Luandi Hutuwusi

Biography

Family Background and Early Years

Zhizhi Chanyu's personal name was Hutuwusi, and he was a son of Xulüquanqu Chanyu. The source states that Xulüquanqu Chanyu had two sons, the elder being the future Huhanye Chanyu and the younger Hutuwusi. In 60 BCE, the second year of the Shenjue era, Xulüquanqu Chanyu died. During his reign he had demoted Zhuanqu Yanzhi, who had been favored by the preceding Huyandi Chanyu. She resented the demotion and conspired with her brother Dulongqi, then holding the Xiongnu office of Great Juqu of the Left, to enthrone the Right Wise King Tuqitang as Woyanqudi Chanyu. After the new chanyu took power, he violently eliminated opponents at the Xiongnu court. The Rizhu King Xianxianchan led his followers to Han, while the future Huhanye Chanyu, a son of Xulüquanqu, could not succeed and fled to his father-in-law Wuchanmu.

In 58 BCE, Huhanye was proclaimed chanyu by nobles of the left wing. Leading forty to fifty thousand troops from the eastern territories, he defeated the increasingly isolated Woyanqudi Chanyu and seized the court. Before this, Hutuwusi had lived away from the court, and the official histories do not record the details. After Huhanye's rise, Hutuwusi was found and brought back. Because he was an able warrior and won military merit in Huhanye's campaigns against rival chanyus, he was made Left Wise King.

Proclaiming Himself Chanyu and Defeating Huhanye

In 56 BCE, Hutuwusi proclaimed himself Zhizhi Chanyu in the eastern Xiongnu territories. In 54 BCE he attacked and killed Runzhen Chanyu in the west and incorporated his followers. In 53 BCE Zhizhi Chanyu defeated Huhanye Chanyu, who controlled eastern Mongolia, drove him away, and occupied the Chanyu court. Huhanye was forced to move south and submit to Han.

After defeating Huhanye, Zhizhi learned that Huhanye had moved near the Han frontier. Huhanye sent a son holding the title Right Wise King to the Han court as an attendant. Zhizhi likewise sent his own son Juyulishou, who held the title Great General of the Right, to Chang'an as a court attendant and also dispatched envoys with tribute. The source explains that this was motivated not by loyalty to Han but by fear that Huhanye might join Han against him. In 51 BCE, Huhanye personally went to Chang'an and submitted to the Han emperor, receiving exceptional honors. Zhizhi likewise sent envoys with tribute, and Han treated them generously.

Western Migration and Expansion

In 50 BCE, believing Huhanye weakened after submission to Han, Zhizhi led his followers west in an attempt to secure the Xiongnu right-wing territories. On the way he encountered Huhanye's younger brother, who had proclaimed himself Yilimu Chanyu. Zhizhi killed him in battle and absorbed more than fifty thousand followers. He then learned that Han had sent the generals Han Chang and Dong Zhong with sixteen thousand elite cavalry to escort Huhanye home and remain to protect him and suppress opponents. Realizing that he lacked the strength to reunify the Xiongnu and could not risk war with Han, Zhizhi continued westward.

He advanced to Wusun and tried to exploit the rivalry between its greater and lesser kunmi, seeking the cooperation of the Lesser Kunmi Wujiutu against the rest of Wusun. The Lesser Kunmi killed Zhizhi's envoy and sent troops against him. Zhizhi defeated him but did not remain on the Wusun frontier. He marched north, successively incorporated Wujie, Jiankun, and Dingling, and established his seat in Jiankun. The source states that Jiankun lay seven thousand li west of the Chanyu court and five thousand li north of Jushi. Zhizhi later sent repeated attacks against Wusun and won frequently, increasing his power.

Killing the Han Envoy and Moving to Kangju

After Emperor Yuan of Han took the throne, Zhizhi resented Han's protection and generous treatment of Huhanye. Because of the great distance, he believed Han could not easily reach him. He petitioned for the return of his son who was serving at the Han court. Han sent Gu Ji as a special envoy to escort the son home, but Zhizhi killed Gu Ji. Knowing that this had made him an enemy of Han and hearing that Huhanye was growing stronger, Zhizhi feared a joint attack by Huhanye and Han and sought to move farther away.

At this time the king of Kangju was under pressure from Wusun and wanted Zhizhi's help. He sent envoys to establish an alliance. Zhizhi therefore led the northern Xiongnu west to Kangju. A severe cold wave struck the migration, and more than half of his followers froze to death; only about three thousand reached Kangju. The king of Kangju gave a daughter in marriage to Zhizhi, and Zhizhi likewise married one of his daughters to the Kangju king, forming a marriage alliance. Using Kangju troops, Zhizhi repeatedly attacked Wusun and also compelled Dayuan and other states to pay annual tribute. The source states that he later became increasingly arrogant, killed the Kangju king's daughter as well as nobles and several hundred other people, and requisitioned Kangju labor to build Zhizhi City beside the Talas River. Peoples from surrounding regions came to join him, and his power temporarily grew strong.

Defeat and Death

In 36 BCE, the third year of the Jianzhao era, Protector-General of the Western Regions Gan Yanshou and deputy commandant Chen Tang feared that Zhizhi's growing power threatened Han control in the Western Regions. Chen Tang persuaded Gan Yanshou to mobilize without prior authorization the troops of the oasis states together with Han agricultural garrisons. The combined Han and allied forces numbered more than forty thousand and were divided into six units for the expedition against Zhizhi.

Three units took the southern route across the Congling Mountains and through Dayuan to Kangju. Three others under Chen Tang and Gan Yanshou took the northern route through Chigu, crossed Wusun territory, and entered Kangju, advancing to the west of Tianchi. At that time a deputy king of Kangju named Baotian led several thousand cavalry to raid east of Chigu in Wusun, killing more than a thousand people and seizing many animals. Chen Tang ordered troops from the Western Regions to attack him, killing more than 460, rescuing more than 470 captives, and taking cattle, horses, and sheep for provisions. On entering Kangju territory, the expedition ordered its soldiers not to plunder. Sixty li from Zhizhi City it camped and captured Kangju nobles, from whom it learned the conditions inside. The next day it camped more than thirty li away, and on the third day deployed three li from the city.

Zhizhi placed several hundred armored men on the walls and shouted challenges at the Han army. More than one hundred cavalry rode outside the city, while more than one hundred infantry stood in formation around the gate. Han archers and crossbowmen shot at the cavalry and infantry, forcing them inside. Troops with shields then advanced in front, with men carrying long weapons, bows, and crossbows behind. They shot at defenders on the walls and burned the outer wooden fortifications. During the night several hundred Xiongnu cavalry tried to break out and were shot down. Zhizhi himself was wounded, and many Yanzhi were killed.

After midnight, more than ten thousand Kangju cavalry surrounded the city in over ten groups to aid Zhizhi, but they feared the Han army and did not engage decisively. They later withdrew. Han troops entered the earthen city and set fires on all sides. Zhizhi Chanyu, badly wounded, died. The source states that the Han victory destroyed the northern Xiongnu and brought the first great division of the Xiongnu to an end.

Major Activities

The Five-Chanyu Struggle and Xiongnu Division

After Xulüquanqu Chanyu died in 60 BCE, succession disputes plunged the Xiongnu into civil conflict. The enthronement of Woyanqudi Chanyu by Zhuanqu Yanzhi and Dulongqi was followed by further struggles. Huhanye Chanyu rose in 58 BCE, and in 57 BCE the Five Chanyus Civil War reached its five-ruler phase. Zhizhi emerged from this conflict, killing Runzhen Chanyu, defeating Huhanye, and killing Yilimu Chanyu, for a time controlling much of the Xiongnu realm. His later westward migration marked another stage in the division between competing Xiongnu powers.

Conflict with Han

Zhizhi's relationship with Han moved from sending a son to court and dispatching tribute envoys to open rupture after his killing of the Han envoy Gu Ji. He resented Han's protection of Huhanye and, because of the distance, believed Han could not easily punish him. The killing of Gu Ji became a major cause of the later expedition by Chen Tang and Gan Yanshou.

Western Migration and Conquests

During his westward movement, Zhizhi killed Yilimu Chanyu and absorbed his followers, defeated the Lesser Kunmi of Wusun, subdued Wujie, conquered Jiankun, and forced Dingling to submit. He later used Kangju troops in repeated attacks against Wusun and exacted tribute from Dayuan and other states. He built Zhizhi City in Kangju as his political and military center, creating an important Xiongnu base in the Western Regions.

Battle of Zhizhi

In 36 BCE, Chen Tang and Gan Yanshou mobilized more than forty thousand Han and allied troops without prior imperial authorization and marched on Zhizhi City by northern and southern routes. After a long expedition they captured the city and killed Zhizhi Chanyu. The campaign became an important Han victory over the Xiongnu. In the memorial after the battle, Chen Tang used the statement that those who openly offended the powerful Han, however far away, should be punished, a phrase later widely repeated.

Screen Portrayals

• In the 2006 television series Zhaojun Chusai, Zhizhi Chanyu was portrayed by Yao Lu, with Wang Zheng portraying him in youth.
• In the 2007 television series Wang Zhaojun, Zhizhi Chanyu was portrayed by Su Desiqin.

The course of his self-elevation and his westward migration can be set out by year: in 57 BCE (first year of Wufeng), amid the wars of the five contending chanyus, he served under Zhizhi's rival Huhanye; in 56 BCE (second year of Wufeng) he made himself Chanyu Zhizhi Guduhou; in 54 BCE (fourth year of Wufeng) he killed Chanyu Runzhen and absorbed his people; in 53 BCE (first year of Ganlu) he defeated Chanyu Huhanye, occupied the chanyu's court and sent his son Juyulishou to attend the Han court; in 51 BCE (third year of Ganlu), when Huhanye submitted to the Han, he too sent envoys with tribute and the Han treated him generously; in 50 BCE (fourth year of Ganlu), on hearing that the Han had sent troops to aid Huhanye, he dared not return to the court and moved west into the right region, killing Chanyu Yilimu and absorbing his people, attacking the Wusun in the west and defeating the Lesser Kunmi Wujiutu, attacking the Wujie in the north and reducing them, then using their troops to break the Jiankun in the west and reduce the Dingling in the north, making his capital among the Jiankun; in 44 BCE (fifth year of Chuyuan) he killed the Han envoy Gu Ji, allied with Kangju and moved west to build a city in eastern Kangju; in 36 BCE (third year of Jianzhao) the Han protector general of the western regions Gan Yanshou and his deputy Chen Tang, on their own authority, led troops against his city, which fell, and he died of his wounds. His migration and building of a city mark the concrete path by which the northern branch of the Xiongnu expanded into Central Asia after the split.

His activity after migrating west also affected the relations between the Han and the states of the western regions: his killing of the Han envoy Gu Ji, his alliance with Kangju and the city he built in eastern Kangju disturbed Han communications and security in the west; in 36 BCE the Han protector general of the western regions Gan Yanshou and his deputy Chen Tang, on their own authority, led troops against his city, which fell and he was killed, after which the northern Xiongnu threat to the west was essentially removed. Chen Tang's memorial after the campaign, that "those who openly offend the mighty Han will be pursued however far away", became the phrase most often quoted in later accounts of the affair. His self-elevation as a chanyu of a cadet line, his migration into Central Asia and his building of a city to hold out form the main thread of the northern branch's history after the Xiongnu split.

His migration and city-building matter because they changed the geopolitical pattern after the Xiongnu split: a people formerly centred on the northern steppe divided into the southern line that submitted to the Han under Huhanye and the western enterprise of the Zhizhi line, the latter pushing its range towards the Wusun, Kangju and Jiankun, so that Han communications and security in the west required a response. In the end the Han settled the Zhizhi question by a campaign launched on a subordinate's own authority, and the procedural dispute over whether Gan Yanshou and Chen Tang had exceeded their powers was much discussed afterwards, which itself attests the importance of the affair. Down to the Eastern Han the weight of the northern Xiongnu had shifted towards Central Asia, going its own way from the southern branch in the steppe.

Personal Relations

• Xulüquanqu Chanyu: father
• Huhanye Chanyu: elder brother and political rival
• Juyulishou: son, held the title Great General of the Right and served at the Han court
• Daughter of the king of Kangju: wife, later killed by Zhizhi according to the source
• Woyanqudi Chanyu: political rival, defeated by Huhanye
• Huhanye Chanyu: brother and political rival, defeated by Zhizhi before submitting to Han
• Runzhen Chanyu: attacked and killed by Zhizhi
• Yilimu Chanyu: killed by Zhizhi
• Wujiutu: Lesser Kunmi of Wusun who fought Zhizhi
• Gu Ji: Han envoy killed by Zhizhi
• Gan Yanshou: Han Protector-General of the Western Regions who led the expedition against Zhizhi
• Chen Tang: Han deputy commandant who led the expedition against Zhizhi
• Emperor Xuan of Han: Zhizhi sent tribute envoys during his reign
• Emperor Yuan of Han: Zhizhi killed Gu Ji and was ultimately defeated during his reign
• King of Kangju: ally by marriage who later came into conflict with Zhizhi

Historical Assessment

Han and Contemporary Assessments

• The Book of Han, in its account of the Xiongnu, depicts Zhizhi as resenting Han's protection of Huhanye and relying on the great distance separating him from Han, presenting him as arrogant and ungrateful.
• The Book of Han biography of Chen Tang gives a detailed account of the campaign against Zhizhi and presents Zhizhi as the target of Han military action while emphasizing the achievements of Chen Tang and Gan Yanshou.
• The source text states that officials under Emperor Yuan regarded Zhizhi, who had killed a Han envoy and used violence in the Western Regions, as a frontier threat that required suppression.

Later Historians

• Sima Guang's Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government records Zhizhi's westward migration and defeat in chronological detail and treats the episode as an important point in the decline of Xiongnu power.
• Wang Fuzhi's Du Tongjian Lun discusses Zhizhi and weighs Chen Tang's unauthorized mobilization and achievement against the legal problem of acting without orders.
• Gu Zuyu's Dushi Fangyu Jiyao examined the location of Zhizhi City and placed it beside the Talas River, providing a geographical reference for later study.

Modern Assessments

• Modern scholarship commonly treats Zhizhi's death in 36 BCE as a major endpoint in the Xiongnu's first division and views his westward migration and defeat as important events in the decline of Xiongnu power.
• Some scholars argue that his movement westward also increased contact between the Xiongnu and peoples of the Western Regions, although the source text attributes his eventual defeat to his violent rule.
• The statement associated with Chen Tang after the Battle of Zhizhi later became widely quoted in discussions of Han military power and historical memory.