Tanshihuai (137–181) was a

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 ...

chieftain who lived during the late

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

period of China. It was under Tanshihuai when the Xianbei became a unified polity and posed a constant threat to the Han dynasty's northern borders for many years. After his death, however, his state quickly fell apart as his grandsons failed to maintain the support of the tribes.

Life

Early life and rise

Tanshihuai's mother was the wife of a man named Touluhou (投鹿侯). While Touluhou was serving in 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 ...

army for three years, his wife gave birth to him at home. When he returned, Touluhou believed Tanshihuai to be the product of an affair and wanted to kill him before his wife intervened. She claimed that while she was out in the day, she had heard the sound of a

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...

. When she looked up, a piece of

hail Hail is a form of solid Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailsto ...

fell into her mouth, and she became pregnant with Tanshihuai after she swallowed it. Although Touluhou did not believe her, he decided not to kill him, only forcing her to send him away. The wife secretly gave Tanshihuai to her parents for them to raise. As Tanshihuai was growing up, he was described as brave, strong and resourceful. At the age of 14 or 15, a leader from a different tribe robbed his grandfather's cattles and horses. On horseback, Tanshihuai chased them down and recovered all the stolen animals, which made him renown among his people. As an adult, his laws and judgements were fair, and his followers did not object to them, so he was elected to be the main leader of his tribe. He moved his base to Mount Danhan (彈汗山; in present-day Shangyi County,

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

), where he built a court on the banks of the Jieqiu River (歠仇水). Tanshihuai's soldiers and horses were strong, and many of the tribes in the east and west submitted to him. He conducted raids on the Han dynasty's borders and blocked the Dingling's encroachment from the north. He also repelled Buyeo's attacks from the east and attacked 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 ...

in the west. His territory was comparable to the former

Xiongnu empire 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& ...

, covering more than 14,000 '' li'' from east to west and 7,000 ''li'' from north to south including mountains, rivers, swamps and

salt lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per liter). I ...

War with the Han dynasty

In 156, Tanshihuai led around three to four thousand cavalry to invade the Han dynasty's Yunzhong County. He led more attacks on the Han's northern borders in 158, 159 and 163. In 166, the Xianbei allied with the Southern Xiongnu and

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

Zhang Huan Zhang Huan (; born 1965) is a Chinese artist based in Shanghai and New York City. He began his career as a painter and then transitioned to performance art before making a comeback to painting. He is primarily known for his performance work, but ...

, to attack them, and the Xianbei withdrew from the border fortresses. Fearing their inability to restrain him, the Han sent their envoys with official seals and ribbons to Tanshihuai, offering him the title of King in hopes of reaching a peace agreement. However, Tanshihuai rejected them and only intensified his intrusion. Tanshihuai divided his domain into three sections; from Youbeiping to the east up to Liaodong, encompassing over twenty cities including the

Buyeo Buyeo (; ; ), also rendered as Puyŏ or Fuyu, was an ancient kingdom that was centered in northern Manchuria in modern-day northeast China. It had ties to the Yemaek people, who are considered to be the ancestors of modern Koreans. Buyeo is ...

and Yemaek tribes, formed the eastern part. From Youbeiping to the west up to Shanggu, including over ten cities, formed the central part. From Shanggu to the west up to

Dunhuang Dunhuang () is a county-level city in northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Sachu (Dunhuang) was ...

and the

, including over twenty cities, formed the western part. Each section was governed by a chieftain appointed by Tanshihuai, who swore fealty to him. During the reign of

Emperor Ling of Han Emperor Ling of Han (156/157 – 13 May 189), personal name Liu Hong, was the 12th emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty. He was also the last Eastern Han emperor to exercise effective power during his reign. Born the son of a lesser marquis who ...

, the Xianbei attacked the border commanderies of You,

Bing Bing most often refers to: * Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer * Microsoft Bing, a web search engine Bing may also refer to: Food and drink * Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread * Bing (soft drink), a UK brand * Bing cherry, a varie ...

and Liang provinces, leaving countless dead and devastating the regions. In 177, the Han launched a counterattack on the Xianbei. They sent the generals Xia Yu, Tian Yan and Zang Min, along with the Southern Xiongnu

chanyu Chanyu () or Shanyu (), short for Chengli Gutu Chanyu (), was the title used by the supreme rulers of Inner Asian nomads for eight centuries until superseded by the title "''Khagan''" in 402 AD. The title was most famously used by the ruling L ...

, Tute Ruoshi Zhujiu to venture beyond the

Great Wall The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand Li (unit), ''li'' long wall") is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection agains ...

. The Han army marched over 2,000 ''li'' before facing Tanshihuai in battle and were heavily defeated. Only one-tenth of the Han army returned safely, and later that winter, the Xianbei raided Liaoxi. In 178, the Xianbei raided

Jiuquan Commandery Jiuquan Commandery (酒泉郡) was an administrative unit in the western Hexi Corridor, occupying the oases around modern Jiuquan, Gansu. Created in 111 BCE as one of the four Hexi commanderies, it guarded the central stretch of the Silk Road and ...

. At the time, the Xianbei population had grown to the point that farming, herding and hunting alone could not longer sustain them. Therefore, Tanshihuai went to the Wuhouqin River (烏侯秦水; modern-day Laoha River,

Liaoning ) , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = Clockwise: Mukden Palace in Shenyang, Xinghai Square in Dalian, Dalian coast, Yalu River at Dandong , image_map = Liaoning in China (+all claims hatched).svg , ...

) to promote fishing, but initially had no success. Hearing that the Han people (汗人, not to be confused with 漢人 Han people) were excellent fishers, he led his cavalry to attack them in the east and captured thousands of them. He relocated them to live along the Wuhouqin River to fish for the Xianbei and alleviate their food shortage. While the earlier ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' is a Chinese official history written by Chen Shou in the late 3rd century CE, covering the end of the Han dynasty (220 CE) and the subsequent Three Kingdoms period (220–280 CE). It is regard ...

'' refer to these captured people as "Han people", the later ''

Book of the Later Han The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Lat ...

'' refers to them as " Wa people" (倭人), with "Wa" being an old term for

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. K. H. J. Gardiner and

Rafe de Crespigny Richard Rafe Champion de Crespigny (born 1936), also known by his Chinese name Zhang Leifu (), is an Australian sinologist and historian. He is an adjunct professor in the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University. ...

reason that it is feasible that "Han people" refers to the people of Panhan county (番汗縣) in Liaodong Commandery, which was well within Tanshihuai's area of influence, and the far-fetched suggestion that Tanshihuai invaded Japan by sea could hardly be considered when the Xianbei at the time could not effectively fish for themselves.

Death and descendants

Tanshihuai died at the age of 45 (by

East Asian age reckoning Traditional East Asian age reckoning covers a group of related methods for reckoning human ages practiced in the East Asian cultural sphere, where age is the number of calendar years in which a person has been alive; it starts at 1 at birth and i ...

) in 181 and was succeeded by his son, Helian, signifying an attempt at shifting away from the elective-based system of succession to a hereditary system. However, in the coming decades, the vast state that Tanshihuai had built would quickly fall apart.(光和中，檀石槐死，時年四十五，子和連代立。) ''Hou Hanshu'', vol.90 Around 189, Helian was killed during a raid on Han, and the chieftains acclaimed his nephew, Kuitou as his successor since his son, Qianman, was too young at the time. Once Qianman became of age, however, he challenged Kuitou's succession and caused many of the Xianbei chieftains to break away. Following Kuitou's death, his domain was divided between his brothers,

Budugen Budugen (died 233) was a Xianbei chieftain who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty and Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the grandson of Tanshihuai, and after the death of his head chief and brother, Kuitou, his clan's domain was div ...

and Fuluohan, but by 233, they were both killed by a rival chieftain, Kebineng. That same year, Fuluohan's son, Xieguini, surrendered to the

Cao Wei Wei () was one of the major Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic states in China during the Three Kingdoms period. The state was established in 220 by Cao Pi based upon the foundations laid by his father Cao Cao during the end of the Han dy ...

dynasty and was resettled in Bing province, though what became of him afterwards is unknown.

Family tree

References

* Chen, Shou (3rd century). ''

'' (''Sanguozhi''). * Fan, Ye (5th century). ''

'' (''Hou Hanshu''). {{DEFAULTSORT:Tanshihuai 137 births 181 deaths Xianbei