In ancient times, there was a group of brave and fearless nomads in the steppe - the Huns. With their superior riding and shooting skills and superior combat effectiveness, they conquered all directions and turned large areas of land into their habitat.
However, behind these victories and glory in history, there is a terrible secret: the Xiongnu are not only ruthless conquerors, they also have a dark custom, that is, to give wives to the captured Han!
This incredible behavior made the captured Han people tremble, shouting that it was more terrible than being killed. So what is the real reason for their behavior?
Enhance ethnic integration
In ancient times, the Xiongnu were typical nomads, who mainly produced and lived in herding, hunting and inter-tribal warfare, and for them, expanding the size of the group was a necessary condition for their own survival and development.
Living in inhospitable grassland areas, harsh environmental conditions and scarce products, they rely on expanding territories and tribes to maintain their livelihoods and productive capacity.
Therefore, enhancing integration and cooperation between different ethnic groups has become one of the key means for the Xiongnu to continuously expand their sphere of influence and strengthen social stability.
Enhanced ethnic integration was the basis for the Xiongnu's continuous territorial expansion and consolidation of their dominance. In ancient times, cultural and social systems differed greatly between different peoples, and misunderstandings and conflicts were inevitable.
In order to ensure their own development and survival, nomads need to constantly expand their sphere of influence and population, and this process requires the support, cooperation and cooperation of other ethnic groups.
From the actual situation, the captured Han people actually have a high labor value. Since the Han usually have a relatively rich and diverse cultural background and skills, they can provide the Xiongnu with the necessary labor to help them complete various required production tasks.
For example, hunting, herding sheep, making furniture, etc., provided the necessary support for the production and livelihood of the Huns. At the same time, through this way of labor sharing, the Han people can gradually adapt to and integrate into the life and cultural habits of the Xiongnu, and establish a relationship of mutual respect and win-win cooperation.
The Xiongnu live in relatively inhospitable areas, often go in and out of different ethnic areas, and are relatively unfamiliar with the linguistic and cultural backgrounds of other ethnic groups, and cultural differences will also lead to difficulties in communication and cooperation.
The Han people, on the other hand, usually have a certain cultural literacy and educational background, which can bring fresh ideas and artistic experience to the Xiongnu and inject new vitality and impetus into their cultural development.
Since the Han people usually have the influence of traditional Chinese Confucianism and Taoist beliefs, they have a positive influence on the beliefs and worldview of the Xiongnu.
For example, some Han Chinese teach Taoist and Confucian teachings to the Xiongnu to help them better understand and accept these belief systems, and build a certain religious belief and cultural identity on this basis.
This integration of religious beliefs can alleviate religious conflicts and contradictions between different ethnic groups to a certain extent and promote the process of religious and cultural exchanges.
Maintain a source of labor
The ancient Xiongnu often gave wives to the captured Han, and the roots of this practice can be traced back to the Xiongnu production methods and cultural habits.
The Xiongnu tribes used animal husbandry as their main mode of production, so they cherished the Han people very much, because it was an important source of labor for them. At the same time, the Xiongnu also hope to strengthen the relationship with the Han through marriage and marriage to protect their rights and interests.
In ancient times, the Xiongnu tribe used animal husbandry as the main mode of production, mainly raising horses, cattle, sheep and other domestic animals. This method of production requires a lot of manpower and material resources to maintain, especially in the desert environment that is too cold in winter, and the Huns need enough labor to take care of their livestock.
But since the Xiongnu had a smaller population, the Huns needed to find more labor to increase their productive capacity. At this time, the Han became an important target for them, as the Han were generally healthier than the Xiongnu and were able to persist in working in difficult conditions.
The Xiongnu have a strong sense of ethnicity, and attach great importance to the sense of honor and belonging of the family and tribe. In this environment, traditional cultural practices such as ancestor worship and family marriage are very important.
Therefore, the Xiongnu often strengthened their relations with other tribes through marriage and marriage, and established close alliances between families and tribes. Giving wives to the captured Han is a way to establish an intimate relationship with the Han in order to achieve the same goal.
Through marriage, the Xiongnu can obtain more Han labor, and at the same time improve the friendship and trust between each other.
At the same time, by marrying with other tribes, the Huns could expand their sphere of influence, gain more resources and labor, and prevent invasions from other tribes.
Giving wives to the captured Han is a way to establish an intimate relationship with the Han in order to achieve the same goal. In this way, the Xiongnu had access to more Han labor, while also increasing friendship and trust with each other.
Therefore, giving wives to the captured Han became a cultural habit and production method of the Xiongnu. This practice was common in the historical context of the time. As nomads, the Huns were pragmatic, believing that this practice could help them obtain more labor, increase production capacity, and reduce production costs.
At the same time, through marriage and marriage, you can strengthen the friendship and trust relationship with the Han people, so as to effectively protect your own rights and interests.
However, this practice is not always a good thing for the captured Han. Due to the differences in living environment, the Han people face many difficulties and challenges among the Xiongnu tribe, such as unfamiliar environment, language barrier, cultural differences and other problems.
Moreover, in the eyes of the Xiongnu, the captured Han were not equal partners, but treated their labor force. As a result, the Han people often faced racial discrimination and exploitation among the Xiongnu tribe, and their lives and rights were often violated.
Improve offspring genes
In the ancient Xiongnu people, men and women were equal, and women had a very high status. It is known that most of the Han captured by the Xiongnu in the war were male.
Therefore, in order to make the descendants of the Xiongnu stronger and smarter, the Xiongnu often gave wives to the captured Han people to achieve the purpose of improving the genes of the offspring.
It is important to understand that the Huns differ from other peoples in that they rely on equestrianism for their lives and are very advocating bravery and strength. Therefore, the Xiongnu paid attention to the exercise of physical fitness and believed that strength and courage were the guarantee of survival.
At the same time, the Huns yearned for stronger descendants, hoping that their descendants would be able to maintain the prosperity and development of the tribe. Most of the Han people who were captured came from an agricultural society, and their physical fitness and strength adapted to equestrian life were much inferior to those of the Xiongnu.
Therefore, the Xiongnu fused the genes of different ethnic groups by marrying Han Chinese, hoping to produce stronger offspring.
In the context of this era, it is a common custom to enhance one's own strength by improving the genes of future generations. In Chinese history, after Qin Shi Huang unified the Six Kingdoms, he adopted a similar approach, distributing men and women in Guanzhong to the frontier in the hope of producing stronger descendants.
The Xiongnu gave wives to the captured Han people, which can be said to be a similar practice, but they paid more attention to starting from the genetic perspective to achieve better results.
And the political, economic and socio-cultural system of the Xiongnu has strong national characteristics, as a nomadic people, the Xiongnu have almost no fixed residence and arable land, they rely on animal husbandry and war for their livelihood.
Therefore, the Xiongnu population is relatively small, and it is necessary to absorb more foreign population to enhance its own productivity and alleviate the problem of insufficient Xiongnu population.
This demand can be met by mixing with the Han Chinese, while also absorbing more excellent craftsmen, merchants and scholars, whose knowledge and skills can provide more help and support to the Xiongnu, thus strengthening the tribe.
It should be noted that this traditional marriage practice is not unilateral coercion, but a voluntary relationship between the parties. The captured Han people generally decided to marry after some time at the initiative of Xiongnu women.
For the Xiongnu, their attitude towards the Han is very respectful, and they will also provide similar marriage opportunities for the Han.
Therefore, it can be said that this marriage is not only a channel for mutual understanding, contact and communication between the Xiongnu and the Han people, but also a manifestation of the integration and balance between the two cultures.
Expand political influence
In the process of contact with the Han people, the Xiongnu gradually discovered that the Han people attached more importance to family life, especially the maintenance of marriage relations.
Therefore, in order to strengthen ties with the Han and expand their political influence, the Xiongnu often sent wives to captured Han Chinese. This practice was very common at the time and an effective means.
The Xiongnu will consolidate friendly relations with the Han people by sending wives, and the contact between the Xiongnu and the Han is mainly reflected in two aspects, one is commercial trade, and the other is political.
Xiongnu nobles often paid tribute to the Han dynasty, and as a courtesy, they would include a small number of Han women in their gifts. These Han women were given to the Xiongnu nobles as wives, thus establishing a close bond.
At the same time, among the Han people, the dowry when marrying a daughter also included a small amount of jewelry, silk and other items to show friendship. It can be said that the Xiongnu consolidated friendly relations with the Han by sending wives, thereby gaining more foreign political benefits.
The Xiongnu obtained intelligence and political information by sending wives, and in contact with the Han, the Xiongnu quickly realized that the Han had a relatively high level of political civilization, and they would grant the Han a certain amount of semi-autonomy.
These autonomy rights allowed the Han to become an important channel for transmitting information within the Xiongnu. At this time, the Xiongnu gained the trust of the Han people by sending wives, and then obtained intelligence and political information from them, which played a very important role in the expansion of the political influence of the Xiongnu.
In addition, the Xiongnu were often able to take advantage of the marriage relationship of the Han people, lurk spies among the Han people, and grasp the information and whereabouts of the Han people, so as to better grasp the situation.
Moreover, the Huns strengthened their rule over the occupied areas by sending wives. The Huns sent wives not only to establish friendly relations and obtain intelligence, but also to consolidate their rule over the occupied areas.
In the process, the Huns would marry the nobles of the occupied region, thereby strengthening their control and domination over the entire region.
In this process, the Han people not only gradually got used to the Xiongnu way of life, but also gradually influenced by the Xiongnu culture, thus making the political influence of the Xiongnu more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Of course, there are also some negative effects in the practice of sending wives. This approach appears barbaric and overbearing, lacking in respect and equality.
At the same time, this practice also brought great life and physical pressure and difficulties to the Han people, who often had to adapt to the Xiongnu lifestyle and customs, which was a great test for the Han people physically and mentally.
end
As witnesses of history, we know that the Xiongnu once gave wives to the captured Han people, which caused great controversy at the time.
Although this behavior now seems highly inappropriate and even insulting to the Han Chinese, we cannot deny the differences in behavior in different historical periods and different cultural backgrounds.