[Documentary] Han Empire - 02: Battle of Hexi (Han - Xiongnu War) | Hexi Corridor - EP02. Passage

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• published: 31 Oct 2016
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In the Battle of Hexi (121 BC), the Han empire forces had inflicted a major defeat to the Xiongnu. Emperor Wu (Liu Che) (156 BC – 87 BC) desired to place firm control over the Hexi Corridor and decided to launch a large military offensive to purge the Xiongnu from the area. The campaign was undertaken in 121 BC by General Huo Qubing (140 BC – 117 BC). Departing from Longxi that year, General Huo Qubing led light cavalry through five Xiongnu kingdoms, conquering the Yanzhi and Qilian mountain ranges from the Xiongnu. In the spring of 121 BC, Huo set out from Longxi and advanced into the territory of the Xiutu King, beyond the Yanzhi Mountains. About 18,000 Xiongnu cavalry were captured or killed. That summer (121 BC), Huo advanced into the Anshan Desert to invade the regions at the Qilian Mountains.At the Qilian Mountains, the Hunye King saw the deaths of over 30,000 troops in battle against the Han, while 2800 of his troops were captured. Distraught by the huge losses and fearing the wrath of the Xiongnu Chanyu, the Xiutu King and the Hunye King planned to surrender to the Han forces of General Huo Qubing. However, the Xiutu King suddenly changed his mind and fled with his followers. General Huo Qubing and the Hunye King gave chase and killed Xiutu and his 8000 troops. In the end, the Hunye King and 40,000 Xiongnu soldiers surrendered, which also led to the Xiongnu tribes of Hunye and Xiutu submitting to the rule of the Han empire. Due to the series of victories, the Han had conquered a territory stretching from the Hexi Corridor to Lop Nur, thus cutting the Xiongnu off from their Qiang allies. In 111 BC, a major Qiang–Xiongnu allied force was repelled from the Hexi Corridor. Hereafter, four commanderies were established in the Hexi Corridor—Jiuquan, Zhangyi, Dunhuang, and Wuwei—which were populated with Han settlers. .................. Zhang Qian ( ? - 114 BC) was an outstanding imperial envoy and explorer in Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-24 AD). He opened up the world-famous Silk Road and brought reliable information about the Western Regions. In 119 BC, Zhang Qian set off on his second journey to the Western Regions, in order to ally with Wusun (in Ili) Valley) against the Xiongnu. At that time, the Xiongnu had been expelled from the Hexi Corridor, so Zhang Qian reached Wusun easily. Then he sent other envoys to Dawan, Kangju, Da Rouzhi, Anxi (Parthia, in now Iran), Juandu (present India), Yutian (Hetian) and other countries. In 115 BC, the king of Wusun put an interpreter and a guide at Zhang's disposal. Moreover, Wusun's ten envoys convoyed Zhang to Chang'an. He died there in 114 BC. Then the diplomatic envoys he sent came back in droves. Finally, the Han Dynasty was able to build good relationships with states of the Western Regions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Han–Xiongnu War: The Han–Xiongnu War, also known as the Sino-Xiongnu War, was a series of military battles fought between the Chinese Han dynasty and the Xiongnu confederated state from 133 BC to 89 AD. Under Emperor Wu's reign (141 BC – 87 BC), the Han empire changed from a relatively passive foreign policy to an offensive strategy both in order to deal with the increasing Xiongnu incursions on the northern frontier and also according to general imperial policy to expand the domain. In 133 BC, the conflict escalated to a full-scale war when the Xiongnu realized that the Han was about to ambush them at Mayi. The Han court decided to deploy several military expeditions towards the regions situated in the Ordos Loop, Hexi Corridor, and Gobi Desert in a successful attempt to conquer it and expel the Xiongnu. Hereafter, the war progressed further towards the many smaller states of the Western Regions. The nature of the battles varied through time with many casualties during the changes of possession or loss of actual control over the western states near the frontier regions. Regional alliances also tended to shift or get broken forcibly depending on the situation as one party gained the upper hand in a certain territory over the other. The Han empire's political influence expanded deeply into Central Asia. As the situation deteriorated for the Xiongnu, civil war befell and weakened the confederation. Eventually, the Southern Xiongnu submitted to the Han empire while the Northern Xiongnu continued to resist. Marked by significant events involving the conquests over various smaller states for control and many large-scale battles, the war resulted in the total victory of the Han empire over the Xiongnu state in 89 AD.