Chin T. - Defamiliarizing The Foreigner. Sima Qian's Ethnography and Han-Xiongnu Marriage Diplomacy

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Defamiliarizing the Foreigner Sima Qian’s Ethnography and Han-Xiongnu

Marriage Diplomacy
Tamara T. Chin
Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Volume 70, Number 2, December

2010, pp. 311-354 (Article)
Published by Harvard-Yenching Institute
For additional information about this article

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Defamiliarizing the Foreigner
Sima Qian’s Ethnography and
Han-Xiongnu Marriage Diplomacy
T A M A R A T. C H I N
University o f Chicago
D
u rin g th e han d y n a sty (2 0 6 B .C .E .-2 2 0 c .e .) , relatio n s
b e tw e e n C h in a an d th e X io n g n u c o n fe d e ra c y to th e n o rth p e r
m a n e n tly tra n s fo rm e d th e p o litic s an d th e cu ltu ra l p o e tic s o f C h in a ’s
im p e ria l fro n tie rs. F o llo w in g th e d efe at o f th e H a n im p e ria l a rm y in 200
b .c .e ., m a rria g e d ip lo m a c y (h eq in Д Щ , literally, "p e a c e th ro u g h k in
sh ip ” ) w ith th e X io n g n u in tro d u c e d a n e w fo rm o f n o n -trib u ta ry im p e
ria l relatio n s th a t later d y n a stie s c o n tin u e d to u se w ith fo re ig n p eo p le s.
In stea d o f fo re ig n su b je c ts p a y in g a n n u a l trib u te at th e im p e ria l co u rt,
th e heqin a g re e m e n t u se d an ega lita ria n la n g u a g e o f "b r o t h e r ly ” re la
tio n s a n d c a lle d fo r th e m a rria g e o f a H a n p rin c e ss to th e X io n g n u
lead er, a n n u a l p a y m e n ts to th e X io n g n u , a n d th e o p e n in g o f b o rd e r
m arkets. L a te r, E m p e r o r W u (r. 1 4 1 - 8 7 b .c .e .) , h a v in g a m b itio n s to
c o n q u e r th e X io n g n u , in stigated th e la rg e st-sca le te rrito ria l e x p a n sio n
in C h in e s e h isto ry ; h is in c u rsio n s in to m o d e rn -d a y In n e r an d O u te r
M o n g o lia , X in jia n g , Y u n n a n , G u a n g z h o u , V ie tn a m , K o re a , an d eastern
I am grateful for comments on versions of this article from Erica Brindley, Nicola Di Cosmo,
Mark Elliott, Magnus Fiskesjo, Leela Gandhi, Donald Harper, Kevin Huang, Lydia Liu,
Leslie Kurke, Wai-yee Li, Michael Murrin, Michael Nylan, Esther Park, Michael Puett,
Jeffrey Riegel, Moss Roberts, David Schaberg, Serena Volpp, Anthony Yu, and the anony
mous referees at HJAS. All errors remain mine.
p u b lish e d by t h e h a rv a rd -y e n c h in g i n s ti tu te h ja s 7 0 .2 (2 0 1 0 ): 3 1 1 - 3 5 4 311
312 TAMARA T. CHIN
C e n tra l A s ia p e rm a n e n tly e n larg e d C h in a ’s fro n tie rs.1 D u r in g th is era

o f e x p a n sio n , H a n -d y n a sty o fficia ls b e g a n to re c o rd an d ra tio n alize th e
in fo rm a tio n th e y gath e re d fro m im p e ria l e n vo y s o r first-h an d o b se r
v a tio n in n e w w ays. In so d o in g , th e y in itiated a C h in e s e tra d itio n o f
e m p iric a l e th n o g ra p h y th a t is still re c a lle d in m o d e rn C h in e s e e th n ic
h isto rie s, o r "h isto rie s o f n a tio n a litie s” (m in z u shi . R ^ ^ ) . 2
T h is a rtic le re e x a m in e s th e cu ltu ra l p o e tic s o f th e H a n d y n a s ty
fro n tier. T h u s far, stu d ie s o f th e re p re se n ta tio n o f th e n o rth e rn fr o n
tie r h ave fo c u s e d e x clu siv e ly o n th e s y m b o lic re la tio n s b e tw e e n th e
H a n an d th e X io n g n u . S o m e w rite rs h ave a n a ly ze d S im a Q ia n ’s
(? 14 5 - ? 8 6 b .c .e .) in n o v a tiv e u se o f e m p iric a l e th n o g ra p h y , geograp h y,
co sm o lo g y , an d h isto rio g ra p h y ; o th ers h ave h ig h lig h te d B a n G u ’s Ш
@ ( 3 2 - 9 2 c .e .) in tro d u c tio n o f a n e w rh e to ric e m p h a siz in g th e im m u
ta b le cu ltu ra l d iffe re n c es o f th e enem y. T h e se in n o v a tio n s h ave b e e n
in te rp rete d b y m o d e rn sc h o la rs as d e v e lo p m e n ts w ith in a c o n tin u o u s,
e v o lu tio n a ry h is to r y o f C h in e s e w ritin g s a b o u t its e n e m y O th er. I b u ild
o n an d re v ise th e se an a ly se s in tw o w ays. F irst, I e m p h asiz e th e lite ra ry
p ec u lia rities o f S im a Q ia n ’s an d B a n G u ’s re sp e c tiv e h isto rio g ra p h ic
w o rk s. I arg u e th at, in th e " X io n g n u liezh u an ” Щ Ш .Ш Ш ( M e m o ir o f
th e X io n g n u ) o f S im a Q ia n ’s S h iji (T h e G ra n d S c r ib e ’s re c o rd s),
th e estra n ge d o b je c t o f e m p iric a l sc ru tin y w a s n o t th e X io n g n u p o p
u la tio n itself, b u t, rather, H a n -d y n a sty e th n o g ra p h ic re p o rts a b o u t
th e m .3 T h is s e lf-re fle x iv ity a b o u t th e p o litic s an d p ro c e sse s o f e th n o
g ra p h ic re p re se n ta tio n has b e e n o v e rlo o k e d b y sch o la rs. It d o e s n o t
a p p e a r in S im a Q ia n ’s a cco u n ts o f o th e r fo re ig n e rs o r in th e s u b s e
q u e n t h isto rio g ra p h ic tra d itio n th a t s e lf-c o n s c io u s ly to o k th e S h iji as
1 See Chun-shu Chang, Frontier, Immigration, and Empire in Han China, 130 b .c .- a .d .
157, vol. 2 of The Rise of Chinese Empire (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2007),
pp. 173-77.
2 See Nicola Di Cosmo, Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in
East Asian History (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 255-56; Laura
Hostetler, Qing Colonial Enterprise: Ethnography and Cartography in Early Modern China
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001), p. 80; Wang Shoukuan ? !^ Ш , "Zhongguo
shaoshu minzu shixue de chansheng yu chubu fazhan”
ЖШ, Shixue shiyanjiu 129.1 (2008): 54-63; Chi Wanxing Ш^^ , Sima Qian
minzu sixiang chanshi (Xi’an: Shanxi renmin jiaoyu chubanshe,
1995), pp. 95, 205-37. For an overview of Chinese scholarship on the importance of Sima
Qian to the modern fields of ethnology and geography within China, see Zhang Xinke ш
^ 4 4 , Shijixuegailun (Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan, 2003), pp. 230-33.
3 Shiji (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju chubanshe, 1959). For convenience, I refer to Sima
Qian, rather than to the father-son team of Grand Scribes.

SIMA q i a n ’ s e t h n o g r a p h y 313
its m o d e l. A s su ch , it offers a rare e x a m p le o f C h in e s e re sista n c e to th e

k in d o f u b iq u ito u s e th n o g ra p h ic tra d itio n th at e ith e r co m m e m o ra te s
p o litic a l d o m in a tio n o r facilitates c o n q u e st b y c re a tin g as its ep istem o -
lo g ic a l o b je c t an in fe rio r O th e r a w a itin g civiliz a tio n . E d w a rd S a id and
M a r y L o u is e P ratt h ave in flu e n tia lly o u tlin e d th is latter m o d e l in an a
ly z in g E u ro p e a n w ritin g s a b o u t th e n o n -W est, an d sc h o la rs h ave sin ce
a p p lie d it to n o n -E u ro p e a n e th n o g ra p h ic tra d itio n s, in c lu d in g th e
C h in e s e .4
T h e s e c o n d w a y in w h ic h I re v ise p ast a n a ly se s o f th e p o e tic s o f
th e fro n tie r is b y lo o k in g b e y o n d re p re se n ta tio n s o f s e lf a n d o th e r and
e x a m in in g th e s y m b o lic p atte rn in g o f o p p o s itio n a l re la tio n s w ith in
H a n p o litic a l cu lture. I a rgu e th at H a n -d y n a sty o fficia ls d eb ated th e
heqin n o t o n ly as a d ip lo m a tic co n tra c t, b u t a lso as a n e w te rm an d rit
ual. T h ro u g h d iffe rin g m e ta p h o ric a l in te rp re ta tio n s o f th e e p o n y m o u s
k in sh ip (q in Щ ) o f th e h eq in — as an o p p o rtu n ity fo r self-a d v a n c e m e n t
w ith in th e H a n c o u rt, as e c o n o m ic an d tr ib u ta ry su b o rd in a tio n to th e
u n c iv iliz e d , o r as th e filia l su b o rd in a tio n o f so n s to fa th e rs— officials
an d w rite rs re d e fin e d th e stak es in fro n tie r p o litic s. It is as p art o f th e
rh e to ric a l p la y fu ln e ss o f heqin m arria g e d ip lo m a c y — an d w ith in this
e n large d p o e tic s o f th e fro n tie r— th at I resitu ate an d e x p la in S im a
Q ia n ’s u n iq u e c h alle n g e to th e u se o f e th n o g ra p h y in th e c o n stru c tio n
o f c o n c e p tu a l fron tiers.
Defamiliarizing the Foreigner

In co n tra st to th e G re c o -R o m a n tra d itio n , d e sc rip tio n s o f fo re ig n
cu sto m s w e re u n c o m m o n an d g e n e ra lly b r ie f in th e e a rly C h in e se
tra d itio n — u n til S im a Q ia n .5 T h e in n o v a tiv e lite ra ry fo rm a t o f th e Sh iji,
an d th e le n g th y e m p iric a l o b se rv a tio n s o f th e " X io n g n u liezh u an ,” p r o
fo u n d ly in flu e n c e d su b se q u e n t C h in e se a n th ro p o lo g ic a l w ritin g . T h e
S h iji d e d ica te d s ix c h ap ters to re g io n s o r p o p u la tio n s th at h a d n o t b e e n
fu lly p o litic a lly u n ifie d as p art o f th e C e n tra l S tates ( "C h in a ” ) b y th e
b e g in n in g o f th e H a n d y n a s ty : X io n g n u , S o u th e rn Y u e Ш Й , E a ste rn
Y u e Ж Й , C h a o x ia n Ш ® ¥ , S o u th w e ste rn Y i Ш Ш Ш , a n d th e w e ste rn
4 Edward Said, Culture and Imperialism (New York: Vintage Books, 1993); Mary Louise
Pratt, Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and Transculturation (London: Routledge, 1992).
5 For an exploration of this specific comparison, see Hyun Jin Kim, Ethnicity and For
eigners in Ancient Greece and China (London: Duckworth 2009), esp. pp. 72-124.
314 t a m a r a t . c h in
re g io n o f D a y u a n .6 E a c h o f th e se s ix ch ap te rs c h ro n ic le s th e H an -
d y n a s ty c o n q u e st an d su b je c tio n of, o r (in th e ca se o f th e X io n g n u )
th e o n g o in g w a rr in g w ith , th e p e o p le o r re g io n n a m e d in th e title o f
th a t ch apter. T h e su b se q u e n t d y n a stic h isto rie s th at later cam e to fo rm
th e c a n o n ic a l tw e n ty -fo u r S ta n d a rd H is to rie s (z h en g shi Ш ^ ) p a t
te rn ed th e m se lv e s o n th e S h iji, d e v o tin g ch ap ters to fo re ig n e rs at o r
b e y o n d th e fro n tie rs o f th e C e n tra l S ta te s.7
T h e S h iji d isp e rse s th e se ch ap ters o n fo re ig n e rs w ith in th e s e v e n ty
ch ap ters o f its largest ca te go ry , th e "M e m o ir s ” (Щ Ш liez h u a n ).8 T h e
m a jo r ity o f th e se liezh u an w e re b io g ra p h ie s o f im p o rta n t in d iv id u a ls
a n d so c ia l g ro u p s, an d re a d ers o f th e se b io g ra p h ie s h ave lo n g d isc u sse d
th e k in d s o f q u e stio n s a b o u t lite ra ry fo rm th at I p u rsu e in th e co n te xt
o f th e " X io n g n u liezhu an.” A s N ic o la D i C o s m o h as re c e n tly argu ed ,
S im a Q ia n ’s ra d ic a l in tro d u c tio n o f e m p iric a l e th n o g ra p h y w a s a c c o m
p a n ie d b y c e rta in re c o g n iz a b ly tra d itio n a l ra tio n aliza tio n s. W h ile c o n
s c io u s ly re je c tin g m y th o lo g ic a l g eo g rap h y, S im a Q ia n o rg a n iz e d his
n e w d ata a c c o rd in g to fa m ilia r lite ra ry an d c o n c e p tu a l p atterns. F o r
e x am p le , h is n a rrative in se rte d th e m o re re c en t X io n g n u in to a m u c h
lo n g e r h is to rio g ra p h y o f C h in a ’s n o rth e rn fro n tie r, an d his c o rrelative
y in -y a n g c o s m o lo g y m a p p e d th e X io n g n u o n to an o p p o s itio n a l re g io n
o f th e h ea ve n s fro m C h in a .
S im a Q ia n ’s self-re fle x iv e re la tio n to c o m p e tin g tra d itio n s o f re p
re se n ta tio n is m ad e e x p lic it at v a rio u s p o in ts in th e S h iji.9 O n e su ch
sig n ifica n t m o m e n t o c c u rs in th e a u th o ria l c o m m e n t a p p e n d e d to
th e "X io n g n u liezhu an.” E a c h c h a p te r o f th e S h iji e n d s w ith an a u th o
ria l c o m m e n t, p re fa c e d b y "T h e G ra n d S c rib e says.” S u b se q u e n t S ta n
d a rd H istories c o n tin u e d to a p p e n d a u th o ria l c o m m e n ts, an d th ese
c o m m e n ts often sh e d ligh t o n h o w th e re sp e c tiv e au th o rs evalu ated
o r fo u n d h isto ric a l m e a n in g in th e ir o w n n arratives. T h e first th ree
6 See, respectively, Shiji, juan 110, 113, 114, 115, 116, 123.
7 For a comprehensive compilation of passages on foreign peoples in the Standard His
tories, see Rui Yifu et al., Niansan zhong zhengshi ji Qingshi zhongge zu shiliao hui-
bian 5 vols. (Taibei: Zhongyang yanjiusuo, 1973).
For references to the Xiongnu, see 4:772-864.
8 On the meaning and origins of Sima Qian’s liezhuan, see Burton Watson, Ssu-ma
Ch’ien: Grand Historian of China (New York: Columbia University Press, 1958), pp. 120
30; Zhang Dake et al., Shiji yanjiu jicheng (Beijing: Huawen chu-
banshe, 2005), 3:181-82; William H. Nienhauser Jr., ed., The Grand Scribe's Records, Vol. 7:
The Memoirs of Pre-Han China (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994), pp. v-viii.
9 Compare Shiji, 1.46, 123.3179.
s i m a q i a n ’s e t h n o g r a p h y 315
b o o k s in th is tra d itio n , th e Sh iji, H an sh u ( H is to r y o f th e F o r

m e r H a n ), an d H o u H an sh u Ш Ш Ш ( H is to r y o f th e L a te r H a n ), each
in c lu d e a c h a p te r o n th e X io n g n u (or, in th e la tterm o st case, th e S o u th
e rn X io n g n u ). T o g e th er, th e se th re e a c co u n ts c h ro n ic le th e a g o n is
tic re la tio n s b e tw e e n th e H a n d y n a s ty an d its sin g le m o s t im p o rta n t
e n e m y .10 T h e S h iji co v ers th e p re -im p e ria l h is to ry o f th e n o rth e rn
fro n tie r an d th e rise o f th e X io n g n u ; th e F irst Q in E m p e r o r ’s ШЪпШ.
(r. 2 2 1 - 2 1 0 b .c .e .) c o n so lid a tio n o f p arts o f th e G re a t W a ll in creat
in g C h in a ’s first e m p ire ; th e X io n g n u ’s c a ta stro p h ic d efe at o f th e first
H a n e m p e ro r G a o z u (r. 2 0 2 - 19 5 b .c .e .) in 2 0 0 b .c .e .; th e p re c a ri
o u s heqin "p e a c e th ro u g h k in sh ip ” trea tie s; an d e n d s in th e m id st o f
E m p e ro r W u ’s ru th less m ilita r y c a m p a ig n s.n T h e H an sh u in c lu d e s an
a lm o st id e n tica l v e rs io n o f th is a cco u n t, b u t it o m its th e e n d -c o m m e n t
w h ile e x te n d in g th e n a rrativ e to c o v e r th e fra g ile d ip lo m a c y at th e en d
o f th e F o rm e r H a n d y n a s ty (th at is, u n til 25 c .e .) , in c lu d in g th e (n o n
trib u ta ry ) p o litic a l su b m issio n o f th e m a in X io n g n u lead er, C h ie fta in
H u h a n y e (H u h a n y e sh a n y u to E m p e ro r X u a n (r.
7 4 - 4 9 b .c .e .) in 51 b .c .e . T h e H o u H an sh u b e g in s w h e re th e H anshu
e n d s, c o v e rin g th e in te rn a l d iv isio n s o f th e X io n g n u c o n fe d e ra c y an d
th e fin al d efe at an d d isp e rsa l o f th e n o rth e rn an d so u th e rn X io n g n u
states b y th e fin al d e c a d e o f th e L a te r H a n d y n a s ty ( 2 5 - 2 2 0 c .e .) .
A lth o u g h each o f th e se th ree h isto rie s c o v e rs a d iffe re n t c h ro n o
lo g ic a l p e r io d o f a sin g le fro n tie r n arrative, th e e n d -c o m m e n ts su ggest
th at each h is to ry is ta k in g a p ro fo u n d ly d iffe re n t a p p ro ach . S im a Q ia n ’s
10 For the rich historical scholarship on the relation of the heqin to other foreign policy
initiatives throughout the Han period, see, for example, Sophia-Karin Psarras, "Han and
Xiongnu: a reexamination of cultural and political relations,” MS 51 (2003): 55-236; Di
Cosmo, Ancient China and its Enemies, chapters 5-6; Lin Gan t t ^ , Xiongnu shi ЩЩЙ.
(rev. ed., Hohhot: Neimenggu renmin chubanshe, 2007), pp. 44-116; Ellis Tinios, "‘Loose
Rein’ in Han Relations with Foreign Peoples” (University of Leeds: Leeds East Asia
Papers, 2000), no. 61. On the Later Han period, see Rafe de Crespigny, Northern Frontier:
The Policies and Strategy of the Later Han Empire (Canberra: Australian National Univer
sity, 1984), pp. 173 - 3 5 4 .
11 One should note that comparative philological analysis of the two accounts has
raised the possibility that at least parts of the extant Shiji "Account of the Xiongnu” were
actually reconstituted from the Hanshu version. On this problem, see David Honey, "The
Han-Shu, Manuscript Evidence, and the Textual Criticism of the Shih-chi: The Case of the
‘Hsiung-nu lieh-chuan,” CLEAR 21 (1999): 67-97. Honey argues that the opening ethnog
raphy of the Hanshu predates that of the received Shiji. See William H. Nienhauser, Jr.,
ed., The Grand Scribe's Records, Vol. 2: The Basic Annals of Han China (Bloomington: Indi
ana University Press, 2002), pp. xiii-xxxii, for a cautionary introduction to the relation
between the Hanshu and Shiji texts.
3 16 TAMARA T. CHIN
e n d -c o m m e n t a d d resse s th e p o litic a l s e n s itiv ity a n d b ia s e s o f c o n te m

p o r a r y d isc u ssio n s a b o u t th e X io n g n u , and th e n e e d to im p ro v e th e
s e le c tio n o f m ilita r y lead ers:
The Grand Scribe remarks: Confucius, in composing the Chunqiu [Spring

and Autumn annals], wrote openly about the periods o f Dukes Yin and
Huan. But when he came to the eras o f Dukes Ding and Ai, he [wrote with]
subtlety. Because he was writing about his own times he did not give praise
[or blame], and his words [observed political] taboos. As for those who
talk about the Xiongnu according to contemporary customs, the trouble is
that they pursue the expediency o f the moment; they are engaged in offer
ing flattery in their persuasions, in order to gain advantage for their partial
claims, and they do not compare their strength with ours. Generals con
sider that the Central States is broad and vast, and their spirits are aroused,
and the ruler o f the people thereupon relies [on their views] to decide his
strategy. Consequently, our accomplishments lack depth. Although Yao was
worthy, he did not achieve his [governmental] tasks; only when he attained
Yu were the Nine Provinces stabilized. Moreover, if one desires to resurrect
sagely rule, one must select and employ responsible generals and advisers!
One must select and employ responsible generals and advisers!12
B a n G u ’s c o m m e n t, o r "ap p raisal” (z a n Ш ), to th e " X io n g n u zh u an ”

"Э Д ХМ (M e m o ir o f th e X io n g n u ) , th e lo n g e st c o m m e n t in h is entire
w o rk , o ffers an e valu ativ e h isto ric a l s u m m a ry o f H a n -d y n a sty p o li
cies to w a rd th e X io n g n u . H e d istin g u ish e s tw o m ain a p p ro a c h e s u se d
th us fa r d u rin g th e H a n d y n a s ty — th e heqin p ea ce tr e a ty an d p u n itive
m ilita ry e x p e d itio n s — an d argu es th at b o th are d o o m e d to failu re. In
th e fo llo w in g p o rtio n s, ta k e n fro m th e a p p ra isa l’s b e g in n in g an d end ,
B a n G u b la m e s th e in e v ita b ility o f failu re o n th e X io n g n u ’s in veterate
d ec e p tiv e n e ss. H e su p p o rts a th ird a p p ro ach , h o stile v ig ila n c e , w h ic h
is c a lle d th e " lo o s e rein ” a p p ro a c h (jim i Ш Й ) an d in v o lv e s n e ith e r
m ilita ry a g g re ssio n n o r p o litic a l c o n c e ssio n :
The appraisal says: The Shu [Classic o f documents] in warning that "the
M an Э and the Y i disrupt the Central States,” the Shi [Classic o f odes] in
speaking o f "smiting the Rong Ж and D i M ,” and the Chunqiu [Spring and
Autumn annals] in saying, " [ I f the Prince] possesses virtue, it is observed
12 Shiji, 110.2919.
among the four Yi,” [demonstrated that] the Y i and Di have long been the
cause o f disaster. From the rise o f the Han dynasty, when were officials
with sincere remonstrances and excellent plans ever not planning strategies,
and presenting and debating many proposals in court? . . . According to the
Chunqiu, those living inside [the Central States] are the Xia, and those living
outside are the Y i and the Di. The Y i and the D i people are greedy and desir
ous o f gain; they wear their hair down their backs and fasten their garments
on the left; they have human faces but the hearts o f wild beasts. Their cere
monial garments differ from those worn in the Central States; their customs
and diet differ from ours; and our languages are mutually unintelligible.
They dwell far away, in the cold, on the bare lands o f the north, driving their
herds in pursuit o f pasture, and hunting with the bow and arrow in order to
sustain themselves. They are separated from us by mountains and valleys
and cut off by the desert. B y these means did Heaven and Earth divide inner
from outer. Therefore the Sage Kings treated them like birds and beasts, nei
ther concluding treaties with them, nor going forth and attacking them. To
conclude agreements with them is to waste gifts and suffer deception. To
attack them is to exhaust our armies and provoke raids. Their land cannot be
cultivated so as to produce food; their people cannot be made subjects and
tamed. For these reasons they are kept outside and not taken as relatives,
they are kept distant and not accepted as kin. Official exhortations do not
reach their people; the official calendar is not observed in their land. When
they come, we must chastise them and oversee their behavior, when they
go, we must be prepared and on our guard against them. If they are moved
to admire righteousness and wish to present tribute, then we should receive
them courteously. We must keep them under loose rein and not cut them
off, allowing any wrong course to come from them. This is the constant way
o f the Sage Kings for regulating the M an and the Y i.13
B a n G u ’s m o ra l c o n te m p t is re itera te d b y F a n Y e ( 3 9 8 - 4 4 5 c .e .) ,
th e a u th o r o f th e H o u H ansh u . H is b r i e f a p p raisal, in ve rse , to h is "N a n
X io n g n u liezh u an ” ( M e m o ir o f th e S o u th e rn X io n g n u )
says:
13 Hanshu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju chubanshe, 1962), 94B.3830. Following the trans
lation of Ellis Tinios, "Sure Guidance for One’s Own Time: Pan Ku and the Tsan to Han
Shu 94,” Early China 9-10 (1983-85): 184-203, with minor changes. Tinios’s analysis
emphasizes the importance of this appraisal within the book as a whole. For convenience,
I refer to Ban Gu, rather than to the team of Hanshu compilers, which included Ban Gu’s
father and sister.
318 TAMARA T. CHIN
W h e n th e X io n g n u sp lit [in to n o rth e rn an d so u th e rn c o u rts],

F e a th e r-m a rk ed [i.e., u rg en t] d o c u m e n ts w e re ra re ly h ee d ed ,
T h e ir m in d s are savage, th e y are lo a th e to s h o w re m o rse ,
In th e e n d th e y a lso scatte re d in c o n fu s io n .^
T h e S h iji’s e n d -c o m m e n t sta n d s o u t in th ree sig n ifica n t w ays. First,

it lacks th e p h o b ic a n th ro p o lo g ic a l rh e to ric fo u n d in th e ap p raisals
fro m th e H an sh u ( " T h e y h ave face s o f h u m a n s b u t th e m in d s o f b e a sts ”
A f f i l L ) an d H o u H an sh u ( "T h e ir m in d s are savage” I L ) . S e c o n d ,
S im a Q ia n a lo n e a d d resse s th e p o litic s o f re p re se n ta tio n , in te rm s o f
b o th th e g e n e ra l d a n g e rs o f w ritin g a b o u t o n e ’s o w n era a n d o f th e s p e
cific d isto rtio n s in c o n te m p o r a r y d isc u ssio n s o f X io n g n u affairs. T h ird,
w h e re th e o th ers su m m a riz e a sp e cts o f X io n g n u h is to ry an d cu ltu re,
S im a Q ia n tu rn s his a tten tio n o n ly to th e C e n tra l States.
T h e p h o b ic a n th ro p o lo g ic a l rh e to ric o f th e a p p ra isa ls fro m th e
H anshu a n d H o u H an sh u d raw s fro m tra d itio n a l n o rm s o f re p re se n t
in g fo re ig n e rs in cla ssic a l C h in e s e p h ilo so p h y , p o e try , an d h isto ri-
o g ra p h y .15 T h e se te x ts o ften re fe rre d to fo re ig n e rs w ith ge n e ra liz in g
e th n o n y m s th a t w e re n o t n e c e s s a rily th e ir o w n (su ch as Y i, D i, R o n g ,
M a n , H u ^ , F a n # ) o r w ith c o lle c tiv e n a m e s su c h as F o u r Y i (si y i И
Ш ) o r N in e Y i (jiu y i Л Ш ) , a n d gen erally, b u t n o t alw ays, d e sc rib e d
th e m as m ilita rily a g o n istic an d m o ra lly in fe rio r to th e C e n tra l States
(o r th e H u a Щ , X ia Ж , Z h o u M l). A p p ly in g an eth ic a l p arad ig m that
d iv id e d th e w o rld in to th e c iv iliz e d an d u n c iv iliz e d , th e se te x ts t y p i
c a lly stated th at th e Y i an d D i w e re ig n o ra n t o f ritu a l (li M ) a n d p r o
p rie ty ( y i Ш ) , b u t th a t th e y c o u ld b e en lig h te n e d th ro u g h m ilita ry
fo rc e o r p e rsu a siv e exam p le. C h in e s e g e o p o litic a l a cco u n ts d efin e d
th e fo re ig n e r as th e p e re n n ia l m ilita r y a d v e rsa ry in v a d in g th e h is to ri
cal fro n tie rs, o r th e d e facto o u tsid e r to th e id e a liz ed s y m b o lic sp a c e o f
a m o ra lly an d p o litic a lly s u p e rio r C e n tra l States. T h e y u p h e ld a v is io n
in w h ic h fo re ig n e rs, in h a b itin g th e "fo u r d ire c tio n s” (sifan g H ^ ), th e
"fo u r se a s” (sih a i H ^ ) , th e c o n c e n tric "fiv e -z o n e s” (w u f u E M ) o f
th e "T rib u te o f Y u ” (Y u g o n g ^ m ) , o r th e "n in e z o n e s” (jiu f u A M )
o u tsid e th e Z h o u trib u ta ry cen ter, id e a lly jo in e d th e "in n e r s u b je c ts”
14Hou Hanshu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju chubanshe, 1965), 89.2971.

15 On these competing models, see Yuri Pines, "Beasts or Humans: Pre-Imperial Origins
of the ‘Sino-Barbarian’ Dichotomy,” in Reuven Amitai and Michal Biran, eds., Mongols,
Turks, and Others: Eurasian Nomads and the Sedentary World (Leiden: Brill, 2005), pp.
59-102.
(n ei chen Й Е ) o f th e C e n tra l S tates as its trib u te -b e a rin g "o u te r s u b

je c ts ” (w a i chen ^ h E ) . i 6 T h e re w e re im p o rta n t e x ce p tio n s to th e se
n o rm s: th e se sam e te x ts ca st fo re ig n w o m e n as a fa m ilia r sp e c ie s w h o ,
as sile n t o b je c ts o f exch an ge o r as h arb in g ers o f m o ra l an d p o litic a l
d eclin e, re se m b le d th e ir C e n tra l S tates c o u n te rp a rts; th e y re c o rd e d
o c c a sio n a l p o litic a l allian ces b in d in g e n em ie s in th e ega lita ria n la n
g u a g e o f b ro th e rh o o d (x io n g d i Я Ш , k u n di M ^ ) ; ^ an d th e y in c lu d e d
a m in o r tra d itio n o f alien w is d o m , e x e m p lifie d b y C o n fu c iu s ’s claim
th at fo re ig n e rs sto re d ritu a l k n o w le d g e w h e n th e C e n tra l S tates fell
in to m o ra l decay.18 H o w e v e r, d esp ite th e se e x c e p tio n a l in stan ce s in
w h ic h th e p re -H a n -d y n a sty fo re ig n e r w a s re p re se n te d as a c o m m e n s u
rab le e q u a l o r e v e n s u p e rio r to th e self, th ere is n o e xtan t te x tu a l p re c e
d en t fo r S im a Q ia n ’s tra n sfo rm a tio n o f a n th ro p o lo g ic a l d isc o u rse its e lf
in to th e o b je c t o f s c ru tin y o r d o u b t.
B a n G u ’s a p p ra isa l re tu rn s to th e p re -im p e ria l m o d e l o f an eth ico-
p o litic a l h ie ra rc h y o f th e C e n tra l S tates o v e r th e Y i, D i, and M a n and
a ssim ila tes th e X io n g n u w ith in th at m o d e l. In tra cta b le cu ltu ra l and
ge o g ra p h ic a l d iffe re n c es, an d h is a ssu m p tio n th at th e X io n g n u are
p re d isp o s e d to su c h im m o ra l b e h a v io r as d e c e p tio n and g reed , sh ap e
h is p o litic a l strategy. H is a d v ic e is u ltim a te ly p ra c tic a l— th e X io n g n u
w ill n e v e r b e th e c o n q u e re d su b je c ts (chen E ) o r d ip lo m a tic relatives
( q i Ш ) o f th e C h in e se , b u t th e H a n g o v e rn m e n t sh o u ld n e v e rth e le ss
v ig ila n tly trea t th e m like su b je c ts and a c ce p t a n y o f th e ir gestu res o f
su b m issio n (fo r e x am p le , i f th e X io n g n u sh o u ld "d esire rig h te o u s
n ess a n d p re se n t trib u te ” ). A t th e sa m e tim e , h is x e n o p h o b ic rh e to ric
1 6 On sifang cosmology as a political discourse, see Aihe Wang, Cosmology and Polit
ical Culture in Early China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), pp. 23-74.
For the "Tribute of Yu,” see James Legge, trans., The Shoo King, vol. 3 of The Chinese Clas
sics (1871; rpt., Taipei: SMC Publishing Inc., 2000), pp. 92-151, esp. 147-44; Shiji, 2.75. On
Han dynasty resistance to, and historiographic problems with, the "Tribute of Yu” world
order, see Shiji, 74.2344; Wang Liqi i j j ^ , ed., Yantielun jiaozhu (Tianjin:
Tianjin guji chubanshe, 1983), rev. and enlarged ed., 53.564; Gu Jiegang ЩпМИ, "Qin Han
tongyi de youlai he Zhanguo ren duiyu shijie de xiangxiang”
Gu Jiegang, ed., Gu shi bian (1927; Haikou: Hainan chubanshe,
2003), 2:1-6.
17 For the diplomatic metaphor of brotherhood, see Yang Bojun Ш ШШ, ed., Chunqiu
Zuozhuan zhu (rev. ed., Beijing: Zhonghua shuju chubanshe, 2000), Xi 24.2,
Wen 15.4, and especially David Schaberg, A Patterned Past: Form and Thought in Early
Chinese Historiography (Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2001), pp. 137, 142-48.
18 Zuozhuan, Zhao 17.3, p. 1389. See David Schaberg, "Travel, Geography, and the Impe
rial Imagination in Fifth-Century Athens and Han China,” Comparative Literature 51.2
(Spring 1999): 152-91 on this classical figure of the virtuous barbarian ruler.
320 TAMARA T. CHIN
o f h ie ra rc h ic a l statu ses e x ce e d s a n y th in g w ith in th e c h ap te r itself,

o r in th e a p p raisals o f his tw o o th e r a cco u n ts o n fo re ig n p laces an d
p e o p le s .19 W ritin g b y im p e ria l o rd e r a b o u t th e F o rm e r H a n d y n a s ty
ju st w h e n th e L a te r H a n d y n a sty w a s re su m in g h o stilitie s, B a n G u
ap p raises th e p ast w ith a v ie w to an o n g o in g w a r in w h ic h he, u n lik e
S im a Q ia n , w o u ld p a rtic ip a te as an A r m y C o m m is s io n e r .2 0 B y F an Y e ’s
tim e th e te rm X io n g n u n o lo n g e r re fe rre d to a liv in g enem y. N o n e
th e less, in h is e v o c a tio n o f th e "savage m in d s ” o f th e X io n g n u , F a n Y e
e c h o e s B a n G u ’s ta lk o f "th e m in d s o fb e a sts ,” an d in su b se q u e n t d y n a s
ties H a n -X io n g n u re la tio n s re m a in e d a fa m ilia r rh e to ric a l te m p la te in
th e p o litic a l d isc o u rse a b o u t th e n o rth e rn fron tier. F a n Y e ’s c o m m e n t
o n th e " X iy u zh u an ” Щ Ш Ш ( M e m o ir o f th e w e ste rn re g io n s) in th e
H o u H an sh u is e ven m o re e x p lic it th a n th e "N a n X io n g n u liezh u an ” in
g ro u n d in g m ilita r y su ccess in an e th n o g ra p h ic claim th a t th e w e ste rn
fo re ig n ers w e re m o ra lly in fe rio r .21 B y c o m p a riso n , S im a Q ia n ’s end -
c o m m e n t to th e " X io n g n u liezh u an ”— an d to th e o th e r five ch ap ters
o n fo re ig n e rs an d fo re ig n p la c e s— a vo id a n th ro p o lo g ic a l rh e to ric . In
th e se o th e r m e m o irs o f H a n -d y n a sty c o n q u e sts an d in h is b r i e f c h a p
te r su m m a rie s liste d in th e a u to b io g ra p h ic a l p o stfa c e to th e Sh iji, S im a
Q ia n h igh lig h ts th e p o litic a l in trig u e s th a t le d to c o n q u e st an d find s
n a rrative c lo su re in g e o p o litic a l su b m issio n . H o w e v e r, u n lik e B a n G u
an d F an Ye, h e fails to e m b e d th e c o n q u e st in a n a rrative o f cu ltu ra l o r
m o ra l su p e rio rity .
T h e s e c o n d w a y in w h ic h S im a Q ia n ’s e n d -c o m m e n t d iffe rs fro m
th e c o m m e n ts o f B a n G u an d F a n Y e is th at it ad d resse s a b ia s in re p o rts
19 See Hanshu, 95.3837, 96B.3928.

20 Ban Gu later took part in the campaigns of 89-91 C.E. against the Xiongnu. Sima
Qian, by contrast, records his own visit to the northern frontier in his critique of the
builder of Qin-dynasty sections of the Great Wall, Meng Tian Щ'К (d. 240 b.c.e.). See
Shiji, 88.2570.
21 Hou Hanshu, 88.2909: "The appraisal says: The Western Hu are far away. / They
live in an outer zone. / Their countries’ products are beautiful and precious, / But their
character is debauched and frivolous. / They do not follow the rites of the Hua [Central
States] / They do not have the canonical books. / If they do not obey the Way of the
spirits / Why should they care? What can control them?” Translation adapted from John
E. Hill, Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han
Dynasty 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. An Annotated Translation of the Chronicle on the ‘Western
Regions' in the Hou Hanshu (Charleston: Booksurge Publishing, 2009), p. 59. The brief
appraisals of the remaining four chapters on foreign peoples in the Hou Hanshu attend
more to events and are less explicitly xenophobic. See Hou Hanshu, 85.2823, 86.2861,
87 .2 9 0 2 , 9 0 .2 9 9 4 .
a b o u t th e X io n g n u . S im a Q ia n ’s c o n d e m n a tio n o f th o se w h o p u rsu e
"th e e x p e d ie n c y o f th e m o m e n t” ( y i shi z h i qu an — В ^ ^ Й ) draw s
fro m a cla ssic a l c o n u n d ru m c o n c e rn in g w h e th e r to re w a rd th e stra
te g ic a d v is e r w h o b rin g s im m ed ia te b u t ill-g o tte n an d u n su sta in ab le
b e n e fits to th e state, o r th e e th ic a l a d v is e r w h o s e aid to th e state w ill b e
slo w e r in c o m in g b u t m o re end u ring.22 T h is e x p lic it c o n c e rn w ith th e
p o litic s o f re p re se n ta tio n — w ith re p o rte rs w h o "o ffe r fla tte ry in th e ir
p e rsu a sio n s” in p u rsu it o f p e rso n a l a d v a n ta g e — d o e s n o t a p p e ar in a n y
o th e r e n d -c o m m e n t to ch ap ters o n fo re ig n e rs in th e Sh iji, H an sh u , and
H o u hanshu, o r in d e e d , in ch ap ters o n fo re ig n e rs in su b se q u e n t S ta n
d a rd H istories (th ro u g h to th e Q in g D y n a s ty ) .
D u r in g im p e ria l tim e s, S im a Q ia n ’s c o n c e rn w ith th e p o litic s o f
la n g u a g e d re w th e a tten tio n o f tra d itio n a l C h in e s e c o m m e n ta to rs on
th e S h iji, b u t it h as n o t attracted th e n o tic e o f m o d e rn sc h o la rs o f fro n
tie r h is to ry an d a n t h r o p o lo g y ^ In h is c a n o n ic a l co m m en ta ry , Z h en g y i
l a , Z h a n g S h o u jie (fl. 7 2 5 - 7 3 5 ) a rgu e s th a t th e G ra n d S c rib e
u se s th e fin al a n e cd o te a b o u t th e d e p e n d e n c e o f le g e n d a ry sage Y ao
o n th e w is e sage Y u in o rd e r to c ritic iz e E m p e ro r W u fo r h is in a b ility
to c h o o se w o rth y a d v ise rs, his a tten tio n to "th e fla tte ry o f p e tty m e n
w ith e m p ty w o rd s,” a n d his a g g re ssio n again st th e X io n g n u . M a n y later
c o m m e n ta to rs e ch o Z h a n g ’s p o in ts a b o u t th e rise o f sy c o p h a n tic v e r
b ia g e u n d e r E m p e ro r W u an d S im a Q ia n ’s a lle g o rica l u se o f la n g u a g e .2 4
F o r e x am p le , J ia o H o n g ( 1 5 4 1 - 1 6 2 0 ) w ro te th a t th e G ra n d S c rib e
22 See Huainanzi, 18.191, and Hanfeizi, 15:36.348. Cf. Lushi chunqiu, 14.4. This phrase is
also used in charges against envoys who fabricate their reports about the western regions
in Yantielun, 46.511.
23 Di Cosmo, Ancient China and Its Enemies, p. 271, addresses the politics of Sima Qian’s
self-censorship, but does not pursue its possible literary implications. Di Cosmo offers
four interconnecting "contexts " of the frontier, each of which produces a set of intercon
nected narratives: archaeology; pre-Han written sources; Qin-Han political history; Sima
Qian’s historiography. I seek to extend the attention Di Cosmo pays to rhetorical contexts
of anthropological expression in pre-Han sources (his second context) to the history of
the heqin (his third context) and Sima Qian’s historiography (his fourth context).
24 Ye Shi (Song dynasty), Mao Kun and Yu Youding (Ming dynasty),
and He Zhuo and Yang Qiguang (Qing dynasty) either ponder what Sima
Qian was really criticizing (was it Emperor Wu’s Xiongnu policy, his choice of minis
ters, or his neglect of the common people?) or emphasize that Sima Qian used the term
"subtle” (wei Ж) when referring to writing. See Zhang Dake, Shijiyanjiu, 6:560-62. Nakai
Riken ( ^РФ^М?Т) (1732-1817) views the need for worthy advisers as cen
tral to Sima Qian’s unclarified message. See Takigawa Kametaro ШЛ Shiki kaichu
kosho [Shiji huizhu kaozheng] (Toho Bunka gakuin Tokyo kenkyujo, 1932
3 4 ), 9:70.
322 TAMARA T. CHIN
w a s "d e e p ly d issatisfied w ith [E m p e ro r W u ], b u t th e re w e re d ifficu lties

in s p e a k in g o p en ly, an d th e re fo re h e c o m p o s e d th e se tw o lin e s [abo u t
C o n fu c iu s ’s w ritin g ]. T h is can b e sa id to b e [sp ea k in g ] ‘s u b tly ’ [w ei Ш ]
b u t ‘o p e n ly ’ [z h a n g ^ ] . ” T h e v a rio u s in te rp re tiv e tra d itio n s o f C o n fu
c iu s’s C h u n q iu p re se n te d it as a te x t fu ll o f su b tle m o ra l m e a n in g s th at
read ers h a d to d e c o d e o r h isto ric iz e .2 5 S im a Q ia n ’s a u to b io g ra p h i
cal p o stfa ce to th e S h iji m o d e s tly d istin g u ish e s h is m ere tra n sm issio n
(shu ^ ) o f th e S h iji fro m C o n fu c iu s ’s c re a tio n (zu o № ) o f th e C hun-
qiu , b u t in so d o in g h e e ch o e s C o n fu c iu s ’s re p re se n ta tio n o f his o w n
te a c h in g s as h isto ric a l tra n sm issio n an d n o t c r e a tio n ? 6 T h u s in th e
"X io n g n u liezh u an ,” w h e n S im a Q ia n in v o k es C o n fu c iu s ’s c o m p o s i
tio n o f th e C h u n q iu an d th e p arad ig m o f th e m isu n d e rsto o d sage, he
d raw s atten tio n to th e c o m p le x ity o f h is o w n m o d e o f tra n sm ittin g
m e a n in g th ro u g h "even ts an d a c tio n s” (x in g shi !т Щ -) th at u n d e rlie s
his o w n u se o f in d ire c t critiq u e , o r w h a t th e m o d e rn s c h o la r C h e n X i
su b su m e s u n d e r th e ru b ric o f th e im p lic it (yin h a n 1Ш# )? 7
T h e c o n c e p tio n o f th e S h iji as th e w o rk o f so m e o n e w h o w a s a rt

fu lly e n c o d in g fru stra tio n an d c ritiq u e in h isto ric a l n a rrative has a p a r
tic u la r re so n a n c e w ith th e "X io n g n u liezh u an .” S im a Q ia n fa m o u sly
fa c e d e x e c u tio n fo r h is "in a b ility fu lly to c la rify [ h im s e lf]” (w ei neng
jin m in g ) to E m p e ro r W u in th e case o f th e d isg ra c e d m ili
25 On Dong Zhongshu, whom Sima Qian presents as the leading authority on the
Chunqiu, see Shiji, 121.3128, 130.3297; Sarah Queen, From Chronicle to Canon: The Herme
neutics of the Spring and Autumn Annals According to Tung Chung-shu (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1996), pp. 124-26. On Sima Qian’s departure from Dong
Zhongshu’s anti-historical method, his relation to competing traditions of Chunqiu exege
sis, and his novel pursuit of meaning in human choices as well as in the moral-political
verities patterned in the Heavens, see Wai-yee Li, "The Idea of Authority in the Shih chi
(Records of the Historian),” HJAS 54.2 (1994): 345-405. Cf. Wai-yee Li, The Readability
of the Past in Early Chinese Historiography (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007),
pp. 34-48; Stephen W. Durrant, The Cloudy Mirror: Tension and Conflict in the Writings of
Sima Qian (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995), pp. 1-27.
26 See Michael Puett, The Ambivalence of Creation: Debates Concerning Innovation and
Artifice in Early China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001), pp. 177-212.
27 On this passage, and on the Shijis use of parable-style narration and shifting per
spective, see Chen Xi ШЙ, Shiji yu Zhou Han wenhua tansuo (Bei
jing: Zhonghua shuju, 2007), pp. 25-67. David Schaberg’s examination of the literary
development by men of service (shi i ) of legends of "indirect remonstrance” (fengjian
ШШ) as an idealized means of challenging imperial power (when direct remonstrance is
prohibited) through tales of jesters, might also be pursued in relation to Sima Qian’s self
presentation. See David Schaberg, "Playing at Critique: Indirect Remonstrance and the
Formation of Shi Identity,” in Martin Kern, ed., Text and Ritual in Early China (Seattle:
University of Washington Press, 2005), pp. 194-225.
ta r y g e n e ra l L i L in g (d. 7 4 b . c . e . ) ? 8 A fte r a serie s o f m ilita r y v i c

to ries o v e r th e X io n g n u d u rin g th e p e r io d o f h o stilities th a t fo llo w e d
th e b re a k d o w n o f heqin re latio n s, L i L in g c h o se to s u rre n d e r to th e
X io n g n u ra th e r th a n c o m m it su icid e. S im a Q ia n fa ile d to jo in th e c h o
ru s o f d e n u n c ia tio n s o f L i L in g an d w a s h im s e lf c o n d e m n e d . W ith o u t
su ffic ie n t fu n d s o r s u p p o rt to fu lly c o m m u te h is d ea th sen te n ce, b u t
w is h in g to c o m p le te th e S h iji so as to fu lfill h is filia l d u ty to his father,
h e a c ce p te d castratio n . T h e sh a m e o f th e se e v e n ts— b e in g m is u n d e r
sto o d , b e in g p o litic a lly iso la ted , an d fa c in g th e "silk w o rm c h a m b e r”—
th o u g h d e ta ile d in a letter re c o rd e d in th e H an sh u , is re fe rre d to w ith
n o tic e a b le b re v ity b y S im a Q ia n in h is a u to b io g ra p h ic a l p o stfa c e to th e
S h iji .2 9 T h u s w h e n S im a Q ia n ’s e n d -c o m m e n t to th e " X io n g n u zh u an ”
in v o k es C o n fu c iu s ’s n e e d fo r se lf-c e n so rsh ip an d th e n a d d resses th e
e x tre m e p o litic iz a tio n o f H a n d isc o u rse a b o u t th e X io n g n u , w e are
re m in d e d o f h is o w n h isto ric m isc o m m u n ic a tio n . T h e p o litic s o f ta lk
in g a b o u t th e X io n g n u an d o f c h o o sin g th e rig h t g e n e ra ls — th e tw o
c o n c e rn s o f th e e n d -c o m m e n t— th u s b in d th e " X io n g n u liezh u an ” to
th e u n u su a l circ u m sta n c e s in w h ic h th e S h iji w a s c o m p le te d .3 0
S im a Q ia n ’s se lf-re fle x iv e a tten tio n in th e " X io n g n u liezh u an ” to
"th o se w h o ta lk a b o u t th e X io n g n u ” (y a n X io n g n u z h e Н Щ Щ # ) raises
th e th ird u n iq u e fea tu re o f S im a Q ia n ’s e n d -c o m m e n t w ith in th e S ta n
d a rd H istories tr a d itio n — n am ely, its fa ilu re to ad d ress th e a c c o u n t’s
titu la r fo re ig n e rs at all. S im a Q ia n d o e s n o t su m m a riz e , assess, o r e ven
m e n tio n a n y a sp e ct o f th e X io n g n u ’s h isto ry, ru le rs, o r cu ltu re. In stead,
h e tu rn s h is gaze to th e C e n tra l S tates, p ast an d p re se n t: to C o n fu c iu s,
to S im a Q ia n ’s p o w e r-se e k in g c o n te m p o ra rie s, to H a n g e n e ra ls, and
to th e sages o f re m o te an tiq u ity, Y a o an d Yu. A lth o u g h h e o p e n s th e
" X io n g n u liezh u an ” w ith a d e s c rip tio n o f X io n g n u c u sto m s, th e end-
c o m m e n t re ve a ls th at w h a t is at stak e are th e "c o n te m p o ra ry c u sto m s”
28 Hanshu, 62.2730. This is found in a letter to Sima Qian’s friend Ren An which
is preserved in the Hanshu’s chapter-length biography of Sima Qian.
29 Shiji, 130.3300. On the likelihood that Sima Qian completed the chapters involving
Han-dynasty events (including the "Xiongnu liezhuan”) after his castration, see William
H. Nienhauser, "A Note on a Textual Problem in the ‘Shih chi’ and Some Speculations
concerning the Compilation of the Hereditary Houses,” TP 89.1-3 (2003): 39-58.
30 Ban Gu’s end-comment excludes this. Ban Gu again dissociates the problem of the
politics of representation from his geographical account of the western regions, mov
ing the Shiji’s invocation of the problem of envoys’ exaggerated speech in the "Dayuan
Liezhuan” (Shiji, 123.3171) to the biographies of Zhang Qian and Li Guangli (Hanshu,
61.2695).
324 TAMARA T. CHIN
(sh i su "Ш ^ ) n o t o f th e e th n o g ra p h ic o b je c t b u t o f th e e th n o g ra p h e r—
o f "th o se w h o ta lk a b o u t th e X io n g n u .” C o m m e n ta to rs h ave o b se rv e d
S im a Q ia n ’s o b liq u e w a rn in g again st p o litic a l s e lf-c e n so rsh ip b u t have
g e n e ra lly ig n o re d h is s h iftin g o f th e re a d e r’s a tten tio n fro m th e X io n g n u
to th e C e n tra l States. A n d w h ile B a n G u ’s an d F a n Y e’s c ritic ism s o f
th e X io n g n u as in n a te ly g r e e d y an d d e c e p tiv e p e rv a d e th e a rch ive o f
re c e iv e d an d e xcavated H a n -d y n a sty texts, S im a Q ia n ’s d isq u ie t a b o u t
H a n b ia s an d his s e lf-c e n so rsh ip in re p re se n tin g th e X io n g n u d oes
n o t. 3 i
T h e c o m p a ris o n o f th e th ree e n d -c o m m e n ts b rin g s o u t th e
u n iq u e n e ss o f S im a Q ia n ’s p e rsp e c tiv e , w h ic h is fu rth e r illu stra te d b y
a stran ge a n e cd o te c o n ta in e d w ith in th e S h iji’s " X io n g n u liezh u an ,”
a b o u t a H a n d e fe c to r w h o e x p lic itly tu rn s th e gaze o f H a n e th n o g ra
p h e rs b a c k to w a rd th e C e n tra l States. T h is e p is o d e p ro v id e s a co n te xt
fo r th e e n d -c o m m e n t’s o th e r w is e a n o m a lo u s sh ift fro m fro n tie r h is
t o r y to th e d o m e stic p o litic s o f re p rese n ta tio n . It re c o u n ts E m p e ro r
W en ’s (r. 18 0 - 1 5 7 b .c .e .) re n e w a l o f th e heqin e a rly in th e H an
d yn a sty, w h e n th e X io n g n u c o n fe d e ra c y w a s still m ilita rily d o m in a n t
b u t b o r d e r ra id s b y re n e g a d e X io n g n u an d H a n d e fe cto rs c o n tin u e d to
th rea te n th e treaty. T h e H a n p rin c e ss w a s a c co m p a n ie d b y h e r re lu c
ta n t tu to r, Z h o n g h a n g Y u e Ф Т Ш , w h o w a s a "eu n u c h fro m th e state
o f Yan.” U p o n h is a rriva l at th e fro n tie r, Z h o n g h a n g Y u e d e fe cte d and
b e c a m e p e rso n a l p o litic a l a d v ise r to tw o su c c e ssiv e X io n g n u lead ers.
H is c o n v ersa tio n s w ith th e X io n g n u le a d e r an d w ith an a n o n y m o u s
H a n e n v o y (o r e n v o y s) are re c o rd e d as d ia lo g u e — a fo rm u se d in p h il
o so p h ic a l tra d itio n s, an d th ro u g h o u t th e S h iji, o ften w h e n cre a tiv e ly
e x p a n d in g u p o n h isto ric a l so u rc e s o r h e ig h te n in g d ra m atic ten sio n .
Z h o n g h a n g Y u e ’s d ia lo g u e w ith th e e n v o y o c c u rs h a lfw a y th ro u g h
31 The Xiongnu’s greed (tan ^ ) is a recurring claim in the Yantielun. See, for example,
the statement "The Xiongnu made the heqin alliance several times, but regularly were the
first to violate the contract, in their greed (tan) invading and plundering by horseback;
they are a state that always deceives,” at Yantielun, 48.525. See also a Han wooden docu
ment dating to the late first century b .c .e . that was excavated from Ulan-durbeljin (ЙЩ),
as transcribed in Juyan Hanjian: Jia yi bian ¥ <^Ш (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju
chubanshe, 1980), 2:233, strip 387.7, which states: "The Yi and Di are greedy (tan), and
without benevolence harbor boldness, requesting with insincerity to make” [strip broken]
For a discussion of this strip, see Michael Loewe, Records
of Han Administration: Volume 2, Documents (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1967), pp. 245-49. Jia Yi Ж Й uses similar language in the Xinshu ?ЯШ. See Yan Zhenyi
Ы 1ММ, ed., Xinshu jiaozhu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2000), pp. 137-38. For
Dong Zhongshu’s memorial on Xiongnu greed, see Hanshu, 94.3831.
th e "X io n g n u liezh u an ,” b u t its p arallels w ith th e o p e n in g p assa ge o f

th e c h a p te r illu stra te S im a Q ia n ’s m o re c o m p le x lite ra ry m e th o d . In
th e ex ce rp ts ta k e n fro m th e o p e n in g an d th e d ia lo g u e I h ave m a rk e d
o u t th re e claim s a b o u t X io n g n u th at a p p e a r in b o th p assa ge s (w ith th e
letters a, b, a n d c) a n d u s e d italics to h ig h lig h t so m e o f th e p ara lle l la n
guage. T h e " X io n g n u liezh u an ” o p e n s w ith th e lo n g e st d e s c rip tio n o f
fo re ig n cu sto m s fo u n d in an y S h iji ch ap ter, o r in d e e d in C h in e s e litera
tu re to th at p o in t.
The first ancestor o f the Xiongnu, called Chunwei, was a descendent o f the
ruling lineage o f the Xia state___[The Xiongnu] have no walled cities, fixed
abodes, or agricultural occupations____ They have no written documents,
and they use spoken words to seal pacts____ During crises their men prac
tice warfare and invade and plunder. This is their inborn nature___ They
do not understand ritual propriety and benevolence___They wear skins
and hide___(a) The strong eat the richest and finest food, while the elderly
eat their leftovers. They honor the strong and vigorous, and dishonor the
elderly and weak. (b) W hen fathers die, [the sons] marry the stepmothers.
(c) When brothers die, they take their [brothers’] wives and marry them.
According to their customs, they have personal names but do not observe
taboos on them, and they have no surnames or polite names.32
T h e n a rrative o f H a n -X io n g n u re la tio n s th at fo llo w s th is p assa ge c o n

tin u e s to su p p ly a n th ro p o lo g ic a l in fo rm a tio n ; b u t it is o n ly in th e
le n g th y d eb ate b e tw e e n Z h o n g h a n g Y u e an d th e H a n e n v o y o v er
X io n g n u cu sto m s th a t th e status an d o rig in o f th is in fo rm a tio n c o m e
in to q u e stio n :
One o f the Han envoys said: "According to Xiongnu customs, (a) they dis
honor the elderly’.’
Zhonghang Yue interrogated the Han envoy: "But according to Han
customs, when those joining the military are sent out to be stationed in gar
risons, do they not have their elderly kin set aside their own warmest layers and
richest and finest [food] in order to send food and drink to those working in
the garrisons?”
The Han envoy said: "It is so.”
Zhonghang Yue said: "The Xiongnu make it clear that they take war
fare and attack as their business. Their elderly and weak are unable to fight,
32 Shiji, 110.2879.
326 TAMARA T. CHIN
and therefore they give their richest and finestfood and drink to the strong and
vigorous. And because [the strong] make themselves the protectors and
defenders so fathers and sons both protect each other in the long term. How
can you say the Xiongnu dishonor the elderly?”
The Han envoy said: "Amongst the Xiongnu, fathers and sons bed
together in the same tent. (b) When fathers die, [the sons] marry their step
mothers. (c) When brothers die they take all the [brothers'] wives and marry
them.”33
T h e o p e n in g p assa g e o f th e "X io n g n u liezh u an ” in th e S h iji a n tic i

p ates th e rh e to ric o f a lien cu sto m s th at is fo u n d in B a n G u ’s a n d Fan
Y e ’s e n d -c o m m en ts. T h e e th n o g ra p h y u n fo ld s as a lita n y o f lack. T h e
X io n g n u h ave n o w ritte n d o c u m e n ts, n o a gricu ltu re, n o ritu a l p ro p ri
ety, an d n o p ro p e r n a m in g p ractices. T h e ir k in sh ip v io la tio n s (in m a r
r y in g ste p m o th e rs) a n d m altre a tm en t o f th e e ld e rly (in fe e d in g th em
le fto ve rs) re q u ire n o e x p lic it c o n d e m n a tio n . T h e a n o n y m o u s, p an o p -
tic a l o b s e rv e r an d th e ge n e ra liz a tio n o f th e e th n o g ra p h ic o b je c t e ch o
th e p re -im p e ria l m o ra l d isc o u rse o f h ie ra rc h y an d d iffe re n c e b e tw e e n
th e Y i an d H u a. T h e o p e n in g g e n e a lo g y traces X io n g n u a n c e stry b a c k
to th e d e sc e n d e n ts o f th e ru le rs o f th e an c ie n t X ia state. T h is s tra te g y o f
c reative e th n o g e n e a lo g y , w h ic h w a s a p p lie d to o th e r fo re ig n e rs in e arly
C h in e s e te x ts, lo c a tes an d fixes th e X io n g n u as p o litic a l su b o rd in a te s
to th e g e n e ra tio n a lly s e n io r C e n tra l S ta te s .^ T h e o p e n in g p o rtra it o f
X io n g n u cu sto m s an d c h arac ter p arallels m a n y in d iv id u a l p ro p o s i
tio n s fo u n d e lse w h ere, e sp e c ia lly in th e p o litic a l rh e to ric p re se rv e d
in th e X in sh u , b y th e H a n o ffic ia l J ia Y i ( 2 0 1 - 1 6 9 b .c .e .) ; in ed ic ts and
c o rre sp o n d e n c e exca va ted at th e fro n tie r o r p re se rv e d in th e S h iji an d
H a n sh u ; an d in th e Yantielun (T h e d isc o u rse s o n salt an d iro n ),
33 Shiji, 110.2899-900.
34 Di Cosmo historicizes Sima Qian’s ethnogenealogy as a traditional Chinese method
of assimilating the Xiongnu into a politically, culturally, and astrologically subordinate
position that had previously been occupied by other foreigners. See Di Cosmo, Ancient
China and its Enemies, pp. 294-304. Cui Mingde similarly uses this passage to
show continuities with the Zuozhuan tradition; he traces the stance in the Shiji of cultural
superiority to the Xiongnu back to common attitudes toward foreigners found in earlier
historiography. See his Liang Han minzu guanxi sixiangshi М Х й ^ ^ Ж ^ Ж ^ (Beijing:
Renmin chubanshe, 2007), pp. 122-34, esp. 132. On the processes of constructing a "fictive
genealogy” in the formation of the ever-shifting temporal, geographical, ecological, and
identificatory borders of the Huaxia, see Wang Ming-ke i ^ M , Huaxia bianyuan: lishi
jiyi yu zuqun rentong ^ЖШШ: (Beijing: shehui kexue chubanshe,
2006).
an a c co u n t o f an im p e ria l d eb ate c o n v e n e d in 81 b .c .e ., an d a scrib e d

to H u a n K u a n d u rin g th e su b se q u e n t re ig n o f E m p e ro r X u a n .35
H isto ria n s an d a rc h a e o lo g ists c o m m o n ly e x ce rp t th e S h iji’s m o re s u s
ta in e d d e sc rip tio n s o f X io n g n u n o rm s, p re se n tin g th e m e ith e r as
e m p iric a l d ata o r as flaw ed c o n stru c tio n s re su ltin g fro m tra d itio n a l
C h in e s e cu ltu ra l b ia s e s .36
U n lik e th e e th n o g ra p h ic p assa g e w ith w h ic h th e S h iji op en s,
Z h o n g h a n g Y u e c h alle n g e s th e e th n o g ra p h ic a ssu m p tio n s a n d p ra ctice
o f H a n en vo y s. In so d o in g , h e a n ticip a tes th e c ritic ism o f "th o se w h o
ta lk a b o u t th e X io n g n u ” th at S im a Q ia n v o ic e s in his e n d -c o m m e n t to
th e chapter. Z h o n g h a n g Y u e tre a s o n a b ly sy m p a th iz e s w ith X io n g n u
p ra ctic e s ( " H o w can y o u s a y th e X io n g n u d is h o n o r th e ir e ld e rly ? ” ),
and th ro u g h his re in te rp re ta tio n o f so c ia l acts, h e u n d e rm in e s th e
m o ra l a u th o rity o f th e H a n envoy. A fte r d e m o n stra tin g th at th e w a r
tim e sacrifices o f th e H a n e ld e rly to th e y o u n g m an ife st a la ck o f fil-
iality, h e re va lu e s th e sa crific es o f X io n g n u e ld e rly to th e ir y o u n g as
p art o f a m ilita r y sy ste m d e sig n e d to p ro te c t th e ir elderly. Z h o n g h a n g
Y u e re v e rse s th e e th n o g ra p h ic gaze w ith th e rare p h rase, "H a n c u s
to m s ” (H a n su S f ^ ) . E ls e w h e re in th e Sh iji, th e te rm su ^ is u se d
in re la tio n to o u tsid e r g ro u p s o r to c o n n o te n e g a tive p ra ctice s, su ch
35 For a Han imperial edict alleging that Xiongnu abuse their elderly and transgress
proper human relations, see Shiji, 111.2923. On the governmental preoccupation during
this period over Han treatment of their own elderly, see A. F. P. Hulsewe, "Han Chin—
A Proto ‘Welfare State’? Fragments of Han Law Discovered in North-West China,” TP
73.4-5 (1987): 265-85. For descriptions of Xiongnu clothes and customs, and their lack
of city walls, righteousness, and various forms of propriety, see Yantielun, 38.453, 52.555.
A wooden strip found at Tuyin near Lop Nor, Xinjiang, has a fragment of text
resembling a line from the ethnographic opening: A j J I J ^ ^ j J : "If the people have
the advantage, they will advance; if they do not have the advantage . . .” [strip broken].
As transcribed by Huang Wenbi ^ ^ ® , Luobunaoer kaogu ji (Peiping:
National Peking Univeristy, 1948), p. 211. Chen Zhi argues that this fragment, written
by a frontier official, derived from a separate circulating portion of the Shiji rather than
from a full manuscript; see his Shiji xinzheng (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2006),
p. 165; Hanshu xinzheng (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2006), p. 421.
36 See, for example, Wu Mu Й ^ , Xiongnu shi yanjiu ^ X ^ W ^ (Beijing: Minzu
chubanshe, 2005), pp. 111-15; Chen Xujing Ш ^Ш , Xiongnu shi gao (Bei
jing: Zhongguo renmin daxue chubanshe, 2007), pp. 84-94. On the continuing useful
ness of the Shiji and Hanshu for frontier archaeologists, see William Honeychurch and
Chunag Amartuvshin, "States on Horseback: The Rise of Inner Asian Confederations and
Empires,” in Miriam T. Stark, ed., Archaeology ofAsia (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2006), pp.
262-68. For the differentiation between the "empirical” and "normative” aspects of the
Shiji as a mode of representation, see Di Cosmo, Ancient China and its Enemies, chapters
7 , 8.
328 TAMARA T. CHIN
as Q in -d y n a s ty n o rm s o r m is g u id e d p o p u la r c o n v e n tio n s). T h e s p e
cific te rm H a n su o c c u rs o n ly tw ic e in early C h in e s e texts, o n ce w ith in
th is stran ge d ia lo g u e b e tw e e n a H a n e n v o y an d Z h o n g h a n g Y u e in th e
"X io n g n u liezh u an ” in th e Sh iji, an d o n c e as it is p re se rv e d in th e p a r
alle l d ia lo g u e in th e "X io n g n u zh u an ” in th e H a n sh u .37 A c c o rd in g to
m o d e r n h isto ria n s, it w a s o n ly after th e H a n d y n a sty th at th e m e a n in g
o f th e te rm H a n c h an g ed fro m a p o litic a l o n e (in re fe re n c e to th e state
o f H a n o r th e H a n d y n a s ty ) to an e th n ic o n e.38 T h e re fo re it is stran ge
th a t th e te rm H a n su h ere ap p ears n o t sim p ly in th e c o n te x t o f anti-
H a n p o litic a l sen tim e n t, b u t a lso as a su sta in e d c ritiq u e o f H a n e th n o
g ra p h ic re p re se n ta tio n s o f th e X io n g n u .
T ra d itio n a l a n d m o d e rn sc h o la rs h ave in te rp rete d Z h o n g h a n g
Y u e in th ree m a in w a y s: as a h isto ric a l tra ito r (an o b je c t o f b la m e ), as
a C h in e s e c iv iliz e r o f fo re ig n e rs (an o b je c t o f p ra ise ), an d as a v e h i
cle o f C h in e s e se lf-c ritiq u e (a lite ra ry d e v ic e ). In th e first in stan ce, as
an o b je c t o f b la m e , Z h o n g h a n g Y u e illu strates th e w id e s p re a d p r o b
le m o f H a n d e fe ctio n s to th e X io n g n u ; an d h is tra ito ro u s sp e e ch e s
are a n a ly z e d as o ra l h isto ry, w h o s e in c lu sio n y ie ld s in sigh ts in to th e
fra u g h t h isto ric a l p o litic s o f th e heqin tre a ty an d in to S im a Q ia n ’s o w n
p o litic a l a m b iv a le n c e .3 9 In th e s e c o n d in stan ce, as an o b je c t o f p raise,
Z h o n g h a n g Y u e h as b e e n re a d b y h isto ria n s o f C h in e s e "eth n ic u n ifi
ca tio n ” as an agen t o f p o sitiv e cu ltu ra l in flu e n c e : th e d e fe c to r teach es
37 Sima Qian generally uses su in reference to a foreign culture or negative domestic

practices (e.g., Shiji, 6.278) that may change according to the dynasty or to specific influ
ences, or that resists positive change (e.g., Shiji, 82.1424). See Mark Edward Lewis, The
Construction of Space in Early China (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2006),
pp. 192-212.
38 See Mark Elliott, "Hushuo ^ ^ : The Northern Other and Han Ethnogenesis,”
paper presented at the Conference on Critical Han Studies, Stanford University, April
2008. Wang Liqi explicitly translates the term Hansu here as Han-dynasty customs in
Wang Liqi i j j ^ , ed., Shiji zhuyi (Xi’an: San Qin chubanshe, 1988), 4:2341.
39 Song Chao ^ ® , "Han-Xiong zhanzheng dui liang Han shehui xintai de yingxiang”
Shixue lilun yanjiu (1997.4): 61-71,
esp. 64; Thomas J. Barfield, The Perilous Frontier: Nomadic Empires and China, 221 BC to AD
1757 (Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers, 1989), pp. 50-53. For Zhonghang Yue’s dialogue as
an example of one of the Shiji’s oral sources, whose inclusion enabled Sima Qian to com
municate his "barbarophile” sympathies, see Di Cosmo, Ancient China and its Enemies, p.
269. On Jia Yi’s condemnation of Zhonghang Yue as someone to be flogged, see Hanshu,
48.2241-42; Ying-shih Yu, Trade and Expansion in Han China, pp. 11, 37. According to Tu
Long (1541-1605), Zhonghang Yue’s eunuch status helps to explain his carefree
treachery. See Ling Zhilong ed., Shiji pinglin (1576; Tianjin: Tianjin
guji chubanshe 1998), 6:312-13.
th e X io n g n u a c co u n tin g , m ilita r y strategy, an d m o d e s o f o ffic ia l letter-

w ritin g , th u s b e c o m in g a v e h ic le o f "sin ificatio n ” (an d th u s, fro m th is
p e rsp e c tiv e , a p o s itiv e in flu e n c e ).40 In th e th ird in stan ce, as a lite ra ry
d ev ic e, sc h o la rs h ave in te rp re te d Z h o n g h a n g Y u e as h o ld in g u p a k in d
o f C h in e s e e th n o g ra p h ic m irror. H is re v e rsa l o f h ie ra rch ie s se rv e s to
re p rese n t th e C h in e se s e lf th ro u g h th e o p p o s itio n a l fo re ig n er, rath er
th a n to d e p ic t th e X io n g n u fro m a X io n g n u p ersp ec tiv e . A s so m e m o d
e rn sc h o la rs h ave p o in te d o u t, th e Z h o n g h a n g Y u e d ia lo g u e re ca lls a
cla ssic a l u se o f th e w is d o m o f fo re ig n e rs to in d ire c tly c ritiq u e th e self,
e sp e c ia lly d u rin g tim e s o f p o litic a l d e c a d e n c e . 4 1
M y o w n re a d in g b u ild s o n Z h o n g h a n g Y u e ’s re la tio n to a lite ra ry
tra d itio n ra th e r th a n to th e h is to r y o f th e fron tier. H o w e v e r, w h e re
40 Cui Mingde, "Zhongguo gudai heqin de wenhua yingxiang” Ф

ШЩ, Minzuyanjiu S ^ W ^ (2003.3): 59-68; Ma Liqing and Song Yuanru
Ш, "Guanyu Xiongnu wenzi de xin xiansuo” Kaogu yu wenwu
(2004.2) : 49-53. Ma Chiying comments on the civilizing role of the encoun
ter for the Xiongnu, as recipients of a superior Chinese culture. See Ma Chiying M ^ ^ ,
Shiji jinzhu (Taibei: Taiwan shangwu yinshuguan, 1979), 6:2914. Cf. Lu Simian
S ® ® , Zhongguo minzu shi (Shanghai: Shijie shuju, 1934), pp. 35-52.
41 David Schaberg, "Travel, Geography, and the Imperial Imagination,” pp. 180-89,
situates Zhonghang Yue’s dialogue within two longstanding classical traditions: that of
remonstrance; and that of the delineation of Chinese civilization based on a watery meta
phor of circulating words, goods, and structures of knowledge. The forms that Zhong-
hang Yue’s rejection of Chinese culture takes—his rhetorical focus on Chinese hypocrisy
and on blocking the circulation of Chinese words and silks (both classical tropes)—thus
betray his simultaneously "sinifying influence.” As Schaberg argues, Zhonghang Yue’s
transmission of Chinese modes of ordering the world (through census-taking, taxa
tion, rhetoric) implicitly explains to the Chinese reader how the Xiongnu became such
a powerful threat. Where Schaberg elucidates the continuities between Zhonghang Yue
and the pre-imperial poetics of the frontier (the water metaphor, the trope of the sinify-
ing traitor), I emphasize those aspects of Zhonghang Yue’s rhetoric that remain bound to
their place within the Shiji, and to the specific uses of the kinship metaphor in the Han
dynasty. See also Paul Rouzer, Articulated Ladies: Gender and the Male Community in
Early Chinese Texts (Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2001), pp. 168-71; Mark
Edward Lewis, The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han (Cambridge: Harvard University
Press, 2007), p. 135; Claudius C. Muller, "Die Herausbildung der Gegensatze: Chinesen
und Barbaren in der fruhen Zeit (1. Jahrtausend v. Chr. bis 220 n. Chr.),” in Wolfgang
Bauer, ed., China und die Fremden: 3000 Jahre Auseinandersetzung in Krieg und Frieden
(Munich: Verlag C. H. Beck, 1980), pp. 43-76, esp. 71-72. Amidst the Anglo-Chinese hos
tilities leading up to the Opium Wars, Guan Tong (1780-1831), an advocate of bans
on foreign imports, cites Zhonghang Yue as a parable for his own times. Just as Zhong-
hang Yue instructed the Xiongnu to ride Han silks through brambles to show their infe
riority to Xiongnu leathers, so Guan Tong called for the imposition of punitive measures
to ban foreign imports into China. In applying Zhonghang Yue’s advice to his own times,
Guan implicitly aligned himself with the Xiongnu, not the Han-dynasty Han. See Guan
Tong, "Jin yong yang huo yi” in Huangchao jingshi wenbian Ж^^ЖШ^Ш
(Taibei: Shijie shuju, 1964), ed. He Changling Я Й йр, 2:26.15-16.
330 TAMARA T. CHIN
oth ers e m p h asiz e th e p arallels b e tw e e n Z h o n g h a n g Y u e ’s rh e to ric an d

p re ce d en ts fo u n d in cla ssic a l te x ts, I fo c u s o n th e strik in g re so n a n c e s
b e tw e e n h is d ia lo g u e s an d th e fra m in g p assages o f th e "X io n g n u
zh u an ” (th e o p e n in g an d th e e n d -c o m m e n t), w h ic h to g e th e r se rv e to
d efa m ilia riz e a n th ro p o lo g ic a l d isc o u rse in an u n p re c e d e n te d way. A s
th e ju x ta p o sitio n o f th e p assages a b o v e d em o n stra te s, Z h o n g h a n g Y u e
en ga ge s th e cla im s n o t o n ly o f h is im m e d ia te in te rlo c u to r, b u t also o f
th e p a n o p tic o p e n in g e th n o g ra p h ic p assage. T h e d ia lo g u e elab orates
o n th e o p e n in g ’s th e m e o f X io n g n u cu ltu ra l failu re s, e c h o in g its la n
g u age, a n d it a lso d u p lica tes th e to p ic o rd e r in th e o p e n in g passage.
B o t h p assages p ro c e e d fro m th e X io n g n u ’s d isre sp e c t fo r th e e ld e rly
sy m b o liz e d b y th e o ffe rin g o f le fto v e r fo o d (a ), to X io n g n u so n s m a r
r y in g th e ir ste p m o th e rs (b ), to b ro th e rs m a r ry in g th e ir d ea d b ro th e rs ’
w iv e s (c ). T h e p aralle ls in v o c a b u la r y (fo r e x am p le , th e p h rase s "th e y
d is h o n o r th e e ld e rly ” an d "ric h e st an d fin est fo o d ” [a ]), an d in en tire
sta tem en ts in (b ) an d (c ), c o m p e l th e re a d e r to d ra w a c o m p a riso n .
T h e e x ch a n g e b e tw e e n th e H a n e n v o y an d th e H a n tra ito r b e c o m e s
m o re le g ib le w h e n re a d n o t sim p ly as p art o f th e c h ro n o lo g ic a l n a r
rative o f th e n o rth e rn fro n tie r th at fo llo w s th e c h a p te r’s o p e n in g
a c co u n t o f X io n g n u cu sto m s, b u t also as a re sp o n se to th o se o p e n in g
claim s. T h ro u g h it, th e p a n o p tic a l ey e o f th e o p e n in g p assage, w h o s e
a u th o rity d e p e n d s u p o n th e in v is ib ility o f th e eth n o g ra p h e r, b e c o m e s
e m b o d ie d in a sto ck -fig u re w h o is w o rs te d in a rg u m e n t w ith Z h o n g -
h a n g Yue. T o u se th e v o c a b u la r y o f m o d e rn a n th ro p o lo g y , o n e m ig h t
say th at S im a Q ia n illu m in e s th e d ia lo g ic p ro c e sse s o f "p a rtic ip a n t
o b se rv a tio n ,” o r e th n o g ra p h ic fie ld w o rk , b y ju x ta p o s in g th e claim s
o f th e in fo rm a n t w ith th e in te rv e n tio n s an d cu ltu ra l a ssu m p tio n s o f
th e e th n o g ra p h e r .4 2 In S im a Q ia n ’s case, h o w e ve r, th e re is n o X io n g n u
in fo rm a n t; it is ra th e r th e H a n d isc o u rse a b o u t th e X io n g n u , in th e
c h a p te r’s o p e n in g an d in th e figu re o f th e en vo y, th at c o m e s u n d e r
scrutiny.
T h e m o st strik in g in d ic tm e n t o f th e H a n e n v o y an d th e o p e n in g
e th n o g ra p h y co m e s in Z h o n g h a n g Y u e ’s e n su in g c o m p a ris o n o f k in
sh ip p ra ctic e s (to p ic s b a n d c):
42 See James Clifford, "Introduction: Partial Truths,” in James Clifford and George E.
Marcus, eds., Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography (Berkeley: University
of California Press, 1986), pp. 14-15.
W hen fathers, sons, and brothers die, [the Xiongnu] take [the widowed]
wives and marry them, as they hate having the surname group die out.
Therefore even when the Xiongnu face political turmoil, the ancestral group
is [firmly] established. N ow in the Central States although a man clearly
would not marry his father’s or brother’s wife, family members have become
so estranged that they kill each other until the dynastic line is changed, and
everyone follows this pattern.4 3
P ittin g X io n g n u again st H a n p ra ctice s, Z h o n g h a n g Y u e re fu se s e ve n to

u se th e sam e te rm in o lo g y . In stead h e in tro d u ce s th e n e w an d u n fa m ilia r
te rm s "su rn a m e g ro u p ” (zh o n g x in g Ш Й ) an d "an ce stra l g ro u p ” (zo n g
z h o n g ж 8 ) in a d v o c a tin g th e X io n g n u sy s te m .4 4 H e d ire c tly c o n
trasts th e X io n g n u lin e a ge an d a n cestra l g ro u p s w ith th e C e n tra l States
" fa m ily ” (q in shu Щ Щ ) — a te rm th a t th e S h iji g e n e ra lly u se s to re fe r to
th e im p e ria l fam ily. H is n e w te rm s a lso in d ire c tly c o u n te r th e v o c a b u
la r y o f d e sc e n t (x ia n z u ^ f f i , m iao y i f f i ^ ) u s e d in th e o p e n in g e th
n o g ra p h ic sta tem en t— v o c a b u la r y th at w o u ld o th e rw is e p o litic a lly
su b o rd in a te th e X io n g n u w ith in th e b ro a d e r C e n tra l S tates fa m ily s y s
tem . Z h o n g h a n g Y u e ’s in su lt o f c o m p a ris o n clim ax e s w h e n h e m ak es
th e k in sh ip p ra ctic e s o f th e C e n tra l S tates a p p e a r stran ge an d v io le n t.
In d istin g u ish in g th e tw o syste m s, h e recasts th e C e n tra l S ta te s’ "fa m
ily ” (q in shu) as th e s o u rc e o f its cu ltu ra l in fe rio rity . B e c a u s e th e C e n
tra l S tates h ave a qin shu an d n o t a z h o n g x in g o r z o n g z h o n g b le ss e d w ith
th e levirate, th ey, u n lik e th e X io n g n u , are u n sta b le an d e stra n g e d to th e
p o in t o f d y n a s tic u p h e a va l. T h e p h rase "to ch an g e su rn a m e s” ( y i x in g
o c c u rs e lse w h e re in th e S h iji, in C o n fu c iu s ’s re p o rt o f th e tra d i
tio n a l p ro c e d u re o f c h a n g in g su rn a m e s in b e c o m in g ru le r .4 5 B u t h ere, in
ligh t o f th e X io n g n u ’s altern ate k in sh ip v a lu e s (fe e d in g w e ll th e y o u n g ,
m a r ry in g ste p m o th e rs), w h ic h e n a b le th e y o u n g to d e fe n d th e o ld and
m ak e g e n e ra tio n a l s u c c e ssio n sm o o th , w h a t ap p e ars stran ge an d savage
are th e tra d itio n a l c y c le s o f d y n a stic ch an g e in th e C e n tra l States.
43 Shiji, 110.2900.
44 On the translation of "clan,” "lineage,” and "surname,” see Lothar von Falkenhausen,
Chinese Society in the Age of Confucius (1000-250 b c ) : The Archaeological Evidence (Los
Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, 2006), pp. 23-24, 164-65. On the problem that
that translation of kinship terminology poses for cultural comparison and comprehen
sion, see David Schneider, A Critique of the Study of Kinship (Ann Arbor: University of
Michigan Press, 1984), pp. 3, 38.
45 Shiji, 28.1363.
332 TAMARA T. CHIN
Z h o n g h a n g Y u e ’s re fu ta tio n s o f th e o p e n in g p assa ge are, in p art,

an in stan ce o f th e S h iji’s c o m m o n u se o f n a rrative c o n tra d ic tio n or, to
u se W ai-yee L i’s p h rase, "iro n ic d isju n ctio n .’^ 6 A s in th e C h u n q iu tr a d i
tio n , sc h o la rs h ave lo n g so u g h t clu es to m e a n in g o r in d ire ct c ritic ism
th ro u g h th e se c o n tra d ic tio n s o r ellip ses. A c o m m o n fo rm th is c o n tra
d ic tio n tak es in th e S h iji o c c u rs w h e n a b a ld m o ra l sta tem en t o r c h a r
ac te r sketch , often at th e o p e n in g o f a ch ap ter, is u n d e rm in e d o r p ro v e d
in a c c u ra te th ro u g h e n su in g even ts. S o , th e " B a s ic A n n a ls o f th e F irst
E m p e r o r Q in ” ju x ta p o se s th e o ffic ia l self-c e leb ra tin g , e p ig ra p h ic h is
to rie s o f th e Q in d y n a s ty w ith a n a rrative o f th e cru e lties an d failu res
o f th e regim e. A n d in th e c h a p te r o n fam ilie s re lated to th e e m p e ro r
b y m arria g e , S im a Q ia n p ro n o u n c e s th a t "am o n g st ritu a l p ra ctice s o n ly
m a rria g e d em a n d s c o m p le te rig o r” b e fo re d e ta ilin g th e d ram as o f rit
u a lly in c o rre c t H a n c o n s o rts .4 7 L ik e w is e , in th e ca se o f th e "X io n g n u
liezh u an ,” se v e ra l o f th e in tro d u c to ry e th n o g ra p h ic statem en ts are
c o n tra d ic te d b y th e e n su in g n arrative. A lth o u g h th e X io n g n u "h a v e
n o w ritte n d o c u m en ts,” S im a Q ia n in c lu d e s tw o w ritte n letters fro m
th e X io n g n u le a d e r to th e H a n E m p e ro r. Z h o n g h a n g Y u e in stru cts th e
X io n g n u su b v e rs iv e ly to e m b e llish th e ir sa lu ta tio n s to th e e m p e ro r and
to u se w ritin g m ate ria ls lo n g e r th a n th e o n e -fo o t s t a n d a r d ^ b u t he
d o e s n o t n e e d to te a c h th e m h o w to w rite . T h e o b se rv a tio n th at th e y
u se th e se w ritte n letters to fo rm a liz e th e p e a c e tre a ty w ith th e H a n a lso
co n tra d icts th e o p e n in g claim th at th e y o n ly "u se s p o k e n w o rd s to sea l
pacts.” A lth o u g h th e X io n g n u are in tro d u c e d as h a v in g "n o su rn am es,”
th e n a rrativ e la te r gives su rn a m es fo r th e th ree fam ilie s c o m p risin g
th e X io n g n u aristo cracy. A n d w h e n Z h o n g h a n g Y u e later c o m p la in s
th at th e X io n g n u are w e a rin g n o t "skin s an d h id es . . . fu r an d felt,” b u t
im p o rte d H a n silk , th e tim e le ss e th n o g ra p h ic p o rtra it o f th e X io n g n u
46 In "The Idea of Authority in the Shih chi,” Wai-yee Li shows how Sima Qian estab
lishes his moral authority by promoting the task of memorializing human affairs alongside
that of elucidating transcendental patterns, and by mediating between a wide spectrum
of attitudes in his narrative and commentary, "ranging from ironic detachment to sympa
thetic identification, from verification to skepticism.”
47 Shiji, 6.243, 49.1967. Puett, The Ambivalence of Creation, p. 179, makes the point that
Sima Qian sometimes used his nuanced narratives as veiled critiques of his own simplistic
final statements.
48 Michael Loewe suggests that this might explain why a large number of writing strips
excavated at Juyan (at the Han-Xiongnu frontier) exceeded the standard length. Michael
Loewe, Records of Han Administration: Vol. 1, Historical Assessment (Cambridge: Cam
bridge University Press, 1967), p. 32.
is p ro v e d o u t d a t e d 49 H isto ria n s h ave p o in te d o u t th a t later te x ts and

a rc h a e o lo g ic a l fin d s d isp ro v e m a n y o f th e claim s m ad e at th e o p e n in g
o f th e " X io n g n u liezh u an ,” b u t m y p o in t h e re is th a t th e a c co u n t its e lf
p ro v id e s c o n tra d ic to ry o r h is to ric a lly n u a n c e d in fo rm a tio n .
T h e iro n ic re la tio n b e tw e e n th e o p e n in g p assa ge an d th e later
d ia lo g u e in th e " X io n g n u liezh u an ” th u s align s S im a Q ia n ’s end-
c o m m e n ts w ith th o se o f Z h o n g h a n g Y u e, an d th e o p e n in g claim s w ith
th o se o f th e H a n envoy. L ik e Z h o n g h a n g Y u e, S im a Q ia n re ve rse s th e
fo c u s fro m th e X io n g n u to th e C e n tra l States. L ik e Z h o n g h a n g Yue,
S im a Q ia n d raw s a tten tio n to th e p o litic s o f e th n o g ra p h ic re p re se n ta
tio n itself. W h e re Z h o n g h a n g Y u e attacks th e b ia s e s o f th e H a n en vo ys
and (im p licitly ) o f th e c h a p te r’s o p e n in g , S im a Q ia n attacks se lf
s e r v in g p o litic ia n s w h o ta lk a b o u t th e X io n g n u an d (im p lic itly ) c o m
p ares C o n fu c iu s ’s se lf-c e n so rsh ip to his o w n p re d ica m en t. In th is light,
th e d ia lo g u e b o th u n se ttles th e c o n fid e n t e th n o g ra p h y o f th e c h a p
te r ’s o p e n in g and se rv e s as p re fa ce to th e G ra n d S c r ib e ’s ra d ic a l d e fa
m ilia riz a tio n o f th e fo reig n er. T h e Z h o n g h a n g Y u e e p iso d e , m o re th an
a n y p la ce e lse in th e " X io n g n u liezh u an ,” re c a lls th e p ro b le m s raised
b y th e e n d -c o m m e n t: o f w ritin g o p e n ly a b o u t o n e ’s o w n tim e s, o f
p o litic a l b ia s in X io n g n u re p o rta g e, an d o f c h o o sin g th e rig h t a d v is
ers. T h ro u g h th e re so n a n c e s o f th e se th ree s e c tio n s (th e b e g in n in g , th e
e n d -c o m m e n t, an d th e m o st e x te n d e d d ia lo g u e ), it e m e rg e s th at th e
p ro b le m p o s e d b y th e X io n g n u is o n e o f re p rese n ta tio n , n o t o f a n th ro
p o lo g ic a l d ifferen ce.
T h e d e p ic tio n o f Z h o n g h a n g Y u e as a g o o d a d v ise r g iv e s c re d en ce
to S im a Q ia n ’s s y m p a th y w ith th e tra ito r an d n o t th e H a n envoy. N a r
ra tive fo rm an d d ic tio n m a rk Z h o n g h a n g Y u e as th e p o s s e s s o r o f s u p e
r io r k n o w le d g e . H is d eb ate w ith th e e n v o y a p p ro p ria te s— p aro d ie s
e v e n — th e d ia lo g u e s o f cla ssic a l p h ilo s o p h e rs .5 0 O n th e p e re n n ia l c la s
s ic a l to p ic o f filia l piety, Z h o n g h a n g Y u e h as b e c o m e th e s p e a k in g m a s
ter, an d th e H a n e n v o y th e h u m b le stu d e n t in te rlo c u to r w h o s e le ad in g
q u estio n s o r p ro p o sitio n s (su ch as "A c c o rd in g to X io n g n u cu sto m s,
th e y d is h o n o r th e e ld e rly ” ) re su lt in le n g th y re sp o n se s, fo llo w e d b y th e
e n v o y ’s p ro m p t c o n c e s sio n o f d e fe a t— "It is so ” (ran Ш ). O rig in a lly
49Shiji, 110.2899.
50On Han classicists’ use of the dialogue form of Confucius’s Analects, see Michael
Nylan, "Han Classicists Writing in Dialogue About Their Own Tradition,” Philosophy East
and West 47.2 (1996): 133-88.
334 TAMARA T. CHIN
sen t as tu to r to th e H a n p rin c e ss, Z h o n g h a n g Y u e re d ire c ts h is lesso n s

at th o se sen t to e d u ca te th e X io n g n u in th e w a y s o f th e C e n tra l States.
H e te a ch e s th e m a c c o u n tin g an d ta x a tio n . In d e m a n d in g sile n ce, he
ch aracterizes th e e n v o y ’s s p e e c h as "tw itte rin g a n d ch atte rin g ” (d ie
d ie er z h a n z h a n an a c cu sa tio n w ith a p aralle l e lse w h ere
in th e S h iji. In a d eb ate o v e r th e p ro p e r c h o ic e o f m in iste rs, th e w is e
a d v ise r Z h a n g S h izh i c o n d e m n s th e tw itte rin g (d ie die № № )
w o rk m a n at th e im p e ria l S h a n g lin P a rk w h o o n c e so im p re sse d th e
v is itin g E m p e ro r W e n b y n a m in g its e x o tic a n im als th at th e e m p e ro r
o rd e re d his p ro m o tio n to th e d ire c to r o f th e p ark . I f th e e m p e ro r
s h o u ld c h o o se th e w o rk m a n o v e r th e w o rth y official, Z h a n g w a rn s,
p e o p le " w ill c o m p e te in v e rb a l d isp u ta tio n th a t has n o th in g to d o w ith
reality.” 51 H e re a n d in th e "X io n g n u liezh u an ,” th e k in d o f e m p iric a l
tru th -cla im s re p re se n te d b y th e w o rk m a n ’s a n d th e H a n e n v o y ’s o ra l
re p o rts are d ism isse d as m e re v e rb o sity . E lse w h e re , th e S h iji c ritic a lly
p re se n ts H a n e n vo y s in d ista n t lan d s u s in g e x ag g era tio n an d m is re p
re se n ta tio n fo r p ro fit an d p o w e r, a w o r r y th at recu rs in o th e r lite ra ry
d o c u m e n ts . 5 2
Z h o n g h a n g Y u e ’s la n g u a g e a lso c lo s e ly p aralle ls th a t o f tw o m o d e l
a d v ise rs, Y o u Y u an d J ia Y i. T h e S h iji’s "Q in b e n ji” (B a s ic
an n als o f th e Q in ) n arrates h o w th e an c ie n t k in g o f th e R o n g s en t his
e n v o y Y o u Y u to D u k e M u o f Q in (r. 6 5 9 - 6 2 1 b .c .e .) . A s in o th er
v e rsio n s o f th is p arab le in th e re c e iv e d tra d itio n , Y o u Y u is th e sage
fo re ig n a d v ise r w h o c riticiz e s th e m o ra l d e c lin e o f th e C e n tra l States
a n d w h o , a fter D u k e M u sen d s fe m a le m u sic ia n s to c o rru p t th e R o n g ,
s w itc h e s h is p o litic a l lo y a lty to th e Q in .5 3 T h e S h iji’s re n d itio n o f th is
s to r y d ep a rts fro m o th e r a c co u n ts in th ree w a y s th at e m p h asiz e a c lo se r
p ara lle l to th e Z h o n g h a n g Y u e d ia lo g u e. F irst, in o th e r v e rsio n s, D u k e
M u o r h is a d v ise rs iso la te th e R o n g ’s la c k o f ( c o rru p tin g ) m u sic as th e
m a in d iffe re n c e b e tw e e n Q in an d R o n g . S im a Q ia n ’s D u k e M u , b y con -
51 Shiji, 102.2752, and its parallel account in the Hanshu, 50.2307.

52 The scholars representing local interests in the Yantielun echo the end-comment in
Shiji, juan 110, in accusing the officers reporting on affairs of the western regions of "seek
ing after momentary power.” See Yantielun, 46.511. Shiji, 123.3171 also portrays the envoys in
the western region as "unbalancing their tales.”
53 Shiji, 5.192-93; Hanfeizi, 3.10.70-72; Lushi chunqiu, 24.1.3. Cf. Hanshi waizhuan, 9.24;
Shuo yuan, 20.9a-10b. These latter versions frame the dialogue as a moral-political parable
about pleasure (the danger of female musicians) or about the danger posed by the pres
ence of a sage in an enemy state (lin guo you sheng ren, di guo zhi you ye S I S W ^ A ,
£ *-Й ).
trast, o p e n s th e c o n v e rsa tio n b y p o in tin g o u t th at th e R o n g la c k rites,

classics, an d law s. Z h o n g h a n g Y u e lik e w ise b e g in s h is c o m p a riso n o f
X io n g n u and C e n tra l S tates w ith th e H a n e n v o y s ’ (fa r m o re c ritica l)
claim th a t th e X io n g n u lack ritu a l p ro p rie tie s. S e c o n d , u n lik e in o th e r
v e rsio n s, S im a Q ia n ’s Y o u Y u elab o rates w h y th e R o n g are a s u p e rio r
state. H e cele b rates th e h a rm o n io u s re la tio n s b e tw e e n ru le rs an d s u b
je c ts, an d a sse rts th at "th e g o v e rn a n c e o f th e state re se m b le s th a t o f th e
s e lf ” — — ^ Ш. Z h o n g h a n g Y u e m ak e s a s im ila r cla im and
u tters th is e xact p h rase in d e fe n d in g X io n g n u s u p e r i o r i t y ^ Finally,
S im a Q ia n a lo n e in tro d u ce s Y o u Y u as h a v in g a n cesto rs fro m th e state
o f J in a n d as a n a tive sp e a k e r o f its lan gu age. S in c e Z h o n g h a n g Y u e o rig
in a lly se rv e d as tu to r to th e H a n p rin c e ss, b o th he an d Y o u Y u d efe n d
th e fo re ig n e r as a b ic u ltu ra l ad viser. In o n e re sp e c t, Y o u Y u se rv e s as a
fo il, ra th e r th a n an a n a lo g u e , to Z h o n g h a n g Y u e, h o w e v e r: h is su b s e
q u en t p o litic a l tra n sg re ssio n w o rk s in fa v o r o f th e C e n tra l S tates, and
h e is b r ie fly c o m m e m o ra te d in th e " X io n g n u liezh u an ” fo r h a v in g
h e lp e d E m p e ro r M u in d e fe a tin g th e e igh t states o f th e w e ste rn R o n g .55
Z h o n g h a n g Y u e ’s p o litic a l d ia g n o sis o f H a n -X io n g n u relatio n s
u n d e r E m p e ro r W en also b e a rs u n c a n n y re sem b la n c e to th at o f his
e m in e n t c o n te m p o r a r y J ia Y i. W h e re J ia Y i, as re c o u n te d b y th e
H an shu , a rgu e s th at "th e [size o f th e] p o p u la tio n o f th e X io n g n u d o e s
n o t e x ce e d th at o f a large p re fe c tu re ” and e lse w h ere lays o u t a p r o
gram fo r u s in g H a n m ate ria l g o o d s as th e "five b a its ” (w u er E M )
w ith w h ic h to w e a k e n th e X io n g n u / 6 Z h o n g h a n g Y u e w a rn s th e chief-
ta n (shanyu Щ ^ ) : "T h e X io n g n u p o p u la tio n c a n n o t e q u a l o n e H an
c o m m an d e ry . S o w h a t m ak e s th e m stro n g is th at, b e c a u se th e ir c lo th
in g and fo o d d iffe r fro m o u rs, th e y d o n o t d e p e n d o n th e H an . N o w
th e shanyu is c h a n g in g th e cu sto m s in h is fo n d n e ss fo r H a n c o m m o d i
ties, so, a lth o u g h H a n m ate ria l g o o d s d o n o t e x ce e d o n e fifth [ o f H an
p ro d u c tio n ], th e X io n g n u u ltim a te ly w ill re v e rt to b e in g u n d e r H an
c o n tro l .” 57 W h ile th e p a trio tic a d v ise r J i a Y i e m b ra ce s th is p o ssib ility ,
54 Shiji, 110.2900. Li Si’s famous memorial to the First Emperor of Qin against the
expulsion of foreign advisers opens with the example of You Yu of the Rong giving sage
advice that subsequently benefited Duke Mu of Qin. See Shiji, 87.2541. On the implicit
or explicit worthiness of You Yu as an adviser, see also Shiji, 68.2234, 83.2473; Ying Shao’s
comment at Hanshu, 22.1043.
55 Shiji, 110.2881.
56 Hanshu, 48.2241.
57 Shiji, 110.2899.
336 TAMARA T. CHIN
th e tra ito r Z h o n g h a n g Y u e e x h o rts th e X io n g n u to re je c t H a n silk s and

fo o d s in fa v o r o f a n im a l h id es an d n u tritio u s k u m iss. A t th e sa m e tim e,
J ia Y i an d Z h o n g h a n g Y u e ’s sh are an eth ic a l c o n c e p tio n o f th e c o r
ru p tin g p o w e r o f m ate ria l w e a lth , an d v a lo riz e th e "p r im a r y ” (ben Ф )
e c o n o m y b a s e d o n agricu ltu re o v e r th e "s e c o n d a ry ” (m o ^ ) e c o n o m y
based on c o m m e rc e d
U n lik e Y o u Y u a n d J ia Y i, h o w e ve r, th e figu re o f Z h o n g h a n g Y u e
s e rv e s as a lite ra ry d e v ic e ra th e r th a n as a p arad ig m o f th e g o o d adviser.
T h e S h iji n e v e r e x p lic itly re c o g n iz es h im as a m o d e l to em u late, as it
d o e s th e o th e r tw o . H ow , a fter all, c o u ld S im a Q ia n p re se n t a v o lu n
t a r y tra ito r as an o b je c t o f p ra ise? A lth o u g h S im a Q ia n fa m o u sly risk ed
h is life fo r d e fe n d in g th e re p u ta tio n o f a n o th e r p u rp o rte d traito r, L i
L in g , Z h o n g h a n g Y u e w a s n o t a cele b rated g e n e ra l c o rn e re d in to su r
render. T h e re so n a n c e b e tw e e n S im a Q ia n ’s o w n c o m m e n ts an d th o se
o f Z h o n g h a n g Y u e d o e s n o t re so lv e in to sim p le p ra ise o f th e h isto ric a l
figure. D iffe re n c e s b e tw e e n th e H an sh u an d th e S h iji illu stra te Z h o n g -
h a n g Y u e ’s a m b iv a le n t status. A lth o u g h th e p aralle l H an sh u ch ap te r
in clu d e s b o th th e o p e n in g e th n o g ra p h ic p assa ge an d th e Z h o n g h a n g
Y u e d ia lo g u e, B a n G u ’s a p p ra isa l tra n sfo rm s th e ir v a lu e . B a n G u e ch o es
th e p h o b ic a n th ro p o lo g ic a l d isc o u rse o f th e o p e n in g , re a lig n in g h im
s e lf n o t w ith Z h o n g h a n g Y u e, b u t w ith th e H a n envoy. M o re o v e r, th e
H anshu b io g r a p h y o f J i a Y i in c lu d e s J ia Y i’s m e m o ria l to th e em p ero r,
w h ic h calls fo r Z h o n g h a n g Y u e ’s flo g g in g , e v e n th o u g h th at m e m o ria l is
n o t fo u n d in th e S h iji 5 B a n G u ’s re a lig n m e n t o f a u th o ria l sy m p a th ie s,
a lo n g w ith J ia Y i’s o p e n c o n d e m n a tio n , h elp s to sta b iliz e th e Z h o n g -
h a n g Y u e o f th e H an sh u as a h isto ric a l e x e m p la r o f th e traito r. L o s t in
th e H anshu s re w ritin g o f th e S h iji’s c h a p te r is S im a Q ia n ’s im p lic it affir
m a tio n o f Z h o n g h a n g Y u e. W h e re S im a Q ia n ’s e n d -c o m m e n t e ch o es
Z h o n g h a n g Y u e ’s c ritiq u e o f b o th th e H a n e n v o y an d th e c h a p te r’s
o p e n in g p assage, B a n G u ’s e n d -c o m m e n t s im p ly reaffirm s th e a u th o r
it y o f th e e n v o y an d th e eth n o g rap h y. N o o th e r a c co u n t o f fo re ig n ers
in th e h isto rio g ra p h ic tra d itio n — in c lu d in g B a n G u ’s p aralle l c h a p
te r— se lf-re fle x iv e ly d efa m ilia riz e s a n th ro p o lo g ic a l d isc o u rse itself.
58 Shiji, 30.1442, 129.3272.

59 Hanshu, 48.2242, and in a parallel passage in Jia Yi, Xinshu. Zhonghang Yue also fig
ures briefly in the Xin xu ?Я№, a collection of anecdotes drawn from the Shiji and other
early texts, and reputedly compiled by Liu Xiang Щ Й (79-8 b .c .e .).
Kinship in the “Peace through

Kinship” (heqin) Treaty
S im a Q ia n ’s d e fa m ilia riz a tio n o f e th n o g ra p h y b e lo n g s to a b ro a d e r sh ift
in th e e a rly H a n -d y n a sty c o n stru c tio n o f fro n tie r relatio n s. Z h o n g -
h a n g Y u e ’s re v e rsa l o f th e H a n e n v o y ’s gaze to c o u rt p o litic s reso n ates
n o t o n ly w ith S im a Q ia n ’s e n d -c o m m e n t o n b ia se s in re p o rts o n th e
X io n g n u , b u t also w ith d eb ates o v e r th e n e w heqin tre a ty fo u n d e lse
w h e re in th e S h iji a n d o th e r H a n -d y n a sty texts. T h e e sta b lish m e n t o f
im p e ria l C h in a ’s earliest fo rm o f n o n -trib u ta ry d ip lo m a c y an d its c e n
tr a lity to H a n -X io n g n u re la tio n s fro m 198 to 133 b .c .e . in v ited d eb ate
a b o u t th e sy m b o lic , as w e ll as th e co n tra c tu a l, asp ects o f th e treaty.
F irst fo u n d in th e S h iji and o n tile -e n d s in sc rib e d w ith "H eq in w ith th e
shanyu” (shanyu heqin Щ ^ Д Щ ) exca va ted at th e H a n -X io n g n u fro n
tier, th e heqin w a s d isc u sse d an d n arrate d in th e Sh iji, th e H an sh u , th e
Yantie lun, an d J ia Y i’s X in sh u , in w a y s th at heqin trea tie s o f su b se q u e n t
d yn a stie s w e re n o t .6 0 T h e re is a u n iq u e rh e to ric a l p la y fu ln e ss in th ese
e a rly H a n -d y n a sty u se s o f th e te rm , as o fficia ls an d ru le rs d isp u te d th e
m e ta p h o ric a l m ea n in gs o f th e e p o n y m o u s k in sh ip ( q in ) o f th e heqin
and its d ip lo m a tic ritu al.
A lth o u g h h isto rie s o f C h in e s e fo re ig n affairs o ften b e g in w ith
th e H a n -d y n a sty h eqin, th e H a n -d y n a sty u se o f th e te rm has its e lf
re c e iv e d little atten tio n . P r io r to th e S h iji, th e u n c o m m o n te rm heqin
re ferred to th e a c h ie v e m e n t o f h a rm o n io u s re la tio n s— in m u sic and
w ar, a m o n g st th e g e n e ra l p o p u la tio n , o r w ith in th e tra d itio n a l b o n d s,
su c h as th o se b e tw e e n fa th e r and so n , b e tw e e n ru le r and su b je c t, o r
b e tw e e n b ro th e rs.6 1 O n th e rare o c c a sio n s w h e n th e te rm heqin w as
u se d to d e sc rib e p e a c e ag re e m e n ts b e tw e e n clan s o f th e sa m e state, or
b e tw e e n states, th e texts d id n o t s p e c ify a n y ritu a l o r c o n tra c tu a l e le
m en ts. F u rth e rm o re , a lth o u g h so m e o f th e se sa m e te x ts d id re co rd
60 Tile-ends were excavated in 1953-54 and 1981 from Han tombs dating from the
mid- to late western Han period in Baotou, Inner Mongolia. See He Lin M tt, "Guanyu
‘shanyu heqin’ wa” Ж, in Baotou wenwu ziliao (Baotou:
Baotoushi wenwu guanlisuo, 1986), 1:74-86. According to He Lin, the tile-ends with the
"shanyu heqin” inscription have been found only in the Baotou region, were derived from
a single mold, and probably commemorate Emperor Wen’s renewal of the heqin. The pre
cise phrase Shanyu heqin does not appear in the received tradition.
61 See, for example, Guanzi ^ ^ , "Fa jin” in Guanzi jiaozhu (Beijing:
Zhonghua shuju chubanshe, 2004), 1:282; Liji Ш|Ё, "Yue ji” Щ|Ё, and "Yan yi” ^ Ш .
338 TAMARA T. CHIN
in stan ce s w h e re le ad e rs o f w a rr in g fa c tio n s gave d a u gh ters to o p p o s in g

le a d e rs as to k en s o f p e a c e o r u s e d an ega lita ria n d ip lo m a tic rh e to ric o f
"b ro th e rh o o d ,” th e y d id n o t u se th e te rm h eq in .6 2 T h e a sso c ia tio n o f
th e se s ig n ify in g p ra ctic e s w ith th e a ctu al te rm heqin first a p p ears w ith
th e H a n -X io n g n u treaty, an d o n ly H a n -d y n a sty te x ts e lab o ra te th e
te rm ’s v a rio u s in te rp re tiv e p o s s ib ilitie s .6 3
M o d e r n sc h o la rs h ave e x te n siv e ly re se a rch e d th e c o n tra c tu a l term s
o f th e e a rly heqin. T h e first h eqin tre a ty w a s b ro k e re d after th e X io n g n u
h a d s u rro u n d e d an d fo rc e d in to s u rre n d e r th e fo u n d in g e m p e ro r o f
th e H a n d yn asty, E m p e ro r G a o z u . F ro m th is p o s itio n o f in fe rio rity ,
th e H a n g o v e rn m e n t e v e n tu a lly a g re e d to se n d fix ed a n n u a l p ay m e n ts
in s ilk flo ss, clo th , an d grain s to th e X io n g n u , an d to gran t th e p r iv i
le g e o f tra d e at th e b o r d e r m arkets.64 It w a s p h ra se d in an egalitarian
la n g u a g e o f b ro th e rly re la tio n s an d it u s e d th e G re a t W a ll to d e m a r
cate th e g e o p o litic a l b o r d e r b e tw e e n "th o se w h o d ra w b o w s ” to its
n o rth , an d th o se w h o w e a r "caps a n d sa sh e s” to th e so u th . S im a Q ia n ’s
62 I argue here against Zhang Zhengming’s otherwise very useful account of

the heqin, which tries to trace the heqin back through pre-imperial texts. The passages
Zheng cites from the Zuozhuan and Guoyu do record diplomatic marriages, but do not
use the term heqin. When the term heqin occurs in a pre-Han text (in reference to a peace
agreement between clans from the state of Jin), there is no mention of a marriage ritual.
See Zuozhuan, Xiang 23.3, p. 1074. Likewise, the Shijis record of a heqin between King
Qing Xiang of Chu and King Zhao of Qin in 285 b .c .e . does not actually mention a mar
riage ritual. See Shiji, 40.1729. Zhang’s single example of a heqin with foreigners, from the
Qiugong Sikou chapter of the Zhouli — a pre-Han text that first became
known in the early Han dynasty— does not clarify this use of the term. See Zhang Zheng-
ming, "Heqin tong lun” in Zhongguo shehui kexue yuan minzu yanjiusuo, ed.,
Minzu shi lun cong (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1986), pp. 3-24. For a chrono
logical chart of so-called mixed marriages in the ancient period, see Wang Tongling i
Йй р , Zhongguo minzu shi (Taibei: Hua shi chubanshe, 1977), pp. 36-54.
The "Xiongnu liezhuan” foreshadows the Han dynasty heqin with two political "inter
marriages,” both of which involve the state represented by the wife or female lover sub
sequently defeating the enemy state of the husband or male lover. The discussion of the
political use of marriage (qin) to politically pacify (he) the Western Rong during the reign
of King Xiao of Zhou (r. 872-866 b .c .e .) in the Shijis "Qin benji” offers a very
schematic precedent for the heqin debates, although the symbolic meanings of the terms
are not questioned. See Shiji, 5.177.
63 The Hanshu uses the term heqin in describing later agreements with the Nanyue and
the Wusun. See Hanshu, 64B.2821, 96B.3927.
64 Such commercial borders of empire are articulated elsewhere in the Shiji, when
the King of the Nanyue complains that in breaking off trade privileges in iron vessels
and goods, Empress Dowager Lu is effectively treating them like Man and Yi. See Shiji,
113.2969. The Shiji also compares China’s regional cultural identities and customs (su) by
describing their local economic resources and relations in the "Huozhi liezhuan”
f^; see juan 129.
" X io n g n u liezh u an ” n arrates th e first se v e n su c c e ssiv e b re a k d o w n s and

re n e w a ls o f th e tre a ty u n til 133 b .c .e ., w h e n E m p e ro r W u la u n c h e d his
c o n tro v e rsia l an d e x p e n siv e m ilita r y ca m p a ig n to re a sse rt c o n tro l o v er
th e n o rth e rn fro n tie rs .6 5 In th e a fterm ath o f E m p e ro r W u ’s su ccesses,
th e H a n g o v e rn m e n t c o n tin u e d to fo llo w th e h eqin treaty, b u t a lo n g
s id e o th e r p o lic ie s th a t re fle cte d a sh ift in p o w e r re la tio n s— su c h as th e
e x ch a n g e o f h o sta g es, " lo o s e rein ” d ise n g a g e m e n t, an d fu rth e r m ilita ry
e x p e d itio n s.
E c o n o m ic an a ly se s o f th e b re a k d o w n o f th e H a n -X io n g n u heqin
h ave te n d e d to b la m e th e failu re o f th e a n n u a l p ay m e n ts an d b o rd e r-
m ark e t e xch an ge to s a tis fy th e m ate ria l d em a n d s o f th e X io n g n u ,
re su ltin g in th e ir d isru p tiv e c ro ss-b o rd e r raids.66 A c c o r d in g to th is
in te rp re ta tio n , th e heqin m arria g e ritu a l is se e n as in stru m e n ta l, as th e
p o litic a l tro m p e l’o e il w ith w h ic h th e H a n g o v e rn m e n t re p rese n te d
th e ir an n u al p a y m e n ts n o t as a re ve rse trib u te to th e v ic to r, b u t as a
ritu a l d o w r y to an eq u al. P o litic a l an a ly se s o f H a n -X io n g n u relatio n s
h ave e m p h a siz e d th e heqin as a p e a c e (h e) c o n tra c t th at w a s re p e a t
e d ly b ro k e n an d u ltim a te ly a b a n d o n e d d u e to p o litic a l m isu n d e rsta n d
in g an d in d e p e n d e n t m ilita r y v io le n c e b y g e n e ra ls o n b o th s id e s / 7
S u c h an alyses re d u c e th e ritu a l asp ects o f th e heqin to b e in g m e re ly
s y m b o lic , th e c o n tin u a tio n o f th e b e n ig n p ro to c o ls o f p re -im p e ria l
m arria g e d ip lo m ac y , and th e y u n d e rsta n d th e heqin c o n tra c t as th e
a p p lic a tio n o f tra d itio n a l m arria g e d ip lo m a c y to an u n p re c e d e n te d
situ atio n o f im p e ria l d efeat. B o th o f th e se a p p ro ac h e s, th e n , have,
righ tly, p a id m o re h e e d to th e q u an tita tiv e o r c o n tra c tu a l te rm s o f th e
h eq in — su c h as th e v a lu e o f th e gifts o r th e v io la tio n o f b o r d e r s — th an
to th e ritu a l itself.
H a n -d y n a sty officials, h o w e ve r, p a id m o re a tten tio n to th e actu al
s y m b o lic p ra ctic e an d m e a n in g o f th e heqin th a n su c h h isto ric a l
an a ly se s w o u ld s u g g e s t / 8 S in c e th e o b se rv a n c e o f ritu a l p ro p rie ty in
65 See Ying-shih Yu, Trade and Expansion in Han China, pp. 40-64, for an economic
assessment. Marriages did not follow every renewal of the heqin; see Psarras, "Han and
Xiongnu,” p. 142.
66 E.g. Lin Gan, Xiongnu shi, p. 46.
67 In analyzing the heqin’s breakdown, Di Cosmo critiques the strictly economic
approach. He argues that the Han failed to grasp fundamental differences in notions of
sovereignty. The persistence of independent Xiongnu raids contributed in particular to
that political misunderstanding. See Di Cosmo, Ancient China and its Enemies, pp. 215-27.
68 For an exceptional literary approach to the heqin, see Uradyn E. Bulag, The Mongols
340 TAMARA T. CHIN
in terstate re la tio n s featu res p ro m in e n tly in th e C h u n q iu , o n e can read

th e H a n -d y n a sty h eqin d eb ates a b o u t p ro p rie ty in te rm s o f th e c o n
sc io u s a p p ro p ria tio n o f C h u nqiu h isto rio g ra p h y b y th e S h iji. T h e S h iji
it s e lf p re se n ts a n o th e r h is to ry o f th e heqin o u tsid e th a t o f th e "X io n g n u
liezh u an ,” in its b io g r a p h y o f E m p e ro r G a o z u ’s m o st b rillia n t m in ister,
L iu J in g Щ ® . A fte r th e su c c e ssfu l X io n g n u a m b u sh o f E m p e r o r G a o z u
a n d h is a rm y at P in g c h e n g in 200 b .c .e ., L iu J in g d e v ise s th e "p e ac e
th ro u g h k in sh ip ” tre a ty th at w ill b o th s a tis fy th e v ic to rio u s X io n g n u in
th e p re se n t b u t s o m e h o w m ak e th e sh a n y u s fu tu re "so n s an d g ra n d
so n s [H an ] su b jects.” L iu J in g p re fa c es h is in n o v a tiv e p la n w ith th e
p ro b le m o f X io n g n u k in sh ip im p ro p rie ty , e x e m p lifie d b y th e p re se n t
sh a n y u s m u rd e r o f h is fa th e r an d m a rria g e to h is ste p m o th er. T h is r e s o
n ates w ith th e e th n o g ra p h y o f X io n g n u k in sh ip n o rm s in th e "X io n g n u
liezh u an ,” an d an im m e d ia te attack o n L iu J i n g ’s p la n b y E m p e ro r G a o -
z u ’s w ife an ticip ates th e co n tra st th at Z h o n g h a n g Y u e d raw s b e tw e e n
th e in te rn e cin e H a n c o u rt an d th e (id e a liz e d ) X io n g n u le virate:
[Liu Jing:] "If your H onor is sincerely able to have the eldest princess (di
zhanggongzhu Ж ^ ^ ^ ) marry [the shanyu], and to send lavish gifts
along with her, he will know that the Han [Empress’s] eldest daughter
(di nu Ж ^ )6 9 is being sent with material generosity, and, like the Man
and the Yi, he will inevitably desire her and regard her as his consort (yan-
shi ). W hen she has a son, he will inevitably make him his heir, who
will in time become the shanyu. Why? Because [the shanyu] will be greedy
for Han replenishments o f wealth. Your H onor should each year present
quantities o f the goods that they lack and o f which the Han have a surplus,
and, by sending rhetoricians, cajole them to use ritual propriety. While [the
Shanyu] Maodun [r. 209-? b .c .e .] is alive he will already be established as
your son-in-law. W hen he dies your grandson will become shanyu. And who
indeed has heard o f a grandson who has dared to defy the propriety owed
to his grandfather? Without a battle our army will be able to use this gradual
at China's Edge: History and the Politics of National Unity (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield
Publishers, 2002). Bulag critiques Han-centered approaches in frontier historiography,
and he provides a genealogy of the heqin "marriage-alliance” through Chinese literary
history, and its conceptual influence even to the present. Unlike Bulag, who emphasizes
enduring symbolic value of the heqin as a sign of Chinese self-feminization in the face of
"masculine” Inner Asians, I focus on contestation within the Han dynasty archive over the
symbolic value of the heqin.
69 On the three different terms for the princess used in this passage, see William H.
Nienhauser, Jr., ed., The Grand Scribe's Records, Vol. 8: The Memoirs of Han China, Pt. 1
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2008), p. 285 n. 41.
method to subject them. But if Your H onor is unable to dispatch the eldest
princess, and orders the imperial household to approach a palace woman
and deceptively name her the princess, they will know and will be unwill
ing to honor or approach her, and we will reap no benefits.” Emperor Gaozu
said, "Good,” wishing to send the eldest princess. But Empress Lu wept day
and night, saying, "I only have the heir apparent and one daughter. How
can you cast her off to the Xiongnu?” The Emperor in the end was unable
to send his eldest princess but took the daughter o f a commoner, giving her
the name o f the "eldest princess” and she married the shanyu.70
A c c o rd in g to B a n G u , "A rg u m en ts fo r th e heqin b e g a n w ith L iu Jin g .” 7 i

H ere, in th e S h iji's b io g ra p h ic a l a c co u n t, a lso fo u n d in th e H an sh u , L iu
J i n g ’s a n x ie ty a b o u t th e fe lic ity o f th e heqin lies n o t in its c o n tra c tu a l
te rm s ( g iv in g a n n u a l p ay m e n ts, re s p e c tin g b o rd e r s ), b u t in th e actu al
m arria g e ritu a l th a t seals it. R itu a lly c o rre ct, p ro c re a tiv e m arria g e w ill
re ve rse H a n -X io n g n u p o w e r re la tio n s "w ith o u t a battle.” A c c o rd in g to
th e id e a ls o f k in sh ip su b o rd in a tio n , th e X io n g n u lead er, in m a rry in g
th e H a n p rin c e ss, w o u ld b e c o m p e lle d to d e fe r to th e H a n em p eror. A s
a son -in -law , th e X io n g n u le a d e r w o u ld b e p la c e d in a su b o rd in a te k in
sh ip p o s itio n to th e H a n em p ero r, and w o u ld th e re fo re b e su b m issive .
T h e s o n o f th e u n io n b e tw e e n th e e n e m y le a d e r an d th e H a n p rin ce ss
in tu rn w o u ld b e g ra n d so n to th e H a n em p ero r, an d as L iu J in g rh e to ri
c a lly ask s: " W h o h as e v e r h ea rd o f a g ra n d so n d a rin g to d e fy th e ritu a l
p ro p rie ty (li) o w e d to h is g ra n d fa th e r” ?
T h e re so n a n c e s b e tw e e n th is e tio lo g y o f th e heqin ritu a l a n d th e
Z h o n g h a n g Y u e d ia lo g u e s e x e m p lify w h a t c ritics h ave c a lle d th e S h iji’s
"p rin c ip le o f m u tu a l illu m in a tio n ” (h u jia n f a S ^ f f i ) , "w h e re b y an
e ven t o r c h arac ter is p re se n te d fro m d iffe re n t p e rsp e c tiv e s in d iffe re n t
p arts o f th e b o o k .” 7 2 F irst, th e tw o a c co u n ts re d ire c t th e p o litic s o f th e
heqin fro m H a n -X io n g n u r iv a lry to H a n c o u rt rivalry. A fte r L iu Jin g
w a rn s th e e m p e ro r again st "d e c e p tiv e ly ” se n d in g s o m e o n e o th e r th a n
h is e ld e st d au gh ter, th e in fa m o u s E m p re s s L u (d. 18 0 b .c .e .) s u c
c e s s fu lly re q u ests E m p e ro r G a o z u to d isp a tc h a su b stitu te p rin cess.
H e r a p p e a l to th e m o th e r-d a u g h te r k in sh ip b o n d is a lre a d y im p ro p e r
70 Shiji, 99.2719.
71 Hanshu, 94B.3830.
72 Wai-yee Li, "The Idea of Authority in the Shih chi” pp. 395-400, elucidates this as a
method of literary indirection and example of Sima Qian’s impartiality. Cf. Zhang Dake,
Shiji yanjiu, 3:102-7.
342 TAMARA T. CHIN
w ith in an a n d ro c e n tric e th ic a l tra d itio n , b u t e ve n m o re so w h e n

p la c e d a b o v e th e d ip lo m a tic m arriage. In m e n tio n in g h e r " [ w e e p
in g ] d ay an d night,” th e te x t em p h asiz e s th e m a rita l b a sis o f h e r re la
tio n w ith th e em p ero r. B u t it is h e r in v o c a tio n o f h a v in g "o n ly th e
h e ir a p p aren t a n d o n e d a u g h te r” th a t fo re sh a d o w s fo r th e re a d e r h e r
re ig n o f im p r o p rie ty th a t is to co m e. A s th e S h iji e lse w h e re c h ro n icles,
it is p re c ise ly th ro u g h h e r k in sh ip n e tw o rk , a n c h o re d in th e L u clan,
th at sh e o rch estrates h e r b lo o d y rise to p ow er. In d e e d , b y th e tim e o f
th is heqin d eb ate, E m p re ss L u ’s o n ly d au gh ter, P rin c e ss L u Y u a n (L u
Y u a n G o n gzh u & ± ) , w a s a lre a d y w e d d e d to th e K in g o f Z h a o ,
Zhang A o Ш Ш .7 3 T h e ir d a u g h te r in tu rn w o u ld m a r r y E m p re s s L u ’s
so n , th e h eir-ap p aren t. A fte r h e r h u sb a n d ’s d eath , E m p re ss D o w a g e r
L u so d o m in a te d p o litic a l affairs th at th e S h iji in c lu d e s h e r b io g rap h y ,
b u t n o t h e r so n ’s (E m p e r o r H u i r. 19 5 - 18 8 ) , a m o n g st its B a s ic
A n n a ls , w h ic h is o th e r w is e re se rv e d fo r e m p e ro rs .7 4 J u s t as E m p re ss
L u o b stru c ts L iu J i n g ’s p lan s fo r th e heqin tre a ty w ith h e r b id to k ee p
c lo se h e r o w n d au gh ter, so d o e s Z h o n g h a n g Y u e tw o d e c a d e s later
u p se t th e e n v o y ’s p e d a g o g y a b o u t k in sh ip b y u n fa v o ra b ly c o n tra stin g
th e qin shu stru g g le s o f th e im p e ria l co u rt. H is in d ic tm e n t o f th e im p e
ria l c o u r t’s "ch an ge o f su rn a m e s” fin d s its c lo se st h isto ric a l re fere n t in
th e v io le n t in te rlu d e o f L u a s c e n d a n c y in L iu clan ru le, fo re sh a d o w e d
h e re in E m p re ss L u ’s a c tiv ist tears.
Q in Щ an d its a n to n y m shu Ш w e re k e y te rm s in tra d itio n a l p o liti
cal d isc o u rse , a p p lic a b le b o th to a ffe ctive re la tio n s w ith th e ru le r an d
73 Emperor Gaozu stayed at the home of this daughter and her husband, the King of
Zhao, on his way back from the very military defeat at Pingcheng that initiated the heqin
treaty. The King of Zhao demonstrates precisely the "ritual propriety of a son-in-law” that
Liu Jing will predict of the shanyu. See Shiji, 89.2582-83. Note that the "Xiongnu liezhuan”
reveals the meaning of yanshi as mere consort when Maodun kills his "beloved wife” (ai qi
ЙШ ) and gives away "one of his yanshi.” See Shiji, 110.2888-89. Han legal texts excavated
at Zhangjiashan also attest to the privileges bestowed upon Empress Lu’s son-in-law. See
Zhangjiashan Hanmu zhujian [er si qi hao mu] [— И ^ ^ ^ ] (Beijing:
Wenwu chubanshe, 2001), "Jin guan ling” (article 22, slips 520-22), p. 210. On
Empress Lu and the Han dynasty use of the term for the renewal of marriage ties between
affinal relatives (chongqin Ж*й), see Shiji, 49.1969; Hanshu, 96B.3905; Yang Shuda
Й , Han dai hun sang li su kao (1933; Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe,
2000), pp. 20-27.
74 Shiji, 9.395-422. The Hanshu gives Emperor Hui his own chapter. In his compari
son of the Shiji and Hanshu, Hans van Ess argues that, whereas the Hanshu emphasizes
Empress Lu’s cruelty as part of her personal character, the Shiji presents it more within the
Liu versus Lu political rivalry. See Hans van Ess, "Praise and Slander: The Evocation of
Empress Lu in the Shiji and the Hanshu,” Nan Nu 8.2 (2006): 221-54.
to filia tio n w ith in a clan. H a n F e iz i o n ce w a rn e d : "A m in is te r’s re la

tio n sh ip w ith his ru le r d o e s n o t h ave th e k in sh ip o f fle sh and b o n e s
(gu rou z h i qin # Й ^ Щ ) ; h e is b o u n d b y co n tin g e n t b o n d s w ith o u t
w h ic h h e w o u ld n o t s e r v e d E ls e w h e re th e m in iste r an d ru le r are said
to la c k "th e k in sh ip o f fa th e r an d so n ” ( fu z i z h i qin ^ ^ ^ Щ ) , "th e
k in sh ip o f m o th e r an d so n ” (z i m u z h i qin ^ Э ^ Щ ), an d "th e k in sh ip
o f b ro th e rs ” (x io n g d i z h i qin Й ^ ^ Щ ) . S im ilarly, "A w ife d o e s n o t
h ave th e b le ss in g o f fle sh and b o n e s ; i f sh e is lo v e d th ere is in tim a c y
( q in ), i f sh e is n o t lo v e d th e re is e stra n g e m en t ( s h u )” P o litic a l c o n tin
g e n c y a n d lo v e ’s fick le n e ss m ak e th e allian ce o r in tim a c y (q in ) o f m in
isters an d w o m e n d a n g e ro u sly u n tru stw o rth y . A ru le r m u st in stead
a n c h o r h is tru st in th o se c o n sid e re d "fle sh -a n d -b o n e s” (gu rou ) k in /6
T h e p r io r it y o f clan k in sh ip also h ad its co u n te r-tra d itio n , fo r e x am p le
in th e fa m o u s p assa ge fro m th e Z u o zh u a n in w h ic h a m in iste r m u rd ers
h is o w n so n ou t o f d u ty to h is state. T h e c o m m e n ta to r figu re (ju n z i ^
^ ) cites an an c ie n t sa y in g : " F o r th e sak e o f a g rea ter rig h te o u sn e ss,
h e d e stro y e d h is k in ( q in ) !’77 A s J i a Y i a rgu e d , b o th th e e m p e r o r’s qin
an d shu h ad b ro u g h t ch ao s at th e o u tset o f th e H a n d y n a s ty an d w o u ld
co n tin u e to d o so .7 8
W h e n S im a Q ia n w a s w ritin g , th e d eb ate a b o u t im p e ria l co u rt
allian ces an d th e stru c tu re o f g o v e rn m e n t h ad in te n sifie d .7 9 W h ile
E m p e ro r G a o z u h ad d ec la re d th a t o n ly m e m b e rs o f th e L iu clan c o u ld
in h e rit th e e m p ire an d e n c o u ra g e d th o se o f th e "sa m e su rn a m e to act as
o n e fam ily,” h is n e p h e w L iu P i w a s w ie ld in g th e sa m e rh e to ric o f "flesh
and b o n e s L iu clan” again st p o w e rfu l H a n m in isters to le g itim ate his
re v o lt .8 0 T h e p r io r it y o f k in sh ip b e tw e e n b lo o d relatio n s w a s in c re a s
in g ly c h alle n g e d w ith th e e m e rg e n c e o f im p e ria l C h in a , as e v id e n c e d
75 Han Feizi jijie ed. Wang Xianshen (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju

chubanshe, 1998), "Bei nei” ШЙ, p. 115. Wang suggests in the case of the wife, below, that
en "blessing” should actually be qin.
76 Compare Yang Xiong’s reading of the Yijing’s hexagram for qin Щ: "Trusting flesh
and blood / No one can come between them.” See Michael Nylan, trans., The Elemental
Changes: The Ancient Companion to the I Ching: The T ’ai Hsuan Ching (Albany: State Uni
versity of New York Press, 1995), pp. 160-61.
77 Zuozhuan, Yin 4.5, p. 38.
78 Jia Yi, Xinshu, "Qinshu weiluan” Щ М ^ Й , pp. 119-20.
79 See Michael Loewe, "The Former Han Dynasty,” in Denis Twitchett and Michael
Loewe, eds., The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 1: The Ch’in and Han Empires 221 b .c . -
a .d . 220 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), pp. 103-222.
80 Shiji, 106.2821, 2828.

344 TAMARA T. CHIN
n o t o n ly w ith in h isto rio g ra p h y , b u t also fro m th e lo c a tio n o f to m b s

a n d th e re w ritin g o f la w s.8i T h e S h iji p o rtra y s L iu J in g h im s e lf as a m a s
te r m a n ip u la to r o f d ista n c e an d p ro x im ity , o f qin an d shu. It is h e w h o
re -ce n ters th e e m p ire , s h iftin g th e ca p ita l w e stw a rd to C h a n g a n ; it is
h e w h o tra n sp o rts d a n g e ro u sly p o w e rfu l clans fro m th e p e r ip h e ry an d
resettles th e m at th e center. H a v in g b e g u n life as a h u m b le sh ee p sk in -
c la d " L o u J i n g ” ® ® , h e is e ven re w a rd e d fo r h is u n c o m p ro m is in g
p o litic a l a d v ic e w ith th e im p e ria l su rn a m e L iu Щ .8 2 A n d n o w , h a v in g
b e e n grafte d o n to th e v e r y b lo o d lin e o f th e e m p ero r, h is heqin se e k s to
d ra w th e u n w ittin g X io n g n u in to a m a rria g e th at w ill s u p p o s e d ly lead
to th e ir su b o rd in a tio n , an d to re lo c a te E m p re ss L u ’s k in sa fe ly b e y o n d
th e fron tiers.
In te rm s o f fro n tie r h isto ry , th e d isp a tch o f an altern ate p rin c e ss is
s im p ly a c o lo rfu l a n e c d o ta l d e ta il o f little real p o litic a l im p o rt. In s y m
b o lic te rm s, h o w e ve r, ritu a l im p r o p rie ty h as d o m e stic co n se q u e n c e s.8 3
T h e p ro b le m o f k in sh ip an d im p e ria l su c c e ssio n in th e heqin d eb ate is
n o t sim p ly b e tw e e n X io n g n u an d H an , b u t a lso b e tw e e n th e L iu s an d
th e L u s at th e p o litic a l c en te r o f th e em p ire. T h e d isp u te o v e r th e heqin
ritu a l d ram atizes an o m in o u s fa ilu re o f th e e m p e ro r to a lly w ith his
w is e m in iste r in stead o f h is w ife in ta lk in g a b o u t th e X io n g n u . Z h o n g
h a n g Y u e re ca sts L iu J i n g ’s p ro b le m a tiz a tio n o f th e heqin s k in sh ip
(s e n d in g th e tru e p rin c e ss, te a c h in g th e X io n g n u k in sh ip p ro p rie ty ) in
tw o w ays. In atta ck in g th e H a n im p e ria l fam ily, h e re v e rse s th e H an
e n v o y ’s e th n o g ra p h ic gaze b a c k to w a rd a d iv isiv e C e n tra l S tates p o liti
cal c u ltu re c o n c e iv e d in th e tra d itio n a l v e rn a c u la r o f qin an d shu; and,
in so d o in g , h e recalls th e H a n h eq in ’s v e r y sp e c ific stru g g le b e tw e e n
L iu s an d L u s th at le d to th e tr e a ty ’s fo u n d in g k in sh ip tra n sg re ssio n .
W ith in S im a Q ia n ’s n a rrative Z h o n g h a n g Y u e e ffe c tiv e ly b e c o m e s
81 See Wu Hung, Monumentality in Early Chinese Art and Architecture (Stanford: Stan
ford University Press, 1995), p. 162, on the relocation of ministers’ tombs beside that of
the emperor. On legal support for adoptive relations, and for family relations that are not
blood relations but socially constructed, see Queen, From Chronicle to Canon, pp. 143
44; Michael Nylan, "Notes on a Case of Illicit Sex from Zhangjiashan: A Translation and
Commentary,” Early China 30 (2005-6): 25-45.
82 Shiji, 99.2717.
83 As Wang Zijin points out, where theShijis "Xiongnu liezhuan” recounts

Emperor Gaozu dispatching "the princess” (gongzhu ^ £ ) to be the shanyus consort, the
parallel passage in the Hanshu version substitutes her with "a royal daughter” (wengzhu
^ ^ ) . The canonical Hanshu commentator Yan Shigu (581-645) also notices this substi
tution of terms by glossing wengzhu as "the daughters of various kings.” See Wang Zijin,
"Nan gong gongzhu de hun shi” ® ^ , Du shu (2006.3): 127-33.
s i m a q i a n ’s e t h n o g r a p h y 34 5
th e su b stitu te fo r th e p rin c e ss as th e s y m b o lic c en te r o f th e heqin

treaty. F o r w h e n Z h o n g h a n g Y u e first a c co m p a n ie s th e H a n p rin ce ss
to th e fro n tie r in th e re n e w a l o f th e heqin u n d e r E m p e ro r W en , w e h ea r
n o th in g a b o u t th e sh a n y u s k in sh ip w ith th e p rin c e ss, o r o f th e ir s u b
se q u e n t o ffsp rin g ; b y c o n tra st, th e X io n g n u le a d e r estab lish es an in ti
m ate a llian ce w ith Z h o n g h a n g Y u e, w h o s e in flu e n c e o v e r X io n g n u
p o lic y -m a k in g is re c o rd e d at le n g th : " W h e n Z h o n g h a n g Y u e arrived ,
h e d e fe cte d to th e shanyu, an d th e shanyu g re a tly fa v o re d h im .” 8 4 T h e
te rm "fa v o re d ” (q in x in g Щ # ) o ften c o n v e y s an e x ce ssiv e o r u n w a r
ran ted tru st o f a su b o rd in a te . T h e S h iji in tro d u ce s Z h o n g h a n g Y u e as
"a e u n u c h fro m th e state o f Yan,” an d S im a Q ia n ’s d istru st o f im p e ria l
m ale fav o rite s (so m e o f w h o m are e u n u c h s) is im p lic it e lse w h e re in
th e S h iji . 8 5 Z h o n g h a n g Y u e ’s o rig in s in th e n o rth e rn state o f Y an, w h ic h
b o rd e re d th e X io n g n u an d h ad fo rm e d allian ces w ith th e X io n g n u in
th e p ast, is th e o n ly p o te n tia l clu e to his o rig in a l re sista n ce to g o in g
an d h is betrayal.86 E v e n b e fo re Z h o n g h a n g Y u e c riticiz e s H a n k in sh ip,
h e has a lre a d y d isru p te d th e heqin th ro u g h a tra n sg re ssive act o f alli
an ce ( q in ) w ith th e shanyu. T h e c o u rt d eb ate o v e r th e su b stitu tio n o f
th e first heqin p rin c e ss, Z h o n g h a n g Y u e ’s su b stitu tio n o f a su b se q u e n t
heqin p rin c e ss, an d th e c o m p a ris o n o f X io n g n u an d H a n k in sh ip p ra c
tic es in b o th e p iso d e s, to g e th e r illu m in e th e S h iji’s rh e to ric a l in te re st
in th e heqin s s y m b o lic k in sh ip , an d n o t ju st its te rm s o f peace.
Z h o n g h a n g Y u e ’s e th n o g ra p h ic d eb ate re so n a tes w ith tw o a d d i
tio n a l a n x ie ties a b o u t th e ritu a l o r s y m b o lic c o n te n t o f heqin th at are
e x p re sse d in th e b ro a d e r H a n -d y n a sty arch ive. T h e first c o n c e rn s th e
p o litic a l im p o rta n c e o f re p ro d u c tio n in th e m a rria g e b in d in g th e heqin
trea ty ; th e s e c o n d c o n c e rn s th e s y m b o lic va lu e o f th e tr e a ty ’s an n u al
p aym e n ts. In L iu J i n g ’s d esign , th e h eq in ’s re v e rsa l o f H a n -X io n g n u
p o w e r re la tio n s d e p e n d s n o t o n fu tu re m ilita r y a ctio n , b u t o n th e H an
p rin c e ss g iv in g b ir th to th e n e x t X io n g n u le a d e r w h o w o u ld d e fe r to
h is im p e ria l H a n "father-in-law .” T o e n su re th at th e h e q in s m arria g e
w o u ld re ve rse p o w e r re latio n s, th e heqin w o u ld sen d rh e to ricia n s
84 Shiji, 110.2898.
85 Shiji, 125.3191-96.
86 On the disruptions to the first heqin caused by the surrender of Lu Wan ЖШ, the
King of Yan, to the Xiongnu, see Shiji, 110.2895. On the low socio-cultural status of the
state of Yan relative to other states in the Shiji, see Grant R. Hardy, "The Interpretive
Function of Shih Chi 14, ‘The Table by Years of the Twelve Feudal Lords,’” Journal of the
American Oriental Society 133.1 (1993): 14-24.
346 TAMARA T. CHIN
(b ia n shi M i ) to p e rsu a d e ( fe n g y u M ^ ) th e X io n g n u in to a d o p tin g

th e ru le s o f th e C e n tra l S tates fo r ritu a l c o n d u c t (lijie М Ш ) . T h at th e
rites in q u e stio n fo r L iu J in g c o n c e rn k in sh ip p ro p rie ty is c le a r fro m
th e e x am p le , g iv e n in th at sa m e p assage, o f th e g ra n d so n ’s p ro p e r c o n
d u ct (li M ) o w e d to h is gran d fath er. T h e p e d a g o g ic fra m e o f Z h o n g
h a n g Y u e ’s d ia lo g u e w ith e n v o y s, h is fo c u s o n th e ir "tw itte rin g ” sp e e ch ,
an d th e X io n g n u ’s later in siste n ce o n s ile n c in g cla ssic a l sc h o la rs m ak es
m o re sen se in th is light.
A t first g lan ce, L iu J i n g ’s p la n to u se th e heqin to p ro se ly tiz e C h in e se
fo rm s o f ritu a l c o n d u c t a m o n g st th e X io n g n u fits th e s tra te g y o f c iv i
liz in g fo re ig n e rs, w h ic h h isto ria n s h ave c o m m o n ly called sin ific a tio n
o r sin iciza tio n . T h e d isc u ssio n o f th e heqin in th e Yantielun illu strates
th e p rin c ip le at s t a k e d T h is d isc u ssio n w a s — at least in H u a n K u a n ’s
la te r a c co u n t o f it— p art o f th e im p e ria l c o u rt d eb ate, w h ic h E m p e ro r
Z h a o В д ^ (r. 8 7 - 7 4 b .c .e .) c o n v e n e d in 81 b .c .e ., o ste n sib ly to d is
cuss th e g o v e rn m e n t’s salt an d iro n m o n o p o lie s. T h e im p e ria l c o u n
se lo r an d re n o w n e d e c o n o m is t S a n g H o n g y a n g ( 15 2 - 8 0 b .c .e .)
led th e sid e re p re se n tin g th e cen tra l g o v e rn m e n t in d e b a tin g a m u c h
w id e r ran g e o f p o litic a l an d e c o n o m ic to p ic s again st a te a m o f sch o la rs
sele c te d b y officials. S in c e th is d eb ate o c c u rre d d ec a d es a fter E m p e ro r
W u h ad o v e rtu rn e d th e in itia l heqin and b e g u n th e re v e rsa l o f p o w e r
re la tio n s th a t w o u ld lead to th e p o litic a l su b m issio n o f th e X io n g n u
le a d e r to E m p e ro r X u a n in 5 1 b .c .e ., th e heqin (w ith its gifts a n d e g a l
ita ria n rh e to ric o f b ro th e rh o o d ) w a s n o w p u rsu e d b y th e X io n g n u
ra th e r th a n b y th e H an.
In th e d eb ate, each sid e p re se n ts c o m p e tin g m e a n in g s o f th e heqin
b y a lig n in g it w ith cla ssic a l m o d e ls. S a n g H o n g y a n g (w h o m c o m
m e n ta to rs id e n tify as th e D a fu in th e te x t) in v o k es th e C hun-
qiu an d th e n e e d fo r m ilita r y k n o w le d g e in p re se n tin g th e X io n g n u as
u n c h a n g e a b le b e a sts w h o n e e d to b e m ilita rily cru sh ed . T h e sch o la rs
d ra w o n th e S h ijin g an d o th e r te x ts to a rgu e th at th e X io n g n u can b e
civ iliz ed in to fo rm in g an allian ce th ro u g h th e m o re c o st-e ffec tive , e d u
cative p ra ctic e s e n a b le d b y th e heqin. In im p lic it d e fe n se o f th e fo rm e r
heqin, th e sc h o la rs a rgu e: "T h e D u k e o f Z h o u cu ltiva te d v irtu e and
th e Y u e an d S h a n g clan s cam e. T h e y fo llo w e d g o o d n e ss lik e sh ad o w s
o r e ch o es. I f in g o v e rn m e n t o n e is d e v o te d to u s in g v irtu e to m ak e
87 See, esp., Yantielun, 48.524-29, 38.453-63, 43.488-96, 52.555-63.

SIMA q i a n ’ s e t h n o g r a p h y 347
clo se allian ces, w h a t d o e s o n e h ave to w o r r y a b o u t th e o th e r n o t b e in g

tra n s fo rm e d ? ”^ T h e sc h o la rs situ ate L iu J i n g ’s p ro s e ly tiz in g heqin p o li
cies w ith in a tra d itio n a l n a rrative o f th e h u m a n ist sa g e ’s tra n sfo rm a tio n
o f th e m o ra lly b e n ig h te d . A s th e sa g e ’s s h a d o w an d ech o , th e fo re ig n e r
can cro ss in to th e eth ic a l g e o g ra p h y o f th e C e n tra l S tates, b u t h e c a n
n o t d o so in th e p o la riz e d e th n ic g e o g ra p h y th a t S a n g H o n g y a n g (or,
later, B a n G u ) tak es fo r gran ted . T h e sc h o la rs ’ eth ic a l m o d e l o f m a k in g
clo se a llia n ces (q in jin Щ Й ) m ilitate s again st th e e th n o g ra p h ic claim s
o f " in b o rn n atu re” an d u n c h a n g in g cu sto m s, b u t it is n o t as ra d ic a l as
th e m ap im a g in e d b y Z h o n g h a n g Y u e, w h ic h p o sits a (s u p e rio r) eth ical
d o m a in o u tsid e th e C e n tra l States. A ll th re e o f th e se m o d e ls — ra n g in g
fro m Z h o n g h a n g Y u e ’s m o d e l o f a lien w is d o m , th e sc h o la rs ’ m o d e l o f
sin ific a tio n , a n d B a n G u ’s a n d S a n g H o n g y a n g ’s m o d e l o f an im m o ra l,
im m u ta b le e n e m y " b e a s t”— can a lso b e fo u n d w ith in th e h is to rio
g ra p h ic an d p h ilo s o p h ic a l tra d itio n s o u t o f w h ic h th e S h iji e m e rg e d .8 9
H o w e v e r, L iu J i n g ’s d e fin itio n o f heqin, w h ic h fo c u s e s o n th e k in
sh ip p ro p rie ty o f fa th e r a n d so n , is a lso far m o re sp e c ific th a n th e c u l
tu ra l im p e ria lism m o d e l o f th e sc h o la rs fea tu re d in th e Yantielun. W h e n
th e H a n e n vo ys b e g in w ith th e ir le a d in g q u estio n s a b o u t filia l re la
tio n s a m o n g st th e X io n g n u , th e ir c h o ic e o f to p ic is n o t ra n d o m . W h e n
Z h o n g h a n g Y u e d e fe n d s th e p rin c ip le s o f X io n g n u k in sh ip , h e d efe n d s
th e X io n g n u again st th e p o litic a l th rea t o f L iu J i n g ’s heqin ritu a l and
n o t sim p ly again st e th n o g ra p h ic slan der. T h at is, o n e can re a d th e
Z h o n g h a n g Y u e d eb ate n o t o n ly as a C h in e s e e x am p le o f (re sista n ce
to ) an e th n o g ra p h y th at p aves th e w a y fo r p o litic a l d o m in a tio n (as a
m irro r v e rs io n o f th e m o d e rn E u ro p e a n e p iste m o lo g ic a l p ro d u c tio n o f
th e O rie n t in E d w a rd S a id ’s m o d e l), b u t a lso as a h is to ric a lly sp e c ific
e n g a g e m e n t w ith a n e w d ip lo m a tic id io m .
Z h o n g h a n g Y u e u ltim a te ly sa b o ta g e s L iu J i n g ’s p ro g ra m to in stru ct
th e X io n g n u in k in sh ip p ro p riety. B y th e tim e o f E m p e ro r W u , a c c o rd
in g to th e Sh iji, h is re p ea te d c o m m a n d s th a t H a n v isito rs sto p sp e a k
in g to th e X io n g n u h ad b e c o m e " X io n g n u cu sto m .” 9 ° In d e e d , th e fail
u re o f th e H a n to re -e d u c a te th e X io n g n u in k in sh ip ritu a l p ro v id e s
th e v e r y id io m o f d ip lo m a tic in su lt in an e p is to la ry e x ch a n g e b e tw e e n
88 Yantielun, 48.525.
89 See, for example, Zuozhuan Zhao 17.3; Chunqiu Gongyang zhuan, Ding 4.14-16; Chun-
qiu Guliang zhuan, Wen 1.4; Mencius 3A4.
90 Shiji, 110.2901, 2913.
348 TAMARA T. CHIN
th e shanyu a n d th e E m p re s s D o w a g e r L u . T h e S h iji re fers to "a letter

w ith in s u ltin g lan g u a g e ” fro m th e shanyu after th e d eath o f E m p e ro r
G a o z u , and th e H an sh u in c lu d e s th is le tter (an d th e E m p re ss D o w a
g e r ’s re s p o n s e ) in fu ll.91 " Y o u r M a je s t y h as ta k e n th e th ro n e a lo n e , an d
I re sid e u n s te a d ily alon e. W e tw o ru le rs d o n o t h ave p le a su re an d w e
lack th e m ea n s to m ak e o u rselv es h appy. I w o u ld like to tak e w h a t I
h ave an d e x ch a n g e it fo r w h a t I la c k .” 9 2 T h e ir o n y o f th e shanyu s p r o p
o sitio n e x ce e d s its in d e c e n c y . O n th e o n e h a n d , h e is p re ssin g th e
s y m b o lic k in sh ip o f th e heqin to its lo g ic a l e x tre m e: th e m arita l u n io n
o f tw o ru lers. O n th e oth er, h is sc a n d a lo u s p ro p o s a l re d re sse s th e
sc h e m e s o f p o w e r reversal, k in sh ip p e d a g o g y , and p rin c e ss s u b stitu
tio n th ro u g h w h ic h th e H a n c o u rt h a d o rig in a lly so u g h t to d e c e iv e th e
X io n g n u . A s th e fig u rative " b r o t h e r ” to th e d e c e a se d E m p e ro r G a o z u
in th e ega lita ria n rh e to ric a c c o m p a n y in g th e treaty, th e shanyu e ffe c
tiv e ly p ro p o s e s to en act th e X io n g n u c u sto m o f "b ro th e r s m a r ry in g
th e ir [d e ce a sed ] b ro th e rs ’ w ives.” A s th e so n -in -la w (a lth o u g h n o t so n )
o f th e d ec e a se d em p ero r, th e shanyu also im p lic itly re ca lls th e cu sto m
o f so n s m a r ry in g th e ir d e c e a se d fa th e r’s w iv e s. In th is ligh t, h is m a r
riag e to th e E m p re s s D o w a g e r w o u ld im p o s e X io n g n u k in sh ip p ra c
tic es o n to H a n o n es, and cau se L iu J i n g ’s p lan s fo r p ro s y le tiz in g to
b a ck fire . A t th e sa m e tim e th e sh an yu ’s u se o f th e lan g u a g e o f m arket
c o m m e rc e — "e x c h a n g in g w h a t I h ave fo r w h a t I la ck ” ( y i q i suo w u ^
Й ^ Я Й ) , w h ic h th e S h iji u se s e lse w h e re to d e sc rib e a c tiv itie s in th e
b o rd e r m ark ets o p e n e d u p b y th e heqin tre a ty — o ffsets th e s c a n d a l o f
h is p ro p o s a l b y im p lic itly re m in d in g E m p re ss D o w a g e r L u o f h e r p art
in ta k in g a w a y w h a t he la ck s, n a m e ly h e r o n ly d au gh ter, w h o w a s to
h ave b e e n h is heqin w ife.
Im p ro p e r k in sh ip m e ta p h o rs jo in im p ro p e r k in sh ip acts, fo r m
in g n e w s y m b o lic p ra ctic e s a c c o m p a n y in g th e H a n -d y n a sty h eq in .
X io n g n u an d H a n le ad e rs a p p ro p ria te d th e p re -im p e ria l d ip lo m a tic
m e ta p h o r o f b ro th e rh o o d to "b in d th e m se lv e s as b ro th e rs th ro u g h
th e h eqin ” o r to se rv e as "p a re n ts to all u n d e r H eaven .” 9 3 N o n e th e le ss,
o th e r H a n d y n a s ty officials e x p lo ite d th e k in sh ip m e ta p h o r in n e w
91 This is the most significant difference between the parallel sections of the Hanshu
and Shiji accounts. Compare also the two tales of pre-imperial intercultural marriage that
preface the Han-Xiongnu heqin in both accounts.
92 Hanshu, 94.3755. Compare Yantielun, 48.534, for the language of market exchange.
93 Shiji, 110.2896, 2897, 2903, 2914.

s i m a q i a n ’s e t h n o g r a p h y 34 9
w ays. A s w e h ave seen , L iu J in g fo c u s e d o n th e h eq in ’s h id d e n fath er-

so n (a n d g ra n d fa th e r-g ra n d so n ) m e ta p h o r th at w o u ld g o v e rn fu tu re
H a n -X io n g n u relatio n s. In th e re ig n im m e d ia te ly fo llo w in g E m p re ss
D o w a g e r L u ’s, J ia Y i u se s th e im a g e o f d e c e p tiv e m o th e rh o o d in o u t
lin in g to E m p e ro r W e n his T h re e P rin c ip le s fo r d e fe a tin g th e X io n g n u :
"E v e n i f [th e X io n g n u ] h ave th e face s o f H u an d th e fo rm s o f R o n g ,
th e y w ill c o n s id e r th e m se lv e s lo v e d b y th e e m p ero r, lik e c h ild re n c o m
in g u p o n th e ir lo v in g m o th e r (ci m u M S ) .”94 T w ic e in h is c h ap te r
o n th e X io n g n u J i a Y i u se s th e sim ile o f in fa n tiliz ed X io n g n u w h o are
d e p e n d e n t u p o n th e m ate rn a l H a n . 9 5 T h e te rm ci d en o tes a ffe ctio n fo r
s o m e o n e o f a lo w e r statu s, an d J ia Y i ’s fe m in iz e d a n a lo g y is u n u su a l,
e sp e c ia lly g iv e n his g e n e ra lly p atrilin ea l d isc u ssio n s o f k in sh ip . H e
calls u p o n th e e m p e ro r to "co m p e te w ith th e sh anyu” fo r th e X io n g n u
p e o p le th ro u g h a ffe ctio n an d m a te ria l rew ard s. H e m u st w in th e ir tru st
b y s h o w in g h is in tim a c y ( q in ) w ith X io n g n u ch ild ren , p e rso n a lly p la y
in g w ith an d fe e d in g th e m . T o th is sim ile o f th e d e c e p tiv e m o th e r, Jia
Y i a d d e d th e p arad ig m o f th e u n fa ith fu l w ife . T h e H a n p rin c e ss a n d h er
s ta ff c o u ld , J ia Y i a rgu e d , s e rv e as sp ie s fo r th e H a n g o v e rn m e n t at th e
fro n tie r an d in th e b o r d e r m ark e ts. 9 6 T h is fig u re o f th e heqin H a n p rin
cess w h o re m a in e d p o litic a lly fa ith fu l to h e r h o m e la n d w h ile g iv in g
ly ric v o ic e to life a m o n g st th e n o rth e rn n o m a d s b e c a m e a w e ll-k n o w n
to p o s in later C h in e s e literatu re an d h isto rio g ra p h y . In th e S h iji and
X in sh u , h o w e ve r, sh e w a s s till a sile n t strate g ic d e v ic e fo r c o m p e tin g
p o litic a l d esig n s: L iu J in g re q u ire d th e h eqin p rin c e ss to p ro d u c e a s u b
m issiv e X io n g n u "so n ” fo r th e H a n "fa th e r” ; E m p re s s L u n e e d e d to s u b
stitu te th e heqin p rin c e ss in o r d e r to a ssert h e r o w n p o litic a l p ro x im ity
94 Xinshu, p. 135. On the hierarchical connotations of the term ci in Jia Yi and elsewhere,
see Rune Svarverud, Methods of the Way: Early Chinese Ethical Thought (Boston: Brill,
1998), pp. 199-200, 257-59. The authenticity of the chapter on the Xiongnu in Xinshu (4.1)
is under debate, but Svarverud argues that its material was probably compiled from an
original memorial of Jia Yi to Emperor Wen. On thinking outside the fatherhood meta
phor, see Miranda Brown, The Politics of Mourning in Early China (Albany: State Univer
sity of New York Press, 2007), pp. 5, 68.
95 Xinshu, "Xiongnu” ^ $X , pp. 132-52.
96 Jia Yi offers a three-pronged approach. First, his "Three Principles” (san biao ^ ^ )
aim to convince the Xiongnu of Han trustworthiness (xin fg), affection (ai Й ) and fond
ness (hao ^ ) , as we saw in his metaphor of false maternal affection. Second, he suggests
"Five Baits” (wu er S f i ) with which to corrupt Xiongnu senses and desires. Third, he
suggests that the Han government use the high status of the heqin princess for strategic
purposes. They should increase her staff and through them keep watch on frontier affairs.
The Hanshu biography of Jia Yi discusses the first two approaches.
350 TAMARA T. CHIN
to th e e m p e ro r; an d J i a Y i w a n te d th e p rin c e ss to re la y sec ret in fo r m a

tio n a b o u t h e r h u sb a n d ’s w o rld th at w o u ld u n d e rm in e th e h eq in . T h u s,
a lth o u g h th e k in sh ip rh e to ric o f th e heqin o ste n sib ly e x te n d e d th at o f
p re -im p e ria l d ip lo m ac y , th e se d istin c t k in sh ip m o d e ls and m e ta p h o rs
b e tr a y th e u n b r o th e rly d esig n s o f th e ir p ro p o sa ls.
T h e fin al im p o rta n t re so n a n c e b e tw e e n Z h o n g h a n g Y u e ’s rh e to ric
and th e g e n e ra l d isc o u rse o n th e e a rly v e rs io n o f heqin c o n c e rn s th e
an n u al p a y m e n ts to th e X io n g n u . P re -im p e ria l a cco u n ts o f m arriage
d ip lo m a c y d o n o t m e n tio n p a y m e n ts; an d th e H a n g o v e rn m e n t o ste n
s ib ly u s e d th e m a rria g e ritu a l to tra n sfo rm th e m in to s y m b o lic d o w r y
p a y m e n ts so th a t th e y w o u ld n o t b e in te rp rete d as trib u te. H o w e ve r,
L iu J i n g ’s d o w r y m eta p h o r, w h ic h d o m in a tes b o th H a n -d y n a sty and
m o d e rn an a ly se s o f th e heqin, d e se rv e s h isto ric a l scru tiny. Fo r, c o n
tr a ry to his in siste n ce th at th e heqin p ro p a g a te ritu a l p ro p rie ty , th e
a c c o m p a n y in g gifts g o in a d ire c tio n th at d o e s n o t a c co rd w ith c la s
s ica l n u p tial id eals. H is heqin tra n sg re sse s m o st, i f n o t all, o f th e six
ritu a l step s o f m arria g e o u tlin e d in th e c a n o n ic a l Y i li Ш Ш ( B o o k o f
c e re m o n ie s an d rite s), m o st sig n ific a n tly in its fo c u s o n th e d o w r y 97
E v e n w ith th e ga p b e tw e e n p re sc rip tiv e id e a ls an d h isto ric a l p ra c
tic e, "p re se n tin g th e b e tro th a l p re se n ts” (n a z h en g 1Й Ш ) w a s th e m o st
v a lu e d and c o m m o n step in H a n -d y n a sty p ra c tic e .9 8 A lth o u g h m o d
ern sc h o la rs h ave fo llo w e d L iu J i n g ’s lead in re a d in g heqin gifts as h a p
p ily fu lfillin g th e ro le o f th e d o w ry , b e tro th a l gifts w e re su p p o s e d to go
fro m g ro o m to b rid e . R e c ip r o c a tio n in th e fo rm o f a d o w r y c o u ld b e
p ra ctic e d , b u t failu re to re c ip ro c a te a d o w r y w o u ld h ave b e e n a n o ta
b le im p ro p rie ty .9 9 W h e n , fo r e x am p le , th e W u su n p e o p le re q u este d a
97 The Yi li did not acquire this name until after the Han dynasty, and addresses the
lower-ranked aristocracy rather than the imperial court. See Shiji, 121.3126; Jack Dull,
"Marriage and Divorce in Han China: A Glimpse at ‘Pre-Confucian’ Society,” in David
C. Buxbaum, ed., Chinese Family Law and Social Change in Historical and Comparative Per
spective (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1978), pp. 23-74, for a discussion of the
six steps.
98 Dull, "Marriage and Divorce in Han China,” p. 48.
99 The phrase used by Liu Jing, houfeng Ж ^ , appears in one other context in the Shiji,
in which a rich woman breaks off her first marriage to marry Zhang Er, who receives lav
ish gifts or dowry (which are apparently unreciprocated); Shiji, 89.2571. Sima Xiangru
offers a parallel case of a transgressive marriage in which the groom receives a large dowry
and does not humble himself toward his father-in-law. The importance of the groom’s
betrothal gifts (na zheng or pin) is illustrated in the case of the Han minister Chen Ping.
According to Shiji, 56.2052, the bride’s wealthy grandmother "lent him money to use for
the betrothal gifts (pin).” On the dowry, betrothal gifts, and the levirate, see Christian de
p rin c e ss fro m E m p e r o r W u , his H a n m in iste rs a d v ise d : "T h e re m u st

first b e a p re se n ta tio n o f b e tro th a l gifts (n a p in 1 Й ^ ) , an d o n ly th e n
s h o u ld w e se n d a daughter.” i ° ° T h e W u su n , after h a v in g sen t an e n v o y
b e a rin g a gift o f h o rse s w ith th e m a rria g e p ro p o sa l, a d d itio n a lly gave
fo u r th o u s a n d h o rse s, w h ic h w e re n o t re c ip ro c a te d , to th e H an . In th e
H an -W u su n allian ce, th e gifts flo w e d in th e p ro p e r d ire c tio n , an d th e
p re se n ta tio n o f b e tro th a l gifts (n a z h en g) c le a rly sy m b o liz e d th e g iv
in g o f trib u te (n a g o n g 1 Й М ). T h u s w h ile E m p re s s L u tra n sg re sse d
th e heqin m a rria g e in h a v in g a false p rin c e ss sen t, L iu J i n g ’s w e d d in g
d esig n w a s a lre ad y m a rk e d as ritu a lly in co rre ct.
O ffic ia ls w h o o p p o s e d th e heqin s tra te g y rh e to ric a lly e x p lo ite d th e
im p r o p e r d ire c tio n o f gifts, in te rp re tin g th e m e ith e r as trib u te o r as
b e tro th a l gifts. J i a Y i fa m o u sly e x co ria tes th e H a n g o v e rn m e n t’s an n u al
gifts o f go ld , silk , a n d s ilk flo ss as "p re se n tin g trib u te to th e M a n and
Y i” an d b e c o m in g th e "v a ssa ls o f th e R o n g ,” an d h e d o e s n o t u se th e
te rm h eqin .101 T h e fig u re o f im p r o p e r b e tro th a l gifts b e c o m e s m o st
e x p lic it in a h ea ted d isp u te o v e r th e heqin in th e Yantielun. S a n g H o n g -
y a n g b e g in s :
From the rise o f the Han dynasty to the present, we formed friendly rela
tions by binding the heqin agreement, and what we sent to the shanyu as
betrothal gifts (pin ^ ) was extremely lavish. In this way (ran ^ ) they did
not take the rich gifts and lavish bribes as a reason to change and to adopt
moderation, and their violent attacks m ultiplied.^2
In u s in g th e te rm "b e tro th a l gifts” ( p in ) , a d e sig n a tio n fo r th e g ro o m ’s

o ffe rin g , ra th e r th a n u s in g L iu J i n g ’s te rm fo r b rid a l "gifts” o r d o w r y
( fe n g # ) , th e sp e a k e r h ig h lig h ts th e fla w o f th e h eqin s m arria g e
Pee, The Writing of Weddings in Middle-Period China: Text and Ritual Practice in the Eighth
through Fourteenth Centuries (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2007), pp. 114
16, 218.
100 Shiji, 123.3170.
101 Xinshu, "Shi bei” ^ ^ , p. 153. Cf. Hanshu, 48.2240. Ying-shih Yu has influentially
adopted Jia Yi’s argument and rhetoric of reversed tribute. Compare the insistence of the
scholars featured in the Yantielun on reading the heqin and tribute distinct. See Yantielun,
4 3 .4 8 8 .
102 Yantielun, 43.488. For the clause Wang Liqi glosses the
character ji $2 as ji (to record), whereas Yang Shuda ШШШ. rejects $2 as transcription
error for yi Д (to take as, to use). See Yang Shuda, Yantielun yao shi (Bei
jing: Kexue chubanshe, 1963), p. 57. I use Yang’s interpretation here, but Wang’s would not
detract from my argument.
352 TAMARA T. CHIN
m e ta p h o r an d rite. It is as a re su lt (ra n ) o f th is im p r o p e r a n d e x c e s
sive flo w o f gifts, and n o t c o n tra ry to e x p e c ta tio n , th a t th e X io n g n u
b e c o m e m o re v io le n t. S a n g H o n g y a n g p ra c tic a lly sh ifts th e b la m e o f
X io n g n u s a v a g e ry o n to th e H an . T h e X io n g n u ’s la c k o f m o d e ra tio n
in ritu a l is m e r e ly a re sp o n se to th e H a n lack o f m o d e ra tio n . A s w e
h ave seen , Z h o n g h a n g Y u e, J i a Y i, an d m a n y m o d e rn h isto ria n s th e re
after, asse ssed th e heqin th ro u g h th e lo g ic o f a c c o u n tin g ( o f su c h fa c
to rs as p o p u la tio n size an d gift q u a n titie s). In d e e d , th e e c o n o m ist S an g
H o n g y a n g m u st h ave to o. B u t w h a t m atters h ere is th a t th e sp e a k e r
co u ld articu late th e p ro b le m as, and d ra w m o ra l a u th o rity fro m , th e
s y m b o lic c o n te n t o f th e heqin in stitu tio n .
Z h o n g h a n g Y u e ’s a d v ic e — th at th e H a n e n v o y s lim it th e ir ro le to
c h e c k in g o n th e a n n u a l h eqin p ay m e n ts, an d th at th e X io n g n u accep t
b u t d isc a rd th e m (in fa v o r o f le ath er an d k u m is s ) — can b e re a d w ith in
th e id io m o f th e se e c o n o m ic d eb ates o n th e h eqin . H is re d u c tio n
o f th e heqin s qin to an e c o n o m ic re la tio n is e c h o e d e lse w h e re : " W h e n
th e p re se n t e m p e ro r [W u ] w as esta b lish ed , th e n e x t heqin tre a ty
w a s sealed , an d h e trea ted [the X io n g n u ] g e n e ro u sly , o p e n e d u p th e
b o rd e r-m a rk e ts, and sen t la v ish gifts to th e m . F ro m th e shanyu d o w n ,
a ll th e X io n g n u a llie d ( q in ) w ith th e H an , c o m in g an d g o in g b e n e a th
th e G re a t W all.” i 0 3 A p o litic a l d isc o u rse o f a m ity h as b e e n tra n sfo rm e d
in to an e c o n o m ic o n e as th e heqin s act o f qin c o m e s to s ig n ify th e m a r
k e t ex ch a n g e s b e tw e e n c o n g e n ia l X io n g n u a n d H a n tra d e rs at th e b o r
d e r passes. T h is a sso c ia tio n o f t h e heqin s a llia n ce ( q in ) w ith c o m m erc e
a p p e ars b o th h ere in th e S h iji a n d in th e sc h o la rs ’ d e fe n se o f th e heqin
in th e Yantielun. W h e n E m p e r o r W u re n e w e d w a r in 133 b .c .e ., e n d in g
th e heqin s th irty -y e a r d o m in a n c e w ith in H a n fo re ig n re la tio n s, h e ta r
g e te d th e se b o rd e r-m a rk e t c o m m u n itie s at M a y i M & .
In ligh t o f th e se c o m p a riso n s, Z h o n g h a n g Y u e ’s c ritiq u e o f th e
C e n tra l S tates (fo r estra n ge d re la tio n s in th e im p e ria l c o u rt) an d o f th e
H a n e n vo ys (fo r th e ir sen se le ss ch atter) n e e d s to b e u n d e rs to o d n o t
s im p ly as a re v e rsa l o f th e e th n o g ra p h ic gaze fro m X io n g n u to H a n c u s
to m s, b u t a lso as an in te rv e n tio n in th e h isto ric a l p o litic s and p o e tic s
o f heqin d ip lo m acy.
103 Shiji, 110.2904. For a similar formulation, see Yantielun, 48.524.

Conclusion
S im a Q ia n ’s p o rtra it o f th e X io n g n u re se m b le s th o se o f th e o th e r h u n
d re d o r so in d iv id u a ls o f h is liezhu an. T h e S h iji p re se n ts an d re-p resen ts
its su b je c ts across m u ltip le ch ap ters, across n a rrative an d e x p lic it c o m
m en ta ry, a n d ac ro ss irre c o n c ila b le p ersp e c tiv e s. A s a se lf-c o n sc io u sly
lite ra ry a rtifact it p e rsiste n tly d raw s a tten tio n to b o th th e p o litic a l and
m im e tic d iffic u ltie s o f m e m o ria liz in g its su b je c ts in a ll th e ir c o m p le x
ity. T h e " X io n g n u liezh u an ” d o e s so b y sh iftin g atten tio n fro m th e c o n
flicts b e tw e e n H a n an d X io n g n u to a n ta go n ism s w ith in th e C e n tra l
States. A s e x p re sse d in th e a u th o ria l e n d -c o m m e n t, th is re v e rsa l fro m
X io n g n u c u sto m s to "c o n te m p o ra ry c u sto m s” (sh i su ) o f p o litic a lly
b ia s e d re p o rta g e o n X io n g n u affairs e c h o e d a d ia lo g u e e arlie r in th e
ch ap ter, in w h ic h a H a n d efe cto r, Z h o n g h a n g Y u e, p a ro d ie d " H a n c u s
to m s ” (H a n su ). In so d o in g , Z h o n g h a n g Y u e re fu te d b o th th e b ia se s o f
h is in te rlo c u to r— th e H a n e n v o y — an d so m e o f th e e m p iric a l claim s
o f th e c h a p te r’s o p e n in g . T h ro u g h th is u n se ttlin g in te rp la y b e tw e e n
d iffe re n t p arts o f th e c h a p te r— c h arac teristic o f th e lite ra ry m e th o d o f
th e S h iji— S im a Q ia n p re se n ts th e X io n g n u as a p ro b le m o f p o litic iz e d
re p rese n ta tio n , n o t o f a n th ro p o lo g ic a l d ifferen ce. T h is stran ge d e fa m il
ia riz atio n o f a n th ro p o lo g ic a l d isc o u rse is d e e m p h a siz e d in B a n G u ’s
p aralle l ch ap ter, an d w a s o v e rlo o k e d in th e su b se q u e n t tra d itio n o f th e
S ta n d a rd H istories.
S im a Q ia n ’s c ritiq u e o f e th n o g ra p h ic k n o w le d g e an d p ra ctic e d re w
its rh e to ric a l iro n ie s n o t so m u c h fro m th e tra d itio n a l m o ra l d isc o u rse s
o f th e C e n tra l States an d its O th er, as fro m th e p rim a ry d ip lo m a tic
m e ta p h o r o f th e H a n -X io n g n u fro n tie r: th e h eq in . Z h o n g h a n g Y u e ’s
d ia lo g u e b e lo n g e d to (an d illu m in e d ) a p attern w ith in th e b ro a d e r
H a n arch ive, in w h ic h p o litic ia n s d eb ated th e s y m b o lic "k in s h ip ” ( q in )
o f th e heqin, as w e ll as its c o n tra c tu a l term s. A lth o u g h m a rria g e d ip lo
m a c y w a s u se d in p re -im p e ria l an d p o st-H a n C h in e s e h isto ry , o n ly
w h e n th e heqin w a s first a p p lie d to fo re ig n relatio n s d u rin g th e early
H a n d y n a s ty d id w rite rs an d officials e x p lo it th e m e ta p h o ric a l p o s s i
b ilitie s o f its k in sh ip ritu al. In re p la c in g th e heqin p rin c e ss, in d e fe n d
in g X io n g n u k in sh ip p ra ctic e s, in re v e rsin g L iu J i n g ’s p lan to te a c h th e
X io n g n u k in sh ip p ro p riety , an d in p re se n tin g th e in te rn e cin e stru g
gles fo r im p e ria l fa v o r as p a rt o f a b ro a d e r a c co u n t o f " H a n cu sto m s,”
354 TAMARA T. CHIN
Z h o n g h a n g Y u e p a rtic ip a te d in a b ro a d e r co n flic t o v e r th e v a lu e and

m e a n in g o f H a n -X io n g n u p artn ersh ip .
S im a Q ia n ’s c ritiq u e o f e th n o g ra p h y an d th e H a n heqin d eb ates
p o s e a p ro b le m fo r th e n a rratio n o f fro n tie rs. In n a rra tin g C h in a ’s c o n
c ep tu al fro n tie rs, w e se e k o u t th o se d isc o u rse s and m e ta p h o rs th at
o n ce fu n c tio n e d as th e b u ild in g b lo c k s o f th e im a g in a tio n as w e ll as
o f liv e d e x p e rie n c e . W e re c o v e r e x p re ssio n s su c h as "u sin g fo re ig n e rs
to attack fo re ig n e rs” ( y i y i z h en g y i ) an d " s in ify ” (h u a H u a
- f t ^ ) , o r sh ifts in c a rto g ra p h y an d c o sm o lo g y , fo r th e ir p art in c o n
s tru c tin g n e w m ea n in g s o f th e fron tier. S im a Q ia n in tro d u c e d e m p ir
ic a l e th n o g rap h y, b u t at th e sa m e tim e cast (im m e d ia te ly fo rg o tten )
d o u b ts o n its e p is te m o lo g ic a l status. T h e heqin in tro d u c e d k in sh ip as
a n e w m e ta p h o r fo r th e fro n tie r, b u t th e H a n d y n a s ty d eb ates reveal
th e a p p ro p ria tio n o f th a t m e ta p h o r to ad d ress th e d o m e stic p o litic a l
and e c o n o m ic d iv isio n s exace rb a ted b y fro n tie r p o litics. T h e re c o v
e r y o f th e se sh o rt-liv e d , u n fa m ilia r w a y s o f re p re se n tin g th e e a rly
H a n -d y n a sty fro n tie r is im p o rta n t fo r tw o reaso n s. F irst, it sh o w s th e
n e e d to in c lu d e a m o n g st th e "cu ltu ra l a rtifa c ts” o f th e C h in e s e fro n
tier, cases o f its o w n c o n c e p tu a l u n d o in g , as w e ll as th e b ro a d e r s y m
b o lic d y n a m ic s o f C h in a ’s in te rn a l p o litic s th a t m o d e rn h isto ria n s have
lo n g re c o g n iz e d as in trin sic to fro n tie r h isto ry. S e c o n d , it calls atten
tio n to th e re la tiv e ly n e g le cte d "m in o r h is to r y ” o f p o litic a l d issid en ce ,
a m b iva len ce , self-c ritiq u e , an d c ro ss-c u ltu ra l s y m p a th y in n a rrative s o f
C h in e s e im p e ria l e x p a n sio n . E a r ly H a n co n flic ts o v e r h o w to rep resen t
fro n tie r re la tio n s o ffe r a p o te n tia l re so u rce fo r a m o re c o m p le x , less
fam iliar, h is to r y o f H a n re sista n c e to H a n im p e ria lism .

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Today’s Research. Tomorrow's Inspiration.

Defamiliarizing the Foreigner Sima Qian’s Ethnography and Han-Xiongnu

Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Volume 70, Number 2, December

Published by Harvard-Yenching Institute

For additional information about this article

Access Provided by University Of Chicago Libraries at 11/29/10 11:37PM GMT

C e n tra l A s ia p e rm a n e n tly e n larg e d C h in a ’s fro n tie rs.1 D u r in g th is era

Qian, rather than to the father-son team of Grand Scribes.

its m o d e l. A s su ch , it offers a rare e x a m p le o f C h in e s e re sista n c e to th e

Defamiliarizing the Foreigner

b o o k s in th is tra d itio n , th e Sh iji, H an sh u ( H is to r y o f th e F o r­

e n d -c o m m e n t a d d resse s th e p o litic a l s e n s itiv ity a n d b ia s e s o f c o n te m ­

The Grand Scribe remarks: Confucius, in composing the Chunqiu [Spring

B a n G u ’s c o m m e n t, o r "ap p raisal” (z a n Ш ), to th e " X io n g n u zh u an ”

W h e n th e X io n g n u sp lit [in to n o rth e rn an d so u th e rn c o u rts],

T h e S h iji’s e n d -c o m m e n t sta n d s o u t in th ree sig n ifica n t w ays. First,

14Hou Hanshu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju chubanshe, 1965), 89.2971.

(n ei chen Й Е ) o f th e C e n tra l S tates as its trib u te -b e a rin g "o u te r s u b ­

o f h ie ra rc h ic a l statu ses e x ce e d s a n y th in g w ith in th e c h ap te r itself,

19 See Hanshu, 95.3837, 96B.3928.

w a s "d e e p ly d issatisfied w ith [E m p e ro r W u ], b u t th e re w e re d ifficu lties

T h e c o n c e p tio n o f th e S h iji as th e w o rk o f so m e o n e w h o w a s a rt­

ta r y g e n e ra l L i L in g (d. 7 4 b . c . e . ) ? 8 A fte r a serie s o f m ilita r y v i c ­

th e "X io n g n u liezh u an ,” b u t its p arallels w ith th e o p e n in g p assa ge o f

T h e n a rrative o f H a n -X io n g n u re la tio n s th at fo llo w s th is p assa ge c o n ­

T h e o p e n in g p assa g e o f th e "X io n g n u liezh u an ” in th e S h iji a n tic i­

an a c co u n t o f an im p e ria l d eb ate c o n v e n e d in 81 b .c .e ., an d a scrib e d

37 Sima Qian generally uses su in reference to a foreign culture or negative domestic

th e X io n g n u a c co u n tin g , m ilita r y strategy, an d m o d e s o f o ffic ia l letter-

40 Cui Mingde, "Zhongguo gudai heqin de wenhua yingxiang” Ф

oth ers e m p h asiz e th e p arallels b e tw e e n Z h o n g h a n g Y u e ’s rh e to ric an d

P ittin g X io n g n u again st H a n p ra ctice s, Z h o n g h a n g Y u e re fu se s e ve n to

Z h o n g h a n g Y u e ’s re fu ta tio n s o f th e o p e n in g p assa ge are, in p art,

is p ro v e d o u t d a t e d 49 H isto ria n s h ave p o in te d o u t th a t later te x ts and

sen t as tu to r to th e H a n p rin c e ss, Z h o n g h a n g Y u e re d ire c ts h is lesso n s

51 Shiji, 102.2752, and its parallel account in the Hanshu, 50.2307.

trast, o p e n s th e c o n v e rsa tio n b y p o in tin g o u t th at th e R o n g la c k rites,

th e tra ito r Z h o n g h a n g Y u e e x h o rts th e X io n g n u to re je c t H a n silk s and

58 Shiji, 30.1442, 129.3272.

Kinship in the “Peace through

in stan ce s w h e re le ad e rs o f w a rr in g fa c tio n s gave d a u gh ters to o p p o s in g

62 I argue here against Zhang Zhengming’s otherwise very useful account of

" X io n g n u liezh u an ” n arrates th e first se v e n su c c e ssiv e b re a k d o w n s and

in terstate re la tio n s featu res p ro m in e n tly in th e C h u n q iu , o n e can read

A c c o rd in g to B a n G u , "A rg u m en ts fo r th e heqin b e g a n w ith L iu Jin g .” 7 i

w ith in an a n d ro c e n tric e th ic a l tra d itio n , b u t e ve n m o re so w h e n

to filia tio n w ith in a clan. H a n F e iz i o n ce w a rn e d : "A m in is te r’s re la ­

75 Han Feizi jijie ed. Wang Xianshen (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju

78 Jia Yi, Xinshu, "Qinshu weiluan” Щ М ^ Й , pp. 119-20.

80 Shiji, 106.2821, 2828.

n o t o n ly w ith in h isto rio g ra p h y , b u t also fro m th e lo c a tio n o f to m b s

83 As Wang Zijin points out, where theShijis "Xiongnu liezhuan” recounts

th e su b stitu te fo r th e p rin c e ss as th e s y m b o lic c en te r o f th e heqin

(b ia n shi M i ) to p e rsu a d e ( fe n g y u M ^ ) th e X io n g n u in to a d o p tin g

87 See, esp., Yantielun, 48.524-29, 38.453-63, 43.488-96, 52.555-63.

clo se allian ces, w h a t d o e s o n e h ave to w o r r y a b o u t th e o th e r n o t b e in g

th e shanyu a n d th e E m p re s s D o w a g e r L u . T h e S h iji re fers to "a letter

93 Shiji, 110.2896, 2897, 2903, 2914.

w ays. A s w e h ave seen , L iu J in g fo c u s e d o n th e h eq in ’s h id d e n fath er-

to th e e m p e ro r; an d J i a Y i w a n te d th e p rin c e ss to re la y sec ret in fo r m a ­

p rin c e ss fro m E m p e r o r W u , his H a n m in iste rs a d v ise d : "T h e re m u st

In u s in g th e te rm "b e tro th a l gifts” ( p in ) , a d e sig n a tio n fo r th e g ro o m ’s

b o o k s in th is tra d itio n , th e Sh iji, H an sh u ( H is to r y o f th e F o r

e n d -c o m m e n t a d d resse s th e p o litic a l s e n s itiv ity a n d b ia s e s o f c o n te m

(n ei chen Й Е ) o f th e C e n tra l S tates as its trib u te -b e a rin g "o u te r s u b

T h e c o n c e p tio n o f th e S h iji as th e w o rk o f so m e o n e w h o w a s a rt

ta r y g e n e ra l L i L in g (d. 7 4 b . c . e . ) ? 8 A fte r a serie s o f m ilita r y v i c

T h e n a rrative o f H a n -X io n g n u re la tio n s th at fo llo w s th is p assa ge c o n

T h e o p e n in g p assa g e o f th e "X io n g n u liezh u an ” in th e S h iji a n tic i

to filia tio n w ith in a clan. H a n F e iz i o n ce w a rn e d : "A m in is te r’s re la

to th e e m p e ro r; an d J i a Y i w a n te d th e p rin c e ss to re la y sec ret in fo r m a