Modu () was the son of

Touman Touman ( zh, 頭曼), from Old Chinese (220 BCE): *''do-mɑnᴬ'', is the earliest named '' chanyu'' (leader) of the Xiongnu tribal confederation, reigning from , directly preceding the formation of the Xiongnu empire. Life Competing with the X ...

and the founder of the empire of the

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, t ...

. He came to power by ordering his men to kill his father in 209 BCE. Modu ruled from 209 to 174 BCE. He was a military leader under his father

and later ''chanyu'' of the Xiongnu Empire, based on the Mongolian Plateau. He secured the throne and established a powerful Xiongnu Empire by successfully unifying the tribes of the Mongolian–Manchurian grassland in response to the loss of Xiongnu pasture lands to invading Qin forces commanded by

Meng Tian Meng Tian (c. 250 BC – August or September 210 BC) was a Chinese inventor and military general of the Qin dynasty who distinguished himself in campaigns against the Xiongnu and in the construction of the Great Wall of China. He was the elder ...

in 215 BCE. While Modu rode and then furthered the wave of militarization and effectively centralized Xiongnu power, the Qin quickly fell into disarray with the death of the

first emperor Qin Shi Huang (, ; February 25912 July 210 BC), born Ying Zheng () or Zhao Zheng (), was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of China. He is widely regarded as the first ever supreme leader of a unitary dynasty in Chine ...

in 210 BCE, leaving Modu a free hand to expand his empire into one of the largest of his time. The eastern border stretched as far as the Liao River, the western borders of the empire reached the

Pamir Mountains The Pamir Mountains are a Mountain range, range of mountains between Central Asia and South Asia. They are located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun Mountains, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya ...

, whilst the northern border reached

Lake Baikal Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...

. Modu's raids into China resulted in the dynasty agreeing to pay an annual tribute alongside other goods such as silk, grain and rice. Modu was succeeded by his son Laoshang.

Name

His name is reconstructed as *' in Later Han Chinese and ' in

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

. The name's

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

pronunciation might have represented the pronunciation of the foreign word ''*baɣtur'', a relative of the later attested Central Eurasian culture word '' baɣatur'' "hero". According to

Gerard Clauson Sir Gerard Leslie Makins Clauson (28 April 1891 – 1 May 1974) was an English civil servant, businessman, and Orientalist best known for his studies of the Turkic languages. He was born in Malta. The eldest son of Major Sir John Eugene Clauso ...

, ''bağatur'', transcribed by Chinese with ''-n'' for foreign ''-r'', was by origin almost certainly a " Hunnic" (Xiongnu) proper name. His name was also read as MC ' (; following

Sima Zhen Sima Zhen (; 679–732), courtesy name Zizheng (Tzu-cheng; 子正), was a Tang dynasty Chinese historian born in what is now Jiaozuo, Henan. Sima Zhen was one of the most important commentators on the ''Shiji The ''Shiji'', also known as ' ...

's commentary on ''

Shiji The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st cen ...

'') and MC ' (; following

Song Qi Song Qi (; 998–1061), courtesy name Zijing (子京), was a Chinese essayist, historian, poet, and politician of the Northern Song dynasty. Imperial advisor Song was a Grand Councilor in the Imperial Chinese court. In this role, he was called ...

's commentary on ''

Hanshu The ''Book of Han'' is a history of China finished in 111 CE, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. The work was composed by Ban Gu (32–92 CE), ...

''), the latter of which, according to Pulleyblank (1999), "does not make sense" phonologically.

Origins and rise to power

According to

Sima Qian Sima Qian () was a Chinese historian during the early Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for the ''Shiji'' (sometimes translated into English as ''Records of the Grand Historian''), a general history of China cov ...

, Modu was a gifted child but his father Touman wanted the son of another of his wives to succeed him. To eliminate Modu as a competitor to his chosen heir, Touman sent the young Modu to the

Yuezhi The Yuezhi were an ancient people first described in China, Chinese histories as nomadic pastoralists living in an arid grassland area in the western part of the modern Chinese province of Gansu, during the 1st millennium BC. After a major defea ...

as a hostage; then he attacked the Yuezhi in the hope that they would kill Modu as retribution. However, Modu escaped by stealing a fast horse and returned to the Xiongnu, who welcomed him as a hero. As reward for this show of bravery, his father appointed him the commander of 10,000 horsemen. Due to his reputation for bravery, Modu began to gather a group of extremely loyal warriors. He invented a signaling arrow that made a whistling sound in flight and trained his men to shoot in the direction of the sound in synchrony. To be sure of his men's loyalty, Modu commanded the warriors to shoot his favourite horse, any who refused to do so were summarily executed. He later repeated this test of loyalty, but with one of his favourite wives and once again executed those who hesitated to carry out his order. Only when he was convinced of the absolute loyalty of his remaining warriors did he order them to shoot his father during a hunting trip, killing him in a shower of arrows. With none of his followers failing to shoot at his command and with the removal of his father, Modu proclaimed himself ''chanyu'' of the Xiongnu. After his self-proclaimed ascension as ''chanyu'', Modu began to eliminate those who would prove a threat to his newly acquired power. Thus, he proceeded to execute his rival half-brother, his step-mother and other Xiongnu officials who refused to support his rule.

Rise of the Xiongnu Empire

Modu's Xiongnu Empire aggressively protected and expanded their territory. When their eastern neighbors, the Donghu, expressed desire to occupy uninhabited land between them, Modu reacted by attacking them. By 208 BCE, the Donghu had been defeated and their remnants split into the

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were an ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. The Xianbei were likely not of a single ethnicity, but rather a multiling ...

and

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

Dingling The Dingling (174 BCE); (200 BCE); Eastern Han Chinese: *''teŋ-leŋ'' < Old Chinese: *''têŋ-rêŋ'' were an ancient people who appear in Chinese historiography in the context of the 1st century BCE. The Dingling are considered to have been ...

and other peoples to the north, and defeat the

in 203 BCE. After these conquests, all Xiongnu lords submitted to him. With these victories, he was able to gain control of the important trade routes, which later supplied the Xiongnu with a large income.

War with the Han dynasty

In 200 BCE,

Xin, King of Han Xin, King of Hán (died 196 BC), also known as Hán Xin and as Hán Wang Xin, was a noble of the early Han dynasty of China and a descendant of the royal family of Hán during the Warring States period. He was made King of Hán () in 205 BC b ...

, surrendered to the Xiongnu at Mayi,

Shuofang Shuofang () was an ancient Chinese commandery, situated in the Hetao region in modern-day Inner Mongolia near Baotou. First founded by Emperor Wu of Han in the wake of the successful reconquest of the area from Xiongnu tribes, it was dissolved d ...

Dai Commandery Dai Commandery was a commandery (''jùn'') of the state of Zhao established BC and of northern imperial Chinese dynasties until the time of the Emperor Wen of the Sui dynasty (r. AD581–604). It occupied lands in what is now Hebei, Shanxi, ...

, and joined them in raiding Han territory.

Emperor Gaozu of Han Emperor Gaozu of Han (2561 June 195 BC), also known by his given name Liu Bang, was the founder and first emperor of the Han dynasty, reigning from 202 to 195 BC. He is considered by traditional Chinese historiography to be one o ...

led an army against them and scattered their forces, defeating them several times before they retreated. Later Xin set up Zhao Li as King of Zhao and marched south against Gaozu. They too were defeated. Seeing the influence the Xiongnu had on his vassals, Gaozu marched north with a 320,000 strong army to confront them. However his men suffered due to inadequate clothing to ward off the cold and a lack of supplies, so Gaozu left them behind and advanced to

Pingcheng Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province, China. It is located in the Datong Basin at an elevation of and borders Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Hebei to the east. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of ...

with only 40,000 men. Modu Chanyu saw his chance to turn the tide and immediately surrounded the city with only 40,000 cavalry, cutting the emperor off from the rest of his army. For unclear reasons, the ''Chanyu'' eventually withdrew some of his men.

suggests his consort persuaded him to let the Emperor escape. However a prolonged siege would have been impractical anyway since Xin's infantry didn't make it on time. Seeing the ''Chanyu'''s thinned lines, Gaozu sortied out and broke the siege. When Han reinforcements arrived, the Xiongnu withdrew. This came to be known as the

Battle of Baideng The Battle of Baideng (白登之戰) was a military conflict between Han China and the Xiongnu in 200 BC. In an alternate account, GroussetRene Grousset, 'The Empire of the Steppes',1970/2008,page27, says that the Xiongnu invaded Chinese Shanxi a ...

. Gaozu's narrow escape from capture by the Xiongnu convinced him to make peace. He sent a "princess" to the ''Chanyu'' (''

heqin ''Heqin'', also known as marriage alliance, refers to the historical practice of Chinese monarchs marrying princesses—usually members of minor branches of the ruling family—to rulers of neighboring states. It was often adopted as an appeasem ...

,'' marriage alliance) and offered him silk, wine, and food stuffs. The ''Chanyu'' accepted the offer and restricted himself to minor raids throughout the duration of Gaozu's reign. The Han dynasty sent commoner women falsely labeled as "princesses" and members of the Han imperial family multiple times when they were practicing ''heqin'' marriage alliances with the Xiongnu in order to avoid sending the emperor's daughters. After his Chinese campaign, Modu forced the Yuezhi and the

Wusun The Wusun ( ) were an ancient semi-Eurasian nomads, nomadic Eurasian Steppe, steppe people of unknown origin mentioned in Chinese people, Chinese records from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. The Wusun originally l ...

to become vassals of the Xiongnu. In 195 BCE,

Lu Wan Lu Wan (; died 194 BC) was a Chinese vassal king of the early Han dynasty. A close friend of Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han dynasty, he fought on Liu's side as a general during the rebellions against the Qin dynasty, the Chu–Han Co ...

King of Yan, fled to the Xiongnu after he was defeated by the Han general

Zhou Bo Zhou Bo (; died 169 BC), posthumously known as Marquis Wu of Jiang (), was a Chinese official who served as a chancellor of the early Han dynasty. A friend of the Han dynasty's founding emperor Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu), he joined Liu in the reb ...

. In 178 BCE, the Xiongnu overran the Yuezhi and Wusun in

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

and the

Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Xinjiang, Northwestern China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, Ch ...

. Modu died in 174 BCE and was succeeded by his son, Jiyu, who became

Laoshang Chanyu Laoshang (; r. 174–161 BCE), whose personal name was Jiyu (), was a c''hanyu'' of the Xiongnu Empire who succeeded his father Modu Chanyu in 174 BCE. Under his reign, the Xiongnu Empire continued to expand against the Yuezhi with the Xiongnu ...

Marriage proposal to Empress Lü Zhi

In 192 BCE Empress Dowager Lü Zhi (widow of

) received a marriage proposal from Modu, who wrote as follows in a letter meant to intimidate and mock her:

I'm a lonesome ruler born in marshes and raised in plains populated by livestock. I've visited your border numerous times and wanted to tour China. Your Majesty is now alone and living in solitude. Since both of us are not happy and have nothing to entertain ourselves, I'm willing to use what I possess to exchange for what you lack.

Lü Zhi was infuriated at the rude proposition, and in a heated court session, her generals advised her to rally an army and exterminate the Xiongnu immediately. As she was about to declare war, an outspoken attendant named

Ji Bu Ji Bu (; 200s BC) was a Chinese military general from late Qin dynasty, Qin to the early Western Han dynasty. He was from Xiaxiang (下相; present-day Sucheng District, Suqian, Jiangsu). He previously served under Xiang Yu, a warlord who engag ...

pointed out that the Xiongnu army was much more powerful than the Chinese. At Ji Bu's words, the court immediately fell into a fearful silence. Rethinking her plans, Lü Zhi rejected Modu's proposition humbly, as follows:

Your Lordship does not forget our land and writes a letter to us, we fear. I retreat to preserve myself. I'm old and frail, I'm losing hair and teeth, and I struggle to maintain balance when I move. Your Lordship has heard wrongly, you shouldn't defile yourself. Our people did not offend you, and should be pardoned. We've two imperial carriages and eight fine steeds, which we graciously offer to Your Lordship.

However she continued implementing the ''

'' policy of marrying so called "princesses" to Xiongnu chieftains and paying tribute to the Xiongnu in exchange for peace between both sides.

Analysis of the Xiongnu's rise

Nicola Di Cosmo Nicola Di Cosmo (;) is the Luce Foundation Professor in East Asian Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study. His main field of research is the history of the relations between China and Inner Asia from prehistory to the modern period. Di Cos ...

summarizes the sequence of events, the Qin invasion of the

Ordos Plateau The Ordos Plateau, also known as the Ordos Basin or simply the Ordos, is a highland sedimentary basin in parts of most Northern China with an elevation of , and consisting mostly of land enclosed by the Ordos Loop, a large northerly rectangular ...

(the area within the bend of the

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

) came at the same time as a leadership crisis within the loose Xiongnu confederation. Modu took advantage of the Xiongnu militarization process that came in response to the Qin invasion, and ably created a newly centralized political structure that made his empire possible. He was aided by the rapid fall of Qin and the fact that the Han initially set up independent "kingdoms", whose leaders, like

, were as likely to ally with Xiongnu and attack Han as the other way around. Han weakness meant that it supplied Modu and his successors with a steady flow of luxury and staple tribute they could pass down to the aristocracy supporting them. Without that tribute, the Xiongnu might not have been able to expand and maintain control.

Later legends

Christopher I. Beckwith has pointed out that the story of the young Modu resembles a widespread class of folk tales in which a young hero is abandoned, goes on a quest, proves his worth, gains a group of trusted companions, returns to his home country, slays a powerful figure and becomes a king. The name Modu has been associated with

Oghuz Khagan Oghuz Khagan or Oghuz Khan (; ; ) is a legendary khan of the Turkic people and an eponymous ancestor of Oghuz Turks. Some Turkic cultures use the legend of Oghuz Khan to describe their ethnic and tribal origins. The various versions of the narra ...

, a legendary ancestor of

Oghuz Turks The Oghuz Turks ( Middle Turkic: , ) were a western Turkic people who spoke the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family. In the 8th century, they formed a tribal confederation conventionally named the Oghuz Yabgu State in Central Asia ...

. The reason for that is a striking similarity of the Oghuz Khagan biography in the

Turco-Persian tradition The composite Turko-Persian, Turco-Persian,
''Turko-Persia in historical perspective'', Cambridge University Press, ...

(

Rashid-al-Din Hamadani Rashīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb (;‎ 1247–1318; also known as Rashīd al-Dīn Faḍlullāh Hamadānī, ) was a statesman, historian, and physician in Ilkhanate Iran.Husayni Isfahani,

Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur ( Chagatai and , Abulgazi, Ebulgazi, Abu-l-Ghazi, August 24, 1603 – 1663) was the Khan of Khiva from 1643 to 1663. He was a member of the Uzbek Shaybanid dynasty. He spent ten years in Persia before becoming khan, and was ...

) with the Modu biography in the Chinese sources (feud between the father and son and murder of the former, the direction and sequence of conquests, etc.), which was first noticed by

Hyacinth ''Hyacinthus'' is a genus of bulbous herbs, and spring-blooming Perennial plant, perennials. They are fragrant flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae and are commonly called hyacinths (). The genus is native predomin ...

(Compilation of reports, pp. 56–57). Another suggestion connects it with the name of the ''Magyar'' royal tribe of the

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

and with their distant relatives the Mators, now extinct. Modu has been linked with the name вихтунь mentioned in the

Nominalia of the Bulgarian Khans The ''Nominalia of the Bulgarian Khans'' () is a short text which is presumed to contain the names of some early Bulgar rulers, their clans, the year of their ascending to the throne according to the cyclic Bulgar calendar and the length of the ...

, corresponding to the

pronunciation of his name 冒頓 (''*mək-tuən),'' and his clan

Dulo The Dulo clan was a ruling dynasty of the Bulgars, who were of Turkic origin. It is generally considered that their elite was related to the Huns and the Western Turkic Khaganate. Particularly, it is said that the Dulo descended from the ruler ...

with the Xiongnu ruling house 屠各 ''Tuge'' (in

''d'o-klâk''). It has been suggested that his name, as Beztur, appears in the genealogy as the ancestor of

Attila Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central Europe, C ...

, in the ''

Chronica Hungarorum ''Chronica Hungarorum'' (Latin for "Chronicle of the Hungarians") (), also known as the Thuróczy Chronicle, is the title of a 15th-century Latin-language Hungarian chronicle written by Johannes de Thurocz, Johannes Thuróczy by compiling seve ...

'' of

Johannes de Thurocz Johannes de Thurocz (; or ''Ján de Turocz'', , variant contemporary spelling: ''de Thwrocz'') ( – 1488 or 1489), was a Hungarian historian and the author of the Latin ''Chronica Hungarorum'' ("Chronicle of the Hungarians"), the ...

Legacy

Modu Chanyu is also known as Mete Khan (particularly, ''Mete Han'' in Turkish) across a number of

Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of more than 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and West Asia. The Turkic langua ...

. The

Turkish Land Forces The Turkish Land Forces () is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Significant campaigns since the foun ...

claims the beginning of his reign in 209 BCE as its symbolic founding date.

Sculptures

File:Modu Chanyu.jpg, Sculpture of Modu Chanyu. Chinggis Khaan National Museum,

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Mongolia, most populous city of Mongolia. It has a population of 1.6 million, and it is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. The municipa ...

. File:Pınarbaşı 20.JPG, Bust of Modu (Mete Han), part of the "Monument of Turkishness" in Pınarbaşı,

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

* * * *

External links

The Xiongnu – China Knowledge site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Modu Chanyus 230s BC births 170s BC deaths 2nd-century BC monarchs in Asia 3rd-century BC monarchs in Asia Leaders who took power by coup Patricides