Dou Xian
Dou Xian (
Early life
A native of modern-day
Campaigns against the Xiongnu
In 89 AD, Dou Xian led a
In 90 AD, Dou Xian had encamped at Wuwei.[7] He sent Deputy Colonel Yan Pan with 2000 light cavalry to strike down the final Xiongnu defenses in the Western Regions, capturing Yiwu and receiving the surrender of Jushi.[7] Major Liang Feng was dispatched to capture the Northern Chanyu, which he did, but he was forced to leave him behind as Dou Xian had already broken camp and returned to China.[7] In the tenth month of 90 AD, Dou Xian sent Liang Feng and Ban Gu to help the Northern Chanyu make preparations for his planned travel as he wished to submit to the Han court in person the following month.[7]
However, this never came to be as Dou Xian dispatched General Geng Kui and Shizi of the Southern Xiongnu with 8000 light cavalry to attack the Northern Chanyu, encamped at Heyun (河雲), in 90 AD.
Downfall
In 92, the Dous suddenly fell from grace as the result of a coup d'état. The details are unclear now, but it appeared that Emperor He, perhaps encouraged by his brother Prince Qing (whose mother had died at the Dous' hand and whose status as crown prince had been stripped away by their machinations) and the eunuch Zheng Zhong (鄭眾), made sudden orders to the imperial guards to have them arrest Dou Xian's associates and execute them. He sent Dou Xian and his brothers back to their marches, but eventually ordered them to commit suicide, with the exception of Dou Gui. Empress Dowager Dou remained empress dowager, but lost all power.
Inscription of Yanran
The
Notes
- ^ 6th month of the 4th year of the Yong'yuan era, per Emperor He's biography in Book of the Later Han. The month corresponds to 23 Jul to 20 Aug 92 in the Julian calendar.
- ^ a b c Crespigny 2007, 171.
- ^ Chavannes (1907), p. 158, n. 3.
- ^ a b c Yü 1986, 415.
- ^ a b Crespigny 2009, 101.
- ^ Lewis 2007, 138.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wu 2013, 71–72.
- ^ Yü 1986, 405.
- ISSN 1810-5025.
- ^ Laurie Chen (21 August 2017). "Archaeologists discover story of China's ancient military might carved in cliff face". South China Morning Post.
References
- Chavannes, Édouard (1907): "Les pays d’Occident d’après le Heou Han chou." T’oung pao 8, (1907) pp. 149–244.
- Crespigny, Rafe de (2007). A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23 - 220 AD). Leiden: Brill Publishers. ISBN 90-04-15605-4.
- Crespigny, Rafe de (2009). "The Western Han Army". The Military Culture of Later Han. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-03109-8.
- Lewis, Mark Edward (2007). The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-02477-9.
- Wu, Shu-hui (2013). "Debates and Decision-Making: The Battle of the Altai Mountains (Jinweishan 金微山) in AD 91". Debating War in Chinese History. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-22372-1.
- Yü, Ying-shih (1986). "Han Foreign Relations". The Cambridge History of China, Volume 1: The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. - A.D. 220. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24327-0.