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Chanyu () or Shanyu (), short for Chengli Gutu Chanyu (), was the title used by the supreme rulers of Inner Asian
nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
s for eight centuries until superseded by the title "'' Khagan''" in 402 CE. The title was most famously used by the ruling
Luandi The Luandi (; alternatively written as Xulianti ) was the ruling clan of the ancient Xiongnu that flourished between 3rd century BCE to 4th century CE. The form Luandi comes from the ''Book of Han'', while the form Xulianti comes from the ''Book of ...
clan of the
Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...
during the
Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...
(221–206 BCE) and
Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...
(206 BCE–220 CE). It was later also used infrequently by the Chinese as a reference to Gokturk leaders.


Etymology

According to the '' Book of Han'', "the Xiongnu called the
Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
(天) '' Chēnglí'' (撐犁) and they called a child (子) ''gūtú'' (孤塗). As for ''Chányú'' (單于), it is a "vast ndgreat appearance" (廣大之貌).". L. Rogers and Edwin G. Pulleyblank argue that the title ''chanyu'' may be equivalent to the later attested title '' tarkhan'', suggesting that the Chinese pronunciation was originally ''dān-ĥwāĥ'', an approximation for ''*darxan''.Universität Bonn. Seminar für Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaft Zentralasiens: Zentralasiatische Studien, Vol. 24–26, p.21 Linguist Alexander Vovin tentatively proposes a Yeniseian etymology for 撐犁孤塗單于, in Old Chinese pronunciation ''*treng-ri kwa-la dar-ɢwā'', from four roots: *''*tɨŋgɨr-'' "high", *''kwala-'' "son, child", *''tɨl'' "lower reaches of the Yenisei" or "north", and *''qʌ̄j'' ~ *''χʌ̄j'' "prince"; as a whole "Son of Heaven, Ruler of the North"."Did the Xiongnu speak a Yeniseian language? Part 2: Vocabulary", in ''Altaica Budapestinensia MMII, Proceedings of the 45th Permanent International Altaistic Conference, Budapest'', June 23–28, pp. 389–394.


List of Xiongnu Chanyus


Notes


Northern Xiongnu (北匈奴)


Southern Xiongnu (南匈奴)


Da Chanyu (大單于)


Chanyu family trees






See also

* Shan Yu * Mulan *
Khan Khan may refer to: *Khan (inn), from Persian, a caravanserai or resting-place for a travelling caravan *Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name *Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by ...


References


Further reading

* Yap, Joseph P. (2019). The Western Regions, Xiongnu and Han, from the Shiji, Hanshu and Hou Hanshu. {{ISBN, 978-1792829154. Heads of state Royal titles Noble titles Titles of national or ethnic leadership Chinese royal titles