Wusun General

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

The Wusun originally lived between the Qilian Mountains and Dunhuang (Gansu) near the Yuezhi. Around 176 BC the Xiongnu raided the lands of the Yuezhi, who subsequently attacked the Wusun, killing their king and seizing their land. The Xiongnu adopted the surviving Wusun prince and made him one of their generals and leader of the Wusun. Around 162 BC the Yuezhi were driven into the Ili River Valley in Zhetysu, Dzungaria and Tian Shan, which had formerly been inhabited by the Saka. The Wusun then resettled in Gansu as vassals of the Xiongnu. In 133–132 BC, the Wusun drove the Yuezhi out of the Ili Valley and settled the area.

The Wusun then became close allies of the Han dynasty and remained a powerful force in the region for several centuries. The Wusun are last mentioned by the Chinese as having settled in the Pamir Mountains in the 5th century AD due to pressure from the Rouran. They possibly became subsumed into the later Hephthalites.

Etymology

''Wusun'' is a modern pronunciation of the Chinese Characters '烏孫'. The Chinese name '烏孫' (Wūsūn) literally means ''wū'' 'crow, raven' + ''sūn'' 'grandson, descendant'.

There are several theories about the origin of the name:王明哲, 王炳華 (Mingzhe Wang & Binhua Wang): 從文獻與考古資料論烏孫歷史的幾個重大問題 (Important questions about the history of Wusun arising from the contemporary documents and archaeological investigations). In: 烏孫研究 (Wusun research), 1, 新疆人民出版社 (People's publisher Xinjiang), Ürümqi 1983, S. pp. 1–42.
* Canadian Sinologist Edwin Pulleyblank reconstructs the pronunciation of '烏孫' Wūsūn as in Middle Chinese as ''ou-suən'', from Old Chinese ''aĥ-smən'' and linked the Wusun to the Άσμίραιοι ''Asmiraioi'', who inhabited modern Issyk-Kul and Semirechiye and were mentioned in Ptolemy's Geography (VI.16.3).
* Several scholars (e.g. Hudson, Bernshtam, Hambly, Lindegger) link them to the Issedones.
* Sinologist Victor H. Mair compared ''Wusun'' with Sanskrit ''áśva'' 'horse', ''aśvin'' 'mare' and Lithuanian ''ašvà'' 'mare'. The name would thus mean 'the horse people'. Hence he put forward the hypothesis that the Wusun used a satem-like language within the Indo-European languages. However, the latter hypothesis is not supported by Edwin G. Pulleyblank. Christopher I. Beckwith's analysis is similar to Mair's, reconstructing the Chinese term Wusun as Old Chinese *''âswin'', which he compares to Old Indic ''aśvin'' 'the horsemen', the name of the Rigvedic twin equestrian gods.
* Étienne de la Vaissière identifies the Wusun with the ''wδ'nn'p'', mentioned on Kultobe inscriptions as enemies of the Sogdian-speaking Kangju confederation. ''Wδ'nn'p'' contains two morphemes ''n'p'' "people" and *''wδ'n'' iðan which is cognate with Manichaean Parthian ''wd'n'' and means "tent". Vaissière hypothesizes that the Wusun likely spoke an Iranian language closely related to Sogdian, permitting Sogdians to translate their endonym as *''wδ'n'' iðanand Chinese to transcribe their endonym with a native Chinese /s/ standing for a foreign dental fricative. Therefore, Vaissière reconstructs Wusun's endonym as *''Wəθan'' " eople of theTent(s)".

History

Early history

The Wusun were first mentioned by Chinese sources as living together with the Yuezhi between the Qilian Mountains and Dunhuang (Gansu). although different locations have been suggested for these toponyms.

Beckwith suggests that the Wusun were an eastern remnant of the Indo-Aryans, who had been suddenly pushed to the extremities of the Eurasian Steppe by the Iranian peoples in the 2nd millennium BC.

Around 210–200 BC, prince Modu Chanyu, a former hostage of the Yuezhi and prince of the Xiongnu, who were also vassals of the Yuezhi, became leader of the Xiongnu and conquered the Mongolian Plain, subjugating several peoples. Around 176 BC Modu Chanyu launched a fierce raid against the Yuezhi. Around 173 BC, the Yuezhi subsequently attacked the Wusun, at that time a small nation, killing their king Nandoumi.

According to legend Nandoumi's infant son Liejiaomi was left in the wild. He was miraculously saved from hunger being suckled by a she-wolf, and fed meat by ravens. The Wusun ancestor myth shares striking similarities with those of the Hittites, the Zhou Chinese, the Scythians, the Romans, the Goguryeo, Turks, Mongols and Dzungars. Based on the similarities between the ancestor myth of the Wusun and later Turkic peoples, Denis Sinor has suggested that the Wusun, Sogdians, or both could represent an Indo-Aryan influence, or even the origin of the royal Ashina Türks.

In 162 BC, the Yuezhi were finally defeated by the Xiongnu, after which they fled Gansu. According to Zhang Qian, the Yuezhi were defeated by the rising Xiongnu empire and fled westward, driving away the Sai (Scythians) from the Ili Valley in the Zhetysu and Dzungaria area. The Sai would subsequently migrate into South Asia, where they founded various Indo-Scythian kingdoms. After the Yuezhi retreat the Wusun subsequently settled the modern province of Gansu, in the valley of the ''Wushui-he'' (), as vassals of the Xiongnu. It is not clear whether the river was named after the tribe or vice versa.

Migration to the Ili Valley

The Xiongnu ruler was impressed with Liejiaomi, considering him a supernatural being, and adopted the child. When the child grew up the ''Chanyu'' made him leader of the Wusun and a Xiongnu general. He won many victories for the Xiongnu and the Wusun became powerful. Liejiaomi constantly requested the Xiongnu ruler for permission to avenge his father, and around 133–132 BC, he successfully attacked the Yuezhi in the Ili Valley. The Yuezhi then migrated to Sogdia and then Bactria, where they became unified under Kujula Kadphises and expanded into South Asia, founding the Kushan Empire, which at its peak under Kanishka stretched from Turpan in the Tarim Basin to Pataliputra on the Gangetic plain and played an important role in the development of the Silk Road and the transmission of Buddhism to China.

The Wusun subsequently took over the Ili Valley, expanding over a large area and trying to keep away from the Xiongnu. According to the ''Shiji'', Wusun was a state located west of the Xiongnu. When the Xiongnu ruler died, Liejiaomi refused to serve the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu then sent a force against the Wusun but were defeated, after which the Xiongnu considered Liejiaomi a supernatural being even more than before and avoided conflict with him.

Establishing relations with the Han

After settling in the Ili Valley the Wusun became so strong that the Han were compelled to win their friendship in alliance. Chinese sources name the Scythian ''Sai'' (Saka), and the ''Yuezhi'' who are often identified as Tocharians, among the people of the Wusun state in the Zhetysu and Dzungaria area. The Wusun realm probably included both Yuezhi and Saka. It is clear that the majority of the population consisted of linguistically Iranian Saka tribes.

In 125 BC, under the Han Emperor Wu of Han (156–87 BC), the Chinese traveller and diplomat Zhang Qian was sent to establish an alliance with the Wusun against the Xiongnu. Qian estimated the Wusun to number 630,000, with 120,000 families and 188,000 men capable of bearing arms. The ''Book of Han'' described them as occupying land that previously belonged to the Saka (Sai). To their north-west the Wusun bordered Kangju, in modern Kazakhstan. To the west was Dayuan