The Kumo Xi (Xu Elina-Qian, p.296b), also known as the Tatabi, were a Mongolic steppe people located in current Northeast China from 207 CE to 907 CE. After the death of their ancestor

Tadun Tadun (died 207) was a leader of the Wuhuan tribes during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was an ally of the warlord Yuan Shao and Yuan Shao's son and successor Yuan Shang. Life Tadun was a younger relative of the Wuhuan chieftain Q ...

in 207, they were no longer called

Wuhuan The Wuhuan (, < Eastern Han Chinese: *''ʔɑ-ɣuɑn'', <

but joined the Khitan Xianbei in submitting to the

Yuwen The Yuwen ( < Eastern Han Chinese: *''wa^B-mun'' < Ol ...

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into th ...

. Their history is widely linked to the more famous Khitan.Xu Elina-Qian, pp.268-271 During their history, the Kumo Xi engaged in conflict with numerous Chinese dynasties and with the Khitan tribes, eventually suffering a series of disastrous defeats to Chinese armies and coming under the domination of the Khitans. In 907, the Kumo Xi were completely assimilated into the Khitan-led

Liao dynasty The Liao dynasty (; Khitan language, Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that exi ...

of China.

Etymology

Omeljan Pritsak Omeljan Yosypovych Pritsak ( uk, Омелян Йосипович Пріцак; 7 April 1919, Luka, Sambir County, West Ukrainian People's Republic – 29 May 2006, Boston) was the first Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History at Har ...

reconstructs the ethnonym underlying

Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the '' Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...

*''kʰuo^H-mɑk̚-ɦei'' as ''qu(o)mâġ-ġay''. The first element ''qu(o)mâġ'' is from *''quo'' "yellowish" plus denominal suffix *''-mAk'', cognate with Mongolian ''qumaġ'' "fine sands" and with Turkic ''qumaq'' and ''qum''.Golden, P.B. (2003) "Cumanica II: The Ölberli (Ölperli): The Fortunes and Misfortunes of an Inner Asian Nomadic Clan" in ''Nomads and their neighbours in the Russian Steppe'' note. 49 p. 16-17 of 5-29 As for *''ɦei'', Christopher Atwood (2010) proposed that it reflects an ''i''-suffixed form of OC 胡 *gâ > '' hú''. Further, ''gâ'' is etymologically uncertain: Peter Benjamin Golden (2003) proposes several Mongolic etymologies: ''ɣai'' "trouble, misfortune, misery", ''χai'' "interjection of grief", ''χai'' "to seek", ''χai'' "to hew", albeit none compelling. Pritsak proposes that the ''qu(o)mâġ-ġay'' comprised two Proto-Mongolic groups: the ''Qu(o)mâġ'', whom he linked to the

Kimek The Yemek were a Turkic tribe constituting the Kimek-Kipchak confederation, whose other six constituent tribes, according to Abu Said Gardizi (d. 1061), were the Imur (or Imi), Tatars, Bayandur, Kipchaks, Lanikaz, and Ajlad. Ethnonym Min ...

and the Qun/

Cumans The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian exonym ), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many so ...

(whose ethnonym possibly meant "yellow") and the ''Qay'' proper. However, Golden thinks that ''qu(o)mâġ-ġay'' simply means "desert Qay" or "sand Qay", referring to their earlier habitat. As for the exonym ''Tatabï'' given to Kumo Xi by Göktürks,

Yury Zuev Yuri Alexeyevich Zuev or Zuyev (russian: Юрий Алексеевич Зуев; 8 December 1932 – 5 December 2006) was a Russian-born Kazakh sinologist and turkologist. Biography Zuev was born in the Siberian city of Tümen in a whit ...

(2002) compares ''Tatabï'' to Avestan ''tata apo'' and proposes an etymology from

Iranic The Iranian peoples or Iranic peoples are a diverse grouping of Indo-European peoples who are identified by their usage of the Iranian languages and other cultural similarities. The Proto-Iranians are believed to have emerged as a separate ...

*''tata-api'' "falling waters", after having noted that the name of a Xī-(奚)-associated tribe ''Bái-Xí'' 白霫 (< MC *''bˠæk̚-ziɪp̚'') literally meant "white downpour/torrent" in Chinese, and that the Xī (奚) and Xí (霫) occupied the same area, Zhongjing (中京).

Origin

The Kumo Xi were descendants of the

Wuhuan The Wuhuan (, < Eastern Han Chinese: *''ʔɑ-ɣuɑn'', <

. The '' Book of the Later Han'' records that “the language and culture of the

are the same as the Wuhuan”. Along with the Xianbei, the Wuhuan formed part of the proto-Mongolic Donghu confederation in the 4th century BC. The

Weishu The ''Book of Wei'', also known by its Chinese name as the ''Wei Shu'', is a classic Chinese historical text compiled by Wei Shou from 551 to 554, and is an important text describing the history of the Northern Wei and Eastern Wei from 386 to ...

(Description of the Khitan, Vol. 1000, 2221) records that the Kumo Xi and Khitans (descendants of the Xianbei) spoke the same language. The '' Book of Wei'' (Description of the Khitan, Vol. 100, 2223) records : The '' Book of Sui'' records: The '' New Book of Tang'' records:

History

In 388 AD, the Kumo Xi and Khitans fought with the Xianbei Northern Wei dynasty. The conflict severely weakened the Kumo Xi while the Khitans were not as badly affected, resulting in their split into separate polities. By the early Tang period (around the 7th century AD), the (now named) Xi had become subordinate to the Khitans. After the Khitans' Li-Sun Rebellion (696-697) and revolt of Ketuyu (730-734), the Xi regained their position of dominance. The Xi then entered a golden age, lasting from approximately 755 to 847. During this period the Xi were friendly with

An Lushan An Lushan (; 20th day of the 1st month 19 February 703 – 29 January 757) was a general in the Tang dynasty and is primarily known for instigating the An Lushan Rebellion. An Lushan was of Sogdian and Göktürk origin,Yang, Zhijiu, "An Lush ...

, and supported An in his

An Shi Rebellion The An Lushan Rebellion was an uprising against the Tang dynasty of China towards the mid-point of the dynasty (from 755 to 763), with an attempt to replace it with the Yan dynasty. The rebellion was originally led by An Lushan, a general office ...

(756-763), plundering Han territories frequently within this period. This aggressive policy seems to have consumed Xi forces, especially weakening their demographic vitality, allowing the less aggressive Khitans to dominate them. Xi raids into China provoked successive heavy responses from the Tang, resulting in battles in the 760s and in 795 that were disastrous for the Xi. After 795, the Xi became a tributary people to the Tang. The Uyghur Empire (744-840) collapsed in the 840's. When the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

simultaneously displayed signs of division, the Xi rose in rebellion in 847, and were subsequently and disastrously defeated by Zhang Zhongwu, the frontier commander of Lulong. The Xi were never able to recover from their defeat in 847. In the late ninth century AD the Khitans rose to eventually absorb the remnants of Xi people, and established the

Liao Dynasty The Liao dynasty (; Khitan language, Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that exi ...

in 907.

Cultural heritage

It is believed that the '' Xiqin'', a bowed, stringed instrument that is the ancestor of the Chinese ''

Erhu The ''erhu'' (; ) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a ''Southern Fiddle'', and is sometimes known in the Western world as the ''Chinese violin'' or a ''Chinese two- ...

'', the Mongolian '' Khuuchir'' and ''

Morin khuur The ''morin khuur'' ( mn, морин хуур, morin khuur), also known as the horsehead fiddle, is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument. It is one of the most important musical instruments of the Mongol people, and is considered ...

'', was derived from a Xi instrument. Хуучир mongol.undesten.mn

Notes

References