Xiongnu - Today

Japanese: 匈奴 - きょうど

The name of the nomadic horse-riding people who were active mainly in the Mongolian Plateau and the Great Wall area from the end of the 3rd century BC to the end of the 1st century AD, and the name of the nation they formed. They are said to be the descendants of the Ken'in and Kunyuk peoples who threatened the northern border of China during the Zhou dynasty, but there is no definite proof.

[Masao Mamoru]

The Birth of the Xiongnu Nomadic State

Around the time when the First Emperor of Qin unified China (221 B.C.), the chief of the Liandi (Xu Liandai) clan of the Xiongnu, Touman (Tümän?), succeeded in uniting the tribes of the Mongolian Plateau, but his son, Maodun, killed his father and called himself Chanyu. Chanyu was a title used by the rulers of the nomadic states of North Asia before they were called Khagan (Khan). Maodun conquered the Donghu in southern Manchuria, the Dingling in the north, and the Kyrgyzs on the upper reaches of the Yenisei River, and defeated the Yuezhi in the west, establishing the first nomadic state in North Asia, and then invaded the northern part of Shanxi Province. Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Han dynasty, marched north to fight them, but was surrounded near Datong. After barely escaping, he made a peace agreement with the Xiongnu on the condition that he married a daughter of the Han imperial family (princess) to Chanyu and that he would give the Xiongnu a lot of silk fabrics, wine, rice, etc. every year (198 BC). After that, the Xiongnu came under their control over the oasis states of Wusun and East Turkistan, and as a result, the sphere of control of the Xiongnu stretched from Jehol in the east to East Turkistan in the west, and from the upper reaches of the Yenisei River in the north to Ordos in the south. The Xiongnu's main economic base was in East Turkestan, and their military bases in Inner Mongolia and Ordos; from the former they exacted protective taxes on products, transportation, and commerce, and in the latter they produced Scytho-Siberian bronze artefacts, especially weapons (the so-called Suiyuan bronze artefacts or Ordos bronze artefacts).

[Masao Mamoru]

Division and decline

Thus, the Xiongnu reached their heyday, but Emperor Wu of Han (reigned 141-87 BC) frequently sent expeditionary forces against the Xiongnu, and also dispatched Zhang Qian to the Yuezhi (139-126 BC) to attack them from both the east and west. Due to Emperor Wu's aggressive policies, the Xiongnu fled to Outer Mongolia, East Turkestan came under the influence of the Han, and subordinate tribes such as the Dingling and Xianbei became independent. Furthermore, internal conflicts arose within the Xiongnu, and several Chanyus rose up in power, and then Zhizhi Chanyu (Western Xiongnu) and his younger brother Huhanye Chanyu (Eastern Xiongnu) came into conflict (54 BC). Huhanye surrendered to the Han dynasty and received its aid, so Zhizhi fled west to the Kyrgyz steppe, but was defeated and killed by a Han expeditionary force (36 BC). After this, the Xiongnu were restored under Huhanye, and relations with the Han were temporarily reconciled when Huhanye married off Wang Zhaojun. However, internal conflict broke out again, and the second leader, Huhanye Chanyu, surrendered to the Later Han dynasty, whereupon the Xiongnu split into the Southern Xiongnu led by Huhanye and the Northern Xiongnu (48 AD). The Southern Xiongnu lived in Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and other areas, and were responsible for defending the northern and northwestern borders of China, but took advantage of the internal conflicts in the Western Jin Dynasty to rebel, and established the Han (Former Zhao), Northern Liang, and Xia states out of the 16 states of the Five Barbarians, gradually becoming more and more Chinese. The Northern Xiongnu sometimes invaded China, but they were attacked by the Xianbei, and Chanyu was killed. When the allied forces of the Later Han and Southern Xiongnu attacked their base, they were defeated (AD 91), and as a result, the Xiongnu state on the Mongolian Plateau collapsed. The remnants of the Xiongnu later submitted to the Xianbei and then Rouran states established on the Mongolian Plateau.

[Masao Mamoru]

Xiongnu and Huns

It is said that the descendants of the Xiongnu, who threatened the Qin and Han dynasties mainly in the Mongolian Plateau, are the Huns, who triggered the great ethnic migration in Europe. This issue has been around for almost 200 years since it was first presented to the academic community, but it has not yet been resolved. However, what is certain is that the westward migration of the Xiongnu, probably the ruling class, and the westward migration of the Huns are not completely unrelated, and that the name Huns comes from the Xiongnu.

There are many theories about the race of the Xiongnu, including Turkic, Mongolian, and Aryan, but the most prevalent theory is that they were Turkic. Recently, a theory has been put forward that the Xiongnu are racially related to the ancient people who lived in the Yenisei River basin, but this too is not conclusive. The state was a tribal confederation with the ruling class being the Xiongnu tribe, which consisted of clans such as the Lendi, Huyan, Subok, Lan, and Qiulin. The position of Chanyu was hereditary to the Lendi clan, and the empress, called the Atsushi, was generally from the other four clans. The chiefs of the tribes that made up the state gathered at the Chanyu's headquarters three times a year, in spring, autumn, and New Year, to perform shamanic rituals and discuss state affairs. They practiced extensive nomadic pastoralism and hunting, grazing livestock such as sheep and horses, moving between summer and winter camps, and living in round tent-style houses.

The Han-style palace excavated in the Minusinsk Basin upstream of the Yenisei River is said to belong to Li Ling, a Han general who surrendered to the Xiongnu, but this is unclear. Also, the tomb of a Xiongnu aristocrat excavated by Kozlov and his party at Noin-Ula dates to around the time of Christ, and from it, in addition to Scytho-Siberian cultural artifacts, Chinese products such as silk fabrics, lacquerware, and jadeware, as well as woolen fabrics embroidered with Iranian animal and plant motifs and human figures, show the influence of Chinese and Western culture on the ruling class of the Xiongnu.

[Masao Mamoru]

"Masao Mori, 'The Structure of Ancient Nomadic States in North Asia' (included in 'Iwanami Lecture Series on World History 6', 1971, Iwanami Shoten)"

Xiongnu / Brief family tree
©Shogakukan ">

Xiongnu / Brief family tree

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

紀元前3世紀末から紀元後1世紀末まで、モンゴル高原、万里の長城地帯を中心に活躍した遊牧騎馬民族、およびそれが形成した国家の名称。周代に中国の北辺を脅かした玁狁(けんいん)や葷粥(くんいく)らの後裔(こうえい)であるといわれるが確証はない。

［護　雅夫］

匈奴遊牧国家の誕生

秦(しん)の始皇帝が中国を統一（前221）したころ、匈奴の攣鞮(れんてい)（虚連題(きょれんだい)）氏族の族長頭曼(とうまん)（Tümän万人長？）は、モンゴル高原の諸族の連合にいちおう成功したが、その子冒頓(ぼくとつ)は、父を殺して自ら単于(ぜんう)と号した。単于とは、北アジアの遊牧国家の君主が、ハガン（可汗）と称する以前に用いていた称号である。冒頓は、南満州の東胡(とうこ)、北方の丁零(ていれい)、エニセイ川上流のキルギスを征服、西方の月氏(げっし)を撃破して、北アジア最初の遊牧国家を建て、ついで、山西省北部に侵入した。漢の高祖劉邦(りゅうほう)は、北進してこれを迎え撃ったが、大同付近で包囲され、かろうじて脱出したのち、漢の皇室の娘（公主）を単于の妻とし、毎年多くの絹織物、酒、米などを匈奴に贈ることを条件に和議を結んだ（前198）。そののち、匈奴は、烏孫(うそん)や東トルキスタンのオアシス諸国を支配下に入れ、この結果、匈奴の支配圏は、東は熱河から西は東トルキスタンに、北はエニセイ川上流から南はオルドスに及んだ。匈奴のおもな経済的基地は東トルキスタンに、軍需基地は内モンゴル、オルドスにあって、前者からはその物産、交通・通商保護税を納めさせ、後者ではスキト・シベリア系の青銅器とくに武器類（いわゆる綏遠(すいえん)青銅器またはオルドス青銅器）を製作した。

［護　雅夫］

分裂と衰退

こうして、匈奴は全盛期を迎えたが、漢の武帝（在位前141～前87）は、匈奴に対してしばしば遠征軍を送るとともに、これを東西から挟撃しようとして、張騫(ちょうけん)を月氏に派遣した（前139～前126）。この武帝の積極政策のため、匈奴は外モンゴルに逃れ、東トルキスタンは漢の勢力下に入り、また、丁零、鮮卑(せんぴ)などの隷属諸族が独立した。そのうえ、匈奴では内紛が起こって数人の単于が並び立ち、ついで、郅支(しっし)単于（西匈奴）とその弟の呼韓邪(こかんや)単于（東匈奴）とが対立した（前54）。呼韓邪は漢に降(くだ)ってその援助を受けたので、郅支は西走してキルギス草原に移ったが、漢の遠征軍に敗れ、殺された（前36）。こののち、匈奴は、呼韓邪のもとに復興し、漢との関係も、呼韓邪が王昭君(おうしょうくん)を降嫁されるなど、一時小康を得た。しかし、ふたたび内紛が起こって、2代目の呼韓邪単于が後漢(ごかん)に降り、ここに呼韓邪の率いる南匈奴と北匈奴とに分裂した（後48）。南匈奴は甘粛(かんしゅく)、陝西(せんせい)、山西などに分住し、中国北辺、西北辺の防衛にあたったが、西晋(せいしん)の内紛に乗じて反乱を起こし、五胡(ごこ)十六国のうち、漢（前趙(しょう)）、北涼(ほくりょう)、夏(か)を建て、しだいに中国化していった。北匈奴は、ときに中国に侵入することもあったが、鮮卑の攻撃を受けて単于が殺され、後漢・南匈奴連合軍がその本拠をつくに及んで大敗し（後91）、この結果、モンゴル高原における匈奴の国家は瓦解(がかい)した。この匈奴の残党は、そののち、モンゴル高原に建てられた鮮卑、さらに柔然(じゅうぜん)の国家に服属した。

［護　雅夫］

匈奴とフン

モンゴル高原を中心にして、秦(しん)、漢を脅かした匈奴の子孫が、ヨーロッパの民族大移動を引き起こす機縁となったフンであるといわれている。この問題は、初めて学界に提出されてからほぼ200年になるが、まだ解決されていない。しかし、匈奴の、おそらくは支配層の西方移動とフンの西方移動とがまったく無関係ではないこと、またフンという名前が匈奴に由来していることだけは確かである。

　匈奴の人種については、トルコ系、モンゴル系、アーリア系など、多くの説があるが、トルコ系説が有力である。最近、匈奴はエニセイ川流域に拠(よ)っていた古代民族と人種的関連をもつという説が出されたが、これも確かとはいえない。国家形態は、攣鞮、呼衍(こえん)、須卜(すぼく)、蘭(らん)、丘林(きゅうりん)などの氏族からなる匈奴部族を支配層とする部族連合体で、単于の位は攣鞮氏族に世襲され、閼氏(あつし)とよばれた皇后は、原則として他の4氏族から出た。国家を構成する諸部族の族長は、1年に春と秋と正月の3回、単于の本拠に集まって、シャーマニズムの祭儀を行うとともに、国事を議した。粗放な遊牧と狩猟とを行い、ヒツジ、ウマなどの家畜を放牧して、夏営地と冬営地との間を移動し、天幕式の円形家屋に住んだ。

　エニセイ川上流のミヌシンスク盆地で発掘された漢式宮殿は、匈奴に降った漢の将軍李陵(りりょう)のものであるといわれているが明らかではない。また、コズロフ一行がノイン・ウラで発掘した匈奴の貴族の墳墓は紀元前後のものであるが、そこから、スキト・シベリア系の文物のほかに、絹織物、漆器、玉器などの中国製品、イラン系の動植物文様や人物像を刺しゅうした毛織物などが出土し、匈奴の支配層に対する中国、西方文化の影響がみられる。

［護　雅夫］

『護雅夫著『北アジア・古代遊牧国家の構造』（『岩波講座　世界歴史6』所収・1971・岩波書店）』

匈奴／略系図

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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