Modu
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Modu (冒頓; c. 234 BCE – 174 BCE) was the chanyu of the Xiongnu who was chiefly responsible for their rise to power as a nomadic empire on the steppes north of China.[1] Years prior to his ascension, he was sent to the Qin as a political hostage amidst the Xiongnu incursions into China. He succeeded his father Touman after having him assassinated on a hunting trip.[2]
Biography
The eldest son of Touman Chanyu, Modu was not favoured as a successor to the Xiongnu throne. When Touman was defeated in a war against the Qin general Meng Tian, he offered Modu to the Qin as a political hostage in exchange for peace, thereby "kill[ing] two birds with one stone", while creating Modu's youngest brother heir.[3] Not content with this, in 215 BCE,[4] Touman Chanyu renewed his attack on the Qin by raiding a section of the Great Wall then under construction.[3][5] By violating the truce, he sought to incite the Qin into executing Modu and eliminating him as a threat forever.[3][6]
Modu was rounded up with other Xiongnu hostages in Yangzhou City by Meng Tian's soldiers and moved to the local prison, where they awaited their death.[6] By chance, two youxia were in the city investigating the whereabouts of Yang Duanhe,[6] the commander of a new military department called the Department of Immortality that was antagonistic towards Meng Tian.[5] Meng Tian suspected correctly that Duanhe was secretly collaborating with Touman and tipped off one of the youxia that they could find a lead in the Xiongnu prisoners.[6] Armed with this information, the youxia broke Modu out of jail while he was being interrogated with the intent of enlisting his aid as a guide in Xiongnu lands.[3]
Modu agreed to honour this debt to the youxia but initially hid the fact he was a a prince and contender for the Xiongnu throne. He reconvened with the two youxia at the northernmost watchtower that looked out onto the steppe beyond the Great Wall. There, he advised them to wait at Mu Us Village while he searched for his tribe. The youxia were mistrustful that he would bother to meet with them again once he had returned to his tribe, but he convinced them that they could not accompany him in his search without slowing him down to the extent that they would never be able to catch up to his tribe's movements. In fact, Modu's tribe was encamped at Mu Us Village at that very moment. When the youxia who rescued him earlier was caught in a fight with his tribe, he intervened to stop his men and finally revealed his background to the youxia. He claimed that his father had "installed [his] youngest brother as the next puppet king" and sold some of their own people into slavery. The youxia in turn opened up about their investigation, and Modu saw that their goals aligned, having also suspected collusion between Touman and the Qin.[3]
He shared his intel that his father's troops were on the way to a nearby Qin village, and the youxia left to further investigate Touman while Modu rallied his forces.[3] Soon, his scouts discovered that his father was gathering an army to mount an attack on the Great Wall at Tulu Pass in an apparent attempt to lure Meng Tian out. Modu hurried to relay this information to the two youxia, first making contact with Yu Ying, the youxia who was not directly involved in his earlier rescue, then finding the other just in time to save them from an ambush from Touman's warriors. Grateful for his help, they wished them good blessings and acknowledged them as the rightful chanyu of the Xiongnu.[7]
Behind the scenes
Modu Chanyu is a historical figure who will feature in the upcoming mobile game Assassin's Creed: Jade.
Historically, Modu was sent to the Yuezhi as a hostage instead of the Qin dynasty.
Etymology
- 冒頓 read as Modun 墨頓 (Medieval Chinese: *mək-tuənH; following to Sima Zhen's commentary on Shiji) and Modu 墨毒 (Medieval Chinese: *mək-duok; following Song Qi's commentary on Hanshu)
- Based on the above evidence, some scholars assume the different origins of the name, Friedrich Hirth think the name from Turki and Mongolian word Bagatur (Brave), Shiratori Kurakichi (白鳥 庫吉) think it from Mongolian word Bagdo (Divine). Luo Xin(罗新) advocates that this word is a appellation for the title of Chanyu rather than a personal name.[8]
Appearances
References
- ↑ Lewis, Mark Edward. (2007). "The Outer World". In The Early Empires: Qin and Han. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp. 128–154.
- ↑ Sima Qian. (94 BCE). "Biographies of the Xiongnu". In Records of the Grand Historian. Chinese Text Project. Accessed 4 August 2023. https://ctext.org/shiji/xiong-nu-lie-zhuan.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Assassin's Creed: Jade – Nobility of the Xiongnu
- ↑ Ubisoft. (12 June 2023). "Assassin’s Creed Codename Jade – A Primer for the Mobile Adventure". Assassin's Creed Codename Jade Official Website. Accessed 22 September 2023.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Assassin's Creed: Jade – General on the Great Wall
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Assassin's Creed: Jade – A Modest Invitation
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedThe Exile's Plan - ↑ Luo Xin, A Study on the Xiongnu Chanyu title, ed.Luo Xin, Inner Asian Origin: A study on title and name of Medieval northern people,(Social Sciences Academic Press 2022), 31-2 [罗新：《匈奴单于号研究》，《内亚渊源：中古北族名号研究》，社会科学文献出版社2022年版，31-32页。]
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