Qin's campaign against the Xiongnu

Qin's campaign against the Xiongnu
Map of the Ordos region
Date 215 BC Location Ordos region Result Qin victory Territorial changes Chinese control over the Ordos, with border fortifications as a barrier between the Chinese state and nomadic territories
Belligerents
Qin dynasty	Xiongnu
Commanders and leaders
Meng Tian	Touman
Strength
Reported as 100,000 or 300,000 troops[1][2]	—

In 215 BC, Qin Shi Huang ordered General Meng Tian to set out against the Xiongnu tribes in the Ordos region, and establish a frontier region at the loop of the Yellow River.^[1] Believing that the Xiongnu were a possible threat, the emperor launched a preemptive strike against the Xiongnu with the intention to expand his empire.^[1]

Course

In 215 BC, Meng Tian succeeded in defeating the Xiongnu, driving them from the Ordos and seizing their homeland.^[3] After the catastrophic defeat at the hands of Meng Tian, the Xiongnu leader Touman was forced to flee far north into the Mongolian Plateau.^[4]

Aftermath

Following the victory against the nomads, Meng Tian was instructed to secure the frontier with a line of fortifications, which would become known as the Great Wall of China.^[5] Crown Prince Fusu and General Meng Tian were stationed at a garrison in Suide and soon began with the construction of the walled defenses, which would be connected with the old walls from the Qin, Yan, and Zhao states.^[6]

As a result of the northward expansion, the threat that the Qin empire posed to the Xiongnu ultimately led to the reorganization of the many different Xiongnu tribes as they united into a confederacy against the unified Chinese state.^[7]

See also

• Qin's campaign against the Yue tribes
• Zhao–Xiongnu War
• Han–Xiongnu War

References

1. Cosmo 1999, 964.
2. Ebrey, Walthall & Palais 2009, 51.
3. Beckwith 2009, 71.
4. Beckwith 2009, 71–72.
5. Higham 2004, 221.
6. Cheng 2005, 15.
7. Cosmo 1999, 892–893.

Bibliography

• Beckwith, Christopher I. (2009). Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691150345.
• Cheng, Dalin (2005). "The Great Wall of China". Borders and border politics in a globalizing world. Lanham: SR Books. ISBN 0-8420-5103-1.
• Cosmo, Nicola Di (1999). "The northern frontier in pre-imperial China". The Cambridge history of ancient China: From the origins of civilization to 221 B.C. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-47030-7.
• Ebrey, Patricia Buckley; Walthall, Anne; Palais, James B. (2009). East Asia: A cultural, social, and political history (2nd ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-547-00534-8.
• Higham, Charles F.W. (2004). Encyclopedia of ancient Asian civilizations. New York: Facts On File. ISBN 0-8160-4640-9.