Histoire

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At the time when Zhang Qian was tasked in the year -126 with seeking alliances to encircle the Xiongnu, they continued to launch increasingly deadly raids, resulting in several thousand Chinese dead or captive living in the frontier commanderies (Dai, Yanmen, or Shang) in northern China. This forced Wudi, now more confident in consolidating his power and his rear positions, to adopt a new policy towards these « barbarians. » From then on, Chinese offensives aimed at preventing the Xiongnu from concentrating on the edge of Chinese territory became more frequent.

The first success occurred in the autumn of -128 in the Yuyang region with Wei Qing, the new hero of the Chinese army. This was followed by other brilliant and decisive conquests in the spring of -121, led by Huo Qubing, the son of Wei Qing‘s elder sister and « champion of the army, » who was exceptionally granted the title of Guanjun by Wudi. He chose a new tactic of striking like lightning at the head of the Xiongnu armies deep within their territory, which allowed the Chinese to reconquer the Ordos, the entire area south of the Yellow River loop (Hoàng Hà), to establish the commanderies of Shuofang and Wuyuan, and to deport people into the conquered zones with the aim of providing significant long-term logistics to the army in pursuing enemies into other distant and unknown regions.

The empire of Wudi had the means to implement this colonization policy with a population of 50 million inhabitants at that time. It is estimated that more than 2 million Chinese were relocated under Wudi’s reign along the northern border. This policy paid off because these agricultural colonies definitively became, a few years later, the reliable bulwark of China against these « barbarians. » This reminds us of the policy of the Vietnamese in the conquest of Champa and the Mekong Delta and that of the Chinese in today’s Tibet. The incessant harassment by the Xiongnu, agitated like wasps disturbed from their nests, forced Wudi to change tactics by now prioritizing the northern front and temporarily abandoning all his territorial ambitions in the southwest of his empire in the Yunnan region and in the kingdom of Nanyue (Nam Việt), which once included northern Vietnam.

Thanks to the following unchanging strategy:

1°) Attack and push back the Xiongnu as far as possible into their territories by surprise.

2°) Deport populations affected by floods or condemned people into the conquered areas of their Xiongnu adversaries and create new commanderies there. This is the case of the commanderies of Jiuquan, Dunhuang, Zhangye, and Wuwei along the Gansu corridor.

3°) Weaken the Xiongnu by playing the division card and attract the new Xiongnu allies with the tribute system. (creation of five independent allied states (or shuguo) serving as a buffer between his empire and the enemy Xiongnu under his reign)

Wudi thus succeeded in slowing down the momentum of the belligerent Xiongnu. They were forced to transfer their headquarters near Lake Baikal (Siberia) and loosen their grip on all of Eastern Turkestan.

This allowed Wudi to have free hands and regain the expansionist desire towards the South and Northeast to secure trade and gain other allies since Zhang Qian had tried to hint at the existence of a direct route to reach the kingdom of Shendu (India) from the kingdom of Shu (conquered by Shi Huang Di during the Spring and Autumn period (or Chunqiu, 722-453 BC). Zhang Qian had this instinctive deduction during his stay in Daxia (Bactria) where he discovered the products of Shu (bamboo, fabrics, etc.) transported via this direct access route. Wudi tried to reuse the same strategy he had chosen for the Xiongnu.

Annexation of the Southern Kingdoms

Taking advantage of the dissent among the Yue and the death of the king of Nanyue Zhao Yingqi (Triệu Anh Tề), Wudi found the opportunity to incorporate the kingdom of Nanyue into his empire. Since the new king Zhao Xing (Triệu Ái Đế) was only 6 years old, the regency fell to his mother, a Chinese woman named Jiu (Cù Thị). She never hid her attraction to her former homeland as she was very unpopular with her Yue subjects. Wudi tried to bribe her by proposing a deal aimed at incorporating the kingdom of Nanyue into his empire in exchange for royal titles. This plan was aborted due to a coup organized by the prime minister Lü Jia, supported largely by the Yue. This treacherous queen, her son, the new king, and the Han officials were massacred by Lü Jia and his Yue supporters. They installed the new king Zhao Jiande (Triệu Dương Đế), whose mother was a Yue. Furious, Wudi could not let such an affront go unpunished when he had the opportunity to definitively appropriate a region known for its natural wealth and for its ports Canton and Hepu facilitating access to the South Sea. According to Chinese merchants, the economy was flourishing in Nanyue because it had not only pearls, rhinoceros horns, and turtle shells but also precious stones and tree essences. These exotic products would thus become fashionable items at the Han court.

The military expedition was led by General Lu Bode (Lộ Bác Đức) with one hundred thousand sailors from tower ships sent to the site to suppress the Nanyue revolt. He was assisted in this mission by Yang Pu (Dương Bộc), known for his cruel and ruthless nature towards his victims like a hawk on its prey. However, magnanimous Lu Bode played on his reputation and invited his enemies to surrender. He managed to gain the allegiance of the Yue at the end of the military confrontation. As for Lü Jia and his young king Zhao Jiande, they were captured in the spring of 111 BC during their escape. Their heads were displayed at the north gate of the Chang An (Trường An) palace. Known for its regional supremacy, the defeat of Nanyue sounded the death knell for Yue hopes and forced others to submit to the Han. This was the case for the Western Ou (Tây Âu) and the king of Cangwu (Guangxi) (Quảng Tây), as well as the Yelang kingdom (Dạ Lang), which at that time straddled the territories of Guizhou (Quí Châu) and Guangxi. Northern Vietnam was also occupied by the Chinese, who attempted to push their advantage as far as Rinan in Annam.

Wudi divided Northern Vietnam into two commanderies: Jiaozhi (Giao Chỉ) and Jiuzhen (Cửu Chân). The administrative capital of Jiaozhi was initially at Miling (Mê Linh), then later transferred to Lũy Lâu in Bắc Ninh province.

Faced with the disintegration of Minyue (Mân Việt) and the resistance of part of its population (Dong Yue) (Đông Việt), which Wudi considered a source of future trouble, he did not hesitate to use drastic measures. He issued a decree allowing the population of this kingdom to be emptied in 111 BC by deporting all the natives to another area located between the Huai River and the Yangtze River.

Thanks to the conquest of the Yue and Yelang territories, Wudi succeeded in making contact for the first time with the kingdom of Dian and understanding its importance. He soon sent envoys there to convince King Changqian of this kingdom to come to Chang’an to pledge allegiance. Faced with Changqian’s reluctance, Wudi ordered the liquidation of all hostile tribes, particularly the Laojin and Mimo, who attempted to block the southern route mentioned by Zhang Qian to reach Daxia and Central Asia. It was reported that more than twenty thousand enemies were killed or captured during this intervention. King Changqian of Dian was forced to surrender with his subjects. Instead of punishing him, Wudi spared him due to his distant Chinese ancestry and, like the king of Yelang, gave him the royal investiture seal to administer the annexed territory. His kingdom was henceforth transformed into the commandery of Yzhou in 109 BC. Thus ended the annexation of southwestern China (Yunnan) by Wudi.

According to the historian Sima Qian, the issue of relations between the Chinese and the Southwestern barbarians arose because someone saw a « ju » sauce in Panyu (Canton) and the people of Daxia possessed bamboo canes from Qiong (a Southwestern tribe) to humorously recall that Wudi was initially interested only in the existence of the southern route to Daxia for trade. The colonization of the South began to gain momentum while allowing the local Yue aristocracy greater autonomy, as had been granted to the king of Dian. Meanwhile, to separate the Xiongnu from their tributaries, the Wuhuan and Donghu horse herders, Wudi’s army was soon established in Manchuria. Between 109 and 106 BC, Wudi’s army occupied the northern half of the Korean peninsula and established four commanderies there: Letun in the northwest, Zhenfan on the west coast, Lintu in the east, and Xuantu in the north.

The empire was stable. This was largely due to the effort of its predecessor Jing Di to govern throughout a 17-year reign according to the Taoist precept: Rule with minimum intervention. (Wu wei er zhi). Corvées and taxes were greatly reduced. Unfortunately, the splendors of the court accompanied by expensive diplomacy towards the Xiongnu and vassal countries (tribute system) and annexationist policies swallowed up all the human and economic wealth of the country, which allowed Yang to shift into Yin, where landowners (nobles and officials) monopolized all the irrigated lands by buying them at low prices from impoverished peasants. The situation was catastrophic: the rich got richer, the poor got poorer. The people of the capital Luoyang lived in excess and insolence, wearing fine brocades, pearls, and jade, while the fate of the poor worsened, some preferring to become private or government slaves. Disasters and floods spared the country no more. Meanwhile, intrigues and debauchery multiplied at the Han court at the end of the 1st century. Imperial power was weakened by various factions, rivalries between imperial wives, and the machinations of their relatives, which allowed Wang Mang, an ambitious regent minister, to take advantage by poisoning the young Emperor Pingdi (Han Bingdi) (9 years old) in the year 5 AD and usurp the throne with the help of his aunt, Empress Dowager Wang of the empire.

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Politically, the empire of Wudi began to be more firmly established as the renovation of Confucianism offered ambitious and talented people from the common class the opportunity to access important positions in the administration, which until then had been held by the old guard mainly composed of nobles, Taoists, and followers of Huanglao. Thanks to the examination system, merit now replaced birth privileges. However, his empire was not yet safe from rebellion and rivalries, which continued to run rampant in the Han court. The failure of separatism (in 122 BC) by Lord Liu An, known for his encyclopedic work Huainanzi on the knowledge of the time, testified to the difficulty of bringing the nobility under control, even after about fifteen years of Wudi’s reign.

Like his father, Emperor Jindi (Han Jing Di), who had experienced during his reign the revolt organized by the coalition of seven kingdoms led in 154 BC by Prince Wu, Wudi decided to carry through the systematic dismantling of the fiefs of the lords in order to prevent any attempt at rebellion. From then on, the apanage no longer belonged solely to the eldest son of the deceased vassal king but had to be shared among all his sons.

They played no political role apart from the privilege of wealth that their fief provided them. Through this clever fragmentation, it only takes a few generations of succession to make important principalities disappear and disperse their forces. Moreover, he appointed for each region a traveling inspector (thứ sử) responsible for controlling and supervising not only the powerful families but also the prefects. As for the court rivalries, Wudi skillfully took advantage of them by encouraging confrontation and competition among his advisors in sometimes fruitless debates in order to consolidate a powerful but just and moral central power. By appointing a secretariat responsible for examining the reports and petitions of the ministers, he effectively removed the role of the prime minister. It was with this in mind that he strengthened the autocratic nature of his reign. He pardoned no fault when one of his advisors or generals committed one.This was the case of the extraordinary archer Li Guang (Lý Quảng), nicknamed « the flying general » by the Xiongnu. He was demoted for the fault of having gotten lost in the desert with his soldiers during an engagement against the Xiongnu. But his punishment was commuted to a substitute fine. The redemption of penalties and fines was very common during the Han period. Even the defense’s plea risked endangering the defender’s life as he was accused of deceiving the emperor.

This is the case of the famous historian Sima Qian (Tư Mã Thiên) who was sentenced to castration for defending the family of the officer Li Ling (Lý Lăng), grandson of General Li Guang, accused of joining the Xiongnu. The measures taken by Wudi in many areas testified to the worst legalist methods. His advisors and generals were at the mercy of his judgments. They could be easily dismissed from their positions for minor faults before being promoted elsewhere. Rewards and punishments were part of the course of action that Wudi adopted for his collaborators. Their fear allowed Wudi to develop his art of governing wisely. It is rare to find officials under Wudi’s reign holding their positions for more than five years except for Gongsunhe, his minister of carriages, who could keep his position for more than thirty years. Only the scholar Dong Zhongdhu knew how to withdraw from the court at the right time to avoid disgrace.

On the economic front, on the advice of Sang Hongyang (Công Tôn Hoằng), he abolished the law allowing the rich to mint coins, extract salt by evaporation, and cast iron. From then on, the state monopolized these operations to increase its revenues. To help the peasants, the state bought certain goods in surplus when their prices fell and resold them at better prices in case of shortage.

This measure aimed to control price fluctuations and prevent speculation by large merchants. It was also the state’s responsibility to ensure the control of the circulation of goods through the junshu (or state transport offices). Wudi created a tax on the goods (carts, livestock, boats, etc.) of merchants and moneylenders, who were responsible for declaring their capital. In case of fraud, they risked losing their property and being punished with two years of military service at the border.

According to the documents of the historian Sima Qian, the beginning of his reign was favored by six decades of gradual recovery of productive forces encouraged by his predecessors. The state treasury showed a surplus. The population was well clothed and fed. This early period of his reign was known as the yang period, characterized by political stability along with an abundance of food for a population estimated at over 50 million inhabitants according to the first large-scale census in the year 2 AD mentioned by Sima Qian in his historical memoirs. According to the French sinologist Marcel Granet, the policy adopted by Wudi reflected a revolutionary character.

Wudi only cared about his immediate interest, tried to find case-by-case solutions to urgent problems, abandoned them once resolved, and used collaborators for a short time in order to achieve the desired result. When these collaborators became known for their exploits and became too « dangerous, » he decided to eliminate them. The mistrust of a tyrant surrounded by legalist advisors lacking great depth of mind prevented China at that time from seizing the rare opportunity to become a solid and organized country.

His empire could falter overnight. The Xiongnu remained a major concern for Wudi despite the heqin policy adopted so far by his predecessors. Their insubordination and insolence continued to humiliate the Han. To defeat an enemy as elusive as the Xiongnu, Wudi was forced to reorganize his army and make it more capable of mobility, with the objective of dislodging the adversary and seizing their cattle at the heart of their camp through rapid raids with a small number of horsemen, as was done by the Xiongnu. For this reason, the use of chariots was abandoned in military engagements.

Then it was necessary to abandon the tradition of officials wearing the traditional robe in favor of trousers so as not to be hindered in their riding and to overcome the reluctance of the soldiers to mount horses because their legs-apart position was associated with the squatting position used by ordinary people. This tactic allowed strikes against the Xiongnu but did not succeed in subduing them definitively. That is why Wudi had to opt for other measures, among which were the improvement of the road network, which was not only the backbone of the economic system but also the key to success in transporting troops and supplies. There are now postal stations on the Han roads, stables for horses, inns for officials, lodging houses for ordinary travelers, and even jails for prisoners. Over the centuries, the road network thus became the key factor in military expansion and an effective tool for the cultural penetration of the Han. It is only rivaled by the Roman network.

The reign of Wudi marks the golden age of the Han dynasty. It was under this reign that Vietnam was annexed in 111 BC. This was the first Chinese domination lasting nearly 1000 years. 

Bibliographic references.

• Précis d’histoire de Chine. Editions de langues étrangères. Beijing
• Văn Hóa Nam Chiếu-Đại Lý. Nhà xuất bản văn hóa thông tin. Hànội 2004
• La grande époque de Wudi. Editions You Feng. Dominique Lelièvre. 2001
• Lịch sử văn minh Trung Hoa. Will Durant. Nguyễn Hiến Lê dịch. NBX Nhà văn hóa thông tin. 2006

This road network also requires, along the entire northern border in the Gansu region, the installation of several garrisons around their watchtowers, some of which are 18 meters high, with the purpose of monitoring the movement of the Xiongnu, signaling it with smoke signals, protecting those who use the road, and engaging in defensive actions in coordination with the general staff. The victory of the Han also depends on other factors as important as this road network. Supplying provisions for the garrisons is often a daily challenge, not to mention the major difficulties encountered by Wudi’s army in pursuing the Xiongnu beyond the border into unknown regions. This requires the deployment of a large number of horses and gradually improved knowledge of the terrain through map drawing and locating water points, as well as collaboration with local populations. Sometimes, it is essential to quickly replenish the cavalry in case of significant losses. An example can be cited from the Ferghana campaign against the Dayuan in 104 BC. Of the 60,000 soldiers engaged and 3,000 horses taken, Wudi’s general, Li Guanli, returned with 10,000 soldiers and 1,000 horses. For this, the Han court had to encourage people to raise horses for remounts, set the price of a stallion at a fairly high standard price, and promote the introduction of new breeds from western regions.

The rapid reconstitution of the cavalry proves essential in distant expeditions. It is not unrelated to the constantly increasing number of stud farms and the improvement of fodder through the planting of alfalfa (Chi linh lăng), whose seeds were brought back by Zhuang Qian (Trương Khiên) during his exploration mission in Central Asia. It was through this mission that Zhuang Qian discovered in the Ferghana Valley (today’s Uzbekistan) the magnificent horses that sweated blood (*)(ngựa hãn huyết) and brought back in 114 BC some specimens of the same breed offered by the Wusun, allies of Wudi in Central Asia. Their size, speed, and strength pleased Wudi, a great horse enthusiast. But their performance is supposed to be less impressive than that of the Dayun (Ferghana). Thanks to harder hooves, the horses of the Dayun can travel a thousand li per day. Envious of having the horses of the latter, Wudi organized a military expedition against the Dayuan, who made the mistake of refusing to offer them in exchange for gifts. He later did not hesitate to give these equines the name of « heavenly horses » (tianma) (thiên mã). These thus became symbols of power and prestige because Wudi felt humiliated and vexed by the refusal of a small kingdom lost in the Ferghana Valley.

The cost of the military expedition was exorbitant not only in equipment and horses but also in human lives, resulting in a rather mixed outcome with about thirty celestial horses and three thousand more ordinary stallions and mares. Yet Wudi’s army was carefully selected, largely composed of professional soldiers and convicts, as well as cavalry provided by the commanderies of the border regions. These enlisted soldiers had to be capable of remarkable physical endurance, able to undertake long marches and besiege a city. According to the historian Sima Qian, it was not death in combat or lack of supplies that caused these significant losses, but rather thirst and the generals’ obsession with winning the war at all costs, as their lives depended on the success or failure of these operations. Rewards and severe punishments, including death sentences, were part of what Wudi reserved for them without any illusions upon their return to China. Brave generals were forced to commit suicide or surrender to the enemy (Li Quian, Li Ling, Li Guanli, etc.). The Ferghana campaign was completed in just one year (Spring of the year -102 to Spring of the year -101).

Birth of the Silk Road

From now on, after the Ferghana campaign, all the kingdoms located along the route taken by the Han army (later known as the « Silk Road ») accepted the vassalage of China except the Xiongnu. To fight the latter, Wudi first tried to seek alliances with the enemies of the Xiongnu, the Da Yuezhi (or Great Yuezhi) by sending a delegation led by Zhuang Qian to Central Asia in 139 BC. However, he did not succeed in completing his mission because he was held captive by the Xiongnu for 10 years before managing to escape and during his flight discovered Ferghana (Dayuan), Sogdiana (the region of Samarkand), Bactria (present-day Turkmenistan), and the northern part of present-day Afghanistan. On the other hand, upon his return to China in 126 BC, he reported to Wudi. This allowed him to learn about the countries Zhuang Qian had visited and to mention not only the possibility of reaching the kingdom of Shendu (India) from Shu (Sichuan) but also the power of a distant empire called Daquin (the Roman Empire). In the absence of allies against the Xiongnu, it was now possible to find trading partners interested in Chinese products: silk, lacquerware, iron tools, etc., in exchange for jade, horses, and fur.

The Silk Road was thus born and became the link between the East and the West. It was only in the year 115 BCE that Zhuang Qian was once again entrusted by Wudi with a new diplomatic mission to the western regions. This time, he succeeded in bringing back not only a wide variety of plants and natural products (alfalfa, wine, grapes, nuts, pomegranates, beans, woolens, carpets, etc.) but also horse breeders, the Wusun. Impressed by the splendor and wealth of the Han court, they later agreed to join the enterprise proposed by Wudi and implicitly recognized China’s suzerainty. This alliance was followed by the sending of a Chinese princess of royal blood to the king of the Wusun, who had the opportunity to twice inform Wudi of the warlike intentions of the Xiongnu during this alliance.

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Around the year 100 AD, the Han Empire was comparable to that of Rome. The economy of the former was essentially based on peasants, while that of the latter relied on slavery.