Xiutu

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Xiutu' kingdom, west of Wuwei, was attacked by Huo Qubing in 121 BCE.

Xiutu (Chinese: 休屠王; pinyin: Xiūtú Wáng, also rendered as Hsiu-tu, lit. "The king who puts an end to massacres") was a king in the Hexi corridor of the Gansu region, west of Wuwei, during the 2nd century BCE. "Xiutu" (休屠) is also an early Chinese transliteration for the name of the Buddha.[1][2]

According to the Shiji and the Book of Han, King Xiutu, together with King Hunye, was a vassal of the Xiongnu under their ruler Yizhixie (伊稚邪 126–114 BCE), and was antagonistic with the Han dynasty.[3][4]

King Xiutu, considered as "Hu" (胡, barbarian) by the Han,[5] was positioned between the Xiongnu tribes of the Mongolian steppes to the north, the Han to the east, the Saka to the northwest, the Tocharians to the west, and the Southern Qiang (南羌, Nanqiang) to the south.

Although a vassal, Xiutu was probably not himself a Xiongnu: it is actually reported that his territory was occupied by the Xiongnu as they were pushed westward by the Han.[6]

Kingdom of Xiutu

The City of Xiutu () was about 20km north of Wuwei, and about 500km beyond Guyuan and its Great Wall built by King Zhao of Qin in 271 BCE (), and by Qin Shihuang (circa 210 BCE, ).[7][8][9]

The Kingdom of Xiutu is closely associated to the Shajing culture (700–100 BCE), which managed to prosper along rivers in an ecological context of general aridification. The Shajing Culture was able to flourish along the lower Shiyang River as the Zhuye Lake was retreating, while the city of Xiutu prospered along the Hongshui River, permitting a flourishing of nomadic culture within a context of drought.[10] The predecessors of Xiutu in the area of the Hexi Corridor, before the Xiongnu occupation around 176 BCE, were probably the Yuezhi.[11]

The city of Xiutu (休屠城), about 20 km north of Wuwei, has left monumental ruins (38°08′51″N 102°41′35″E / 38.147380°N 102.693031°E / 38.147380; 102.693031), located on the ancient border of Zhuye Lake.[7] After the conquests of Huo Qubing (121 BCE) the city would be incorporated just inside of the Great Wall built under the Han dynasty.[7] The Minqin Basin along the Shiyang River was named "Xiutuze" (休屠泽, "Lake Xiutu") after the King.[12][13]

The number of Xiongnus living in the Hexi Corridor at that time is estimated at 50,000 people, and they were living along the rivers, were water resources were naturally abundant.[12]

Han-Xiongnu war

When the Han–Xiongnu War (133-89 BCE) broke out, the Han dynasty led a campaign against the rulers of the Hexi corridor. In 121 BCE, Huo Qubing was put in charge of an attack on the Hexi corridor, leading 10,000 light cavalry.[3] He defeated the troops of the Xiongnu.[3] Kings Xiutu and Hunye (浑邪) decided to surrender to the Han, as they were also criticized by the Xiongnu for their military failure.[3] But meeting Huo Qubing with his troops, Xiutu renounced his promise and was killed nu King Hunye who also seized his troops.[3] Huo Qubing then attacked the troops of Hunye, killing 8,000 troops, and obtaining the surrender of the remaining 40,000.[3] King Hunye was sent to Chang'an where he was welcomed by Han Wudi, who gave him the title of Duke.[3][14][15]

King Xiutu has a son named Midi, born in 134 BC, who was also captured and became a close aid to Han Wudi, becoming known as Jin Midi (金日磾) in Chinese.

Gold statues

Mogao Caves 8th-century mural depicting Emperor Wu of Han worshipping "golden man" statues.

The Shiji records that in 121 BCE, after Huo Qubing defeated the Xiongnu, he "captured golden (or gilded) men used by the King of Xiutu to worship Heaven", and these were then transferred to the Ganquan Temple near the Imperial Palace of Han Wudi.[16][17] The statue (or statues) measured more than one zhang (about 3 meters), and was put on display, incense was burned and prostrations were made.[18]

The expression "金人" ("golden men") to describe this statue is rather curious and untechnical. Sima Qian probably personally saw which was brought back by Huo Qubing in 121 BCE, while he was working on his Records of the Grand Historian.[19][17] The strange expression "Golden men" may betray some unfamiliarity with this kind of free-standing anthropomorphic idols.[19]

These golden statues were unlikely to be Buddhist because the Xiutu are not known to have been Buddhist and Jin Midi became very popular at the Chinese court to the point where his peculiarities were noted, but not worship of Buddhism.[20] Jin Midi was only said to have worshipped the golden statue, now in the Imperial Palace, and this is the reason why he was given the family name "Jin" ("Gold") by the Emperor Han Wudi.[21][22]

Still, the term "Xiutu" (休屠) is also known to have been used in Chinese as an early transliteration for the name of the Buddha and for Buddhist monks.[1][23][2] This has reinforced suggestions that King Xiutu and the golden statue may have had a Buddhist character, leading to claims that Buddhism already entered China by the time of the Western Han (202 BCE–9 CE).[2] According to Christoph Baumer and others, "it is conceivable that this 'Golden man' was a statue of the Buddha".[24][25]

A New Account of the Tales of the World (c. 6th century CE) claims that the golden statues were more than ten feet high, and Emperor Wu of Han sacrificed to it in the Ganquan 甘泉 palace, which "is how Buddhism gradually spread into (China)."[26] In Cave 323 in Mogao caves (near Dunhuang in the Tarim Basin), Emperor Wudi is shown worshipping two golden statues, with the following inscription (which closely paraphrases the traditional accounts of Huo Qubing's expedition):[16]

漢武帝將其部眾討凶奴,並獲得二金(人),(各)長丈餘,刊〔列〕之於甘泉宮,帝(以)為大神,常行拜褐時
Emperor Han Wudi directed his troops to fight the Xiongnu and obtained two golden statues more than 1 zhàng [3 meters] tall, that he displayed in the Ganquan Palace and regularly worshipped.

— Inscription of Cave 323 in the Mogao caves

The Han expedition to the west and the capture of booty by general Huo Qubing is well documented, but the later Buddhist interpretation at the Mogao Caves of the worship of these statues as a means to propagate Buddhism in China is probably apocryphal, since Han Wudi is not known to have ever worshipped the Buddha.[27]

The statue(s) were moved to a temple in Yong county, Yunyang 雲陽 prefecture, near the royal summer palace Ganquan 甘泉 (modern Xianyang, Shaanxi), in the former capital of the Qin dynasty. Wei Shou believes it was located in the palace. The Ganquan Palace was a place of worship. Jin Midi, the son of Xiutu, became a favorite of Emperor Wu, who expanded the Ganquan Palace and spent much time there. Due to Emperor Wu's close relations with Jin, both his parents were honored and the golden statue(s) were placed in a temple dedicated to the spirit of Jinglu (a type of precious Xiongnu sword) for the worship of Xiutu. The locale seems to have been devoted to foreign deities as another temple dedicated to Yue practices was located in the same place. The golden statue(s) later disappeared and the temple came to be known for the sword.[16]

Han occupation of the Hexi corridor

Following their conquest of the Hexi corridor, Han authorities incorporated the new territories into prefectures and counties, such as the Wuwei Prefecture. Numerous people were transferred from the Central Plains, to repopulate the Hexi Corridor.[12][28]

Descendants of Xiutu

Family trees of King Xiutu and the Ban family.[29][30][31]
General Ban Chao was a descendant of the Xiongnu King Xiutu.[29]

The Xiongnu king Xiutu was one the ancestors of the famous Ban family, and included in his direct descendants through the maternal line the famous historian of the Hanshu Ban Gu, the diplomat and general Ban Chao, the female historian Ban Zhao etc...[29] Xiutu had two sons, Jin Midi, who was given the Jin name by Emperor Han Wudi, and Jin Lun (金伦). One of Jin Lun's grandson was Jin Chang (金敞), an attendant to Emperor Yuan of Han (48-33 BCE), whose daughter married Ban Zhi (班穉) of the Ban clan (班). Ban Zhi and his Xiongnu wife became the direct and immediate ancestors of the famous members of the Ban family: their son was the historian and politician Ban Biao, one of their grandsons was historian Ban Gu, and another grandson was General Ban Chao, their granddaughter was Ban Zhao.[30][29] The Xiongnu origins of Ban Biao on the maternal side might help explain the skills of his illustrious son and grandsons in dealing with matters related to China's history and foreign relations.[29]

References

  1. ^ a b Wagner, Donald B. (16 March 2016). A Classical Chinese Reader: The Han Shu biography of Huo Guang. Routledge. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-136-80541-7.
  2. ^ a b c "佛學大辭典/休屠 - 維基文庫，自由的圖書館". zh.wikisource.org (in Traditional Chinese). 魚豢魏略西夷傳曰：「哀帝元壽元年，博士弟子景盧，受大月氏王使伊存口傳休屠經。"Yu Huan [3rd centuy CE] in his Weilüe " "Accounts of the Western Barbarians" says: In the first year of Yuanshou (2 BCE), during the reign of Emperor Ai, the National University Student Jing Xian received verbal instructions from Yicun, the envoy of the king of the Da Yuezhi, on the Xiutu (Buddhist) sūtras."
    Translation in Whitfield, Roderick (Ed.) (2012). Collected Works of Korean Buddhism (Vol.10) Korean Buddhist Culture: Accounts of a Pilgrimage, Monuments, and Eminent Monks (Vol.10) (PDF). Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. p. 190, note 34.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Liu, Jinbao (25 March 2022). The General Theory of Dunhuang Studies. Springer Nature. p. 9. ISBN 978-981-16-9073-0.
  4. ^ Hanshu (28.2) says: “自武威以西,本匈奴昆邪王休屠王地,” meaning: “West of Wuwei, there was the Xiongnu king Hunye (and) the king Xiutu.”
  5. ^ His son Jin Midi was said to be a Hu: 貴戚多竊怨，曰：「陛下妄得一胡兒，反貴重之！」上聞，愈厚焉。in Ford, Randolph B. (23 April 2020). Rome, China, and the Barbarians: Ethnographic Traditions and the Transformation of Empires. Cambridge University Press. p. 124, note 96. ISBN 978-1-108-59660-2.
  6. ^ The Hanshu yin yi (漢書音義) says: "The place where the Xiongnus worshipped Heaven was originally at the foot of Mt. Ganquan (Ganquan xia 甘泉下), in Yunyang district (雲陽). After the Qin (秦) took their land, they moved westward to King Xiutu. Xiutu possessed the anthropomorphic golden statue for worshipping Heaven." (匈奴祭天处本在雲陽甘泉山下、秦奪其地、後徙之休屠王右地、故休屠有祭天金人、象. 祭天人也。)
  7. ^ a b c Li, Yu; Zhang, Zhansen; Zhou, Xueru; Gao, Mingjun; Li, Haiye; Xue, Yaxin; Duan, Junjie (1 May 2023). "Paleo-environmental changes and human activities in Shiyang River Basin since the Late Glacial". Chinese Science Bulletin. doi:10.1360/TB-2022-0965. S2CID 257736583.
  8. ^ Qingbo, Duan (2022). "Sino-Western Cultural Exchange as Seen through the Archaeology of the First Emperor's Necropolis". Journal of Chinese History 中國歷史學刊. 7: 56. doi:10.1017/jch.2022.25. ISSN 2059-1632. S2CID 251690411.
  9. ^ Wu, Xiaolong (2013). "Cultural hybridity and social status: elite tombs on China's Northern Frontier during the third century BC". Antiquity. 87 (335): 121–136. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00048663. ISSN 0003-598X. S2CID 155615456.
  10. ^ Li, Yu; Zhang, Zhansen; Zhou, Xueru; Gao, Mingjun; Li, Haiye; Xue, Yaxin; Duan, Junjie (1 May 2023). "Paleo-environmental changes and human activities in Shiyang River Basin since the Late Glacial". Chinese Science Bulletin: 3884. doi:10.1360/TB-2022-0965. S2CID 257736583. The long period of warm and humid climatic conditions from the Late Glacial to the Middle Holocene favoured the development and expansion of the Majiayao and Qijia cultures. This stable and agriculturally suitable climate was conducive to increased food production, which contributed to rapid population growth. However, the continuous aridification that began in the Late Holocene led to a decline in agricultural production and insufficient food and water supply, which hampered population growth and cultural development. In contrast, the Shajing Culture flourished along the lower Shiyang River with the retreat of the Zhuye Lake, the Xiongnu Empire established the city of Xiutu along the Hongshui River, which experienced downcutting linked to the arid environment, and a nomadic culture emerged against the backdrop of drought in the Shiyang River Basin. These findings suggest that the impact of arid environments on the development of ancient civilizations was not always negative, and that humans responded to environmental changes by changing their production methods, thus promoting continued social development.
  11. ^ Rong, Xin jiang (2013). Eighteen lectures on Dunhuang. Leiden Boston: Brill. pp. 19–20. ISBN 9789004252332.
  12. ^ a b c Xie, Yaowen; Bie, Qiang; He, Chansheng (2 November 2017). "Human settlement and changes in the distribution of river systems in the Minqin Basin over the past 2000 years in Northwest China". Ecosystem Health and Sustainability. 3 (11). doi:10.1080/20964129.2017.1401011. ISSN 2096-4129. S2CID 133989567.
  13. ^ The Minqin Basin appeared like a lake named “Xiutuze,” named after the King of the Huns- “Xiutu” (Li Citation1986)
  14. ^ A CONCISE COMMENTARY ON MONOGRAPHS ON THE WESTERN REGIONS IN THE OFFICIAL HISTORY BOOKS OF THE WESTERN & EASTERN HAN, WEI, JIN, SOUTHERN & NORTHERN DYNASTIES. Beijing Book Co. Inc. 1 July 2021. p. 66. ISBN 978-7-100-19365-8.
  15. ^ Brown, Kerry (27 December 2017). Berkshire Dictionary of Chinese Biography. Berkshire Publishing Group. p. 344. ISBN 978-1-933782-61-4.
  16. ^ a b c Dubs, Homer H. (1937). "The "Golden Man" of Former Han Times". T'oung Pao. 33 (1): 4–6. ISSN 0082-5433. JSTOR 4527117.
  17. ^ a b 《史记》〈匈奴列传〉：“其明年春，汉使骠骑将军去病将万骑出陇西，过焉支山千馀里，击匈奴，得胡首虏（骑）万八千馀级，破得休屠王祭天金人。”
  18. ^ Jülch, Thomas (2019). Zhipan's account of the history of Buddhism in China: from the times of the Buddha to the Nanbeichao era. Leiden Boston (Mass.): Brill. p. 47. ISBN 9789004396494. Fourth year: The Cavalry General Huo Qubing 霍去病 attacked the Xiongnu, crossed the Yanzhi Mountains [travelling] more than 1,000 li, and captured the golden man, which the King of the Xiutu had used for his sacrifices to heaven. After Huo Qubing had attained the golden man measuring more than one zhang, the emperor regarded him as a great deity, and displayed him in the Ganquan Palace 甘泉宮. Incense was burned and prostrations were made.
  19. ^ a b Dubs, Homer H. (1937). "The "Golden Man" of Former Han Times". T'oung Pao. 33 (1): 5. ISSN 0082-5433. JSTOR 4527117.
  20. ^ Dubs, Homer H. (1937). "The "Golden Man" of Former Han Times". T'oung Pao. 33 (1): 1–14. doi:10.1163/156853237X00019. ISSN 0082-5433. JSTOR 4527117.
  21. ^ Dubs, Homer H. (1937). "The "Golden Man" of Former Han Times". T'oung Pao. 33 (1): 6. JSTOR 4527117.
  22. ^ "本以休屠作金人為祭天主，故因賜姓金氏云。" (HS 68:23b9) in "《漢書》（前漢書）:霍光金日磾傳第三十八 數位經典". www.chineseclassic.com.
  23. ^ Whitfield, Roderick (Ed.) (2012). Collected Works of Korean Buddhism (Vol.10) Korean Buddhist Culture: Accounts of a Pilgrimage, Monuments, and Eminent Monks (Vol.10) (PDF). Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. p. 190, note 34. King Xiutu (休屠王): the name Xiutu was another transliteration of the Sanskrit word Buddha, used in early Chinese translations; it was also sometimes used as a term for a Buddhist monk. (...) In the "Accounts of the Western Barbarians" (西夷傳) section of the Brief Account of the Wei Dynasty (Weilüe: 魏略) we find the following passage, "In the first year of Yuanshou (2 BC), during the reign of Emperor Ai, the National University Student Jing Xian received verbal instructions from Yicun, the envoy of the king of the Da Yuezhi, on the Xiutu (Buddhist) sūtras ..." (哀帝元壽元年, 博士弟子景憲, 受大月氏王使伊存口傳休屠經). As the term "Xiutu sūtras" in this passage refers to Buddhist sūtras, we can see that Xiutu was also used as another way of transcribing the word Buddha."
  24. ^ Baumer, Christoph (18 April 2018). History of Central Asia, The: 4-volume set. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-83860-868-2.
  25. ^ Barbieri-Low, Anthony J.; Yates, Robin D. S. (2 November 2015). Law, State, and Society in Early Imperial China (2 vols): A Study with Critical Edition and Translation of the Legal Texts from Zhangjiashan Tomb no. 247. BRILL. p. 1006, note 90. ISBN 978-90-04-30053-8. The Golden Man (possibly an image of the Buddha)
  26. ^ Zurcher, Erik (2007). Buddhist Conquest of China. Brill. p. 21. ISBN 978-90-04-15604-3.
  27. ^ Whitfield, Roderick; Whitfield, Susan; Agnew, Neville (2000). Cave Temples of Mogao: Art and History on the Silk Road. Getty Publications. pp. 18–19. ISBN 978-0-89236-585-2.
  28. ^ In the early Western Han Dynasty (121–128 BC), the Emperor Hanwu launched three battles against Hun People and achieved a decisive victory. Since then the Minqin Basin was incorporated into the territory of the central plains dynasty. Large numbers of people in Central China were moved to the Hexi Corridor, and the system of prefectures and counties was set up. The Han Dynasty established the Wuwei Prefecture in the SRB, which contained 10 counties. Two of them, Wuwei and Xuanwei, were in the Minqin Basin. Later, the population of the two counties reached about 20,000, and during the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25–220), Xuanwei along had 10,000 residents (Liang Citation1997).
  29. ^ a b c d e Chen, Sanping (2011). "Two Notes on the Xiongnu Ancestry of the Authors of "Han-shu"". Central Asiatic Journal. 55 (1): 33–36. ISSN 0008-9192. JSTOR 41928567.
  30. ^ a b Clark, Anthony E. (2008). Ban Gu's history of early China. Amherst (N.Y.): Cambria press. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-60497-561-1. The "Basic Annals of Emperor Wen" is a chapter that Biao seems to have written entirely. Ban Biao appears as the commentator in the final remarks of the chapter. The passage states, 贊曰﹕臣外祖兄弟為元帝侍中，語臣曰元帝多才藝，美史書．The Eulogy states: My (your minister's) maternal grandmother's older and younger brothers were made the palace retainers of Emperor Yuan. They informed me that Emperor Yuan had several talents in the arts and considered historical books attractive.
    The "minister" in this Eulogy is usually identified as Ban Biao. The Han commentator, Ying Shao, noted that "the annals of both Yuan and Cheng were written by Ban Biao; when 'chen' 臣 (i.e., 'minister') is used, the speaker is Biao. The distaff relative mentioned is Jin Chang" 元，成帝紀皆班固父彪所作，臣則彪自說也．外祖，金敞也.
  31. ^ Clark, Anthony E. (2008). Ban Gu's history of early China. Amherst (N.Y.): Cambria press. p. 183 (Family tree of the Ban family male line). ISBN 978-1-60497-561-1.
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