Battle of Baideng

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Battle of Baideng
Date200 BC
Location
Mount Baideng at Pincheng (present-day Datong, Shanxi)
Result Xiongnu victory
Belligerents
Xiongnu Han dynasty
Commanders and leaders
Modu Chanyu Emperor Gaozu
Strength
400,000[1][2] 320,000[2]

The Battle of Baideng (白登之戰) was a military conflict between Han China and the Xiongnu in 200 BC. Han Dynasty of China invaded the territory of the Xiongnu in 200 BC attempting to subjugate them. However the Xiongnu united their forces under Modu Shanyu and surrounded the Han emperor Gaozu in Baideng. The siege was only relieved after seven days when the Han royal court, under Chen Ping's suggestion, sent spies to bribe Modu's wife.

In an alternate account, Grousset[3] says that the Xiongnu invaded Chinese Shanxi and besieged Taiyuan. Gaozu broke the siege and chased the Xiongnu north, but was blockaded by them on the Baideng plateau near Datong in far northern Shanxi.

Aftermath[edit]

After the defeat at Baideng, the Han emperor abandoned a military solution to the Xiongnu threat. Instead, in 198 BC, the courtier Liu Jing (劉敬) was dispatched for negotiations. The peace settlement eventually reached between the parties included a so called Han "princess" given in marriage to the chanyu (called heqin 和親); periodic tribute of silk, liquor and rice to the Xiongnu; equal status between the states; and the Great Wall as mutual border. This treaty set the pattern for relations between the Han and the Xiongnu for some sixty years, until the Emperor Wu of Han decided to revive the policy to wage war against Xiongnu. The Han dynasty sent random unrelated commoner women falsely labeled as "princesses" and members of the Han imperial family multiple times when they were practicing Heqin marriage alliances with the Xiongnu in order to avoid sending the emperor's daughters.[4][5][6][7][8]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Gumilyov, Lev (1960). Hunnu.
  2. ^ a b Chang, Chun-shu (2007). The Rise of the Chinese Empire, Volume 1: Nation, State, and Imperialism in Early China, ca. 1600 B.C. - A.D. 8. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. p. 158. ISBN 978-0-472-11533-4.
  3. ^ Rene Grousset, 'The Empire of the Steppes',1970/2008,page27,
  4. ^ Lo, Ping-cheung (2015). "11 Legalism and offensive realism in the Chinese court debate on defending national security 81 BCE". In Lo, Ping-cheung; Twiss, Sumner B (eds.). Chinese Just War Ethics: Origin, Development, and Dissent. War, Conflict and Ethics (illustrated ed.). Routledge. p. 269. ISBN 978-1317580973. There were altogether nine marriages of Han princesses (fake or real) to the Xiongnu during these roughly 60 years (for a complete list of details, see Cui 2007a, 555). We will call this policy Heqin Model One, and, as Ying-shih Yu ...
  5. ^ Qian, Sima (2019). Historical Records 史记: The First and Most Important Biographical General History Book in China. DeepLogic. Liu Jing said: "The Han dynasty was just calm, the soldiers were exhausted by the fire, and the Xiongnu could not be ... If the majesty could not send a big princess, let the royal woman or the fake princess, he I will know that I will ...
  6. ^ Chin, Tamara T. (2020). Savage Exchange: Han Imperialism, Chinese Literary Style, and the Economic Imagination. Harvard University Studies in East Asian Law. BRILL. p. 225. ISBN 978-1684170784. In the Han- Wusun alliance (unlike the Han- Xiongnu heqin agreements) the gifts flowed in the proper direction, ... Thus, while Empress Lü transgressed the heqin marriage in having a false princess sent, Liu Jing's original proposal ...
  7. ^ Chin, Tamara Ta Lun (2005). Savage Exchange: Figuring the Foreign in the Early Han Dynasty. University of California, Berkeley. p. 66, 73, 74. Figuring the Foreign in the Early Han Dynasty Tamara Ta Lun Chin ... Emperor Han Wudi's military push to reverse the power relations between Xiongnu and Han stands in stark contrast to the original ... Xiongnu with a false princess .
  8. ^ Mosol, Lee (2013). Ancient History of the Manchuria. X libris Corporation. p. 77. ISBN 978-1483667676. ... 孝文皇帝 sent a girl as a new wife for the Chanyu as a 'fake princess of Royal family' with a eunuch named '中行 ... The Han lured the Xiongnu chief deep into the China proper town called “馬邑,” but Gunchen Chanyu realized the trap ...

Further reading[edit]

  • Yap, Joseph P. pp 71–76. "Wars With The Xiongnu, A Translation From Zizhi tongjian" AuthorHouse (2009) ISBN 978-1-4490-0604-4

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Baideng&oldid=1081419396"