Xiongnu/Hu nomads & Double edged weapons of the steppes zone



The people of the Eurasian steppes, occupying a geological band from the Ukraine through to the grasslands above China, shared a common cultural & economic base due to the comparatively harsh environment & lifestyle.
In ancient times pastoralists moved with their flocks across these grasslands and in time from them came truly nomadic peoples, associated with horsemanship and their skill with a bow. Because of common experiences as well as movement of people & ideas across large distances there is a perceivable homogeneity in the material culture of these nomads during the bronze age and early iron-age. If we put aside questions over ethnicity (Indo-European/Turkic/Proto-Mongolian nomads) the artefacts of 'Scythian type' occur across a huge expanse of Eurasia amongst diverse tribes and are used as a marker of truly a nomadic societies emergence.
This 'Scythian' art & material culture of the nomads influenced the ancient Chinese, an example is the 'steppes-style' knife as adopted by Chinese and then used as early Chinese coinage ('knife' money) .
To the ancient Greeks, and even in post-Roman times, nomadic peoples might be collectively called 'Scythians', or to the Persians 'Saka' or to the Chinese the 'Hu'.
It is true that this is a simplification of different ethnicities and tribes. There were individual burial practices even inside sub-regions of the steppe as well as evidence for 'semi-nomadic pastoralists' & limited evidence for 'agriculturalists' inside the northern zone of ancient China. Some diversity is evidenced by archaeology but once the a true steppes nomad displaying the 'Scythian type assemblage' appear in the record to the north of China during the Eastern Zhou these people become of potent military force, and one which the ancient Chinese found very troublesome.
The unified Han empire faced difficulties with the raiding Xiongnu nomads, and this cultural confrontation continued later with northern people like the Mongols, Jurchen, Khitan, Manchu etc. some of whom managed to set up dynasties in their own right and conquer territory from the 'civilised' sedentary Chinese.

In earlier times the various & divided tribal people to the north offered only a short term threat to Zhou states, as the northern peoples (broadly known as tribes of the Jung or Di 'barbarians') were gradually conquered, assimilated, occupied or driven off. They made alliances or acted as auxiliaries for Zhou states but were a source of manpower or territory to be conquered as rival Chinese states sought such resources.
As the Zhou Chinese expanded north the archaic terms of Jung & Di gave way, and the 'Hu' are mentioned in ancient texts. This implies new groups were encountered in northward expansion as others were 'sinified' or in the ancient Chinese parlance; "cooked" (civilised/pacified).
In the earliest usage of 'Hu' this appears to be specifically applying to northern peoples rather than being used as a later general term for 'barbarian', i.e; DongHu.
The ancient Hu nomads are mentioned in the Eastern Zhou records as distinct from the non-Chinese 'Yue' tribes of the south for example {"Hu & Yue" as distinct people}.
The same Hu nomads the Chinese/Zhou encountered in driving northwards very likely include the people who during the late Warring States and Han period are further identified as the 'Xiongnu', the so-called ' Eastern Huns'.
For much detailed & scholarly discussion on the ancient period, Shang to Han, and their relationships with Jung & Di/Hu/Xiongnu of the northern zone see 'Ancient China and its Enemies; The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History' by Nicola Di Cosmo.

Amongst the material culture of the nomads the curved & ring pommeled steppes-style knife (or 'Ordos' style knife, named for the region) was adopted by Chinese, and the Scythian artistic motif of animals, often in combat was also adopted. These are called 'zoomorphic' plaques. A common motif is predator devouring prey, and examples of this styles influence was found in the bronzes from the King of Zhongshans tomb dating from the late Warring States period.
The plaque below is a typical version of a steppes style plaque.



The cultural influence went both ways. Chinese items were sought by nomads, Chinese bronze mirrors are found inside the steppe for this reason.
The Northern influence on Chinese can be seen in socketed bronze halberds in Shang-Zhou sites, and Chinese weapons are also in turn found in the northern zone as people on the frontier filtered influences from the other culture. Chinese weapons eventually replaced tribal types in tombs inside of Yan state in Laioning province which is a symptom of the military expansion of the feudal Zhou and the displacement or assimilation of non-Chinese.
The appearance of weapons styles of the Northern cultural zone remains quite distinct from more orthodox Chinese weapon types. Generally speaking while the 'Scythian' type of arrowhead or halberd was socketed the 'Chinese' type used a tang. The short blades of the nomads also have differences in proportion and individualistic decoration that contrast with the Zhou-Chinese weapons from fuedal armouries.
The knife shown below is visibly of this "Hu" type. Yang Hongs calls these 'Hun' knives & swords. The use of the term Hun is potentially misleading given the Western experience with Attila & the Huns several centuries later, but it is a term that conveys some meaning to Westerners.
Cheng Dong's book (Ancient Chinese Weapons; A Collection of Pictures) refers to the knives as belonging to the Eastern Zhou period 'northern grasslands {culture} '.
An Eastern Zhou dating of these items fits into the period of the true steppes nomad cultures emergence north of China, and they are comparable to similar peoples knives found further from China of broadly 'Scythian type'.



The Warring States period, late East Zhou, is the time when Chinese Zhou expanded further northwards (Qin, Zhao & Yan states) and encountered the 'Hu'. It is across this new expanded frontier, along which several "long walls" of fortification were built, that the succeeding Han dynasty & Xiongnu nomads struggled across later.
The military capabilities of the Xiongnu in particular, especially when unified in a confederacy of tribes, or a 'steppes empire', required the Han to deal diplomatically with the Xiongnu on quite even terms. This was a necessity as the Chinese military (evident to Han realists at the time) could not match the skills of these mobile and tough horsemen. The unification of the Xiongnu under a supreme chieftain, Modun, was a crisis for the emerging Han Empire.
In swallowing pride the Han accepted a bi-polar relationship where the Xiongnu Chan-yu (supreme chieftain) was recognised as an Imperial 'brother' and sent royal Han brides. The Xiongnu were presented with silk, gold, millet and other resources in large volume.
This shows the anxiety this nomad military menace caused the early Western Han Emperors. The Han policy was far-sighted however and over generations of enduring Xiongnu raids under individual chieftains and still offering bribes to their Chan-Yu the Han army was gradually reorganised based on mobile cavalry and the preparations made for open war.
The Xiongnu made preparations too, and their influence stretched far across the steppes into central Asia. Many of the central Asian states paid the Xiongnu tribute, and of the tribes of the steppe, these were also (but not entirely) bought within the fold. The Xiongnu Chan-Yu claimed in a letter to Emperor Wendi that he had united (by force);
"....all those who draw the bow" {steppes nomads}.
Trying to divide and conquer, Han Wudi dispatched emissary Zhang Qian to make an alliance with the disaffected Yuezhi tribe, enemies of the Xiongnu.
This is when the "Silk Road" was first discovered, when the envoy returned belatedly from his unsuccesful mission, yet told the Emperor of Chinese goods in far distant lands.

The Xiongnu taste for the luxuries sent to them by the Chinese under peace treaties, and the understanding it was essentially protection money from nomad raiding, is outlined in a letter the Chan-Yu sent to Wudi even in the midst of the open warfare between the Han and the Xiongnu; {from the Han-Shu}



By this time the Chinese had already turned from a political to a military option.
The latest overture was declined.
The breaking of the 'peace' and then victories under Emperor Wudi owe a great deal to the conservative policies and preparation of earlier conservative Emperors, i.e Wendi. The first half of the Western Han was however a period of crisis across the northern frontier.
For nearly 150 years the Han & the Xiongnu entered diplomacy as equals.
The Wudi-era wars between the Han and the Xiongnu saw much loss on both sides. Tens of thousands of casualties in individual battles with victories and defeats by each in turn. The Xiongnu however were driven from their Central Asian possesions and their leadership driven north during the reign of Wudi.

Much is said, and rightly so, about the effectiveness of a skilled mounted archer. It was these northern peoples 'Hu' that earlier had convinced one Warring States ruler, the King of Zhao, to adopt units of mounted archers from his peoples on the frontier, and even dress them in 'barbarian' clothes. While he was condemned for this by conservatives it was no doubt a good policy. By the Han period mounted archers, firing rearwards at a gallop, are commonly depicted in tomb lintels {below} and mounted bowmen included in Imperial Han Chinese armies. This is a style of mobile warfare associated with steppes warriors by Greek & Roman sources in the ancient world as it needs both excellent horsemanship and archery skills.

Short nomad blades (>30cm) are distinctly different to Chinese bladed weapons produced by the feudal Zhou states. The Zhou production of weapons was immense, and the forms were quite standardised and plain. Tribal weapons in comparison fit within a broad type, but have a more individual character and more decoration.
{see Dian tribe swords thread, Yunnan area; http://www.chinahistoryforum.com/index.php?showtopic=13653 }

The features of these northern nomad weapons (20-30cm long) is diverse but the similarities of a cultural type can also be seen.


Common features with the blade shown above & these examples here from "Ancient Chinese Weapons; A Collection of Pictures" are highlighted. Length, proportion (hilt to blade), ring pommel, "eye" design on guard, blade cross section, and a central decorated band on the hilt.Yang Hong in '"Weapons in Ancient China" says this;Figure 203 is another example comparible to the late Spring & Autumn, while figure 204 is compared to the late Warring States example by Yang Hong.



While the scale of bronze workshops in the steppes zone could not compare to the immensely scaled operations uncovered by archaeology in the central Zhou states this template here shows that some degree of 'mass production' would have been practiced at specialists sites also. Individual steppes warriors were admired by ancient commentators are being able to maintain & repair their excellent composite recurve bows themselves (being learnt as such a central part of their nomadic lifestyle) the production of weapons in this manner using an iron template would require both specialist metallurgy skills and a supply of required raw material, copper, iron, lead, tin etc.

<a href="http://www.youngmuseum.com/the_richard_nable_collection.htm" target="_blank">http://www.youngmuseum.com/the_richard_nable_collection.htm</a>
The broadly 'Scythian' style of material culture is also seen in other steppes cultures.This image below comes from Osprey "Mounted Archers of the Steppe". Note the similarity to the 'Hun' knives above. Unfortunately there is nothing of note said about the Xiongnu in this book, but the steppes cultures share much in common as Xiongnu are even called 'Scyth-Siberian' in archaeological works.



Of the akinakes short sword of the Scythians culture Antony Karasulas comments; This style of knife, wielded by steppes nomads, is depicted in art in places as distant as Ancient Persia.{image; Osprey}



http://home.ix.netcom.com/~kiyoweap/myth/a...ap/akinakes.htm
http://home.ix.netcom.com/~kiyoweap/myth/a...weap/jinglu.htm

To expand on the specific Jinglu sword, in the Chinese records this is both the name of a Xiongnu temple & the name given to a sword used in a blood and sacrifice ritual. Some of the Hu style swords are much more elaborate than those I have shown here, with openwork handles and depictions of beasts along the hilt.Such a sword might be used by people of authority; {comments by Francois, with help from Yun}
"{before the Qin period} ...According to the Kuodizhi, the sacred temple of Jinglu was situated at the foot of mount Ganquan (sweet spring?), ninety leagues north west of the 'county of Yunyang', 'Yongzhou province (in modern Shaanxi)'.
, this was the place where the Xiongnu used to worship Heaven."
&
In the Hanshu at the beginning of the reign of Emperor Yuan, second half of the 1st century BC Han envoys and Xiongnu met;"Chang, Meng, the Shanyu and his high officials all climbed the Eastern Mountain, along the river Nuo, in Xiongnu territory, they sacrificed a white horse, 'the Chanyu used a Jinglu sword and a golden spoon to stir [the horse blood]'. They used the skull of a Yuezhi king which had been, long before, destroyed by the Shanyu, as a drinking vessel, for all to drink the sacrificial blood."

The point could be made the Jinglu temple is perhaps named for the practice that took place involving a sword like "Jinglu". This use of shortswords for ritual and worship was also recorded amongst the Scythians by Greek historian Herodotus in the 5th century BC. Again the Chinese Hu can be understood as a branch of the Scyth-Siberian steppes culture;Even a much later steppes warrior people, the Huns (the Romans encountered) were aware of the ancient rituals of the steppe. When an ancient sword was bought to Atilla he considered this auspicious.


The Xiongnu were certainly a very different people to the Chinese. In dress, manner, customs, lifestyle. There is reference in the Han-Shu to the practice of tattooing the face for example, a practice the Han Chinese envoys who dealt with the Chan-yu were expected to undergo before meeting the nomad ruler.Note here on a plaque belonging to the 'Ordos culture' in the British museum it depicts a man holding was appears to be the hilt of a straight dagger with a ring pommel, of a Hu nomad type. The Ordos region is the area the Xiongnu and Han clashed over from Qin-Han and this person is evidently not a Chinese in dress or appearance, wearing trousers and without a top-knot. This then is the 'Hu' or 'Xiongnu' likely depicted on one of their own belt plaques.

Surface studies;
With the historical background of the weapon established it is worth showing some physical features on the blade pictured above. The item shows a heavy malachite (green) & cuprite (red) patina. Apart from copper carbonate & copper oxide the other mineralization appears to be cerrusite (lead based corrosion) which arises from the metal alloy.
Malachite formed over a cuprite layer can be seen here below, which is part of the natural layering of a mineral patina.
As an example of natural malachite here is a polished chunk from a copper deposit, showing clear banding of layers and on the outer surface botyroidal formations. Botyroidal means a mineralization "shaped like a bunch of grapes" and these can form in bronze patina also.The malachite green is particularly vividly coloured on this bronze, and almost resembles wax in texture.


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For more reading on the archaeology of the Xiongnu, based on excavations in Russia and a study of the Chinese archaeological & historical sources see;studies of Asian Huns (Hsiungnu or Xiongnu) http://xiongnu.boom.ru/review.htm i.e; A few extracts.

wonderful information..

Excellent research as usual, Kenneth!

Interesting. The blade shape looks nothing like what Han wu Da Di might lead you to expect, with their curved sabers and all. Are there any longer weapons used by the Xiongnu that have been excavated?

If you mean the Han WuDi TV series then I would not expect it to get much of anything right based on my experience with Chinese period drama. It is a soap opera after all.
While there is reference in some Chinese text to 'curved swords' of the Xiongnu these are the inwards curving knives which are >30cm in length and more typically half this length. These are what influenced a decorated curved style of knife used by Shang charioteers.
They are general purpose knives and while you might cut a throat with them they are objects of less lethality than the average item in the kitchen drawer.
The use of the term' sword' is the problem in Chinese with some pretty early knives being called 'dao/jian' (sword/sabre) just based on the blade edge but not insight into function. If you can't cleave an enemy with it then calling it a 'sabre' is kind of pointless. I suspect the little curved knives were for cutting meat and skinning mainly, even modern Altai nomads carry little knives for this reason.
The double-edged knives and shortswords shown here on this thread though are real weapons for piercing, and killing, although I don't doubt they were versatile also.
The large bowie knives used by colonial troops in NZ come to mind. Years after the wars against Maori there was one military settler using it in the farm as a tool, and another old man in a 19th century was seen cutting up his meal with his big knife and talking to it, "You were stuck into a Maori's innards at Waiari {battle} weren't you? Now tonight you will cut up my vittles!! {food}.
Interesting old man I am sure....

Re; curved Xiongnu sabres though. Fantasy. As I commented on one youtube link recently the early 'dao' knives curved inwards anyway, not out. Even these I consider not to be true swords, despite the name 'dao'. The earliest true dao were in the Han period & were straight edged.
It is not untill after the Han the curved sabre is used in China.
The earliest curved sabre was used by mounted warriors, probably from central Asia. That was around the 5th century AD, and the sword style gradually spread and was adopted by others so that by the Tang period there are representations of true sabres in Chinese art.

The Xiongnu likely had slightly longer short-swords. Iron working has a long tradition in the steppe, a longer history than ironworking in China, so larger iron versions are possible.
Iron examples are not depicted in my books though as bronze survives when iron does not. Actual examples of Xiongnu artefacts are hard to find so not having information does not mean they don't exist. Probably in publications like Wenwu there would be line drawings of more swords found via archaeology.
The Scythians (whom the Xiongnu seem to be a branch of this steppes culture) did have longer styles of straight swords also, but I have not heard of Xiongnu examples specifically. They may have existed but not have been typical. For this reason the details I have on them mention swords 25-30cm long.
It needs to be remembered that Chinese swords of bronze in the east Zhou are normally >50cm in length. These are weapons used in ranges that permit grappling. Later iron/steel swords might be around 1m.
As a bowman this rather short 20-30cm dagger would be adequete for close fighting. Xiongnu artefacts are made so that the people can travel light and larger heavier swords may have interfered with combat archery/horsemanship.
Even a longer sword in such a culture would be only marginally bigger. They are not making weapons like the Han cavalry swords of 1m or more in length.
It should be noted that the Han during Wendi's time were superior at fighting on foot, according to Chao Cuo. The Xiongnu were powerful in the saddle, but I don't doubt if they were on foot the Han weapons would be more lethal.
This is one reason the nomads would avoid combat when it didn't suit them and could elude Han infantry armies. They fought when it suited them instead.
Of Han armies sent into the steppe then they were very dependent on horses to have the mobility to strike with surpise and then follow up Xiongnu. This is one reason why the Han couldn't wage war for a long time.
Chao Cuo was quite clear that in close the Xiongnu leather armour and wooden sheilds would be pierced by arrows, and the 'double edged swords and halberds' would defeat them.

By this time it can be seen that the Han had swords of length enough to fight from the saddle. Massive ring pommeled (straight) sabres. The ji halberd is also shown is art wielded by cavalry & to be dragging an enemy rider from his horse.
I don't doubt that if the Han managed to catch the Xiongnu and fight in this manner that Chao Cuo suggested then that would be lethal, but the Xiongnu tried to not be so obliging. Hence, horses and horse breeding were very important for the Han military to allow them to engage the nomads.

Hi Kenneth, are there surviving examples of spear heads and arrow heads of the Xiongnu/Hu nomads?

Great article as usual.

I was trying to find some info on arrow heads.
I expect the type would be visibly different to Chinese, and I have a suspicion what they would look like (as there is a certain type...) but I haven't confirmed it yet. I have seen one Chinese collector who showed arrows of a certain socketed type which came from 'the North' which fit my expectation.
There is actually very little to be found, I expect that some Chinese reports of excavations on Xiongnu sites which I don't have access to, would need to be looked through.
The socketed style of halberds, such as I showed on the Ancient Weapons Collection thread are of 'northern type' and the 'Hu' weapon styles would also be like this since it was that region that influenced the style of such Chinese bronzes.
Without further information the only way would be to look at other steppes cultures spears and arrows of 'Scythian' type since there is a link to these made in the Russian commentary of Xiongnu style weapons (socketed bronze arrows & flat iron arrows).
With a little luck I might still get an answer on my queries about this, or some confirmation over a real distinction.

Here is an extract from the HanShu (history of the Han) which draws literally from Sima Qian's Shi Ji (History records).
It is interesting as a good account of the ancient nomadic way of life, how it gave rise to a race of capable mounted warriors, and also how at the most basic level the values and culture of the Hu/Xiongnu contrasted with the Han Chinese.
Sima Qian can be commended for his very neutral accounts of the Xiongnu in his narratives, but the horror with which many ancient Chinese would regard the Hu nomads can well be understood. The contempt shown for the old, the dressing in furs and the warlike nature of the steppes people would contrast with the Chinese view of themselves as 'civilised'.




The Xiongnu also practiced human sacrifice when burying their nobility, which the Han Chinese no longer practiced having substituted ceramic representations for living people.
Human sacrifice by Xiongnu is noted by Sima Qian.
Evidence for this has been found by Russian archaeologists in the attendant graves surrounding central Xiongnu tombs, with associated burials of people showing death by violence.

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The limited practical effectiveness of treaties with the Xiongnu during the reign of Emperor Wendi, and the Han difficulty in securing the frontier even with border garrisons and long walls is shown below in the time it took to mobilise sufficient troops to match the largest raiding forces. Large numbers could descend, kidnap & pillage, and then move back into the steppe;


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In the time of the ill-fated usurper/Emperor Wang Mang (AD 9-23) the Xiongnu were again a source of frontier trouble. While resources were being assembled for a massive campaign the general (Yen Yew ) summed up the Hu nomads contemptuously, & advised against either their appeasement or military invasions of the steppes;



**Ancient Chinese wore their hair tied up atop their heads, and wore their sash-like shirts left to right.

A member of AntiquitiesScience posted some images of arrowheads said to be "Scythian" and allegedly from the Balkans.
This is the type of arrow I had assumed would be a 'Hu' type rather than Chinese so the connection to the Steppes nomads & Scythians is again an indication of the common link between many steppes peoples.



I wrote (extract);
I have seen these exact types of arrowheads before (your image 5a9b[1]), as they occur in Chinese localities.....
.....I was interested to see these identified as a 'Scythian' type as I had been hoping for info on this style when in Chinese assemblages.
I assumed these were Hu nomad/'Xiongnu' or 'Scyth-Siberian' arrow heads as they are so distinct from more Chinese types yet I had never seen any comment on them despite them being very different in appearance to normal "Chinese" arrowheads.
The Chinese types all use a tang except for these socketed types, and I believed it would be a seperate cultural type entirely. Even socketed halberds, as opposed to tanged, are supposedly a 'steppes influence', so the same was likely true for arrows I speculated.
This is a type I would have expected and I am quite sure the steppes nomads culture is related across long distances.
That is very interesting to see.

Of the Xiongnu nomads one site in Siberia noted: "....Xiongnu grave objects, especially the shafted three-bladed arrows and the flat shear-arrows made of iron, can be regarded as a result of the development of similar bronze arrows from the above-mentioned Scythian burials."......

......As confirmation of sorts of my theory of the socketed Xiongnu arrows Stephen Selby (a definite expert) made this comment on the pictures I sent him of {the} 'Balkan' arrowheads & discussion which explains rather more about the arrows shafts and the arrowheads of Xiongnu & Chinese type.


Stephen wrote;

Wow.. this is a piece of very rich information...

Thanks Kenneth for posting

The socketed 'trilobate' bronze arrowheads are seen by Western archaeologists as quintessentially Skythian. Though, they have been found in various Late Bronze Age cultures throughout the Middle East (eg Assyrian and most of its enemies), so they may not be evidence of ethnicity, but rather evidence of the composite bow weapon system, along side horn plates from the bows, combined bowcase/quivers etc.. I think there's a write up on the ATARN site.

Tom..

nice posts btw...

Hi Tom,
I certainly don't mean to suggest the material evidence suggests any specific ethnicity in this case. It shows transport of ideas and technologies, or a way of life. The arrows have a huge distrubution and this marks part of the Eastern extent. The actual origins lie elsewhere (perhaps in the near-east) and arrive later in the Chinese sphere.
The question of ethnicity is a sticky one, and perhap my sin is to even raise this (hence some detractors rating my threads low out of spite). The Xiongnu were a multi-ethnic confederancy at their height, uniting many steppes peoples when they had the power to do so. The material way of life owes much to the Scythians but analysis of the "pure" Xiongnu burials shows them to be a Mongolian peoples, but a different population to the modern Mongolians. A paper citing of anthropological studies by Sophia-Harin Psarras {Han & Xiongnu:A re-examination of cultural & political relations} concludes that Xiongnu have a dilochocephalic Mongoloid (long narrow head) compared to the modern brachycephalic mongoloid. Given how much nomads moved around this in not suprising we have a different far Eastern nomad group rather than them being the literal ancestors of the modern peoples in the same place. The Indo-Iranian peoples whom the Scythians are typically taken to be seem to have been the pioneers of a way of life that became widely spread by the time the "Hu" first appear in Chinese histories.