Liu Yuan (between 249 and 253 – 310), a native of Xinxing (present-day northern Xinzhou, Shanxi), was the grandson of Yu Fuluo of the Southern Xiongnu, the son of Liu Bao, the king of Zuoxian, and the son of Huyan. Liu Yuan took over his subordinates after his father's death, until the rebellion of the Eight Kings in the last years of the Western Jin Dynasty, when the kings attacked each other, Liu Yuan took advantage of the civil strife in the imperial court and led the five Xiongnu to stand on their own in the state.
In October of the first year of Yongxing (304) of Emperor Hui of Jin, Liu Yuan built an altar and set up sacrifices in the southern suburbs of Zuoguo City, proclaimed himself King of Han, and established the Han Kingdom (also known as the Xiongnu Han State and Hu Han) (later changed to Zhao, commonly known as Qianzhao, also known as Han Zhao). The three ancestors and five sects from the Han Gao Emperor (Emperor Taizu Gao, Emperor Guangwu of Shizu, Emperor Liu Bei of Zhaolie, Emperor Xiaowen of Taizong, Emperor Xiaowu of Shizong, Emperor Xiaoxuan of Zhongzong, Emperor Xiaoming of Xianzong, Emperor Xiaozhang of Suzong) were offered into the temple, and Liu Chan, the queen of the Shu Han Dynasty, was posthumously named Emperor Xiaohuai, the year name was Yuanxi, and his wife Huyan was the queen.
Liu Yuan's new store opened, and its "Han" signboard really attracted thousands of Hu and Jin people to come and join it. In this way, Liu Yuan established the first state of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms: the Han State (later changed to the former Zhao), which opened the great era of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms. Zuoguocheng went down in history as the national capital. This Han State is the first country in the history of the mainland by the Xiongnu, a minority ethnic minority in the interior, although it is only 26 years, but it has a very important position in the national history of the mainland, Zuoguo City as the capital of the Han Kingdom, also has a relatively long history, 2295 years ago.
So the question is, since Liu Yuan was a Xiongnu, why did he not restore the Xiongnu Empire after the destruction of the Western Jin Dynasty and regarded himself as the successor of the Han Dynasty? Since Liu Yuan was a Xiongnu in Xinxing (now Xinzhou), why did he set up an incident in Zuoguocheng?
This is to recount the historical changes of the Xiongnu tribe and Liu Yuan's family background.
The Xiongnu rose at the turn of the Qin and Han dynasties, when it was at its peak, from the Outer Khing'an Mountains in the east to the Western Regions in the west, from the Hetao Plain in the south to Lake Baikal in the north, such a vast territory was allowed by the Xiongnu to gallop, and all the ethnic groups in the west and north were subordinated to the iron hooves of the Xiongnu.
However, when the Xiongnu expanded southward, they encountered the Central Plains Dynasty established by the Han Chinese. The so-called "there is a great Han in the south, and there is a strong Hu in the north", one believes that "the whole world is the king's land; and the coast of the land is all the king's ministers", and the other claims that "the Huns set up by heaven are the great singles" and "the Hu is the proud son of the sky", no one obeys anyone, then it is necessary to meet each other in arms, and the war between the two nationalities is 300 years, and the Han people have won a miserable victory.
Under the double blow of the Han people's military operations and natural disasters, the Xiongnu were divided many times, so the Xiongnu continued to migrate south, submit to the Central Plains Dynasty, and seek refuge.
The first major split of the Xiongnu occurred during the reign of Emperor Xuan of the Western Han Dynasty. There was an incident of "five singles in contention" within the Xiongnu, and the Huhan evil single, who was defeated in the civil war, moved south, declared himself a vassal to the Han, and lived in the northern part of Bingzhou. The Xiongnu were then divided into two opposing regimes, the southern Xiongnu were attached to the Han Dynasty, and the Northern Xiongnu continued to be enemies of the Han Dynasty.
Under the protection of the Han Dynasty, the Southern Xiongnu gradually recovered and reoccupied the Mobei royal court, while the Northern Xiongnu continued to shrink under the blows of the Han Dynasty, and later retreated to the Western Regions, unable to harass the Han Dynasty border. In the third year of Emperor Jianzhao of the Han Yuan Dynasty (36 BC), the Han general Chen Tang ran for 3,000 miles, killed the Northern Xiongnu Zhizhi Shan Yu, and left a bold sentence: Those who commit strong Han will be punished even if they are far away!
The second split occurred during the reign of Emperor Guangwu of the early Eastern Han Dynasty. Hu Han Shan Yu's grandson Ri Zhu Wang Bi lost the struggle, so he followed his grandfather's example and led his troops to join the Han Dynasty. In order to show loyalty to the Han Dynasty, the king of the day also inherited the title of "Hu Han Evil Shan Yu", he is the second "Hu Han Evil Shan Yu" in history, and the Xiongnu also formed a situation of confrontation between the southern and northern Xiongnu again.
The Southern Xiongnu were still placed in Bingzhou, and the Han court still supported the Southern Xiongnu to fight the Northern Xiongnu. A hundred years ago, the history was repeated again, the Northern Xiongnu were hit by the Han Dynasty and could not survive in their homeland, and were forced to migrate westward, since then the Northern Xiongnu have basically disappeared in the Chinese history books, they have changed a stage, and turned Central Asia, West Asia, and Europe upside down.
The Northern Xiongnu moved westward, but the Southern Xiongnu were not able to achieve revival, and the descendants of the Donghu people, Xianbei and Wuhuan, who had been defeated by the Xiongnu a hundred years ago, rose rapidly and occupied the homeland of the Xiongnu. The Southern Xiongnu still only had the Hetao area, and they moved the Xiongnu's royal court to Zuoguocheng in Taiyuan County, Bingzhou, cutting off the hope of returning to their homeland.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Central Plains was in turmoil, and the Southern Xiongnu took the opportunity to occupy the entire territory of Bingzhou, and went south to harass the north bank of the Yellow River. During the Jian'an period, Cao Cao pacified the north, thinking that the existence of the Southern Xiongnu was a hidden danger, so he detained the Southern Xiongnu Hu Chu Quan Shan Yu, decomposed the Southern Xiongnu into five parts, selected the nobles of each department as the commander of the department, and sent the Han people to do Sima to supervise, the Southern Xiongnu regime existed in name only, and later Hu Chu Quan Shan Yu died of illness in the Central Plains, and the Southern Xiongnu died of the country.
Therefore, by the time of the Jin Dynasty, the Xiongnu entrenched in the annexed states were only the remnants of the former powerful Xiongnu Empire after being cut, cut, and re-cut, and their strength was already very weak.
There have always been two different opinions among the Han people on how to deal with this remnant force.
One opinion advocates expelling all of them from the Central Plains, and the commentators believe that "those who are not of our race will have different hearts", and these barbaric, backward, ignorant and ill-intentioned Rong Di lurk under the elbows and armpits, and sooner or later they will be a scourge and must be driven away to prevent future troubles.
As early as the Cao Wei period, Deng Ai had suggested that Sima Shi systematically migrate the Qiang and Hu people who lived together with the Han people. He believes that this can "show the religion of honesty and shame and stop the road of adultery."
During the reign of Emperor Taikang of the Jin Dynasty, Guo Qin, the imperial servant, once again suggested the migration of the Xiongnu and other alien races, and he described to Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty the terrible consequences of the alien race losing control: "If there is a dust alarm after a hundred years, Hu Qi will come to Mengjin from Pingyang and Shangdang in less than three days, and Beidi, Xihe, Taiyuan, Fengyi, Anding, and Shangjun will all be Di Ting."
Guo Qin suggested that Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty take advantage of the remnants of pacifying the Wu State to unify the world, send heavy troops to the northern counties, expel the Zahu in the counties in batches, and strengthen the management of the inward migration of the Hu people. Pardon the death row prisoners north of Pingyang and exile them instead, and at the same time relocate 40,000 Han Chinese to fill the gap after the departure of the Hu people and increase the proportion of Han Chinese in the northern counties.
Emperor Wu of Jin did not take Guo Qin's advice, and after that, the Xiongnu came from outside the Saiwai to join them, and Emperor Wu of Jin still placed them in the northern counties.
During the reign of Emperor Yuankang of Jin Hui, a rebellion broke out in Guanzhong led by Qi Wannian, and Guanzhong, Qiang, and Xiongnu all participated in the rebellion. The destructive power of this rebellion was huge, and after the rebellion was put down in the ninth year of Yuanyasu, many people saw that it was urgent to solve the national problem.
"On Migration" is mainly aimed at Guanzhong Qiang and Di, and the Xiongnu are also mentioned by the way. Jiang Tong said: "The Hu of the state, the real Huns and the evil of the Huns..., the people of the five departments today, the number of households is tens of thousands, and the population is too large to Xirong." However, its nature is brave, and the bow horse is convenient, which is twice as good as Di and Qiang. If there is no concern about the wind and dust, then the domain of the annex state can be chilling." Jiang Tong suggested taking advantage of the military might of pacifying Guanzhong to expel the Qiang, Di and other alien races from Guanzhong from the Central Plains, and then concoct the same method against the Xiongnu in the annexed states, so as to eliminate the possibility of the Hu people messing with China.
But like Guo Qin more than a decade ago, Jiang's suggestion was not adopted. The ruling elites who did not adopt the proposal naturally represented a different kind of opinion, which could be regarded as a policy of appeasement, with limited restraint on foreign races. In this way, it left a disaster for the subsequent Wuhu Chaohua.
Liu Yuan is a Hun who is very sinicized. As early as the era of Han Gaozu, the Han Dynasty began to make peace with the Xiongnu. With the increase in the number of affinities, some Xiongnu people spent more and more time with the Han people, and their descendants gradually recognized their Han blood and became closer and closer to the Han people.
In the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Mongolian steppe on which the Huns relied for survival had an unprecedented drought, thousands of miles of red land, the grass and trees were dried up, people and animals starved to death, the corpses were piled up like mountains, because no one cleaned up, and caused a huge plague, the Xiongnu Khanate finally fell into the second division, divided into two parts, the south and the north.
The Southern Xiongnu settled in the area south of the Great Wall and established their own tribal settlements in Lishi (present-day Shanxi) and other places. In order to restrain the Northern Xiongnu, the Eastern Han government has always maintained friendly relations with the Southern Xiongnu. The Northern Xiongnu migrated westward, and were later expelled from the Jinwei Mountains (Altai Mountains) by the Eastern Han Dynasty army, and traveled long distances to establish a state on the Hungarian Plain, blending with various ethnic groups in Europe.
During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Shan Yu Qiangqu of the Southern Xiongnu also sent his son Yu Fuluo to lead troops to assist the Han Dynasty and crusade against the Yellow Turban Army.
In fact, during this period of time, there were also many turbulent factors within the Southern Xiongnu, but Shan Qiangqu felt the kindness of the Han Dynasty, and still resolutely extended a helping hand to the Han Dynasty.
Soon after Yu Fuluo left for the Central Plains, there was indeed a civil strife in the Southern Xiongnu, and Qiangqu could not control the situation, and was killed by his men in the chaos. In this way, Yu Fuluo, who was leading troops abroad, had difficulty returning to his home and country, so he had to stay in the Han Dynasty and set up a government in exile, calling himself the Xiongnu Shan Yu.
The tribes of Fuluo mainly lived in the area of present-day Shanxi and Hedong. At the time of Fuluo's death, his son was too young and was succeeded by his younger brother Hu Chuquan. The Southern Xiongnu and the Han Dynasty had a long and close relationship, and the Yufulo branch had moved into the interior of the Han Dynasty, and their descendants were no different from the Han people, and most of their names were Han names.
Yu Fuluo thought that he was the descendant of the princess of the Han Dynasty, and he had the blood of Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, so he took Liu as his surname and named his son Liu Bao. Hu Chuquan took over the position of his brother Shan Yu and named Liu Bao as the king of Zuoxian.
Cao Cao pacified the north and divided the many tribes of Huchuquan into five parts according to geographical location: the left lived in Zishi (now Linfen, Shanxi) in Taiyuan, the right lived in Qidi (now Qi County, Shanxi), the south lived in Puzi (now Xi County, Shanxi), the north lived in Xinxing (now north of Xinzhou, Shanxi), and the middle lived in Daling (now Wenshui County, Shanxi).
Among them, Liu Bao is the leader of the left department. Liu Yuan is the son of Liu Bao. At a young age, Liu Yuan showed many things that were different from ordinary people. He loves to learn, and is familiar with "Mao's Poems", "Jing's Yi" and "Ma's Shangshu", and loves "The Biography of Zuo in the Spring and Autumn Period" and "The Art of War of Sun and Wu". This is not easy for a Hun person. Liu Yuan read the "Historical Records", "Book of Han" and the works of Zhuzi, not just reading books for the sake of reading, but liked to think with questions in reading.
He said to his classmates who studied together: "Every time I read a biography, I can't help but despise Sui He and Lu Jia, who have literary talent but lack martial arts, while Zhou Bo and Guan Ying lack literary talent despite martial arts. Morality is carried forward by the saints, and if the knowledge is not comprehensive, what can be accomplished? Sui He and Lu Jia met the Han Gaozu and were unable to establish the feudal feud, which can be regarded as a vain life; Zhou Bo and Guan Ying followed Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty and could not create a great cause of education, so they lived blindly!"
Guided by this thinking, he focused on practicing martial arts while learning about the culture. Liu Yuan is burly, eight feet four inches tall, with extremely long arms, good at archery, and powerful than others. Liu Yuan's literary and martial arts strategy established his future leadership position as the leader of the five Xiongnu tribes in the Central Plains.
In the Central Plains Dynasty, Xiongnu tribal leaders like Liu Bao had to send their heirs to the capital as hostages if they wanted to show loyalty to the imperial court. In this way, Liu Yuan went to the capital Luoyang as a hostage during the reign of Xianxi of the Wei State. Because of its civil and military perfection and extraordinary spirit, it was valued by the powerful minister Sima Zhao.
In the fifth year of Xianning (279), Liu Yuan's father, Liu Bao, the commander of the left department, died, and the court of the Western Jin Dynasty appointed Liu Yuan as the acting commander of the left department. In the tenth year of Taikang (289), Emperor Wu of Jin appointed Liu Yuan as the governor of the north. During Liu Yuan's tenure, "the criminal law is clear, adultery and evil are forbidden, money is light and charitable, sincerity is accepted, and all the five heroes are there" ("Book of Jin"). Liu Yuan strictly enforces the criminal law, prohibits all kinds of treacherous and evil acts, he does not value property, loves charity, intersects with others, and sees each other sincerely. So the heroes of the five Xiongnu tribes have defected to his disciples, and even the well-known Confucian scholars in Youzhou and Jizhou, and the outstanding people in the post-education, have traveled thousands of miles here. In the first year of Yongxi (290), Emperor Sima Zhen of Jin Hui succeeded to the throne, and was assisted by his cousin Yang Jun, who appointed Liu Yuan as the general of Jianwei and the governor of the five departments, and was knighted as the marquis of Hanguang Township. In the last year of Yuankang (300), Liu Yuan was dismissed because his subordinates defected from the fortress. Soon Sima Ying, the king of Chengdu, guarded Yecheng, and the above table recommended Liu Yuan to serve as the general of Ning Shuo and the military of the five departments.
Although Liu Yuan had outstanding talents, because of his identity as a Huns, he had been immersed in the internal and external troubles of the Western Jin Dynasty. The attitude of the Wei state, including the later Jin dynasty, towards the attached Xiongnu was very complicated. Not only do we have to use them to fight wars and sell our lives, but we also have to prevent them from rebelling and making trouble. Liu Yuan's cousin, Liu Xuan, the former governor of the northern region and the king of Zuoxian, said more than once at the meetings of the leaders of the Xiongnu tribes: "In the past, our ancestors and the Han family were about brothers, and they shared weal and woe. Since the death of the Han Dynasty, the Wei and Jin dynasties have prospered, and we have been single, although there is a false name, but there is no foundation for an inch of land, and we have descended from princes to ordinary people. Now that the Sima clan is killing each other, fighting each other in a row, and the four seas are boiling, it is time for us to rejuvenate the country and resume business. Liu Yuan, the king of Zuoxian, has a superhuman appearance, demeanor and talent, if the heavens don't want to be magnificent, why should such a great man be born in vain?"
After the outbreak of the "Eight Kings Rebellion", because of the war, a large number of Han people in the Central Plains migrated to the south of the Yangtze River, which was known as "the southern crossing of clothes". The Hun nobleman Liu Xuan and others saw that the Sima clan was killing each other, the four seas were boiling, and there was an opportunity for the resumption of the country, so they secretly elected Liu Yuan as the big single Yu, and Liu Yuan did not talk nonsense, and quickly ascended to the throne of the big single Yu in the crowd.
Because the Jin clan is still there, the Quartet is undecided, Liu Yuan did not rashly call the emperor, but imitated Liu Bang in that year, and called the king of Han, Liu Yuan under the banner of Kuangfu Han Dynasty, with Lishi (now the west of Shanxi Province, the west side of the middle section of the Luliang Mountains) as the capital of the Xiongnu tribes, it only took half a month, to recruit more than 50,000 soldiers and horses.
He said in high spirits: "You are so right! If you want to be a big hill that stands up to the sky, how can you be a small mound that tends to be inflammatory? Since ancient times, there has been no eternal and immortal emperor, Dayu came from Xirong, and King Wen of Zhou was born in Dongyi, who should be the emperor, but according to the level of virtue. We have tens of thousands of elite soldiers and thousands of good generals, and it is worth ten to deal with the Jin Dynasty army, and the destruction of the Jin Dynasty will be in an instant. Even if I can't follow the example of Han Gaozu, at least I have to accomplish the deeds of Emperor Wu of Wei. The Han Dynasty has a long history in the world, and kindness is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, so Emperor Zhaolie Liu Bei can compete with the world according to the land of a state. I am both the nephew of the Han family and the brother of the Han family, and now that the banner of the Han family has fallen, I have to raise it again. In my opinion, from now on, we will use the country name of the Han Dynasty to respect the future lord Liu Chan and collect the hearts of the people. ”
He can recall the kindness of the Han Dynasty, skillfully link his nephew relationship with the Han Dynasty and the covenant of brothers, pick up the banner of the Han Dynasty again, and use the signboard of the Han Dynasty to win people's hearts. This is no longer an ordinary rhetoric or speech, but an extremely clever political tactic.
Source: Sanjin Ancient Civilization