Xiongnu Essays

The Emperor should take a militaristic approach with Xiongnu because it is very costly to keep the tribute system going and our tributes may empower them, the Han should attack while they are still bigger than the Xiongnu, the Xiongnu also already proved themselves untrustworthy. As chief foreign policy adviser to the illustrious Emperor of the Middle Kingdom, I humbly recommend that the Emperor should instead take a militaristic approach because it will be very costly to continue sending tributes

the Xiongnu:”One campaign in 104 BCE reported 80 percent Han casualties”. (Document E) More than 80 percent of the Han

empires, it wasn’t enough to outweigh the costs of money, lives, and isolation from families. Chinese people feared their archenemy—the Xiongnu, thinking that they will conquer China. They decided to build a massive wall to keep them away from taking over, but also wanted to keep a peaceful relationship. If people from China didn’t want to have warfare with Xiongnu and wanted to keep a peaceful relationship between each

China, but what they do not know is all the problems China had to build and protect it. The Xiongnu kept invading the Han in 206 BC so the Han decided to build a wall which is now called The Great Wall Of China. In my essay I will be discussing how the Great Wall was not worth the cost because of the high mortality rate, the time and the harsh working conditions, and the continuous tribute paid to the Xiongnu. The first reason the cost did outweigh the benefits is because of high mortality. Many

The Roman Empire, The Han Empire, and Relations to Neighboring Groups: A Comparison of Tacitus’s Germania Excerpt and Sima Qian’s Excerpt on the Xiongnu by Alex Prindle The definition of civilization or whether a culture is considered civilized or not has been argued throughout the course of history. Groups such as the Mongols, the ethnic groups surrounding the Roman Empire, and just about every group of people not part of a large, unified, strong empire in ancient history especially, has been thought

empire, one way of dealing with the Xiongnu was appeasement. An early, disastrous, defeat at the hands of the newly formed, powerful Xiongnu caused the policy of appeasement, known as he qin, in which gold, silk, grain, and Chinese princesses were sent to the Xiongnu in exchange for the agreement of peace (Lewis 2007, 132). The tributes sent to the Xiongnu each year were extremely expensive, but they did not satisfy the Xiongnu chieftains. Consequently, the Xiongnu kept raiding, and peace was only resumed

The Great Wall of Ancient China -Hailey Shipley More than 1 million people died while building the Great Wall of China! The Great Wall of ancient China was a huge wall that was build to keep out unwanted people (the Xiongnu). The Great Wall took many peoples lives because of the heights and suffering the people went through. The Wall took around 2,000 years to build. Did the benefits outweigh the costs? I believe that they did not because of documents F, E, B. There were to many people being tortured

presents the Xiongnu as a hostile barbarian tribe that “have no walled cities, fixed abodes, or agricultural occupations.” Sima Qian continues that “they have no written documents, and they use spoken words to seal pacts” and that “during crises their men practice warfare and invade and plunder. Further, he attributes these traits to the Xiongnu’s “inborn nature” stating that “they do not understand ritual propriety and benevolence” From this quote, it can be seen that the Xiongnu was a nomadic

missions were not due to cultural curiosity or even commerce. In fact, the Chinese were more interested in overpowering the Xiongnu by forming alliances with other nations (Whitfield 19). Their initial motivation was to make an alliance with the Yuezhi people, who had once been mistreated by the Xiongnu. The biggest issue was that the routes were controlled by the nomadic Xiongnu, and thus created limited communication between China and the rest of the world (Norell

work for the wall. Afterwards, less people moved to China and more wanted to move with the rival land, the Xiongnu. The government built walled cities and high walls to keep the people of China inside the right side or the wall. In the end, a war between the Xiongnu people and the Han and Qing dynasties escalated. To explain, there was heavy fighting during 2nd century BCE between the Xiongnu and dynasties. For this reason, the economy of China declined because of the Great Wall of

aggressive, nomadic tribes that centered around the Asian area. Tribes like the Mongols and the Xiongnu, which would later become the infamous Huns, had always been at China’s doorsteps, failing to make any lasting impact, until around 130 BCE, when the Xiongnu waged war on Han China. Known as the Sino-Xiongnu (Han-Xiongnu) War, the battles ended with the Han victorious but with a shaky government. The defeated Xiongnu would later go on to be an important factor in the defeat and collapse of the western powerhouse

However, the political fragmentation and civil unrest were not the only factors that resulted in the decline of the Roman and Han empires. Hostile neighbouring populations had played a key role in their fall as well. For the Romans, Germanic tribes such as the Vandals and Goths were the problem. The Germanic tribes had grown into “large, politically organized confederations led by warrior chieftains with competent armies.” Using their large armies, the Germanic tribes began raiding the Roman empire

In the great wall the main ingredient was mud, no wonder so many people died. “Soldiers died from sickness, hunger, and weather, that just goes to show how bad of rulers they were.”(Document E) The Chinese soldiers faced heavy fighting from the Xiongnu and 80% of them died.(Document E) It did not just cost lives it also costed resources. “Did you know when the built the they wasted

The first dynasty to start the wall was the Qin. Emperor Qin was the first to order the wall. The next dynasty that continued to expand and add segments to the wall was the Han dynasty who over through the Qin dynasty. During the Han dynasty the Xiongnu became a big problem. Thousands of years later, the Ming dynasty stepped in and built huge stone wall building

twice, first in 500 BC and again in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Silk Road has enriched culture for 2500 years. Exploration of the Taklimakan desert's edges was first spurred by the Han Dynasty's desperation to defend itself from the Xiongnu. Thousands of years later, European empires saw the trade potential Chinese leaders had seen previously. Archeologists made the perilous journeys of Silk Road traders and began to uncover ancient manuscripts, all the while keeping their own record

similar reasons although there was some differences. One similarity in Han China and Rome was that they were invaded constantly. The Han were invaded by the Xiongnu, the Kazakhs, and Mongols. Emperors in Han china offered the Xiongnu many items in return for peace but they didn 't have enough to pay everyone!Eventually the Han ended the Xiongnu but it came at a price. They had little money left over which put the government into turmoil. Rome was invaded by

sense, Khazanov’s characterization of tribes as decentralized entities brought together only through war and exploitation may seem correct. Contrary to such assumption, in cases such as Xiongnu empire, the tribes flourished under a strong central authority and complex state structure. According to Barfield, the Xiongnu developed its hierarchy starting with the Shan-yu at the top, onto the Ten Thousand Horsemen who were the aristocracy, and then to tribal leaders, forming a federation-like imperial government

The Great Wall of Ancient China : Did the Benefits Outweigh the Costs? The Great Wall of China was built by the soldiers and the peasants, but they were controlled by the Han and the Qin Dynasty. The Wall was meant the keep the Mongols (intruders) out . In fact, however the benefits did not outweigh the cost of The Great Wall of China. According to document C it states " soldiers were forced to leave families and villages for several years" and " tens of thousands soldiers died from hunger, sickness

documents, it showed that the cost of building the wall, does outweigh the benefits of it. Document C shows that the Han had paid tribute to the Xiongnu Mongols to stop them from raiding China, but it happened anyways. Also, Document E shows the amount of harsh conditions and people who were laid to work for this wall. First of all, the Han paid tribute to the Xiongnu Mongols to stop them from raiding them, but they had raided them anyways. The wall didn’t protect them from the Mongols, showing that it

But what we do know is that if it weren’t for the Great Wall, China would not nearly be as successful as it is today. "Heavy fighting against the Xiongnu during much of the 2nd century BCE" (Document E). As I stated above the Great Wall did not ensure the safety of every person. Therefore, many lives were lost when the Han was at war with the Xiongnu, but if it weren’t for the wall the death rate during this time period would be much higher. The poem in document F states “We sally forth at dawn