Luandi Xulüquanqu

Biography

Family Background and Early Life

Luandi Xulüquanqu came from the Xiongnu Luandi clan. He was a son of Hulugu Chanyu and a younger brother of Huyandi Chanyu. Historical sources provide little information about his early life, recording only that he had served as Wise King of the Left. In the Xiongnu political system, the Wise King of the Left was normally a high-ranking position held by a member of the Chanyu's family and was commonly associated with succession. Huyandi Chanyu died in 68 BCE after a seventeen-year reign, and Xulüquanqu succeeded him from his position as Wise King of the Left, becoming Xulüquanqu Chanyu.

Accession and Internal Politics

After taking the throne, Xulüquanqu Chanyu first adjusted the balance of power within the royal court. He deposed Zhuanqu Yanzhi, who had been favored by the previous Chanyu Huyandi, and instead established the daughter of the Right General as Great Yanzhi. This directly angered Zhuanqu Yanzhi's father, the Great Juqu of the Left, who became a potential source of opposition within the court. What appeared to be a change in the Chanyu's household was in fact part of a broader restructuring of court power. Xulüquanqu attempted to weaken forces associated with the previous reign by replacing the Yanzhi, but the change instead created a political danger for his own rule.

Famine and Internal and External Pressures

In 67 BCE, the third year of the Dijie era, the Xiongnu suffered a severe famine in which six or seven tenths of the population and livestock died. This was the gravest challenge of Xulüquanqu Chanyu's reign. The famine devastated the Xiongnu economic base and rapidly intensified social tensions. To guard against a possible Han attack during the crisis, Xulüquanqu stationed two forces of 10,000 cavalry each against Han troops. This mobilization, however, increased burdens on the various Xiongnu groups and further aggravated internal tensions.

In the autumn of the same year, the Xirou tribe, previously subordinate to the Xiongnu, defected under its leaders. Several thousand people drove their livestock southward, fought Xiongnu guards in the outpost zone, suffered heavy casualties, and then surrendered to the Han. At the same time, states of the Western Regions, encouraged by the Han, agreed to attack Jushi, which was under Xiongnu protection, and captured its ruler and population.

Contest with the Han

Facing strategic pressure from the Han and allied states of the Western Regions, Xulüquanqu Chanyu adopted a series of countermeasures. In 65 BCE, the first year of the Yuankang era, he sent troops to attack Han forces in Jushi but failed. Because Jushi had fertile land and lay close to the Xiongnu, Xulüquanqu feared that prolonged Han control would threaten Xiongnu interests. He therefore repeatedly sent troops against Jushi and at one point surrounded reinforcements under the Han Palace Attendant Zheng Ji. The Han eventually moved the population of Jushi to Quli, leaving the former Jushi territory to the Xiongnu. Xulüquanqu thus achieved some limited successes in the struggle with the Han, but they did not reverse the broader decline of Xiongnu power.

Later Years and Death

In 61 BCE, the first year of the Shenjue era, after repeated Dingling attacks, Xulüquanqu Chanyu sent 10,000 cavalry against the Dingling but returned without gains. In the following year, 60 BCE, he died after vomiting blood. After his death, King of Haosu Xing Weiyang summoned the kings to discuss the succession, but Zhuanqu Yanzhi, still resentful over her earlier deposition, conspired with her younger brother Dulongqi, the Great Juqu of the Left, and arbitrarily installed the Wise King of the Right Tuqitang as Woyanqudi Chanyu. The rule of Xulüquanqu's line thus ended.

Major Activities

Political Activity

Xulüquanqu Chanyu's principal political activity centered on internal consolidation and external defense. Domestically, he deposed Zhuanqu Yanzhi and installed a new Great Yanzhi in an attempt to reshape the court's power structure. Externally, during the famine he mobilized troops against a possible Han offensive and repeatedly sent forces to contest Jushi and attack the Dingling. These measures were intended to preserve the authority of the Xiongnu court, but declining strength and internal conflict limited their effectiveness.

Military Operations

Xiongnu military activity was frequent but often inconclusive during Xulüquanqu Chanyu's reign. In 67 BCE he stationed two forces of 10,000 cavalry each to guard against the Han. That autumn, Xiongnu guards fought the defecting Xirou tribe and inflicted heavy casualties but failed to prevent its surrender to the Han. From 65 BCE onward, Xulüquanqu repeatedly sent troops against Jushi and temporarily surrounded Zheng Ji's reinforcements, helping force the Han to abandon the former Jushi territory, but these successes did not fundamentally alter the strategic situation in the Western Regions. In 61 BCE he sent troops against the Dingling without result. The source text interprets these campaigns as evidence that the Xiongnu had already moved onto the strategic defensive.

Competition with the Han in the Western Regions

During Xulüquanqu Chanyu's reign, the Han actively expanded its position in the Western Regions. In 67 BCE, the Han sent Palace Attendant Zheng Ji and Commandant Sima Xi with troops to establish agricultural colonies at Quli, and appointed Zheng Ji as envoy in charge of the region west of Shanshan, using alliances with the states of the Western Regions to weaken Xiongnu influence. Xulüquanqu responded directly, especially in the repeated contest over Jushi. He sent troops against the Han forces there and surrounded Zheng Ji's reinforcements, compelling the Han to relocate the inhabitants of Jushi and temporarily leaving its old lands under Xiongnu control. These local gains, however, did not reverse the overall decline of Xiongnu power.

Relations with Subordinate Tribes

The Xiongnu system of subordinate tribes began to loosen during Xulüquanqu Chanyu's reign. The defection of the Xirou tribe to the Han in 67 BCE was the clearest example. The Xirou had lived in the Xiongnu's eastern domains but, according to the source text, rebelled because of famine and oppression. Several thousand people under their leaders surrendered southward to the Han. The episode demonstrated a marked weakening of Xiongnu control over subordinate groups.

Personal Relations

• Hulugu Chanyu (father); Huyandi Chanyu (elder brother); Zhuanqu Yanzhi (Yanzhi of the former Chanyu, deposed); daughter of the Right General (established as Great Yanzhi); Zhizhi Chanyu (son); Huhanye Chanyu (son); Right Guli King (son)
• Great Juqu of the Left (father of Zhuanqu Yanzhi, who resented Xulüquanqu); King of Haosu Xing Weiyang (summoned the kings to discuss the succession); Dulongqi (Great Juqu of the Left, conspired to enthrone Woyanqudi Chanyu); Wise King of the Right Tuqitang (later Woyanqudi Chanyu)
• Emperor Xuan of Han; Zheng Ji (Han Palace Attendant); Sima Xi (Han commandant); leader of the Xirou tribe (defected and surrendered to the Han); Dingling (northern people who raided the Xiongnu)

Historical Assessment

Han and Contemporary Accounts

The Book of Han, "Account of the Xiongnu," records Xulüquanqu Chanyu comparatively briefly, concentrating on the famine, defections of subordinate groups, and the struggle with the Han over Jushi. Ban Gu offers no direct judgment, but through the events he records presents a Xiongnu polity weakened by declining strength and beset by both internal and external pressures.

Later Historians

Later historians often treat Xulüquanqu Chanyu as a transitional ruler during the decline of Xiongnu power. During his reign, the Xiongnu suffered severe natural disaster, escalating internal power struggles, and pressure from the Han and states of the Western Regions, while the authority of the royal court steadily weakened. His deposition of Zhuanqu Yanzhi generated resentment in the Great Juqu of the Left and ultimately contributed to the succession crisis after his death, creating conditions for the irregular enthronement of Woyanqudi Chanyu.

Modern Research

Modern studies of Xiongnu history often focus on competition between the Xiongnu and Han in the Western Regions during Xulüquanqu Chanyu's reign. Some scholars argue that his determination to hold Jushi reflects the strategic importance the Xiongnu placed on routes through the Western Regions, but that declining national strength made prolonged competition with the Han increasingly difficult. The rapid outbreak of internal conflict after his death further indicates that the cohesion of the Xiongnu royal court had already seriously deteriorated during his reign.