Heqin

The Heqin (Chinese: 龢親 or 和親; pinyin: Hěqīn) is a term used in ancient China for a marriage alliance. The term literally means "peace marriage." It usually referred to the Chinese emperor marrying off a Han Chinese princess, usually a pseudo-princess or concubine which he had never met before, to an aggressive "barbarian" chieftain or ruler. The theory was that in exchange for the marriage, the chieftain would cease all aggressive actions toward China. The best-known example of heqin involved the beauty Wang Zhaojun. The first known of this marriage occured in 200 BC, when a pseudo-princess was offered to Xiongnu Chanyu as suggested by Lou Jin (later given the surname Liu by imperial court).

Heqin was engaged by nearly all dynasties in Chinese history to some extent, but from a contrary to its contemporary dynasties, such as Liao, Jin, Western Xia, Yuan and the Northern Yuan, the Song and Ming dynasties did not practised such alliance. They were, however, used to the best effect by Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty (uncountable occurrences to Mongol and etc.):

• Han Dynasty
  • 200 BC—140 BC, 10 occurrences to Xiongnu (two being biological daughters of the Chinese emeperor, i.e. real princess).
  • 110 BC—101 BC, 2 occurrences to Wusun.
  • 60 BC—33 BC, 2 occurrences to Xiongnu.
  • 60, 1 occurrence to Xiongnu (not including marriages between Chinese warlords and Chanyu during civil wars).
• Tang Dynasty
  • 640—690, 5 occurrences to Tuyuhun and 1 occurrence to Tibetan.
  • 710—745, 4 occurrences to Khitan, 3 occurrences to Xi and 1 occurrence to Tibetan.
  • 758—821, 7 occurrences to Orkhon Uyghur (two being biological daughters of the Chinese emeperor and 3 were of Tiele descents).
  • 883, 1 occurrence to Nanzhao (second daughter of Emperor Yizong of Tang).

References

• Cui Mingde (2005). The History of Chinese Heqin: Brief Charts of Heqin Events. Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe. pp. 648–688. ISBN 7010048282.