Qin's campaign against the Xiongnu
| Qin's campaign against the Xiongnu | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Qin empire | Xiongnu | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| General Meng Tian | Touman | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Reported as 100,000 or 300,000 troops[1][2] | -- | ||||||
In 215 BC, Qin Shi Huangdi ordered General Meng Tian to set out against the Xiongnu tribes,[3] situated in the Ordos region, and establish a frontier region at the Ordos Loop.[1] Believing that the Xiongnu were a possible threat, the emperor launched a preemptive strike against the Xiongnu with the intention to expand his empire.[1]
In 215 BC, General Meng Tian succeeded in defeating the Xiongnu and driving them from the Ordos region, then he seized their homeland.[4] After the catastrophic defeat at the hands of General Meng Tian, the Xiongnu leader Touman was forced to flee far into the Mongolian Plateau.[5] As a result of the northward expansion, the threat that the Qin empire posed to the Xiongnu ultimately led to the reorganization of the many tribes into a confederacy.[6]
General Meng Tian was instructed to secure the frontier with a line of fortifications, which would become known as the Great Wall of China.[7] Fusu (Prince of Qin) and General Meng Tian were stationed at a garrison in Suide and soon began with the construction of the walled defenses, which would be connected with the old walls from the Qin, Yan, and Zhao states.[8] The Qin walls ran from Liaodong to Lintao, thus enclosing the conquered Ordos region.[4]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 Cosmo 1999, 964.
- ↑ Ebrey, Walthall & Palais 2009, 51.
- ↑ Grousset, Rene (1970). The Empire of the Steppes. Rutgers University Press. pp. 26–27. ISBN 0-8135-1304-9.
- 1 2 Beckwith 2009, 71.
- ↑ Beckwith 2009, 71–72.
- ↑ Cosmo 1999, 892–893.
- ↑ Higham 2004, 221.
- ↑ Cheng 2005, 15.
Bibliography
- Beckwith, Christopher I. (2009). Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691150345.
- Cheng, Dalin (2005). "The Great Wall of China". Borders and border politics in a globalizing world. Lanham: SR Books. ISBN 0-8420-5103-1.
- Cosmo, Nicola Di (1999). "The northern frontier in pre-imperial China". The Cambridge history of ancient China: From the origins of civilization to 221 B.C. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-47030-7.
- Ebrey, Patricia Buckley; Walthall, Anne; Palais, James B. (2009). East Asia: A cultural, social, and political history (2nd ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-547-00534-8.
- Higham, Charles F.W. (2004). Encyclopedia of ancient Asian civilizations. New York: Facts On File. ISBN 0-8160-4640-9.