Old Chinese Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 12 ...

Guifang Guifang () was an ancient ethnonym for a northern people that fought against the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BCE). Chinese historical tradition identified the Guifang with the Rong, Di,Old Text Bamboo Annals"Wu Yi"quote: "三十五年，周王季伐� ...

Xianyun The Xianyun (; Old Chinese: ( ZS) *''g.ramʔ-lunʔ''; (Schuessler) *''hɨamᴮ-juinᴮ'' < *''hŋamʔ-junʔ'') was an ancient nomadic tribe that invaded the

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

.

Identification

Chinese annals contain a number of references to the ''Xunyu''. The earliest authors were

Sima Qian Sima Qian (; ; ) was a Chinese historian of the early Han dynasty (206AD220). He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for his ''Records of the Grand Historian'', a general history of China covering more than two thousand years be ...

(c. 145 or 135 BC – 86 BC),

Ying Shao Ying Shao (140–206), courtesy name Zhongyuan, was a Chinese politician, writer and historian who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty. He was an author of the ''Fengsu Tongyi'', an encyclopedic work about the folk customs and legends that exis ...

(AD 140-206), Wei Zhao (204-273), and

Jin Zhuo Jin Zhuo () was a Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic g ...

(c. late 3rd or 4th century). They claimed that ''Xunyu'' or ''

Xianyun The Xianyun (; Old Chinese: ( ZS) *''g.ramʔ-lunʔ''; (Schuessler) *''hɨamᴮ-juinᴮ'' < *''hŋamʔ-junʔ'') was an ancient nomadic tribe that invaded the

'' were names that designated nomadic people who during the Han dynasty were called ''Xiongnu'' (匈奴). Sima Zhen quoted Zhang Yan (張晏) as saying that “ Chunwei, during the Yin era, fled to the northern borders.”; immediately after, Sima Zhen stated that Yue Chan (樂產) wrote in the now-lost Guadipu (括地譜) "Register of the Encompassing Lands" that: “Jie, (ruler of) the House of Xia lived an immoral life.

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) ...

exiled him to Mingtiao, he died there three years later. His son Xunyu 獯粥 married his concubines and they wandered far away to the northern wilderness in search of pasture lands, and then in the Middle Kingdom they were mentioned as Xiongnu 匈奴.” Wei Zhao identified the names ''Chunwei'' and ''Hunyu'' with the name of the

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

: “During the Han (206 BC-220 AD) they were called

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

匈奴, and the ''Hunyu'' 葷粥 is just another name for the same people, and similarly, the ''Xunyu'' 獯粥 is just another transcription of ''Chunwei'' 淳維, their ancestor’s name”. Jin Zhuo stated that: "In Yao's time they were called ''Hunyu''; in Zhou's time they were called ''Xianyun''; in Qin's time they were called ''Xiongnu''." Sima Zhen quoted from

Fengsu Tongyi ''Fengsu Tongyi'' (), also known as ''Fengsu Tong'', is a book written about 195 AD by Ying Shao, who lived during the later Eastern Han period. The manuscript is similar to an almanac An almanac (also spelled ''almanack'' and ''almanach'') is ...

(風俗通義) "Comprehensive Meaning of Customs and Mores", by

Ying Shao Ying Shao (140–206), courtesy name Zhongyuan, was a Chinese politician, writer and historian who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty. He was an author of the ''Fengsu Tongyi'', an encyclopedic work about the folk customs and legends that exis ...

應劭, that “In the time of

Yin Yin may refer to: *the dark force in the yin and yang from traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine *Yīn (surname) (), a Chinese surname *Yǐn (surname) (), a Chinese surname *Shang dynasty, also known as the Yin dynasty **Yinxu or Yin, the S ...

, they were called ''Xunyu'' ��粥 which was changed to ''Xiongnu'' ��奴��; however, this quote no longer exists in Fengsu Tongyi's received text. Based on phonetical studies and comparisons of inscriptions on bronze and the structure of the characters,

Wang Guowei Wang Guowei (; 2 December 18772 June 1927) or Wang Kuo-wei, courtesy name Jing'an () or Boyu (), was a Chinese historian and poet. A versatile and original scholar, he made important contributions to the studies of ancient history, epigraphy, ph ...

(1877–1927) came to the conclusion that the tribal names

Guifang Guifang () was an ancient ethnonym for a northern people that fought against the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BCE). Chinese historical tradition identified the Guifang with the Rong, Di,Old Text Bamboo Annals"Wu Yi"quote: "三十五年，周王季伐� ...

(鬼方), Xunyu, Xianyu (鮮虞),

Xianyun The Xianyun (; Old Chinese: ( ZS) *''g.ramʔ-lunʔ''; (Schuessler) *''hɨamᴮ-juinᴮ'' < *''hŋamʔ-junʔ'') was an ancient nomadic tribe that invaded the

(獫狁),

Rong Rong or RONG may refer to: Places China * Rong County, Guangxi, Yulin, Guangxi, China * Rong County, Sichuan, Zigong, Sichuan, China Nepal * Rong, Ilam, a rural municipality in Ilam District, Nepal Norway * Rong, Norway, a village in Øygard ...

, Di, and Hu in the old annals designated one and the same people, who later entered Chinese history under the name Xiongnu, The exact time period when the nomads' ethnonym had the Old Chinese phonetizations ancestral to

standard Chinese Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern standa ...

''Xunyu'' remains determined only vaguely. They were mentioned in legends involving legendary Zhou ruler Old Duke Father Dan (): in the book

Mencius Mencius ( ); born Mèng Kē (); or Mèngzǐ (; 372–289 BC) was a Chinese Confucian philosopher who has often been described as the "second Sage", that is, second to Confucius himself. He is part of Confucius' fourth generation of discip ...

(published c. 300 BCE) as 獯鬻 ''Xunyu'', and in

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

(published c. 91 BC) as ''Hunyu'' 葷粥 or ''Xunyu'' 薰育. Using Sima Qian's

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

and other sources, Vsevolod Taskin proposes that in the earlier pre-historic period (i.e. the time of the legendary

Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch or by his Chinese name Huangdi (), is a deity ('' shen'') in Chinese religion, one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and culture heroes included among the mytho-historical Three Soverei ...

) the Xiongnu were called ''Hunyu''; and in the late pre-historic period (i.e. the time of the legendary

Emperor Yao Emperor Yao (; traditionally c. 2356 – 2255 BCE) was a legendary Chinese ruler, according to various sources, one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Ancestry and early life Yao's ancestral name is Yi Qi () or Qi (), clan name i ...

and

Emperor Shun Emperor Shun () was a legendary leader of ancient China, regarded by some sources as one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors being the last of the Five Emperors. Tradition holds that he lived sometime between 2294 and 2184 BC. Tradition a ...

) they were called ''Rong''; in the literate period starting with the

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty a ...

(1600–1046 BC) they were called ''Guifang'', in the Zhou period (1045–256 BC) they were called ''Xianyun'', and starting from the Qin period (221–206 BC) the Chinese annalists called them ''Xiongnu''. Even so, Paul R. Goldin (2011) reconstructs the

Old Chinese Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 12 ...

pronunciations of 葷粥 ~ 獯鬻 ~ 獯鬻 ~ 薰育 as *''xur-luk'', 獫狁 as ''hram′-lun′'', and 匈奴 as *''xoŋ-NA''; and comments all three names are "manifestly unrelated". He further states that

sound change A sound change, in historical linguistics, is a change in the pronunciation of a language. A sound change can involve the replacement of one speech sound (or, more generally, one phonetic feature value) by a different one (called phonetic chan ...

s made the names more superficially similar than they really had been, and prompted later commentators to conclude that those names must have referred to one same people in different epochs, even though people during the

Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...

would never have been thus misled.Goldin, Paul R
"Steppe Nomads as a Philosophical Problem in Classical China"
in ''Mapping Mongolia: Situating Mongolia in the World from Geologic Time to the Present''. Penn Museum International Research Conferences, vol. 2. Ed. Paula L.W. Sabloff. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania. 2011. p. 225-226; p. 237, n.22

References

*Zhonghan Wang, ''"Outlines of Ethnic Groups in China"'', Taiyuan, Shanxi Education Press, 2004, p. 133, {{DEFAULTSORT:Xunyu Ethnic groups in Chinese history Ancient peoples of China Xiongnu

Identification

See also

References