Five Barbarians
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The Five Barbarians, or Wu Hu (Chinese: 五胡; pinyin: Wǔ Hú), is a Chinese historical exonym for five ancient non-Han "Hu" peoples who immigrated to northern China in the Eastern Han dynasty, and then overthrew the Western Jin dynasty and established their own kingdoms in the 4th–5th centuries.[1][2][3][4] The peoples categorized as the Five Barbarians were:[1][3][5]
Of these five tribal ethnic groups, the Xiongnu and Xianbei were nomadic peoples from the northern steppes. The ethnic identity of the Xiongnu is uncertain, but the Xianbei appear to have been Mongolic. The Jie, another pastoral people, may have been a branch of the Xiongnu, who may have been Yeniseian or Iranian.[6][7][8] The Di and Qiang were from the highlands of western China.[1] The Qiang were predominantly herdsmen and spoke Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman) languages, while the Di were farmers who may have spoken a Sino-Tibetan[9] or Turkic language.[10]
The term "Five Barbarians" is generally used to refer to the non-Han ethnic groups during the Sixteen Kingdoms of the 4th and early 5th centuries, despite the fact that other groups like the Dingling and Wuhuan also existed alongside the five during the period. Even among the ruling families of the Sixteen Kingdoms, the Li clan of Cheng-Han were Ba-Di, with Ba referring to their Bandun Man or Cong (賨) background, while the Juqu clan of Northern Liang, though often classed as Xiongnu, were of Lushuihu ethnicity. Gao Yun, who was either the last ruler of Later Yan or first ruler of Northern Yan, was also an ethnic Goguryeo.
Definition[edit]
The origin of the term "Five Barbarians" is a matter of debate among scholars. The earliest use of it comes from the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms (501–522) from a quote by the Former Qin ruler, Fu Jian, although it was not specified who the five exactly were.[11] Modern historians like Chen Yinke and Zhou Yiliang believe that the "Five Barbarians" in this case was simply in reference to the "Five Virtues of Beginning and End", a theoretical concept often invoked by Chinese dynasties to legitimize their reigns.[12]
The Five Barbarians as a concept only emerged during the Southern Song dynasty, when the official, Hong Mai wrote an essay titled "Wuhu Luanhua" (五胡亂華; "Upheaval of the Five Barbarians") in his book, Rongzhai Suibi (容齋隨筆). Even so, he did not properly define the term, as the seven rulers he mentioned only accounted for four non-Han groups, namely the Xiongnu, Jie, Xianbei and Di. A later Southern Song official, Wang Yinglin defined the Five Barbarians as "Liu Yuan's Xiongnu, Shi Le's Jie, Murong-Xianbei, Fu Hong's Di and Yao Chang's Qiang." Hu Sanxing's annotation of the Zizhi Tongjian affirms Wang Yinglin's view by listing the five as the Xiongnu, Jie, Xianbei, Di and Qiang, after which it became widely accepted.
They were a mix of tribes from various stocks, such as proto-Mongolic, Turkic, Tibetan and Yeniseian.[13][14] Others divide them into two Turkic tribes, one Tungusic tribe, and two Tibetan tribes,[15] and yet others into Tibetan and Altaic (proto-Mongolian and early Turkic).[16] While later historians determined that there were more than five, the Five Barbarians has become a collective term for all northern and western non-Han groups that lived during the Jin dynasty (266–420) and Sixteen Kingdoms period.
The Five Barbarians[edit]
Since the later Han dynasty, northern China was home to various ethnic groups from the north and west. These peoples were subjects of the Han, taking up agriculture and serving in the military force. While many of them retained their respective tribal identity, they also underwent various degrees of Sinicization. By the Western Jin period, their population had grown substantially, becoming a cause for concern among a few officials within the imperial court as they began to revolt. There were calls to have the tribes relocated outside the borders, most notably by the minister Jiang Tong in his essay, Xi Rong Lun (徙戎論; Discussion on Relocating the Rong Tribe), but these proposals were disregarded. As central authority collapsed due to the War of the Eight Princes, many of these "barbarians" rebelled alongside their Han Chinese compatriots in the Upheaval of the Five Barbarians, although there were also those who initially fought on the side of Jin. Throughout the 4th century and early-5th century, several states were founded by the "Five Barbarians" in northern China and Sichuan, collectively known as the Sixteen Kingdoms.
Xiongnu[edit]
Ruling over the steppes of East Asia, the Xiongnu empire was once a powerful adversary to the Han dynasty, but by the 1st century AD, their power had greatly declined due to defeats to the Han, internal power struggles and natural disasters. In 50 AD, a few years after the empire was split into two, the Southern Xiongnu branch became a vassal to the Han. The court of the chanyu was moved to Xihe Commandery in Bing province while their people were resettled across the frontier commanderies within the Great Wall. The Southern Xiongnu served the Han by helping them to guard the northern borders, even assisting in destroying the rival Northern Xiongnu. However, tension was evident between the two sides. Being economically dependant on the Han and with the Han court interfering in their politics, the Southern Xiongnu would frequently rebel on the frontiers.[17]
In 216, the warlord Cao Cao abolished the chanyu office and divided the Southern Xiongnu into five divisions around Taiyuan Commandery.[18][19][20] By the Western Jin dynasty, most of the Southern Xiongnu had assimilated into Chinese culture, with their nobility even being allowed to hold government offices. The descendants of the Southern Xiongnu chanyu adopted the surname "Liu" as their ancestors were married to Han princesses through heqin.[21] Nonetheless, they continued to resent the ruling Chinese dynasties due to their lower status and privileges.
In 304, at the height of the War of the Eight Princes, a descendant of the chanyus, Liu Yuan rallied the five divisions and founded the Han-Zhao dynasty, which claimed to be a restoration of the Han dynasty. His declaration was a turning point in the Upheaval of the Five Barbarians, and many of the disaffected Jin subjects in northern China turned to his state which led to the Disaster of Yongjia and ejection of the Jin dynasty from the north. The Tiefu tribe of the Hetao region were distant relatives of Liu Yuan, but were heavily intermarried with the Xianbei and Wuhuan people. A member of the Tiefu, Liu Bobo, founded the Hu Xia dynasty in 407, and later changed his name to Helian Bobo.
Jie[edit]
The Jie were a people whose exact origins are still debated by modern scholars. Various theories have been proposed, including that they were a tribe of the Southern Xiongnu or that they were Tocharian or Eastern Iranian people from Sogdia, but with no general consensus. The first recorded Jie was the minor chieftain, Shi Le who lived in Wuxiang County in Bing province. When a famine broke out in the province in 303, he and many other tribal people were displaced before being captured and sold into slavery by the provincial inspector. Shi Le soon attained his freedom, becoming a bandit, then a rebel, then a powerful warlord under the Han-Zhao and finally the founder of the Later Zhao dynasty in 319.
Despite their seemingly small population, the Jie were thrusted into prominence by Shi Le and the Later Zhao, which dominated northern China for a majority of its existence before its demise in 351. Following Ran Min's culling order and the wars that followed the Later Zhao collapse, the Jie ceased to appear in records, though some key figures in later history may have descended from them.
Xianbei[edit]
Following their defeat to the Xiongnu empire in the 3rd century BC, the Donghu people splintered into the Xianbei and Wuhuan. The Xianbei occupied the Mongolian plateau aroud 93 AD after the Northern Xiongnu were forced to the northwest by the Han dynasty. In the mid-2nd century, the chieftain, Tanshihuai unified the Xianbei and launched incessant raids on the Han's northern borders. After his death, however, his confederation fell apart, and many of the Xianbei tribes living near the border became vassals of the Chinese dynasties and allowed to live within the Great Wall such as the Murong and Tuoba tribes.
At the height of the Jin princely civil wars, the Inspector of You province, Wang Jun allied himself with the local Xianbei and Wuhuan tribes, most notably the Duan-Xianbei who was granted a dukedom in Liaoxi Commandery for their services. The Xianbei were a deciding factor in the civil wars, and when the Han-Zhao broke away from Jin, the Tuoba joined forces with Jin and were also given a dukedom in Dai Commandery. Meanwhile, the Murong in Liaodong, isolated from the conflicts of the Central Plains, expanded their influence in the region by providing refuge to fleeing Chinese officials and peasants. As the Jin were pushed out of northern China, however, the Xianbei distanced themselves from Jin and established full autonomy over their fiefdoms.
The Xianbei founded several states during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. The Murong were a prominent player during this period, as they founded the Former Yan, Later Yan, Western Yan and Southern Yan that ruled over the Central Plains. After the Battle of Fei River, the Qifu and Tufa tribes founded the Western Qin and Southern Liang, respectively, competing for control over the Gansu region in the northwest among themselves and other rival claimants. Most importantly, the Tuoba of Dai later founded the Northern Wei dynasty, which reunified the north in 439 and ushered China into the Northern and Southern dynasties period.
Di[edit]
The Di were a semi-nomadic people that resided in the western provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi and Sichuan. In 111 BC, the Han dynasty expanded westwards and established Wudu Commandery where the Di mainly resided, causing them to spread out in northern and western China. The Di people became Han subjects, and relations between the two were mostly stable until the fall of Han, when the Di tribes began to rebel. In 219, the warlord Cao Cao had 50,000 Di people relocated from Wudu commandery to Tianshui and Fufeng commanderies to deter them from allying with his rival to the south, Liu Bei.
The Di in the northwest continued to rebel during the Western Jin dynasty. Between 296 and 299, Qi Wannian, a Di chieftain, led the various non-Han groups in rebellion, devastating the Guanzhong region and displacing many of the population. The Di that fled south into the Hanzhong and Sichuan basins founded the Chouchi and Cheng-Han regimes, although the Li clan that ruled the latter were more specifically referred to as Ba-Di. The Fu clan that remained behind later founded the Former Qin dynasty, most notable for briefly unifying northern China under Fu Jiān. During the Qin collapse that followed the Battle of Fei River, the Di general, Lü Guang founded the Later Liang in Gansu.
Qiang[edit]
The Qiang were another western semi-nomadic people that resided in Qinghai and Gansu. Initially vassals of the Xiongnu, the Qiang gradually turned to the Han dynasty as the Xiongnu empire collapsed. They were allowed to settle in the Guanzhong region along with the watersheds of the Wei and Jing rivers, where they practiced agriculture and lived with Han Chinese settlers. However, the Qiang also faced oppression by the local administrators, leading to constant large-scale rebellions in the northwest that proved very costly for the Han. The Qiang also fought as soldiers for the Han and later for the Cao Wei and Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period.
The Qiang continued to participate in rebellions in the northwest against the Western Jin dynasty, but it would not be until after the Battle of Fei River that they establish their first and only state of the Sixteen Kingdoms under the Later Qin dynasty. The second ruler of Later Qin, Yao Xing, was a key proponent in the spread of Buddhism by making it his state religion and sponsoring the influential Buddhist translator, Kumārajīva. The Qiang also founded the minor polities of Dangchang and Dengzhi.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c A History of Chinese Civilization, Jacques Gernet, Cambridge University Press 1996 P.186-87
- ^ Michio Tanigawa & Joshua Fogel, Medieval Chinese Society and the Local "community" University of California Press 1985 p. 120-21
- ^ a b Peter Van Der Veer, "III. Contexts of Cosmopolitanism" in Steven Vertovec, Robin Cohen eds., Conceiving Cosmopolitanism: Theory, Context and Practice Oxford University Press 2002 p. 200-01
- ^ John W. Dardess, Governing China: 150-1850 Hackett Publishing 2010 p. 9
- ^ "The Sixteen States of the Five Barbarian Peoples 五胡十六國 (www.chinaknowledge.de)".
- ^ Vovin, Alexander. "Did the Xiongnu speak a Yeniseian language?". Central Asiatic Journal 44/1 (2000), pp. 87-104.
- ^ Lewis, Mark Edward (2009). China between Empires: The Northern and Southern Dynasties. Harvard University Press. p. 82-83.
- ^ Lee, Joo-Yup; Kuang, Shuntu (2017-10-18). "A Comparative Analysis of Chinese Historical Sources and y-dna Studies with Regard to the Early and Medieval Turkic Peoples". Inner Asia. 19 (2): 197–239. doi:10.1163/22105018-12340089. ISSN 2210-5018.
- ^ (Chinese) 段渝, 先秦巴蜀地区百濮和氐羌的来源 Archived 2018-09-08 at the Wayback Machine 2006-11-30
- ^ Guo Ji Zhongguo Yu Yan Xue Ping Lun, Volume 1, Issue 1, J. Benjamins 1996. page 7.
- ^ (堅嗔目叱之曰：「小羌乃敢於逼天子，豈以傳國璽授汝羌乎！五胡次序，無汝羌名，違天不祥，其能久乎！璽已送晉，不可得也。」) Shiliuguo Chunqiu, vol.4
- ^ “五胡”新释 Archived 2011-07-23 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Tang China: vision and splendour of golden age, by Edmund Capon. 1989, page 14.
- ^ Renditions, Issues 15-18. Centre for Translation Projects, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1981, page 82.
- ^ China, by Pin-chia Kuo. Oxford University Press, 1970, page 36.
- ^ China: A Macro History, by Ray Huang. Routledge 2015. page.?
- ^ di Cosmo 2004: 186
- ^ Fan Ye, "Book of Later Han" (Hou Han Shu), Ch. 79, f. 7b
- ^ and in Bichurin N.A., Collection of information on peoples in Central Asia in ancient times", vol. 1, Sankt Petersburg, 1851, pp. 146–147 (In Russian)
- ^ in Taskin B.S., "Materials on Sünnu history", Science, Moscow, 1973, pp. 95-96, 154 (In Russian)
- ^ Di Cosmo (2002), 192–193; Yü (1967), 9–10; Morton & Lewis (2005), 52
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