Biography
Family Background and Early Life
Qiedihou Chanyu came from the Luandi clan. He was a son of Yizhixie Chanyu and a younger brother of Wuwei Chanyu. His father Yizhixie Chanyu, who reigned from 126 to 114 BCE, fought the Han repeatedly on a large scale and was the principal Xiongnu ruler confronting Emperor Wu of Han during that period. His elder brother Wuwei Chanyu, who reigned from 114 to 105 BCE, and Goulihu Chanyu, who reigned from 102 to 101 BCE, successively ruled the Xiongnu. In his earlier career, Qiedihou Chanyu had served as Left Grand Commandant, described in the source text as the highest military commander in the eastern Xiongnu domains and therefore a prominent figure in the Xiongnu political order. In 101 BCE, after the death of Goulihu Chanyu, Qiedihou Chanyu succeeded him.
Accession and Conciliation toward the Han
When Qiedihou Chanyu first took power, his position was not yet secure and he feared that the Han might exploit his recent accession to attack. To protect himself, he made several conciliatory gestures. He sent word to the Han saying, "The Han emperor stands in the generation of my wife's father," placing himself in a junior familial position as a sign of humility. He released all previously detained Han envoys, including Lu Chongguo, and sent envoys to present tribute and express goodwill. Emperor Wu responded positively and in 100 BCE sent the Palace Attendant Su Wu, carrying an imperial tally, to the Xiongnu. Su Wu was to escort detained Xiongnu envoys back home and deliver generous gifts. After Qiedihou Chanyu received the gifts, however, the source text says that his attitude became arrogant, setting the stage for a deterioration in relations.
Su Wu’s Exile and Sheep-Herding at Beihai
In 100 BCE Su Wu and his party reached the Xiongnu. As they were preparing to return after completing their mission, Yu Chang's plot broke out within the Xiongnu. Yu Chang, a Han man who had surrendered to the Xiongnu and had an old association with Su Wu's deputy Zhang Sheng, plotted to abduct the Chanyu's mother, the Yanzhi, and return to the Han. When the plot was exposed, Qiedihou Chanyu was enraged and blamed the Han mission, initially intending to kill them all. After the Left Yizizhi intervened, he instead sought to force them to surrender.
Su Wu refused to submit even under threat of death. Impressed by his resolve, Qiedihou Chanyu first imprisoned him in a large underground pit and cut off food and drink. Su Wu survived for days by eating felt and drinking snow, and the Xiongnu regarded this as extraordinary. The Chanyu then exiled him to Beihai, identified in the source text with Lake Baikal, to herd sheep, declaring that he could return only "when the rams give milk." Su Wu remained at Beihai for nineteen years, still holding the Han imperial tally and refusing to submit. The episode became one of the most famous diplomatic events in the history of Han–Xiongnu relations.
Battle of Junji Mountain and Li Ling's Surrender
In the autumn of 99 BCE, the second year of the Tianhan era, Emperor Wu sent Cavalry Commandant Li Ling with 5,000 infantry from Juyan Lake. After marching north for thirty days, Li Ling reached Junji Mountain and encountered 30,000 cavalry personally led by Qiedihou Chanyu. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Li Ling used the terrain to form a defensive line and fought for several days, inflicting thousands of Xiongnu casualties. Seeing the Han troops' determination, Qiedihou Chanyu nearly considered withdrawing.
At this point, Guan Gan, a Han military officer who had been mistreated by a commandant, defected to the Xiongnu and revealed that Li Ling had no reinforcements and was running out of arrows. Qiedihou Chanyu then concentrated his forces and attacked fiercely. With his troops exhausted and ammunition depleted, Li Ling was defeated around Dihan Mountain and surrendered. After Li Ling's surrender, Qiedihou Chanyu gave him a daughter in marriage, made him Right Xiaowang, and treated him generously.
The Battle of Tian Shan and the Battle of the Yuwu River
After the Battle of Junji Mountain, Qiedihou Chanyu led troops south to support the Wise King of the Right. At that time, in the Battle of Tian Shan in present-day Xinjiang, the Han General of Ershi Li Guangli had led 30,000 cavalry from Jiuquan against the Wise King of the Right, killing or capturing more than ten thousand before beginning his return. Qiedihou Chanyu personally led the main Xiongnu force to surround him. The Han fought its way out but suffered heavy losses, with only two or three tenths surviving. The *Book of Han*, "Account of the Xiongnu," states that the Xiongnu tightly surrounded the General of Ershi, who nearly failed to escape, and that six or seven tenths of the Han troops died.
In 97 BCE, the fourth year of the Tianhan era, Emperor Wu sent Li Guangli with 60,000 cavalry and 70,000 infantry from Shuofang. Strong Crossbow Commandant Lu Bode led more than 10,000 men to join him; Mobile General Han Yue led 30,000 infantry from Wuyuan; and General of Yinwu Gongsun Ao led 10,000 cavalry and 30,000 infantry from Yanmen, attacking the Xiongnu on several routes. When Qiedihou Chanyu learned of the offensive, he moved baggage and livestock north of the Yuwu River and personally arrayed 100,000 cavalry on its south bank. The two sides fought for more than ten days. The Han forces, according to the source text, "did not fare well in battle and all withdrew," returning without results. Taking advantage of the outcome, Qiedihou Chanyu attacked the Han outpost of Xihou City beyond the frontier, received the surrender of Commandant Li Xu, and made him Right Xiaowang.
Later Years and Death
After the Battle of the Yuwu River, Qiedihou Chanyu's rule was comparatively stable, although military confrontation with the Han continued. He died in office in 96 BCE, the first year of the Taishi era, after a reign of about five years. His son Hulugu Chanyu succeeded him. By the time Qiedihou Chanyu died, repeated warfare had reduced Xiongnu strength to some extent, but the Xiongnu remained a formidable northern opponent of the Han.