Modu Chanyu

Modu Chanyu
Xiongnu Chanyu
Domain and influence of Xiongnu under Motun at the start of his rule.
Reign	209 BCE - 174 BCE
Predecessor	Touman (father)
Successor	Laoshang
Names Modu Chanyu
Father	Touman

Modu Chanyu (Chinese: 冒頓單于) - also sometimes also transcribed Modun and Maodun - was born c. 234 BCE and became the founder of the Xiongnu Empire after he killed his father in 209 BCE. The years of his rule were 209 BCE to 174 BCE.

He was a military leader under his father Touman, and later the Chanyu and Emperor of the Xiongnu Empire, located in modern day Mongolia.

As several scholars have suggested, the reconstructed Old Chinese pronunciation of Modu 冒頓, "appears to represent a foreign *baγtur, a relative of the later-attested Central Eurasian culture word baγatur 'hero'. The etymology of the word is unknown, though the first syllable is very likely the Iranian word *baγ 'god, lord', an element in many later Central Eurasian titles."

Origins and rise to power

The only details of his early years is recorded in chapter 110 of the Shiji, but, although they are be based in history, they seem to contain some legendary elements.

He was the eldest son of Touman, the leader of the Xiongnu at the time. Since his childhood, Modu was well-known for his outstanding courage and valor. He was so valourous that he was regarded as one of the most heroic men in the realm. However, a beauty called E'shi was the favourite wife of Touman and he decided to raise her son to be his successor. Touman's new wife had wanted to kill Modu so he adopted a cruel plot to kill Modu by another person's hands: his father sent him to the Yuezhi, a different tribe of peoples, as a hostage and then he waged wars against them, to make Modu the victim. Fortunately, Modu had sensed something suspicious so he pretended to be seriously sick when he was staying in the Yuezhi camp. His guards then slackened their guard. In the evening when Touman was massing his troops to attack the Yuezhi tribe, Modu killed the guards, stole the Yuezhi's precious horse and fled. To avoid the pursuit of the Yuezhi tribe and a surprise attack by his father, Modu disguised himself and was able to return.

Later for his bravery his father gave him a tumen of soldiers. He controlled his 10,000 men strictly, and trained them hard every day for battle.

On a hunting trip, he killed his father with a fatal arrow shot to seek revenge for deceiving him. Also his father's wife and the rival heir were executed. After this he gained the leadership of all the tribes his father had controlled and he was crowned as the new Xiongnu ruler. He disciplined all the tribes for warfare and to follow his every command. Legend says that he invented the whistling arrow, and commanded every man to shoot and charge in the direction of the sound. Sometimes he tested his soldiers' loyalty: commanded them to kill his favorite wife (concubine), or favorite horse. Whoever questioned or hesitated to follow his orders were immediately executed. He was respected by his men, and none would challenge his authority. After his army was ready for war, he began his conquests.

The rise of the Xiongnu Empire

First he marched on the Donghu, the Xiongnu’s eastern neighbours, and brought them under his rule in 208 BC. After his Donghu campaign (the Donghu split into Xianbei and Wuhuan); he defeated Turkic peoples living in Northern Mongolia like the Dingling and finally he defeated the Yuezhi in 203 BC and brought them under the Xiongnu rule. After these battles all Xiongnu lord submitted to him voluntarily, because they conceived Modu Chanyu as virtuous.

With these victories, he was able to gain the control of the important trade roads, which later supplied the Xiongnu with great incomes. He later (in 200 BC) fought a three-year campaign with the Han Dynasty of China, and decisively defeated the Han ruler Gaodi (by shrewdly trapping him and his forces), forcing him to pay humiliating yearly tributes to the Xiongnu: when Emperor Gao of Han Dynasty launched a military offensive against him, Modu (with 40,000 soldiers) lured the Han army into a trap and ambushed the emperor reputedly with 300,000 elite Xiongnu cavalry, and encircled them for seven days at Baideng. The emperor was cut off from supplies and reinforcements. The siege was only relieved when the Han royal court sent spies to bribe Modu's wife. The result of this campaign resulted in Han China resorting to the humiliating "marriage alliance" strategy with Xiongnu for the next seventy years.

Modu never tried to invade China completely, because he thought that a foreign dynasty couldn't have ruled such a vast country for a long time. After his Chinese Campaign, Modu forced the Yuezhi and the Wusun to become vassals of the Xiongnu.

During his reign, many peoples were brought under Xiongnu rule. He united all of them under one empire, all the nomad horse archer tribes of the steppes. Apart from his nomadic subjects, Modu also made the oasis city-states of the Tarim Basin swear fealty to him. His organizations in both military and administration were later used by many other Central Asian peoples and states.

Under his rule, he launched 26 major war campaigns to conquer 26 countries, and became greatly feared widely throughout Asia, even in the mighty Chinese Empire. He was a great warrior and a master tactician and was undefeated in his battles against many empires including the Chinese.

References

• Watson, Burton. (1993). Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian. Translated by Burton Watson. Revised Edition. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-08167-7.
• Hulsewé, A. F. P. and Loewe, M. A. N. (1979). China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BC – AD 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty. E. J. Brill, Leiden. ISBN 90 04 05884 2.
• Beckwith, Christopher I. (2009): Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-13589-2.

External links

• All Empires: The Xiongnu Empire
• The Xiongnu - China Knowledge site