The Duan () was a pre-state
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...
of
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 ...
ethnicity during the era of
Sixteen Kingdoms
The Sixteen Kingdoms (), less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. The majority of these states were founded by ...
in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
.
History
The reason the tribe adopted the
Han Chinese surname
Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, unlik ...
Duan is unknown.
Duan Wuwuchen Duan may refer to:
* Duan (surname), a Chinese surname
** Duan dynasty, the ruling dynasty of the Dali Kingdom
* Duan tribe, pre-state tribe during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China
* Duan language, spoken on the Laotian–Vietnamese border
* ...
was given in 303 a hereditary title— the "Duke of
Liaoxi
Liaoxi () was a former province in Northeast China, located in what is now part of Liaoning and Jilin
Jilin (; Postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three Provinces of China, provinces of Northe ...
" —by the
Jin dynasty. Even after their tribe was defeated and absorbed by
Former Yan
The Former Yan (; 337–370) was a dynastic state ruled by the Xianbei during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China.
Initially, Murong Huang and his son Murong Jun claimed the Jin dynasty-created title "Prince of Yan," but subsequently, in 352 ...
, the Duan clan remained honored and powerful, and several Former Yan and
Later Yan
Yan, known in historiography as the Later Yan (; 384 – 407 or 409) was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Xianbei people, located in modern-day northeast China, during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms.
All rulers of the Later Yan declared them ...
empresses, as well as important officials, were members of the Duan clan.
Chieftains of the Duan
Language
Shimunek classifies Duan as a "Serbi" (i.e.,
para-Mongolic
Para-Mongolic is a proposed group of languages that is considered to be an extinct sister branch of the Mongolic languages. Para-Mongolic contains certain historically attested extinct languages, among them Khitan and Tuyuhun.
Languages
The ...
) language. Shimunek's "Serbi" linguistic branch also includes
Taghbach,
Tuyuhun, and
Khitan.
See also
*
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 ...
*
List of past Chinese ethnic groups
Ethnic groups in Chinese history refer to various or presumed ethnicities of significance to the history of China, gathered through the study of Classical Chinese literature, Chinese and non-Chinese literary sources and inscriptions, histor ...
*
Five Barbarians
The Five Barbarians, or Wu Hu (), is a Chinese historical exonym for five ancient non- Han peoples who immigrated to northern China in the Eastern Han dynasty, and then overthrew the Western Jin dynasty and established their own kingdoms in th ...
*
Duan Qi
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duan Tribe
Sixteen Kingdoms
Xianbei
Ethnic groups in Chinese history
Tribes of Asia