In the fifth year of Jianxing (317), the Western Jin Dynasty fell, and Chinese history officially entered the era of the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and Hu Xia, founded by the Xiongnu Helian Bobo, was one of the Sixteen Kingdoms. Because Helian Bobo is a Xiongnu, many people think that Helian Bobo's surname "Helian" is a Xiongnu surname. But what is less well known is that Helian Bobo's surname "Helian", although a Xiongnu surname, is a Sinicized Xiongnu surname.
From the late Western Han Dynasty onwards, some tribes of the Xiongnu gradually migrated to live in the Han Dynasty of the Central Plains. With the passage of time, the degree of Sinicization of the Huns who migrated south became higher and higher. Because the Han Dynasty sent clan princesses to be close to the Xiongnu and the xiongnu and the upper-class nobles of the Xiongnu who were close to each other, almost all of them had the royal blood of Liu, so the Xiongnu nobles who moved south claimed to be the grandsons of Liu Bang, the ancestors of Han Gao, and took Liu as their surname.
Among the Tribes of the Xiongnu who migrated south was a tribe called the Tiefu Tribe, the earliest source of which is beyond examination. According to historical records, the Xiongnu Tiefu tribe and the Han Zhao founding emperor Liu Yuan were of the same ethnic group, and the upper echelons of the tribe were also surnamed Liu. Liu Hu, the leader of the Tiefu Clan, was regarded as a clan by Han Zhao and was given the title of Duke of Loufu. After the fall of Han Zhao, the Tiefubu was once attached to the predecessor of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Tuoba Dynasty.
Since then, the Tiefu tribe has been circling between Former Qin, Dai Guo, and Later Zhao, and the tribe has become strong again. After Former Qin unified the north, Liu Weichen, the leader of the Tiefu clan, was given the title of Xidan Yu by Jian Jian. Liu Weichen then lived in Guanzhong for a long time and married a former Qin princess. In the seventeenth year of Jianyuan (381), The Former Qin Princess bore Liu Weichen a son, named Liu Bobo, the future Emperor of Huxia, Helian Bobo.
After the split of Former Qin, Liu Weichen established himself as a prince in Shuofang. In the sixteenth year of Taiyuan (391), Tiefu was defeated by Northern Wei, and Liu Weichen was killed by his subordinates. Except for Liu Bobo, Liu Weichen's entire clan was destroyed by Northern Wei, and Liu Bobo formed a deep hatred with Northern Wei. Liu Bobo, who fled, became the son-in-law of Later Qin Gaoping, and was appreciated and valued by The Later Qin Emperor Yao Xing.
Relying on the support of Later Qin, Liu Bobo made a comeback in Shuofang. In the second year of Yixi (406), Liu Bobo sneaked in and killed his father-in-law Wu Yiyu, and annexed Wu Yiyu's subordinates, allowing his strength to compete with Later Qin. In the third year of Yixi (407), Liu Bobo betrayed Later Qin, proclaimed himself The Heavenly King, Da Dan Yu, and set the name of the state "Xia", and the history was called "Hu Xia". Liu Bobo became the founding emperor of the Huxia regime.
After the establishment of Hu Xia, Liu Bobo felt that he was "a hub connecting heaven and earth", and the surname Of Liu from the Han Dynasty was no longer enough to express his nobility. So Liu Bobo took two words from "Yun Helian Tian" and changed his surname to "Helian", which was for Helian Bobo. Therefore, although the Helian surname was originally a Xiongnu surname, the meaning is completely derived from The Han culture, which is a Sinicized Xiongnu surname.