The Dawson Ledger
Event

Han-Xiongnu Wars (134/133 BCE)

Century-long Han offensive and later Eastern Han campaigns against the Xiongnu confederation; central case for steppe-sedentary conflict (Barfield 1989; Di Cosmo 2002).

Event Details

  • Date: 134/133 BCE
  • Type: war-series
  • Civilizations: sinitic-east-asia, steppe-central-eurasian

Description

Century-long Han offensive and later Eastern Han campaigns against the Xiongnu confederation; central case for steppe-sedentary conflict (Barfield 1989; Di Cosmo 2002).

Quantitative facts and their sourcing

  • Date note: Shiji 108 (read) places the Mayi plot in Yuanguang 1 (134 BCE); Hanshu-based convention gives 133 BCE.
  • The wider conflict ran 134 BCE–89 CE (Shiji 108; Hou Hanshu 23).
  • SOURCED SPAN (loop 3): opening - Shiji 108 (read, zh.wikisource revid 1765317) places the Mayi ambush plot in Yuanguang 1 (134 BCE by the Shiji reign-year count); much modern literature gives 133 BCE (Yuanguang 2, following the Hanshu - NOT read by me; convention cited to Barfield 1989/Di Cosmo 2002 at book level only). Closing - Hou Hanshu 23 (read, revid 2639162): Dou Xian defeats the Northern Shanyu at Jiluo mountain, with the Yanran inscription dated Yongyuan 1 (89 CE); text claims 13,000 killed (named kings and above) and 200,000+ people of 81 tribes surrendering - ancient claims, not measurements.
  • Result: Han victory (Wikipedia infobox). Span 134/133 BCE-89 CE is therefore sourced at both ends (the 133/134 discrepancy is documented), not merely conventional.
  • Candidate formal sources listed in the Wikipedia infobox/lead for this topic (METADATA-VERIFIED ONLY via Crossref/Open Library; NOT read; relevance to the figures above unverified): n/a 2007, Opening up the Silk Road.

Confidence

medium (ends sourced from primary Chinese texts read; Hanshu 133 BCE dating not read). Numbers marked "Wikipedia-compiled (stub)" come from a secondary aggregator and must be upgraded to page-level scholarly citations before any Official use.

Citations

  • shiji-108-wikisource-zh [formal] Sima Qian (-91). Sima Qian, Shiji juan 108 (Han Changru liezhuan), Mayi ambush passage (zh.wikisource.org, revid 1765317; read). Wikisource (Chinese). https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/史記/卷108. Verified 2026-10-11 (resolves).
  • hou-hanshu-23-wikisource-zh [formal] Fan Ye (445). Fan Ye, Hou Hanshu juan 23 (Dou Rong liezhuan, Dou Xian passage: Jiluo mountain battle, Yongyuan 1) (zh.wikisource.org, revid 2639162; read). Wikisource (Chinese). https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/後漢書/卷23. Verified 2026-10-11 (resolves).
  • barfield1989-perilous-frontier [formal] Thomas J. Barfield (1989). The Perilous Frontier: Nomadic Empires and China, 221 BC to AD 1757. Blackwell. https://openlibrary.org/works/OL4287915W. Verified 2026-10-11 (Open Library record found; edition exists, page-level not checked).
  • dicosmo2002-ancient-china-enemies [formal] Nicola Di Cosmo (2002). Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge University Press. https://openlibrary.org/works/OL25659313W. Verified 2026-10-11 (Open Library record found; edition exists, page-level not checked).
  • wp-han-xiongnu-wars [STUB (secondary aggregator)] Wikipedia contributors (2026). Han–Xiongnu wars (Wikipedia; secondary aggregator, stub-grade). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han–Xiongnu_wars. Verified 2026-10-11 (resolves).
  • m-anon2007-opening-up-the-silk-road [formal] n/a (2007). Opening up the Silk Road. Nara International Foundation Commemorating the Silk Road Exposition. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL24797599M. Verified 2026-10-11 (Open Library record found; edition exists, page-level not checked).

Review status

SOFT draft. Not Official. Needs editor review of CAD tags (estimated) and page-level citation upgrade.

About this entry

A draft entry preserved from civilization.study. Evidence grade: low. 5 of 6 listed sources are fully documented; the rest are names only. Method and sources

Conflict card

This card is generated from Civitas's war record and carries the same evidence badge as every other conflict card.

How to read the evidence badges
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war series · 134/133 BCE

Han-Xiongnu Wars (134/133 BCE)

Century-long Han offensive and later Eastern Han campaigns against the Xiongnu confederation; central case for steppe-sedentary conflict (Barfield 1989; Di Cosmo 2002).

Evidence: Primary text read Draft estimate

What the record says

  • Primary text Date note: Shiji 108 (read) places the Mayi plot in Yuanguang 1 (134 BCE); Hanshu-based convention gives 133 BCE.
  • Note The wider conflict ran 134 BCE–89 CE (Shiji 108; Hou Hanshu 23).
  • Primary text SOURCED SPAN (loop 3): opening - Shiji 108 (read, zh.wikisource revid 1765317) places the Mayi ambush plot in Yuanguang 1 (134 BCE by the Shiji reign-year count); much modern literature gives 133 BCE (Yuanguang 2, following the Hanshu - NOT read by me; convention cited to Barfield 1989/Di Cosmo 2002 at book level only). Closing - Hou Hanshu 23 (read, revid 2639162): Dou Xian defeats the Northern Shanyu at Jiluo mountain, with the Yanran inscription dated Yongyuan 1 (89 CE); text claims 13,000 killed (named kings and above) and 200,000+ people of 81 tribes surrendering - ancient claims, not measurements.
  • Unverified (Wikipedia-compiled) Result: Han victory (Wikipedia infobox). Span 134/133 BCE-89 CE is therefore sourced at both ends (the 133/134 discrepancy is documented), not merely conventional.
  • Candidate sources Candidate formal sources listed in the Wikipedia infobox/lead for this topic (METADATA-VERIFIED ONLY via Crossref/Open Library; NOT read; relevance to the figures above unverified): n/a 2007, Opening up the Silk Road.

Confidence. medium (ends sourced from primary Chinese texts read; Hanshu 133 BCE dating not read).

Where it sits

Sources and evidence

No page-level citation is claimed for any source. Figures marked unverified come from a Wikipedia aggregator and are not for Official use.

Link to this conflict

Art: Patterns of Civilization chronicle art, made with AI: illustrations, not historical evidence. Entries are drafts preserved from civilization.study. Method and sources.