Zhizhi or Chi-Chi (, from

Old Chinese Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese language, Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones ...

(58 BCE): *''tśit-kie'' < *''tit-ke'';Schuessler 2014, p. 277 died 36 BCE), also known as Jzh-jzh, was a

chanyu Chanyu () or Shanyu (), short for Chengli Gutu Chanyu (), was the title used by the supreme rulers of Inner Asian nomads for eight centuries until superseded by the title "''Khagan''" in 402 AD. The title was most famously used by the ruling L ...

of the

Xiongnu Empire 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 209& ...

at the time of the first Xiongnu

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, who held the north and west in contention with his younger brother Huhanye who held the south. His original name in Chinese transcription was Luandi Hutuwusi (), i.e. one of the Worthy Princes of the East (of the

Luandi The Luandi (; alternatively written as Xulianti ) was the ruling clan of the Xiongnu that flourished from the 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 Lat ...

clan). When Hutuwusi's father,

Xulüquanqu Xulüquanqu () was a ''chanyu'' of the Xiongnu Empire 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 1 ...

Chanyu, died in 60 BCE, power was seized by a distant relative,

Woyanqudi Woyanqudi (), born Tuqitang (), was a ''chanyu'' of the Xiongnu Empire The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century ...

. In 58 BCE, Huhanye, a younger son of Xulüquanqu, revolted and made himself chanyu.

committed suicide soon after. In 56 BCE Hutuwusi, elder brother of Huhanye, revolted, called himself Zhizhi Chanyu, and drove Huhanye out of the royal domain. As Zhizhi grew more powerful, Huhanye moved south and submitted to the Chinese in 53 BCE. Huhanye then used Chinese support to strengthen himself against his elder brother. Zhizhi tried to offer tribute to the Chinese and sent his son as hostage, but the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

favored Huhanye. Growing weaker, in 49 BCE Zhizhi began moving west in the hope of reconstituting his empire. In the same year, Yilimu, a brother of Woyuanqudi, declared himself chanyu and was killed by Zhizhi. He successfully fought the

Wusun The Wusun ( ) were an ancient semi-Eurasian nomads, nomadic Eurasian Steppe, steppe people of unknown origin mentioned in Chinese people, Chinese records from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. The Wusun originally l ...

, gained control of the

Dingling The Dingling (174 BCE); (200 BCE); Eastern Han Chinese: *''teŋ-leŋ'' < Old Chinese: *''têŋ-rêŋ'' were an ancient people who appear in Chinese historiography in the context of the 1st century BCE. The Dingling are considered to have been ...

and made his capital in the lands of the

Jiankun The Yenisei Kyrgyz () were an ancient Turkic languages, Turkic people who dwelled along the upper Yenisei River in the southern portion of the Minusinsk Depression from the 3rd century BCE to the 13th century CE. The heart of their homeland was ...

who may have been the Yenisei Kirghiz (these last two are on the southern edge of Siberia). In 44 BCE he was reported to be on the north slope of the

Tian Shan The Tian Shan, also known as the Tengri Tagh or Tengir-Too, meaning the "Mountains of God/Heaven", is a large system of mountain ranges in Central Asia. The highest peak is Jengish Chokusu at high and located in Kyrgyzstan. Its lowest point is ...

in modern

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

. The Han court returned his hostage son. For unknown reasons, Zhizhi murdered the envoy who accompanied his son. He made a marriage alliance with the rulers of

Kangju Kangju (; Eastern Han Chinese: ''kʰɑŋ-kɨɑ'' standard Chinese ''Kāngjū''), proposes that it was an Iranian word meaning "stone", and compares it to Pashto ''kā́ṇay'' "stone". Joseph Marquart, Omeljan Pritsak and Peter B. Golde ...

near

Lake Balkhash Lake Balkhash, also spelt Lake Balqash (, , ), is a lake in southeastern Kazakhstan, one of the largest lakes in Asia and the 15th largest in the world. It is located in the eastern part of Central Asia and sits in the Balkhash-Alakol Basin, ...

and led his entire tribe westward. They suffered greatly from cold and only 3,000 people reached Kangju (it is not clear if this was the whole population or only fighting men). In alliance with the

he plundered the

. Later he quarreled with the Kangju, killed several hundred of them and forced the Kangju people to build him a fortress on the Dulaishui River (possibly the

Ili River The Ili River (, , ; ; ; zh, 伊犁河, ; , ; , ) is a river in Northwest China and Southeastern Kazakhstan. It flows from the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region to the Almaty Region in Kazakhstan. It ...

or the Talas River). He also extracted tribute from

Dayuan Dayuan (or Tayuan; ; Middle Chinese ''dâiC-jwɐn'' <

LHC

: ''dɑh-ʔyɑn'') is the Chinese

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of Nomad, nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese historiography, Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, t ...

was their mobile cavalry. The Chinese commander of the

Western Regions The Western Regions or Xiyu (Hsi-yü; ) was a historical name specified in Ancient Chinese chronicles between the 3rd century BC to the 8th century AD that referred to the regions west of the Yumen Pass, most often the Tarim Basin in prese ...

began to fear that Zhizhi was planning to build a large empire and launched a preemptive attack. In 36 BCE, Han generals Chen Tang and Gan Yanshou led a force of 40,000 into

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

against the Xiongnu and their Kangju allies. They reached Wusun territory and then advanced on Kangju. A Kangju raiding party attacked them and took their wagons, but a counterattack drove off their forces, and the Han army was able to recover their supply train. Upon reaching Kangju (around modern

Taraz Taraz ( ; also historically known as Talas) is a city and the administrative center of Jambyl Region in Kazakhstan, located on the Talas (river), Talas (Taraz) River in the south of the country near the border with Kyrgyzstan. It had a populatio ...

), the army started constructing a fortified camp, but the Xiongnu attacked them. After driving off the Xiongnu with crossbows, they secured their camp and advanced on the enemy city with a shield and spear formation in front and crossbowmen behind. The crossbowmen rained down on the defenders manning the walls until they fled, then the spearmen drained the moat and started stacking firewood against the palisade. A Kangju relief force made several attacks on the Han position at night, delaying the assault and allowing the defenders to repair their walls. When the Han army attacked, the city fell with ease and Zhizhi Chanyu was killed and decapitated. Zhizhi's head was then brought to

Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...

and presented to

Emperor Yuan of Han Emperor Yuan of Han, personal name Liu Shi (劉奭; 75 BC – 8 July 33 BC), was an Emperor of China, emperor of the Chinese Han dynasty. He reigned from 48 BC to 33 BC. Emperor Yuan promoted Confucianism as the official creed of the Chinese go ...

. During the battle, an infantry unit on the Kangju side used a formation described as having the appearance of fish scales, which has caused speculation that they were Greek

Hoplites Hoplites ( ) ( ) were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with fewer soldiers. The formation discouraged the soldi ...

from the Kingdom of Dayuan. Evidence is inconclusive.

References

* Yap, Joseph P. (2009). ''Wars With The Xiongnu, A Translation from

Zizhi tongjian The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...

''. AuthorHouse, Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.A. , Chapters 10–12.

See also

References

Further reading