Xiongnu Empire built by the Modu Chanyu

[Xiongnu Empire built by the Modu Chanyu]

The Great Xiongnu 匈奴 Chief Modu Chanyu 冒頓 單于: Son of Touman Chanyu 頭曼單于.

The story starts from the time his father was in charge of northern tribe Xiongnu, the earliest known Xiongnu ruler named "Touman, Duman 頭曼單于", who reigned between 220 and 209 BC.

In the section 5 of the Xiongnu chronicle in the book of Shiji, "At that time, Donghu 東胡 was strong (in the east) and Yuezhi 月氏 were flourishing (in the west). His father "頭曼單于" wasn't (strong enough) to beat the Qin Shi Huang in the south and ran away to the north. About ten years had gone by, Qin general "Mengtian 蒙恬" passed away, war lords (in China) revolted against Qin empire. Qin soldiers who were station in the frontiers went back home. Xiangnu had a chance to regroup and step by step regained the territory and crossed over the Yellow River in the south (south of Ordos) faced up with China in the old fortress."

In section 匈奴列傳 6, "Chief 'Touman had a son named 'Modu Chanyu.' Then the chief got another son from his other wife, whom he loved dearly. The chief wanted the younger son from the loved second wife (or concubine) to be the heir by pushing away his first son Modu Chanyu. The chief send his son Modu to his western enemy Yuezhi as a hostage. While his son Modu was in his western enemy, the Xiongnu Chief "Touman" attacked (hoping his son to be killed). As the Yuezhi tried to kill the hostage, Modu grabbed the best horse he could get and ran back to his country. (More details: as a hostage, Modu worked hard to get the trust of the king of Yuezhi and got the position in charge of horse barn). His father (had to conceal his plot) praised his son with admiration and appointed him as a commander of ten thousand cavalry. Modu trained his cavalry with whistling arrow 鳴鏑 (a kind of arrowhead with few holes, as to make a unique sound when released) and ask them to follow his shot. His order was very clear and stern; "anyone who disobeys will be punished by death." So did Modu train his cavalry and under complete control. While he was in the hunting expedition, anyone he noticed not shooting the target as chosen by him was executed on the spot." He even tested their trust by shooting his dearly loving horse and shooting his beloved wife. Once he felt confident that he is in absolute command of his cavalry, he shot his father on a hunting expedition. Everyone with him followed, so he killed his father, Chief Touman. Also killed were his step mother, step brother, and anyone who didn't follow him. He took over his father's position as the new chief. Until that time, the Xiongnu was still weak compared with his enemies on all direction.

Donghu in the east was particularly strong. After he heard about the new chief in the Xiongnu camp, King Donghu demanded 千里馬 a thousand ri horse (which literally means a thousand ri horse, the best horse at the time), which his deceased father used to ride. Modu Chanyu asked for the horse to his surrounding staff. Everyone opposed by saying "a thousand ri horse," which means "It is our treasure. Please do not give it to them." Chief Modu Chanyu replied, "How could you be a good neighbor as you denied one horse to their demand?" Thus, they gave the 'a thousand ri horse' to their eastern enemy Donghu. Soon, the king of Donghu realized that the new chief, Modu Chanyu, might be afraid of them, sent an envoy and demanded the beloved wife "閼氏" of Modu Chanyu. So he asked for his wife to his surrounding staff. All of them were angry replying with one voice "Donghu is out of mind, begging earnestly to attack them." Modu replied, "How could I be a good neighbor by withholding a lady?" Thus, he sent the dearly loved lady away to them.

Donghu was really arrogant and invaded the Modu's territory. Between them (Xiongnu and Donghu), there was a "barren land" about a thousand ri wide. No one lived there. Only a frontier fortress had been built up on both ends by the two opposing parties. Donghu sent an envoy with the message "you couldn't come out of your fortress to meet us, we like to have this barren land."

As the Chief Modu asking the surround staff, some of them replied saying, "that piece of property is a very much forgotten land, it would be OK either give it to them or not." Then all of sudden, Modu replied with stern voice, "Land is the foundation of a nation. How could we give away this piece of land?" The Chief Modu killed the staff who came up with that answer, jumped onto his horse, proclaimed all over the country that "anyone who comes late will be put to death," dashed to the east, and blitzed his enemies. 

From the beginning, Donghu looked down on Xiongnu; they didn't prepare for teh attack from the west. The Chief Modu entered into the Donghu territory, demolished them, killed the king, and took the people and livestock from the Donghu. Thereafter, he returned and attacked the tribal state Yuezhi in the west, made them ran away, and annexed the land used to belong to the king, 河南王.  He also attacked the 燕 and 代 in the south, which is the present-day "northwestern region" of the Beijing municipality, and reclaimed all the land that they lost to the General Mangtian of Qin dynasty. Thus, he faced Han 漢 at the old frontier fortress in the south of the Yellow River (Ordos Loop) expanded to the 燕 and 代. During this time, the Han army was facing the Xiang Yu 項羽 army and was tired. Thus, Modu built a strong army and a mighty Xiongnu Empire. 

From Ancient History of the Manchuria by Lee Mosol, MD, MPH