Shanyu Maodun’s Proposition To Empress Dowager Lü That Almost Caused A War

Empress Lü was the wife of Gaozu, founder of the Han Dynasty (c. 206 BCE) and the first Han emperor of China (r. 202-195 BCE). While Gaozu was alive, Empress Lü proved herself a fearsome political maneuverer who knew how to detect and eliminate threats to the fledgling dynasty, sometimes doing so even without the emperor’s permission. When Emperor Gaozu died in 195 BCE, the throne passed to the empress’ son, Hui. Yet, although her son was officially emperor, it was Empress Lü who was the true power behind the throne. The common people were reportedly content under the empress’ reign, but it was a very tense time for the newfound nobles in the empire. With the lives of her son and herself on the line, Empress Lü escalated her role as the unofficial spymaster of the dynasty, assassinating several half-brothers of Emperor Hui and sending out her kinswomen to marry (and spy on) the regional kings and marquises of the empire. When Emperor Hui died in 188 BCE, Empress Lü maintained her power by acting as regent for two successive child-emperors.

In the lands to the north of the Han Empire, the aging Empress Lü had an admirer. His name was Maodun, a powerful Shanyu (high chief) of the nomadic Xiongnu people. He came to power around 209 BCE and built an empire mighty enough to rival that of his Chinese neighbors. Shanyu Maodun and Emperor Gaozu had clashed in 200 BCE, and in the resulting battle Emperor Gaozu was outwitted by the Xiongnu, surrounded by the Shanyu’s forces, and pressured to agree to a peace that favored the Xiongnu. In the aftermath of the battle, Emperor Gaozu sent an imperial princess to be the consort of the Shanyu, and he also sent tribute to the nomads and opened up trade relations. This defensive policy of marriage, tribute and trade would continue for decades, and would be imitated by several of Emperor Gaozu’s successors.

Although Shanyu Maodun was a busy man, conquering rival nomadic tribes and expanding his empire, he kept himself informed on politics in the Han Dynasty. When the Xiongnu leader learned that Emperor Gaozu had died and that Empress Lü was reigning with an iron fist in China, he was apparently quite impressed or amused by the news. After hearing of Empress Lü’s rise to power, Shanyu Maodun evidently one day felt the urge to write the empress a blunt and audacious letter. When the peculiar note reached the imperial court in China, it caused a shock among the Han courtiers that would resound for decades.

In his letter to Empress Lü, Shanyu Maodun wrote out his observation that he and she were both old, lonely rulers and suggested that they comfort each other through marriage. Whether or not this proposal was pragmatic, heartfelt, or taunting, is a matter of opinion, but Empress Lü, her advisors, and the ancient Chinese scholars who wrote about the event virtually all considered it to be an insult of the highest degree. Empress Lü’s response upon hearing the marriage proposal was reportedly to summon her generals and demand that they plan an invasion of the Xiongnu Empire. Sycophants and warmongers eagerly volunteered to command the punitive expedition against the mighty Xiongnu chief. Yet, in the end, the more cautious advisors won the debate by reminding the empress that even the great Emperor Gaozu had not been able to defeat Shanyu Maodun in battle and that the empire was not yet stable enough for a protracted campaign against the Xiongnu. Ultimately, Empress Lü called off the war and maintained peace with the Xiongnu.

After Empress Lü’s death in 180 BCE, Emperor Wen (r. 180-157 BCE) and Emperor Jing (r. 157-141 BCE) continued the Han Dynasty policy of sending tribute and imperial princesses to the Xiongnu, and otherwise only fighting defensive wars against incursions begun by the Shanyu’s forces. It was Emperor Wu (r. 141-87 BCE) who finally changed the Han policy with the Xiongnu to that of relentless aggression, leading to the conquest of great stretches of Xiongnu territory. Around the year 101 BCE, Emperor Wu released an edict that mentioned both Gaozu’s defeat and the letter sent to Empress Lü in an effort to rile up his people against the Xiongnu. The edict, recorded by Grand Historian Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE), read:

“Emperor Gaozu has left us the task of avenging the difficulties which he suffered at Pingcheng. Furthermore, during the reign of Empress Lü the Shanyu sent to the court a most treasonable and insulting letter. In ancient times when Duke Xiang of Qi avenged an insult which one of his ancestors nine generations earlier had suffered, Confucius praised his conduct in the Spring and Autumn Annals” (Shi Ji 110).

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Rejection scene from the Admonitions Scroll, attributed to Gu Kaizhi (c.345-c.406), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gaohou 
• http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/personslvhou.html 
• https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/exhibit/xiongnu/essay.html  

The Bizarre Tale Of Shanyu Maodun’s Rise To Power

The Xiongnu were a coalition of ancient nomadic or semi-nomadic peoples to the north and northwest of China, who, by the late 3rd century BCE, built an empire strong enough to pose an existential threat to the Chinese Qin and Han Dynasties. The first high-chief, or Shanyu, of the Xiongnu coalition that was known to Chinese sources was Touman. He was reportedly a contemporary of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty in the late 3rd century BCE. In Touman’s day, the Xiongnu were powerful, but their dominance was not yet firmly established over the other nomadic peoples of the region. One such rival nomadic group was the Yuezhi, to whom Touman apparently sent his son, Maodun, as a diplomat or political hostage. Yet, all was not as it seemed, for Touman and Maodun had very little in the way of a father-son bond. According to Chinese sources, Touman simply wished that his unwanted son would disappear in order to make life easier for his more favored children, so when Maodun reached his destination, Touman immediately attacked the Yuezhi despite what they might do to his son. Faced with this awkward situation, Maodun reportedly stole a horse, fought his way out of Yuezhi territory, and escaped to friendly land.

While Touman may have been disappointed at the survival of his son, the majority of the Xiongnu contrastingly looked upon Maodun’s escape with awe. Perhaps the incident convinced Touman to give his son a second chance, or maybe the escape from Yuezhi hands boosted Maodun’s reputation enough to obligate the Shanyu to give his son a reward—whatever the case, Maodun was reportedly put in command of 10,000 horsemen.

The Xiongnu were known to train in horsemanship and archery from early childhood, but Maodun brought training to a new level when he was given a military command. His program, according to Chinese sources, focused primarily on horse-archery drills and the cultivation of blind obedience. To contribute to both of these goals, Maodun reportedly developed an arrow that whistled as it flew through the air. Wherever Maodun shot this whistling projectile, he expected his horse archers to immediately launch their own arrows in the same direction without any hesitation—those who wavered were reportedly executed.

Maodun’s training began innocently enough. He was said to have brought his horsemen on hunting trips, shooting his whistling arrows at wild game. It was a simple start, but the horsemen were told if they did not meet Maodun’s expectations in speed and accuracy, then they would be executed. When the archers no longer gave any pause to taking shots at whichever animal they were told to target, Maodun began to escalate his training program.

Once the hunting phase was over, Maodun started the real obedience training. As the tale goes, he first shot one of his whistling arrows in the direction of his favorite horse. Some of the archers apparently thought this may have been a trick command and decided not to shoot at their leader’s beloved steed—these men were unfortunately mistaken in their thinking and were promptly executed. Next, Maodun reportedly sent a whistling arrow in the direction of his wife. Again, some of the horsemen hesitated to loose their arrows, and were executed for their show of care. Finally, Maodun shot a whistling arrow at the most prized horse of Shanyu Touman. This time, after so many executions, all of Maodun’s horsemen launched their arrows without any hesitation.

Around the time of the massive Chinese revolt against the Qin Dynasty in 209 BCE, Shanyu Touman and his son, Maodun, reportedly went on a hunting trip. Unfortunately, no father and son bonding would occur on that trip. Instead, Maodun, who was accompanied by some of his unquestioning horsemen, enacted his long-awaited plan to seize power. The account of Grand Historian Sima Qian (c.145-90 BCE) on this incident was as follows:

“Accompanying his father, the Shanyu Touman, on a hunting expedition, he [Maodun] shot a whistling arrow at his father and every one of his followers aimed their arrows in the same direction and shot the Shanyu dead. Then Maodun executed his stepmother, his younger brother, and all the high officials of the nation who refused to take orders from him, and set himself up as the new Shanyu” (Shiji 110).

Under the leadership of the cunning and aggressive Maodun, the Xiongnu would conquer their fellow nomadic neighbors to create a great empire. During his long reign from about 209-174 BCE, Maodun greatly expanded his territory and often got the better of the Chinese Han Emperors.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Painting of Xiongnu nomads, Henan Provincial Museum, Zhengzhou, [Public Domain] via flickr.com and Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993. 
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Xiongnu 
• http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/xiongnu 
• http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Altera/xiongnu.html 
• https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/exhibit/xiongnu/essay.html