Running head: FRONTIER CHINA 1

Frontier China

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Frontier China: Council to Emperor An of Han

One of the significant problems that have faced the Han dynasty for many years is the

conflict between the Han and the Xiongnu. As a Confucian adviser to Emperor An, I have been

ordered by the court to provide council on how the Han should handle the Xiongnu and establish

whether the Han and the Xiongnu can be at peace and how this can be achieved. To create good

relations between the two empires, however, it is essential to understand their history as well as

the root of the conflict.

Ban Gu, a court official, covered the Han Dynasty and described it as one of the longest

of major dynasties in the region. In my opinion, the Han Dynasty will likely be an inspiring

model for future regimes. According to Ban Gu, Liu Bang became the first emperor of the Han

dynasty after victory over the last rebellion against him. Liu Bang was a minor official during the

previous Qin dynasty and had already been king of Han four years before the formal beginning

of the Han dynasty. The previous Qin dynasty lasted for a few years and had been very cruel, but

by the time of its collapse, Liu Bang had formed an army and claimed the throne. However, Liu

Bang was not alone in the quest for power as he faced various opponents among them general

Xiang Yu. Eventually, Liu Bang would become the first emperor in the region who was formerly

a commoner. Upon his ascent to power, Liu Bang established Chang’an as the imperial capital

mainly due to its strategic importance, turning it into a political, military, economic and cultural

center (Hung, 2011).

Since its formation, the Han dynasty has experienced conflicts both external and internal

in nature. For instance, Liu bang who took the name Emperor Gaozu recognized some kingdoms

by methodically replaced a significant number of kings with members of his own family before

his death. He intended to prevent rebellion, but the kings from the Liu family often tested the
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empire’s power for their own benefit. Following Emperor Gaozu’s death, Empress Lu Zhi

attempted to take control of the empire by killing Gaozu’s sons, his mistress, Lady Qi and her

mother in a power struggle that lasted for 15 years before Wan, Gaozu’s son killed Lu Zhi’s

family and became emperor (Gu, 111).

There have been many emperors since Emperor Gaozu, many of whom have had a great

impact on the Han Empire. One of my key areas of focus in my council to Emperor An will be

the use of Confucian Philosophy to restore peace between the Han and the Xiongnu. With this in

mind, it is crucial to mention Emperor Wu under whose rule Confucianism gained considerable

popularity in the empire, especially among the Han royalty. According to Ban Gu who developed

the History of the Han from a continuation of Sima Qian’s Record of the Grand Historian,

intellectuals like Fu Sheng had made efforts to keep Confucian literature alive during the

previous Qin dynasty and beyond. Many Confucian tests had been impounded by the Qin

dynasty and permanently destroyed during the imperial library fire during the civil war. Fu

Sheng had kept The Book of Documents, and under Emperor Wu’s leadership, forceful efforts

were put forth to round-up remaining Confucian documents in possession of kings and others

that were found within the walls of Confucius’ home. It was during Emperor Wu’s reign that a

program in the imperial university was developed to teach the five books of the Confucian (Tu,

1998).

To determine who the Han should handle their longtime enemy, the Xiongnu, it is

essential to understand their way of life. Insight into the Xiongnu’s lives and culture can be

found in the works of historian Sima Qian titled the Record of the Grand Historian. Qian

describes the Xiongnu as pastoral nomadic people who wander in search of grazing land for their

animals that include herds of cows, sheep and horses. Qian also states that the Xiongnu have no
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walled cities and do not engage in agriculture. Moreover, the men are formidable warriors,

trained from childhood to hunt on horseback using bow and arrow. Xiongnu was founded by

Maodun, the son of a powerful and influential high chieftain among the nomadic people of the

Ordos. Maodun assassinated his father after his rise to the rank of military commander and

succeeded in unifying different groups of nomads under his leadership (Sneath & Kaplonski,

2010).

Understanding the strategy of the Xiongnu is also crucial to the establishment of peace

between them and the Han. According to Sima Qian, the Xiongnu were most powerful between

209 to 128 BCE. Under Maodun’s reign, the Confederacy established a strong base in the Ordos

and began to expand in all directions. For instance, they absorbed different nomadic groups that

roamed the north and retook land in the south that had been lost to encroachment by the Qin

dynasty. The Xiongnu enriched themselves from those they conquered, receiving fruit, grain and

animal feed from the agricultural communities and sheep, cattle and horses from the nomads

(Qian, 2010).

The conflict between the Han and the Xiongnu is as old as the Han dynasty and began

when Han’s first emperor, Gaozu led his troops to the northern border to punish a provisional

governor who had declared independence and allied himself with the Xiongnu. However, this

military campaign ended in the humiliation for the Han who were unfamiliar with the Xiongnu’s

attack-and-retreat strategy. In the end, Gaozu was captured by the Xiongnu cavalry after being

separated from his army and had to offer a settlement to win his release. Although the Han

disliked the Xiongnu and their way of life, they acknowledged the military threat posed to their

empire and had to avert the hostilities through marital ties. Additionally, they had to offer annual

tributes of rice, silk, wine and other foodstuffs. Another demand by the Xiongnu was that Han
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trade with them, something that has undermined the Han desire to minimize interactions between

the two empires. The reluctance to trade with the Xiongnu in the past has led to raids and looting

of the goods that the Han court has denied the Xiongnu purchase (Brosseder & Miller, 2011).

There have been many military battles fought between the Han Empire and the Xiongnu.

One notable moment in the conflict that has spanned many decades is the change of tactic during

Emperor Wu’s reign where Han’s foreign policy changed from a somewhat passive one to an

offensive one to counter the rising Xiongnu incursions in the north. Ban Gu states that the

conflict escalated into full-scale war when the Xiongnu learned of Emperor Wu’s plan to ambush

them at Mayi. The Han court had decided to deploy a number of military expeditions in the

Ordos Loop, Gobi Desert and Hexi Corridor and succeeded to conquer and expel the Xiongnu.

Following that battle, the war progressed towards smaller states in the west. The nature of other

conflicts that followed varied through time and the number of casualties rose as both sides lost or

acquired control over states in the frontier regions. Moreover, regional alliances also had a

tendency of shifting whenever one side gained the upper hand in particular territory over the

other (Greenblatt, 2005).

The question of whether there can ever be peace between the Han and the Xiongnu is of

great importance. Conflict not only claims many lives but also disentangles the fabric of society

leaving cities destroyed and a distressed population. Investing in peace and stability is therefore

fundamental to long-term prosperity and development of the empire. As such, I will refer to

Confucianism which as I mentioned earlier, gained considerable popularity in the empire during

Emperor Wu’s reign. Confucianism, taught by Confucius has played a crucial role in forming the

empire’s character, behavior and way of life and could be used to establish peace and put the
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inhumanity between the Han and the Xiongnu to an end. The primary purpose of Confucianism

is to achieve harmony, which Confucius identified as the most important social value (Li, 2008).

The time Confucius lived was similar to the time we are living now as it was

characterized by warring states. States would wage war on each other resulting in enormous loss

of life and disruption of social order as has been in our empire for many decades. Confucius

travelled among the states in a bid to convince the rulers that social order was necessary and

could be achieved through virtue-based education. Confucius believed that peace could be

achieved by members of the society learning how to live together which would lead to the

realization of an ideal society on earth. Confucianism holds that individuals interact based on

kindness, trust and selfless giving and that everyone in society contributes to the common good

(Li, 2008). As such, Confucius believed that the good world would not come later but is already

here, and it is to be achieved through the efforts of everyone, embodied by the deeds of highly

evolved beings.

According to Confucius, peace is achieved through harmony, and harmony itself is

maintained by virtues which are in turn cultivated in every individual through education. The

fundamental virtues Confucius advocates are loving kindness, selfless giving, civility,

acquisition of wisdom, and the building of trust, faith and sincerity. Confucianism also advocates

for respect, piety, humility, forgiveness and courage (We & Li, 2013). Confucius’s mission was

to spread these virtues among state leaders, and it is my hope that Emperor An will govern his

empire with these values. My wish as the council to the Emperor is to cultivate a leadership

capable of transforming the lives of the people by embracing these desired values.
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For Confucius, the virtues preserved in the values identified above represent the way of

the universe. If the Han and the Xiongnu treat seriously the cultivation of those values, there

would be no violence or conflict between them. In his teachings, the hope for the attainment of

peace is not based on external sources instead it can be achieved through self-motivated

cultivation of inner virtues which will lead to a highly evolved virtuous society.

The emperor can put an end to inhumanity through self-transformation and social change

within the empire. This should involve an understanding of the context in which the empire

survives as well as what to do and what not to do given the current conditions. Therefore,

Emperor An should pursue harmony, the peaceful state that will enable the Han and the Xiongnu

to support each other. However, I should emphasize that harmony does not entail the denial of

the differences between the people of the two empires. Instead, the emperor and the leader of the

Xiongnu should recognize the diversity and accept the differences. For instance, the rulers

should consider how the Han could benefit from the nomadic lifestyle of the Xiongnu or how the

Xiongnu could benefit from the farming techniques developed in the Han. The result of this

would be a state of respect and acceptance which would allow the people to co-exist and work

towards achieving common goals.

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References

Brosseder, U., & Miller, B. K. (2011). Xiongnu Archaeology. Multidisciplinary Perspectives of

the First Steppe Empire in Inner Asia. Bonn Contributions to Asian Archaeology.

Greenblatt, M. (2005). Han Wu Di and Ancient China. Marshall Cavendish.

Gu, B. (111). Book of Han. Han China.

Hung, H. M. (2011). The Road to the Throne: How Liu Bang Founded China's Han Dynasty.

Algora Publishing.

Li, C. (2008). The philosophy of harmony in classical Confucianism. Philosophy Compass, 3(3),

423-435.

Qian, S. (94BC) Records of the Grand Historian. Han China.

Qian, S. I. M. A. (2010). The Account of the Xiongnu. The History of Mongolia, 1, 43-67.

Sneath, D., & Kaplonski, C. (2010). Sima Qian (1993)‘The Account of the Xiongnu’. In The

History of Mongolia (3 Vols.)(pp. 43-67). Global Oriental.

Tu, W. M. (1998). Confucius and confucianism. Confucianism and the family, 3-36.

Waley, A. (2012). The analects of Confucius. Routledge.

Wei, X., & Li, Q. (2013). The Confucian value of harmony and its influence on Chinese social

interaction. Cross-Cultural Communication, 9(1), 60.