The Huns were the great enemy of the Central Plains Dynasty and once forced Liu Bang to admit defeat and make a marriage alliance. However, since the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Huns seemed to have disappeared from the history books. Did this powerful regime change its n

The Huns were the great enemies of the Central Plains Dynasty. They once forced Liu Bang to admit defeat and make a marriage alliance. However, after the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Huns seemed to have disappeared from the history books. Did this powerful regime change its name to another ethnic group? Where have their descendants gone?

Sima Qian records that the Xiongnu are the descendants of Xia Jie, the last monarch of Xia Dynasty. There were many tribes in the Xiongnu. The Guifang and Hunyi in the Shang Dynasty were all part of the Xiongnu. During the Zhou Dynasty , the Xiongnu were called 烃狁, during the Spring and Autumn Period they were called Rong and Di, and during the and Warring States they were called Hu.

Starting from the Western Zhou Dynasty , the Xiongnu invaded the Central Plains repeatedly. At the end of the Warring States Period, Li Mu led the Zhao Kingdom's army and gave them a severe lesson. The Huns became honest for more than ten years. After

Qin Shihuang unified the country, he sent Meng Tian to lead an army of 300,000 to the north to drive the Xiongnu out of the Hetao area. After the Qin Dynasty built the Great Wall , Meng Tian was stationed in Yulin, Shaanxi, guarding the border for more than ten years.

The Huns were frightened by Meng Tian and did not dare to invade at all. The Western Han Dynasty was the powerful period of the Hongnu Empire. Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu, but was almost killed by the Huns, so the Western Han Dynasty could only make peace with the Huns.

During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Huo Qubing, the God of War, appeared. He beat the Huns until they cried for their fathers and screamed for their mothers, and huddled in the Lake Baikal area. It is a pity that after the deaths of Huo Qubing and Wei Qing, it was difficult for the Han Dynasty to suppress the growth of the Xiongnu. Later, due to the outbreak of civil strife, the Huns were divided into two parts: southern and northern parts.

Hu Hanxie Chanyu occupied the royal court of Mobei, expressing his submission to the Han Dynasty, which was the Southern Xiongnu . The Northern Xiongnu were led by Zhizhi Chanyu , and then went to foreign countries to grab territory. As for where, we will talk about it later.

During the Eastern Han period, the Southern Xiongnu was divided into two again. One part was led by Ri Zhu Wangbi and submitted to the Han Dynasty. It was still called the Southern Xiongnu and lived in the Hetao area. To distinguish it, we call it Southern Xiongnu 2.0. The other part of

remains in Mobei , we will call it Northern Huns 2.0. After that, the Northern Xiongnu 2.0 were defeated by the Eastern Han Dynasty and gradually dispersed and moved westward.

During the Eight Kings Rebellion of the Western Jin Dynasty, the Southern Xiongnu 2.0 occupied northern China and established the Han, Former Zhao , and Later Zhao regimes. Various political regimes in the north fought back and forth, breaking up the Southern Xiongnu 2.0. Since then, the Xiongnu regime has disappeared from Chinese history. Next, let’s talk about where the Huns went. Did they evolve into other ethnic groups?

We started with the first split of the Xiongnu Kingdom. After the Southern Xiongnu attached itself to the Han Dynasty, the Northern Xiongnu brought their tribes to the Western Regions area. However, due to the fierce pursuit of the Han Dynasty, they moved to Kangju in Central Asia, which is now the area of ​​Kazakhstan. However, the Western Han Dynasty did not give up and sent troops to attack Kangju and killed Zhizhi Shanyu. The defeated Northern Huns continued to move westward, but where did they go?

When Hong Jun, an official of the late Qing Dynasty, was on a mission to foreign countries, he discovered Western historical records that the original group of Northern Huns established the Hun Empire on the Eastern European plains, and became a nightmare for European countries. But it is still unknown whether this record is reliable. Let’s talk about the Southern Huns.

The Southern Xiongnu split into Southern Xiongnu 2.0 and Northern Xiongnu 2.0 around AD 46. The Northern Huns launched a protracted war with the Eastern Han Dynasty, and were defeated and fled to Wusun and Kangju. Some of them surrendered to the Han Dynasty one after another, and the remaining Xiongnu gradually integrated into Central Asia and other countries.

Now let’s talk about the Southern Huns 2.0 who were attached to the Eastern Han Dynasty. During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao broke them into five parts and placed them in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei and other regions. During the Five Hus and Sixteen Kingdoms period, the Southern Xiongnu 2.0 took control of the Central Plains. This period was quite chaotic, so we will briefly introduce it.

At this time, many ethnic groups emerged in the north, including the Xiongnu, Xianbei , Di , Qiang . They fought back and forth and kept surrendering - hostile. With the demise of the Hou Zhao regime established by the Xiongnu, the Southern Xiongnu 2.0 gradually integrated into various ethnic groups. Therefore, during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was the last time that the Xiongnu was active on the historical stage. So how did the Huns develop and where did they rule?

The supreme leader of the Xiongnu is called Chanyu, which is the same as the emperor of the Central Plains Dynasty. Below the Chanyu there are left and right kings, left and right kings of Guli, etc.

During the Shang and Zhou periods, the Huns were in the form of a tribal alliance. During the Warring States period, the Central Plains countries were busy asserting their dominance. The Xiongnu also took the opportunity to expand their borders and develop into a larger political power. Its sphere of influence extends from outside the Great Wall to Russia's Siberia and Central Asia, as well as Northeast China, such as Linhu and Loufan, which are gradually integrated into the Xiongnu.

During the Qin Shihuang period, the first generation of Chanyu Touman was born. He established a Xiongnu kingdom, with its central area north of the Wula River and its sphere of influence from Yinshan to the area north of Hetao.

Later, his son Maodun killed his father to seize the throne and became Maodun Chanyu. He defeated the powerful Donghu and Yuezhi and unified the vast Mongolian grassland . He also regained the territory captured during the Mengtian period, and also occupied the northern region of the Qin Dynasty.

At that time, the territory of the Xiongnu extended to the Liao River in the east, to the Pamir Plateau in the west, and to the Lake Baikal area in the north. This was the most powerful period of the Xiongnu Kingdom, with as many as 300,000 capable warriors under its command, and they once besieged Liu Bang on Baishan Mountain.

During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the national power of the Western Han Dynasty increased. Huo Qubing expelled the Huns to the Lake Baikal area, and the Huns also turned from prosperity to decline. After that, the Han Dynasty united with the Yuezhi and other countries in the Western Regions to continuously reduce the living space of the Xiongnu, and even moved westward to the northern Gobi Desert and Siberia.

Every time after being defeated by the Central Plains dynasty, the Huns would go to Kazakhstan to lick their wounds. As for how the Northern Huns defeated the Alans and Goths, and how they harmed and enslaved European countries, there is no record in Chinese history. We will talk about it when we have the opportunity!