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Tongwan
Tongwancheng ( zh, t=統萬城, w=, p=Tǒngwànchéng) was the capital of the Xiongnu-led Hu Xia dynasty in northern China during the Sixteen Kingdoms period in the early 5th century. The city is at the southern edge of the Maowusu Sands of the Ordos Desert, on what was formerly a strategic site in the center of the Ordos Plateau. Tongwancheng, which means the "city ruling ten thousand", is the largest urban center of the Southern Xiongnu that has ever been found. The city's ruins are well preserved and located in Jingbian County, Shaanxi Province, near the border with Inner Mongolia. The city has been surveyed and has had some elements restored, but not yet fully excavated. The city was built by around 100,000 Xiongnu of the Hu Xia dynasty under the command of Helian Bobo (Emperor Wulie) in 419. Helian Bobo, also known by his sinified surname as Liu Bobo, was a descendant of the Xiongnu ''chanyu'' who founded their steppe empire in the 3rd century BC. Helian Bobo died ...
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Helian Chang
Helian Chang (; died 434), courtesy name Huanguo (還國), nickname Zhe (折), was the second and penultimate emperor of the Hu Xia dynasty of China. He was the successor and a son of the founding emperor Helian Bobo (Emperor Wulie). After his father's death in 425, he tried to expand Hu Xia's territory further, but soon his state began to collapse in light of pressure from the rival Northern Wei dynasty. In 427, his capital Tongwan (統萬, in modern Yulin, Shaanxi) fell to Northern Wei forces, and in 428 he himself was captured. The Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei did not kill him but instead treated him as an honored companion, marrying a sister to him and creating him high titles—initially the Duke of Kuaiji (會稽侯) and later the Prince of Qin (秦王)—but in 434 (after his brother and successor Helian Ding had been captured and executed, ending the Hu Xia), he tried to escape and was killed. During Helian Bobo's reign It is not known when Helian Chang was born, or w ...
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Xia (Sixteen Kingdoms)
Xia (), known in historiography as Hu Xia (胡夏), Northern Xia (北夏), Helian Xia (赫連夏) or the Great Xia (大夏), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Helian clan of Tiefu-Xiongnu ethnicity during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. Prior to establishing the Xia, the imperial clan existed as a tribal entity known as the Tiefu (). All rulers of the Xia declared themselves "emperors". Both the Tiefu and Xia were based in the Ordos Desert, and during the reign of Helian Bobo, they constructed their capital of Tongwan, a heavily fortified and state-of-the-art city that served as a frontier garrison until the Song dynasty. Its ruins were discovered during the Qing dynasty and can still be seen in present-day Inner Mongolia. At its peak, the Xia also controlled the Guanzhong region in modern-day central Shaanxi. Due to their mix Xiongnu and Xianbei ethnicity, the Tiefu were initially known as a group of Wuhuan, which in the 4th century, was another term for "miscellanous ' ...
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Emperor Taiwu Of Northern Wei
Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei ((北)魏太武帝, 408 – 11 March 452), personal name Tuoba Tao (拓拔燾), Xianbei name Büri (佛貍), was the third Emperor of China, emperor of China's Northern Wei dynasty. He was generally regarded as a capable ruler, and during his reign, the Northern Wei roughly doubled in size and unified all of northern China, thus ending the Sixteen Kingdoms period and, together with the southern dynasty Liu Song dynasty, Liu Song, starting the Southern and Northern Dynasties period of Chinese history. He was a devout Taoist, under the influence of his prime minister Cui Hao, and in 444, at Cui Hao's suggestion and believing that Buddhists had supported the rebellion of Gai Wu (蓋吳), he ordered the abolition of Buddhism, at the penalty of death. This was the first of the Three Disasters of Wu for Buddhism in China, Chinese Buddhism. Late in his reign, his reign began to be cruel, and his people were also worn out by his incessant wars against the Liu S ...
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Helian Bobo
Helian Bobo ( zh, t=赫連勃勃; Middle Chinese Guangyun: ; 381 – September 425), né Liu Bobo (劉勃勃), courtesy name Qujie (屈孑), also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Wulie of Xia (夏武烈帝), was the founding emperor of the Xiongnu-led Hu Xia dynasty of China. He is generally considered to be an extremely cruel ruler, one who betrayed every benefactor whom he had, and whose thirst for killing was excessive even for the turbulent times that he was in. He built an impressive capital for his state at Tongwancheng (統萬城, in modern Yulin, Shaanxi) that remained difficult to besiege, even centuries later during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. (Confusingly, the ''Book of Wei'' refers to him as Helian Qugai (赫連屈丐), based on a derogatory term that Emperor Mingyuan of Northern Wei used to refer to him.) Early life Liu Bobo was born in 381, when his father Liu Weichen (劉衛辰) was a chief of the Tiefu tribe and a vassal of Fo ...
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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 the "Five Barbarians", non- Han peoples who had settled in northern and western China during the preceding centuries, and had launched a series of rebellions against the Western Jin dynasty in the early 4th century. However, several of the states were founded by the Han people, and all of the states—whether ruled by Xiongnu, Xianbei, Di, Jie, Qiang, Han, or others—took on Han-style dynastic names. The states frequently fought against both one another and the Eastern Jin dynasty, which succeeded the Western Jin in 317 and ruled southern China. The period ended with the unification of northern China in 439 by the Northern Wei, a dynasty established by the Xianbei Tuoba clan. This occurred 19 years after the Eastern Jin collapsed i ...
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Xiongnu
The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of Nomad, nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese historiography, Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 209 BC, founded the Xiongnu Empire. After overthrowing their previous overlords, the Yuezhi, the Xiongnu became the dominant power on the steppes of East Asia, centred on the Mongolian Plateau. The Xiongnu were also active in areas now part of Siberia, Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Xinjiang. Their relations with the Chinese dynasties to the south-east were complex—alternating between various periods of peace, war, and subjugation. Ultimately, the Xiongnu were defeated by the Han dynasty in a Han–Xiongnu Wars, centuries-long conflict, which led to the confederation splitting in two, and forcible resettlement of large numbers of Xiongnu within Han borders. During the Sixteen Kingdoms era, listed as one of the "Fi ...
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Southern 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 209 BC, founded the Xiongnu Empire. After overthrowing their previous overlords, the Yuezhi, the Xiongnu became the dominant power on the steppes of East Asia, centred on the Mongolian Plateau. The Xiongnu were also active in areas now part of Siberia, Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Xinjiang. Their relations with the Chinese dynasties to the south-east were complex—alternating between various periods of peace, war, and subjugation. Ultimately, the Xiongnu were defeated by the Han dynasty in a centuries-long conflict, which led to the confederation splitting in two, and forcible resettlement of large numbers of Xiongnu within Han borders. During the Sixteen Kingdoms era, listed as one of the "Five Barbarians", their descendants founded the ...
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Shaanxi
Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to the west. Shaanxi covers an area of over with about 37 million people, the 16th-largest in China. Xi'anwhich includes the sites of the former capitals Fenghao and Chang'anis the provincial capital and largest city in Northwest China and also one of the oldest cities in China and the oldest of the Historical capitals of China, Four Ancient Capitals, being the capital for the Western Zhou, Western Han, Sima Jin, Jin, Sui dynasty, Sui and Tang dynasty, Tang List of Chinese dynasties, dynasties. Xianyang, which served as the capital of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC), is just north across the Wei River. The other Prefectures of China, prefecture-level prefecture-level city, cities into which the province is divided are Ankang, Baoji, Hanzho ...
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Yulin, Shaanxi
Yulin ( zh, s=榆林 , p=Yúlín , ‘’’local pronunciation:[ˈy³⁵ˌljʌŋ]’’’) is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the north, Shanxi to the east, and Ningxia to the west. It has an administrative area of and as of the 2020 Chinese census had a population of 3,634,750. History Yulin played host to the 11th CHIME (European Foundation for Chinese Music Research) conference in August 2006. From 26–29 August 2017, the 1st IGU-AGLE Commission's conference on 'Global Rural Development and Land Capacity Building.' was held in Yulin University. Geography Yulin is the northernmost prefecture-level city of Shaanxi, and borders Ordos City (Inner Mongolia) to the north, Xinzhou and Lüliang (Shanxi) to the east, Yan'an to the south, and Wuzhong, Ningxia, Wuzhong (Ningxia) to the west. To the north and northwest of the city lies the Ordos Desert, though the countryside is very green due to the many small shru ...
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Jingbian County
Jingbian County () is a county under the administration of Yulin City, in the northwest of Shaanxi Province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ... to the north and northwest and flanked in the north by the Mu Us Desert. It has a land area of , and a population of 384,100 in 2020. History The county was first established as Bian County in 1731, although the area has been inhabited since the Paleolithic era. Ruins of the 5th century Hun capital Tongwancheng can be found in the county. Culture The county is known for its paper-cutting art and Xintianyou folk music and its culture is described as a mix between Chinese and Mongolian. Economy A large gas field is located in Jingbian, and it is a hub of the West–East Gas Pipel ...
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Wuding River
The Wuding River () begins in the Ordos Desert in Shaanxi Province, Inner Mongolia and flows south into loess canyons and farmland. After around it flows into the great Yellow River. The Wuding has its own tributaries, such as the Dali River, Hailiutu River, Hanjiang River (Wuding), Hanjiang River, and the Danjiang River. The course of the river roughly parallels the northern route of the ancient Silk Road, now the National Highway 210. History The river's name means "winding" or "unstable" or "capricious" or "without a fixed course". This relates to its shifting course during classical times. The river area was much contested in classical times, and many battles were fought along and around it. On its early northern reaches stood the 'White City' of Tongwancheng, the main Hun capital on the non-Chinese side of the Great Wall of China. The river served as a military boundary into the warlord period of Chinese history, when opium replaced cotton as the crop on the river's fert ...
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Book Of Jin
The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty (266–420), Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, with Chancellor (China), chancellor Fang Xuanling as the lead editor, drawing mostly from official documents left from earlier archives. A few essays in volumes 1, 3, 54 and 80 were composed by the Tang dynasty's Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor Taizong himself. However, the contents of the ''Book of Jin'' included not only the history of the Jin dynasty, but also that of the Sixteen Kingdoms period, which was contemporaneous with the Eastern Jin dynasty. Compilation Over 20 histories of the Jin had been written during the Jin era itself and the subsequent Northern and Southern dynasties, of which Eighteen History Books of Jin, 18 were still extant at the beginning of the Tang dynasty. Yet Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor Taizong deemed t ...
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