Dynastic history of the Later Han, compiled by Fan Ye in the fifth century from earlier Han records. Its chapter 89, the account of the southern Xiongnu, is where the Chinese record of the Xiongnu ends as a steppe power. The chapter records the submission of the southern Chanyu in 48 AD. It also records the campaigns of 89 to 91, in which the Han, the southern Xiongnu and their allies broke the northern Chanyu.
The chapter records the campaign of 89 in one sentence. In the first year of Yongyuan, Geng Bing as General of the Western Expedition and Dou Xian as General of Chariots and Cavalry led eight thousand horsemen out of Shuofang against the northern Xiongnu. With them went the Duliao troops and thirty thousand riders of the southern Chanyu. They broke the northern Xiongnu. The northern Chanyu fled, and more than two hundred thousand were killed or taken.[1] The decisive defeat of the northern Xiongnu is best dated to this campaign and placed in the Altai. The chapter itself gives no place beyond the sortie from Shuofang. It refers the reader to the biography of Dou Xian.
The Han Shu follows the Xiongnu to the end of the Former Han, and the Shiji covers their rise. The three works stand in one line, each compiled from the records of its own dynasty. The Hou Han Shu is the only one of them that covers the first century AD.
The Xianbei chapter
Chapter 90, the account of the Wuhuan and the Xianbei, is the second reason the Hou Han Shu matters. For the prehistory of the steppe it is the more important of the two. The chapter opens by placing the Xianbei as a branch of the Donghu. They settled by the Xianbei mountain and took their name from it. Their speech and customs, the chapter says, were those of the Wuhuan.[2] Some scholars take the Donghu, and with them the Wuhuan and the Xianbei, for Proto-Mongols, and separate them by a desert from the Xiongnu, whom they take for Turks.[3] It describes their spring assembly at the Raole river, where they feasted and then paired off. It also describes the shaving of the head at marriage.[2]
The central sentence of the chapter concerns what happened after the northern Chanyu fled. The Xianbei moved across and took his land. More than a hundred thousand tents of Xiongnu who stayed behind all called themselves Xianbei. From this the Xianbei grew strong.[2] Here one steppe people succeeds another by taking over its ground and its name. The chapter says so without embarrassment. This is a caution against reading any steppe ethnonym as a statement of descent.
The chapter then treats Tanshihuai at length. It tells of the exposed child, the recovered herds, the laws he set, the court on the Danhan mountain and the conquest of all the old Xiongnu land. It tells of the refusal of the Han seal. Finally it tells of the division of the realm into an eastern, a middle and a western part under commanders of his own appointing.[2]
The chapter on the Western Regions
Chapter 88 is the account of the Western Regions, and it is built as a supplement to the chapter of the Han Shu. Fan Ye says that Ban Gu had set down the lands, customs and peoples of the states in full in the earlier book. Therefore the Hou Han Shu records only what changed from Jianwu on. At its end, the chapter says that Ban Yong recorded all of it at the end of the reign of the emperor An.[4] Modern accounts date the compilation of the record to between 123 and 125. Its distances refer to the seat of the chief clerk of the Western Regions, and that seat was taken up at Liuzhong only in 123.[5] The reports behind the record are not older than about AD 90.[6]
Its distances are for the most part the figures of the Han Shu made over to new fixed points. Where the earlier chapter reckons from Chang’an, the Hou Han Shu reckons from the capital Luoyang, 900 or 1,000 li further.[7] Where the earlier chapter reckons from the seat of the Protector General, the Hou Han Shu reckons from the chief clerk at Liuzhong, some 1,300 li further.[7] Shule, the Kashgar of today, is 9,350 li from Chang’an in the Han Shu and 10,300 from Luoyang in the Hou Han Shu. Khotan is 3,947 li from the Protector General in the first chapter and 5,300 from the chief clerk in the second.[8][7]
Value as a witness
Fan Ye compiled in the fifth century from Han-period records that are themselves lost. The Hou Han Shu therefore stands at one remove from its own sources and cannot be checked against them. Some passages preserve a formula that must come from a report, such as the count of tents, the names of the three divisions or the words of a memorial. There the text is as good as its lost original. Where it summarises, by contrast, the summary is a fifth-century man’s.
For the Göktürks, the Hou Han Shu is prehistory at four centuries’ distance. The chain it belongs to matters more than any single statement in it. The Shiji gives the rise of the Xiongnu, the Han Shu their Former Han century, and the Hou Han Shu the first century AD and the people who took their place.
The passage
二十四年春，八部大人共議立比為呼韓邪單于，以其大父嘗依漢得安，故欲襲其號。
於是款五原塞，願永為籓蔽，悍御北虜。
帝用五官中郎將耿國議，乃許之。
其冬，比自立為呼韓邪單于。
二十五年春，遣弟左賢王莫將兵萬餘人擊北單于弟薁鞬左賢王，生獲之；又破北單于帳下，并得其眾，合萬餘人，馬七千匹、牛羊萬頭。
北單于震怖，卻地千里。
In the spring of the twenty-fourth year the chiefs of the eight tribes deliberated together and decided to set up Bi as Huhanye Shanyu, because his grandfather had once relied on the Han and found peace, and so they wished to take over his title.
So they came to the Wuyuan frontier post and asked to be a fence and screen for ever and to defend bravely against the northern foe.
The emperor adopted the advice of Geng Guo, the General of the Gentlemen of the Five Offices, and agreed.
In the winter of that year Bi set himself up as Huhanye Shanyu.
In the spring of the twenty-fifth year he sent his younger brother Mo, the Left Wise King, with more than ten thousand troops against the younger brother of the Northern Shanyu, the Left Wise King Yujian, and captured him alive. He also broke the Northern Shanyu's headquarters and took his people, in all more than ten thousand, with seven thousand horses and ten thousand cattle and sheep.
The Northern Shanyu was seized with terror and withdrew a thousand li.
匈奴俗，歲有三歲祠，常以正月、五月、九月戊日祭天神。
南單于既内附，兼祠漢帝，因會諸部議國事，走馬及駱駝為樂。
其大臣貴者左賢王，次左谷蠡王，次右賢王，次右谷蠡王，謂之四角；次左右日逐王，次左右温禺鞮王，次左右漸將王，是為六角；皆單于子弟，次第當為單于者也。
異姓大臣：左右骨都侯，次左右尸逐骨都侯，其餘日逐、且渠、當户諸官號，各以權力優劣、部眾多少為高下次第焉。
單于姓虛連題。
異姓有呼衍氏、須卜氏、丘林氏、蘭氏四姓，为國中名族，常與單于婚姻。
呼衍氏為左，蘭氏、須卜氏為右，主斷獄聽訟，當決輕重，口白單于，無文書簿領焉。
By Xiongnu custom there were three sacrifices a year, regularly offered to the spirits of Heaven on the wu days of the first, fifth and ninth months.
Since the Southern Shanyu had submitted, he also sacrificed to the Han emperors. On these occasions he assembled the tribes to discuss affairs of state, and they took pleasure in racing horses and camels.
Among his ministers the noblest was the Left Wise King, then the Left Luli King, then the Right Wise King, then the Right Luli King. These were called the Four Horns. Next came the Left and Right Rizhu Kings, the Left and Right Wenyudi Kings and the Left and Right Jianjiang Kings, who were the Six Horns. All of them were sons and younger brothers of the shanyu, and in their order they were to become shanyu.
Among the ministers of other surnames were the Left and Right Guduhou, then the Left and Right Shizhu Guduhou. The other titles, Rizhu, Qiequ, Danghu and so on, were each ranked higher or lower according to the superiority of power and the number of followers.
The shanyu's family name was Xulianti.
Of other surnames there were four: the Huyan, the Xubu, the Qiulin and the Lan. They were the famous clans of the country and regularly intermarried with the shanyu.
The Huyan stood on the left, the Lan and the Xubu on the right. They were in charge of deciding criminal cases and hearing lawsuits. When they had to decide on the gravity of a case, they reported it to the shanyu by word of mouth, for there were no written documents or registers.
烏桓者，本東胡也。
漢初，匈奴冒頓滅其國，餘類保烏桓山，因以為號焉。
俗善騎射，弋獵禽獸為事。
隨水草放牧，居無常處。
以穹廬為舍，東開向日。
食肉飲酪，以毛毳為衣。
The Wuhuan were originally Donghu.
At the beginning of the Han, Modu of the Xiongnu destroyed their state. The remnants took refuge on Mount Wuhuan and took their name from it.
By custom they were good at riding and archery, and hunting birds and beasts was their occupation.
They herded their animals following water and grass and had no fixed dwelling place.
They made their dwellings of domed tents, with the door opening east towards the sun.
They ate meat and drank soured milk, and made their clothes from wool and fur.
鮮卑者，亦東胡之支也，別依鮮卑山，故因號焉。
其言語習俗與烏桓同。
漢初，亦為冒頓所破，遠竄遼東塞外，與烏桓相接，未常通中國焉。
光武初，匈奴強盛，率鮮卑與烏桓寇抄北邊，殺略吏人，無有寧歲。
及南單于附漢，北虜孤弱，二十五年，鮮卑始通驛使。
和帝永元中，大將軍竇憲遣右校尉耿夔擊破匈奴，北單于逃走，鮮卑因此轉徙據其地。
匈奴餘種留者尚有十餘萬落，皆自號鮮卑，鮮卑由此漸盛。
The Xianbei were also a branch of the Donghu. They lived separately by Mount Xianbei, and so took their name from it.
Their language and customs were the same as those of the Wuhuan.
At the beginning of the Han they too were defeated by Modu and fled far beyond the frontier of Liaodong, where they bordered on the Wuhuan. They had never had dealings with China.
At the beginning of Guangwu, when the Xiongnu were strong, they led the Xianbei and the Wuhuan to raid the northern frontier, killing and carrying off officials and people, and there was no peaceful year.
When the Southern Shanyu submitted to the Han, the northern barbarians became isolated and weak. In the twenty-fifth year the Xianbei for the first time sent envoys by the post road.
In the Yongyuan years of Emperor He, the General-in-chief Dou Xian sent the Colonel of the Right Geng Kui, who broke the Xiongnu. The Northern Shanyu fled, and the Xianbei moved on and occupied his land.
The Xiongnu remnants who stayed behind still numbered more than a hundred thousand encampments, and all of them called themselves Xianbei. From then on the Xianbei gradually grew strong.
References
- ^ a b c Hou Han Shu, juan 89
- ^ a b c d e f Hou Han Shu, juan 90
- ^ Ögel 2000, p. 167–169
- ^ Hou Han Shu, juan 88
- ^ Herrmann 1910, p. 45–46
- ^ Herrmann 1910, p. 46
- ^ a b c Herrmann 1910, p. 46–47
- ^ Han Shu, juan 96; Hou Han Shu, juan 88
Sources
- Han Shu, juan 96 (after Shiji)
Literature
- Peter B. Golden, An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples (1992)
- Emre-E. Yavuz, The Gokturk Empire: 2nd Edition (2025)
- Albert Herrmann, Die alten Seidenstrassen zwischen China und Syrien. Beiträge zur alten Geographie Asiens, Bd. 1 (1910)
- Bahaeddin Ögel, Türk Kültür Tarihine Giriş I: Türklerde köy ve şehir hayatı (2000)
Articles resting on this source 74
Ban Chao · Bi Chanyu · Bone and Horn Working · Bride-Price in Livestock · Buyeo · Camels · Chanyu · Chinese Bans on the Export of Iron · Chinese Weaponsmiths among the Xianbei · Craftsmen in the Steppe Empires · Culture of the Turkic Peoples · Dingling · Diplomacy of the Steppe Empires · Donghu · Dou Xian · Emperor Gaozu of Han · Emperor Wu of Han · Five Divisions of the Xiongnu · Fuzhulei Chanyu · Gaochang · Grape Wine in Central Asia · Han Bestowals on the Chanyu · Han campaigns against the Northern Xiongnu · Han dynasty · Han Reply to the Northern Xiongnu (AD 52) · History of the Turkic peoples · Horse and Camel Races at the Xiongnu Sacrifices · Horse Sacrifice · Huhanye Chanyu · Huns · Iye · Jade Gate · Jiaohe · Khotan · Kün Tengri · Kushan Empire · Livestock Losses in the Annals · Luandi · Millet · Millet Beer · Northern Xiongnu Market at Wuwei (AD 84) · Sacred Mountains · Sanguozhi · Scapulimancy · Shanshan · Sheep · Southern Xiongnu · Steppe Diet · Tanhan Mountain · Tanshihuai · The Economy of the Steppe Empires · The Göktürks and the Xiongnu · The Great Empires of the Steppe · The Huns and the Xiongnu · The making of Tengrism · The New Year on the Steppe · The Three Xiongnu Assemblies · The Turkic ethnogenesis debate · The Xianbei Spring Assembly · The Xiongnu–Han Wars · Tribute Missions and Bestowals · Wang Zhaojun · Women among the Turkic Peoples · Worthy Kings of the Left and Right · Wuhuan · Wuhuan Funeral Songs · Xianbei · Xiongnu · Xiongnu Herds · Xiongnu split of 48 · Yiwu · Yueban · Yuezhi · Yunzhong
What links here34
- Persons
- Ban Chao · Dou Xian · Emperor Gaozu of Han · Emperor Wu of Han · Fuzhulei Chanyu · Tanshihuai · Wang Zhaojun
- States
- Buyeo · Han dynasty · Kushan Empire · Shanshan · Southern Xiongnu · Xiongnu
- Conflicts
- Han campaigns against the Northern Xiongnu · Taiwu's campaign against the Rouran (429) · The Xiongnu–Han Wars
- Battles & Events
- Xiongnu split of 48
- Places
- Jade Gate · Tanhan Mountain · Yiwu
- Peoples
- Xianbei
- Lineages
- Luandi
- Institutions and Titles
- Chanyu
- Foods
- Grape Wine in Central Asia · Millet · Millet Beer · Steppe Diet
- Customs & Pastimes
- Horse and Camel Races at the Xiongnu Sacrifices · The New Year on the Steppe · The Three Xiongnu Assemblies · The Xianbei Spring Assembly · Wuhuan Funeral Songs
- Sources
- Sanguozhi
- Controversies
- The Huns and the Xiongnu
Cite this article
Yavuz, Emre-E. “Hou Han Shu.” Turkic Atlas, revised 8 November 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/sources/hou-hanshu/
Last revised: 8 November 2026
