbsp;AD the Wusun are recorded as having sent tribute to the Han military commanders in Cheshi.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> In 80&nbsp;AD [[Ban Chao]] requested assistance from the Wusun against the city-state Quchi (Kucha) in the Tarim Basin.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> The Wusun were subsequently rewarded with silks, while diplomatic exchanges were resumed.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/> During the 2nd&nbsp;century&nbsp;AD the Wusun continued their decline in political importance.<ref name="ChineseHistory"/>