Han dynasty in Inner Asia

Han dynasty's expansion of realm and influence in Inner Asia

A map of the Western Han dynasty in 2 AD

The Han dynasty in Inner Asia was the expansion of the Han dynasty's realm and influence in Inner Asia with a series of Chinese military campaigns and expeditions since the reign of the Emperor Wu of Han. Wars were mainly fought against the nomadic Xiongnu confederation based in the Mongolian Plateau, but also against other states in the Western Regions (especially in the Tarim Basin) like the Saka-ruled (Scythian) Greco-Bactrian Kingdom known to the Chinese as Dayuan. As a result, the Han dynasty at its height greatly expanded its power into Central Asia, controlling most of present-day Xinjiang and portions of modern Inner Mongolia with the establishment of the Protectorate of the Western Regions and the vassalization of Southern Xiongnu.[1][2]

## History[edit]

Part of a series on the

History of Xinjiang

Ancient period

* Tocharians
* Yuezhi
* Xiongnu
* Western Regions
* (Han Protectorate; Chief Officials)
* Kingdom of Khotan
* Former Liang
* Former Qin
* Later Liang
* Western Liang
* Gaochang
* Rouran
* First Turkic Khaganate
* Western Turkic Khaganate
* Eastern Turkic Khaganate
* Second Turkic Khaganate

Medieval and early modern period

* Tang Protectorates (West; Beiting)
* Tibetan Empire
* Uyghur Khaganate
* Kara-Khanid Khanate
* Kingdom of Qocho
* Qara Khitai
* Mongol Empire (Yuan; Chagatai Khanate)
* Moghulistan (Turpan; Yarkent)
* Ming ruled Kara Del
* Dzungar Khanate
* Kumul Khanate
* Yettishar
* Qing rule
* (Dzungar genocide
* Dungan Revolt
* Qing reconquest)

Modern period

* Xinjiang Province, Republic of China
* (Xinjiang clique
* 1st East Turkestan Republic
* 2nd East Turkestan Republic)
* Xinjiang Province, People's Republic of China
* Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
* (Production and Construction Corps
* Xinjiang conflict
* Xinjiang internment camps / Persecution of Uyghurs in China)

* v
* t
* e

### Against Xiongnu[edit]

Main article: Han–Xiongnu War

During the early Han dynasty China made peace with the powerful Mongolian Plateau-based nomadic tribes which became known as the Xiongnu confederation. The early Han dynasty adopted a policy known as the "marriage alliance" to appease the Xiongnu, who still raided Chinese borderlands routinely. However, starting from the reign of the seventh Han ruler, Emperor Wu, the Han Empire began to change from a relatively passive foreign policy to a proactively offensive strategy seeking to permanently remove the northern threat. The tension fully escalated in 133 BC when the Han army unsuccessfully tried to ambush Xiongnu raiders at Mayi, and retaliatory raids intensified. Emperor Wu then started deploying newer generations of military commanders and launched several expeditions to control the Ordos Loop, Hexi Corridor and Western Regions, eventually pushing the Xiongnu north beyond the Gobi Desert with a decisive campaign in 119 BC. After the death of Emperor Wu in 87 BC, the war winded down to mostly smaller border conflicts, although Emperor Xuan and Yuan had each sanctioned major offensives against the Xiongnu during their reigns. For the Xiongnu, the situation deteriorated with each setback, leading to erosion of the chanyu's prestige and dominance, and the subsequent internal power struggles further weakened the confederation, fracturing it into various self-ruling factions. The Han dynasty then began adhere to a divide and rule strategy, using marriage alliances (such as that of Wang Zhaojun to Huhanye) to recruit some against others. After the Eastern Han dynasty was established in 25 AD, the Chinese initially found their hands full after the chaotic civil war and could not afford any full-scale mobilizations against the Xiongnu raids, therefore resorted to continue lobbying among different Xiongnu faction rulers instead. This continued for another two decades until 46 AD, when repeated natural disasters severely weakened the Xiongnu and forced them to flee north from an attack by Wuhuan. Xiongnu then permanently split in 48 AD into two groups, known as the Northern and Southern Xiongnu, respectively. The Southern Xiongnu eventually submitted to the Han Empire and became Han's vassal and auxiliaries/mercenaries against the Northern Xiongnu. An allied force of Han Chinese, Southern Xiongnu, and other pastoral nomadic warriors attacked and defeated the Northern Xiongnu around 100 AD. Following this, the majority of the Northern Xiongnu likewise surrendered to the Han dynasty, albeit some escaped north and west.[3]

### Control over the Western Regions[edit]

Flying Horse of Gansu (Eastern Han period), representing the famed "celestial" and "blood-sweating" horses that were introduced from Ferghana [4]

See also: Battle of Loulan, Battle of Tian Shan, Battle of Jushi, and War of the Heavenly Horses

The overall strategic Han successes against the Xiongnu allowed the Chinese to project their influence deeply into Central Asia. With the Han conquest of the Hexi Corridor in 121 BC, the city-states at the Tarim Basin were caught in between the onslaught of the war, with much shifting of allegiance.[5] There were several Han military expeditions undertaken to secure the submission of the local kings to the Han empire; the Han took control of the regions for strategic purposes while the Xiongnu needed the regions as a source of revenue.[5][6] Due to the ensuing war with the Han empire, the Xiongnu were forced to extract more crafts and agricultural foodstuffs from the Tarim Basin urban centres.[7] By 115 BC, the Han had set up commanderies at Jiuquan and Wuwei, while extending the old Qin fortifications from Lingju to the area west of Dunhuang.[8] From 115 to 60 BC, the Han and Xiongnu competed for control and influence over these states,[9] which saw the rise of power of the Han empire over eastern Central Asia with the decline of that of the Xiongnu's.[10] The Han empire brought the states of Loulan, Jushi (Turfan), Luntai (Bügür), Dayuan (Ferghana), and Kangju (Soghdiana) into tributary submission between 108 and 101 BC.[11][12] The long-walled defence line that now stretched all the way to Dunhuang protected the people, guided caravans and troops to and from Central Asia, and served to separate the Xiongnu from their allies, the Qiang people.[13]

In 115 BC Zhang Qian was once again dispatched to the Western Regions to secure military alliances against the Xiongnu.[14][15] He sought out the various states in Central Asia, such as the Wusun.[14] He came back without achieving his goals, but he gained valuable knowledge about the Western Regions like in his previous travels.[15] Emperor Wu received reports from Zhang about the large and powerful horses of Ferghana.[16] These horses were known as "heavenly horses"[16][17] or "blood-sweating horses".[17] Zhang brought back some of these horses to the Han empire.[15] The emperor thought that the horses were of high importance to fight the Xiongnu.[17] The refusal of the Dayuan kingdom, a nation centred in Ferghana, to provide the Han empire with the horses and the execution of a Han envoy led to conflict;[18] the Han forces brought Dayuan into submission in 101 BC.[14][19] The Xiongnu, aware of this predicament, had tried to halt the Han advance, but they were outnumbered and suffered defeat.[20] The Han dynasty eventually established the Protectorate of the Western Regions in 60 BC to administer the Western Regions in modern-day Xinjiang,[1] with Protector General stationed at Wulei (west of Karasahr,[21] in present Luntai County[22]). After the Western Han dynasty that ended in 9 AD, China lost its authority over the Western Regions until it was restored by the Eastern Han dynasty in 94 AD and officially lasted until 107 AD.[23] After the crackdown of internal separatist forces, the Eastern Han dynasty set up another protectorate known as the Chief Official of the Western Regions instead.[24] The prefectural government of the Western Regions was set up and dismissed for three times during the 200 years of the Eastern Han dynasty.[25]

## See also[edit]

* Military history of China before 1912
* Military of the Han dynasty
* Protectorate of the Western Regions
* Chief Official of the Western Regions
* Southward expansion of the Han dynasty
* Silk Road
* Tang dynasty in Inner Asia
* Yuan dynasty in Inner Asia
* Ming dynasty in Inner Asia
* Qing dynasty in Inner Asia

## References[edit]

### Citations[edit]

1. ^ a b Tikhvinskiĭ, Sergeĭ Leonidovich; Perelomov, Leonard Sergeevich (1981). China and her neighbours, from ancient times to the Middle Ages: a collection of essays. Progress Publishers. p. 124\. OCLC 8669104.
2. ^ Yü 1986, 399–400
3. ^ Wright, David (2020). The History of China. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 1882\. ISBN 9798216097266.
4. ^ Honour, Hugh; Fleming, John (2005). A world history of art (7th ed.). London: Laurence King. p. 257\. ISBN 9781856694513.
5. ^ a b Millward 2006, 21.
6. ^ Golden 2011, 29.
7. ^ Cosmo 2002, 250–251.
8. ^ Guo 2002, 185.
9. ^ Yü 1986, 390–391.
10. ^ Lewis 2007, 137–138.
11. ^ Chang 2007b, 174.
12. ^ Yü 1986, 409–411.
13. ^ Loewe 2009, 71.
14. ^ a b c Golden 2011, 30.
15. ^ a b c Haar 2009, 75.
16. ^ a b Lovell 2006, 73.
17. ^ a b c Golden 2011, 29–30.
18. ^ Boulnois 2004, 82.
19. ^ Millward 1998, 25.
20. ^ Yü 1994, 132.
21. ^ Thought and Law in Qin and Han China: Studies Dedicated to Anthony Hulsewâe on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday. Brill Archive. 1990. ISBN 978-90-04-09269-3.
22. ^ The General Theory of Dunhuang Studies. Springer. 25 March 2022. ISBN 978-981-16-9073-0.
23. ^ Bregel, Yuri (2003). An Historical Atlas of Central Asia. Brill. p. 10.
24. ^ Ge, Jianxiong (2018). China's Belt and Road Initiatives - Economic Geography Reformation. Springer Nature Singapore. p. 6.
25. ^ Ge, Jianxiong (2018). China's Belt and Road Initiatives - Economic Geography Reformation. Springer Nature Singapore. p. 6.

## Bibliography[edit]

* Boulnois, Luce (2004). Silk Road: Monks, Warriors & Merchants on the Silk Road (Translated ed.). Hong Kong: Odyssey. ISBN 978-962-217-720-8.
* Chang, Chun-shu (2007b). The Rise of the Chinese Empire, Volume 2: Frontier, Immigration, & Empire in Han China, 130 B.C. – A.D. 157. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-11534-1.
* Cosmo, Nicola Di (2002). Ancient China and its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-77064-5.
* Golden, Peter B. (2011). Central Asia in World History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-515947-9.
* Guo, Xuezhi (2002). The Ideal Chinese Political Leader: A Historical and Cultural Perspective. Westport: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 978-0-275-97259-2.
* Haar, Barend J. ter (2009). Het Hemels Mandaat: De Geschiedenis van het Chinese Keizerrijk (in Dutch). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 978-90-8964-120-5.
* Lovell, Julia (2006). The Great Wall: China Against the World, 1000 BC-AD 2000. New York: Grove Press. ISBN 978-0-8021-4297-9.
* Lewis, Mark Edward (2007). The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-02477-9.
* Loewe, Michael (2009). "The Western Han Army". Military Culture in Imperial China. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-03109-8.
* Millward, James A. (1998). Beyond the pass: Economy, Ethnicity, and Empire in Qing Central Asia, 1759-1864. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-2933-8.
* Millward, James (2006). Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-13924-3.
* Yü, Ying-shih (1986). "Han Foreign Relations". The Cambridge History of China, Volume 1: The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. - A.D. 220. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24327-0.
* Yü, Ying-shih (1994). "The Hsiung-nu". The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-24304-9.

‹ The template below (Chinese conflicts) is being considered for deletion. See templates for discussion to help reach a consensus. ›

* v
* t
* e

Armed conflicts involving China (including Ancient, Imperial and Republican times)

Related|

* Early modern warfare
* Military history of China
* Before 1912
* People's Liberation Army
* Republic of China Armed Forces

Lists by opponent|

* Sino-British wars
* Sino-Burmese wars
* Sino-Cham wars and conflicts
* Sino–Dutch conflicts
* Sino-French conflicts
* Sino-Indian border dispute
* Sino-Japanese War
* Sino-Korean War
* Sino-Mongol wars and conflicts
* Sino-Nepalese conflicts
* Sino-Portuguese conflicts
* Sino-Russian border conflicts
* Sino-Spanish conflicts
* Taiwan Strait Crises
* Sino-Tibetan Wars
* Sino-Turkic wars and conflicts
* Sino-Vietnamese Wars
* List of wars involving China
* Republic of China
* List of wars involving Taiwan
* People's Republic of China

Internal wars/conflicts|

* Spring and Autumn period
* Warring States period
* Qin's wars of unification
* Chu–Han Contention
* Yellow Turban Rebellion
* Three Kingdoms
* War of the Eight Princes
* Sixteen Kingdoms
* Transition from Sui to Tang
* An Lushan rebellion
* Huang Chao Rebellion
* Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period
* Song reunification conquests
* Song conquest of Later Shu
* Song conquest of Southern Han
* Conquest of Southern Tang by Song
* Conquest of Northern Han by Song
* Song–Xia wars
* Jin–Song Wars
* War of the Two Capitals
* Red Turban Rebellions
* Miao rebellions
* Luchuan–Pingmian campaigns
* Ordos campaign
* Transition from Ming to Qing
* Jinchuan campaigns
* Revolt of the Three Feudatories
* Jahriyya revolt
* White Lotus Rebellion
* Eight Trigrams uprising of 1813
* Taiping Rebellion
* Nian Rebellion
* Panthay Rebellion
* Dungan revolts
* First
* Second
* Qing reconquest of Xinjiang
* Xinhai Revolution
* Warlord Era
* Chinese Civil War
* Xinjiang Wars
* Incorporation of Xinjiang
* Kuomintang Islamic insurgency
* Annexation of Tibet
* Tibetan uprisings (1950–today)
* Xinjiang conflict

External wars/conflicts|

| Ancient and
Imperial China|

* Gojoseon–Yan War
* Zhao–Xiongnu War
* Qin campaign against the Baiyue
* Qin's campaign against the Xiongnu
* Han campaigns against Minyue
* Han conquest of Central Asia
* Han–Xiongnu War
* Han conquest of Nanyue
* Han conquest of Gojoseon
* War of the Heavenly Horses
* First Chinese domination of Vietnam
* Korea under Chinese rule
* Trung sisters' rebellion
* Second Chinese domination of Vietnam
* Cham rebellion (100)
* Cham rebellion (136–144)
* Cham rebellion (192)
* Cham raid in Southern China (248)
* Lady Triệu rebellion
* Champa–Funan raid (270)
* Western Jin–Champa war (282)
* Upheaval of the Five Barbarians
* Goguryeo–Wei War
* First Eastern Jin–Champa war (344)
* Second Eastern Jin–Champa war (347–349)
* Third Eastern Jin–Champa war (351–359)
* Forth Eastern Jin–Champa war (399)
* Fifth Eastern Jin–Champa war (407–411)
* Cham raids in Southern China (410–420)
* Sixth Eastern Jin–Champa war (420)
* Cham raids in Southern China (424–429)
* First Liu Song–Champa war (431)
* Second Liu Song–Champa war (445–446)
* Early Lý rebellion
* Goguryeo–Sui War
* Sui–Early Lý War
* Third Chinese domination of Vietnam
* Sui–Lâm Ấp war
* Tang campaign against the Eastern Turks
* Tang campaign against Tuyuhun
* Tibetan attack on Songzhou
* Tang campaign against Xueyantuo
* Tang conquest of Central Asia
* Tang campaigns against the Western Turks
* Tang campaign against the Western Regions
* Tang campaign against Karakhoja
* Tang campaign against Karasahr
* Tang invasion of Tibet
* Tang campaign against Kucha
* Tang campaign against Kannauj
* Conquest of the Western Turks
* Goguryeo–Tang War
* Baekje–Tang War
* Tang campaign in Tarim Basin
* Silla–Tang War
* Umayyad–Tang War
* Abbasid–Tang War
* Tang–Champa war (803–809)
* Vietnamese uprising and Nanzhao invasion
* Ngô Quyền rebellion
* Song–Đại Cồ Việt war
* Goryeo–Liao War
* First
* Second
* Third
* Song–Đại Việt war
* Mongol conquest of China
* Mongol–Jin War
* Mongol siege of Kaifeng
* Siege of Caizhou
* Siege of Diaoyu fortress
* Battle of Xiangyang
* Battle of Yamen
* Yuan invasions of Korea
* Yuan invasions of Tibet
* Yuan invasions of Vietnam
* Yuan invasions of Japan
* Yuan invasions of Burma
* First
* Second
* Yuan invasions of Java
* Yuan invasions of Sakhalin
* Chagatai–Yuan War
* Ming–Turpan conflict
* Ming–Hồ War
* Fourth Chinese domination of Vietnam
* Ming–Kotte War
* Ming–Samudera War
* Ming campaigns against the Mongols
* Lam Sơn uprising
* Tumu Crisis and Defense of Beijing
* War in the Philippines (1500s–1800s)
* Sino-Portuguese War
* Battle of Tunmen
* Battle of Sincouwaan
* Sino–Japanese War over Korea (1592–1598)
* Sino-Dutch War (1622–1662)
* Later Jin invasion of Joseon
* Qing invasion of Joseon
* Sino-Russian War (1652–1689)
* Qing conquest of Central Asia
* Dzungar–Qing Wars
* Afaqi Khoja revolts
* Chinese expedition to Tibet (1720)
* Sino-Burmese War
* Sino-Nepalese War
* Campaign in Vietnam
* First Opium War
* Sino-Sikh War
* Second Opium War
* Sino-French War
* Keelung campaign
* First Sino-Japanese War
* Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1895)
* Boxer Rebellion

|

Modern China
(1912–today)|

* World War I
* Mongolian rebellion
* Sino-Tibetan War of 1930–1932
* Qinghai–Tibet War
* Soviet invasion of Xinjiang
* Second Sino-Japanese War
* World War II
* Pacific War
* First Indochina War
* Kuomintang in Burma
* Annexation of Tibet
* Korean War
* Vietnam War
* Battle of the Paracel Islands
* Laotian Civil War
* Sino-Soviet conflict
* Sino-Soviet border conflict
* Sino-Indian War
* Nathu La and Cho La clashes
* Sino-Vietnamese War
* Sino-Vietnamese conflicts (1979–1991)
* Johnson South Reef Skirmish
* Sumdorong Chu standoff
* Mali War
* Scarborough Shoal standoff
* 2013 Depsang standoff
* 2017 China–India border standoff
* 2020–2021 China–India skirmishes

Taiwan
(1949–today)|

* Kuningtou
* Dengbu Island
* Hainan Island
* Nanri Island
* Dongshan Island
* First Taiwan Strait Crisis
* Yijiangshan Islands
* Dachen Archipelago
* Second Taiwan Strait Crisis
* Burmese border
* Dong-Yin
* Third Taiwan Strait Crisis

* Chinese Revolution
* Chinese Dream
* Cold War
* Sphere of influence

* v
* t
* e

Inner Asia history series

Nomadic empires|

* Xiongnu
* Xianbei
* Rouran
* Göktürks
* First Turkic Khaganate
* Eastern Turkic Khaganate
* Western Turkic Khaganate
* Second Turkic Khaganate
* Tibetan
* Zubu
* Uyghur
* Kyrgyz
* Mongol
* Tatar
* Khamag Mongol
* Mongol Empire
* Chagatai
* Timurid
* Dzungar

Chinese empires|

| Han|

* against Xiongnu
* Protectorate of the Western Regions
* Chief Official

|

Tang|

* against Western Turks / Eastern Turks
* against Tibet
* Mongolian Plateau
* Beiting
* Tarim Basin

Liao|

* Western Liao
* Northern Liao
* Eastern Liao
* Later Liao

Yuan|

* against Northwest khanates
* Manchuria
* Mongolia
* Tibet
* Northern Yuan

Ming|

* against Mongols
* against Turpan
* Manchuria
* Tibet

Qing|

* against Dzungar
* genocide
* Lifan Yuan
* Amban
* Manchuria
* Mongolia
* Tibet
* Xinjiang

Related topics|

* The Cambridge History of Inner Asia
* Greater Central Asia
* Central Asia
* Eurasian nomads
* Tartary
* Chinese Tartary
* Western Regions (Chinese Turkestan)
* China proper
* Sinosphere
* Greater China

* v
* t
* e

Han dynasty topics

History|

* Chu–Han Contention (Feast at Swan Goose Gate)
* Lü Clan disturbance
* Rebellion of the Seven States
* Han dynasty in Inner Asia
* Han–Xiongnu War
* War of the Heavenly Horses
* Han conquest of Gojoseon
* Four Commanderies
* Southward expansion (Han–Minyue War
* Han conquest of Nanyue
* Han conquest of Dian
* First Chinese domination of Vietnam
* Trung sisters' rebellion
* Second Chinese domination of Vietnam)
* Xin dynasty
* Red Eyebrows and Lulin
* Chengjia
* Disasters of the Partisan Prohibitions
* Way of the Five Pecks of Rice
* Yellow Turban Rebellion
* End of the Han dynasty
* Battle of Red Cliffs

Society and culture|

* Ban Gu
* Sima Qian
* Records of the Grand Historian
* Book of Han
* Book of the Later Han
* Records of the Three Kingdoms
* Flying Horse of Gansu
* Huainanzi
* Eight Immortals of Huainan
* Mawangdui Silk Texts
* Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals
* Yiwu Zhi
* Old Texts
* Han poetry
* Fu
* Eastern Han Chinese

Government and military|

* Ban Chao
* Ma Yuan
* Emperor
* list
* Family tree
* Three Lords and Nine Ministers
* Nine Ministers
* Three Ducal Ministers
* Kings
* Provinces and commanderies
* Protectorate of the Western Regions (Chief Official)
* Translation of government titles

Economy|

* Coinage
* Ancient Chinese coinage
* Silk Road
* Sino-Roman relations

Science and technology|

* Cai Lun
* Cai Yong
* Ding Huan
* Du Shi
* Hua Tuo
* Liu An
* Liu Xiang
* Liu Xin
* Sima Tan
* Wang Chong
* Zhang Heng
* Zhang Zhongjing

Texts|

* Balanced Discourse
* Book of Origins
* Book on Numbers and Computation
* Fangyan
* Essential Prescriptions from the Golden Cabinet
* The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art
* Huangdi Neijing
* Shuowen Jiezi
* Treatise on Cold Injury and Miscellaneous Disorders
* Zhoubi Suanjing

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template