Instead of killing the Han Chinese, the Xiongnu gave them preferential treatment to marry and have children. To a certain extent, this is a historical fact, at least in the Western Han Dynasty.
There are many similar records in the historical records. Let's briefly talk about three characters.
The first person
thing
It's Zhang Qian.
In the second year of the Jianyuan Dynasty of the Western Han Dynasty (139 BC), Zhang Qian was ordered by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to lead more than 100 people on an expedition to the Western Regions. While passing through the Hexi Corridor, Zhang Qian and his party were captured by the Xiongnu cavalry. Since then, Zhang Qian began to live for ten years. During this period, the military ministers gave Zhang Qian various "preferential treatment", including letting him marry and have children.
The Book of Han contains:
Liu Qian is more than ten years old, gives a wife, has a son, and does not lose the Han Festival.
The second character is Su Wu.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Su Wu sent an envoy to the Xiongnu with the general Zhonglang and was detained. In order to force him to surrender, the Xiongnu threatened and seduced, and Su Wu was unmoved. The Xiongnu thought that Su Wu was a godman, so they asked him to move to the North Sea (Lake Baikal) to herd rams. Su Wu also took a wife during the Xiongnu period and spent more than ten years together, and also had a son. The history books record less than a cross on this matter: "Hu women are suitable for giving birth to a son and passing through the country."
The third character is Li Guangli.
Li Guangli was a foreign relative during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. In the third year of Zhenghe (90 BC), Li Guangli joined forces with the chancellor Liu Quyi (劉屈氂) to establish Liu Ji (劉髆) the Prince of Changyi as the crown prince. After the defeat, Liu Quyi was killed, and Li Guangli fled to the Xiongnu. In the Xiongnu, Li Guangli received great preferential treatment and married the daughter of the fox deer GuDan Yu.
Han Dynasty men stayed in the Xiongnu and married and had children far more than these three, and similarly Li Ling, Zhao Anguo and others. From this point of view, Han Dynasty men in the Xiongnu to marry and have children is not an isolated case, almost a common phenomenon. Judging from the historical records, most of this kind of marriage came from the marriage of the Xiongnu, and it can even be regarded as a preferential treatment.
Why did the Huns do this? "Shi Qu" believes that there are at least three reasons:
First, the Xiongnu did not exclude intermarriage with Central Plains men
The Huns were a nomadic people, and the system of marriage was primitive and effective. The system of succession marriage emphasizes that "when the father dies, the wife follows the mother; when the brother dies, he takes his wife and wife", emphasizing the purity of the blood of the clan. This means that they do not advocate interracial marriage. But for men in the Han Dynasty, it was different. The "Chronicle of History" records that "the Xiongnu, the Miao descendants of their ancestor Xia Hou clan, were also known as Chun Wei." "The Huns are the descendants of the Xia Dynasty, and to a certain extent, the Han and the Huns are in the same lineage. Although this view was controversial, it was very marketable at the time. In fact, after the Han Dynasty, a considerable number of Xiongnu people called themselves empresses and also claimed to be Han Chinese, such as Liu Yuan, the former emperor of Zhao Zheng, who also had this consideration.
Second, in order to win people's hearts and minds, for my use
Looking at the people who remained in the Xiongnu, they were either Central Plains officials, or army generals, or members of the imperial family, some of whom were good at strategizing, some of whom were very good at leading soldiers to fight, and at least at some level were very familiar with the Central Plains Dynasty and feudal culture. We know that the Xiongnu have been facing off with the Western Han Dynasty for a long time and have constantly invaded, and they are in great need of talents in this area. For these people, why not give high-ranking officials and marriage rewards? In fact, during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, many Han army martyrs gave advice to Shan Yu, and even led troops to conquest, so that the Xiongnu tactics had more shadows of luring the enemy to go deep and move into combat.
Third, learn the advanced technology of the Central Plains
The Huns made their living as nomads. Compared with agricultural civilization, nomadic civilization does not have much advantage, and even relatively backward. Therefore, the Huns have always wanted to learn various techniques from the Central Plains. The strategic master Of the Bank of China during the Han Dynasty said that after defecting to the Xiongnu, "preaching was only neglected left and right, in order to account for their people and animals", which greatly ensured the source of taxes for the Xiongnu. At the same time, among the Han chinese who fled from the Xiongnu, there was no shortage of low-level laborers and skilled craftsmen. By intermarrying these people with their own women, the agriculture and handicrafts of the Xiongnu could be vigorously developed, and the continuous development of the economy and society could be promoted.
On the whole, the Xiongnu allowed their own women to intermarry with Central Plains men, and even deliberately rewarded marriage, which seemed to be full of cunning calculations, but in fact it was an effective way to tie up and retain talents, which reflected the attitude of the nomadic civilization to the admiration of agricultural civilization.