Imagination and Reality: Analysis of Reasons of the Existence of Bias Against Xiongnu in Han Shu

Abstract

The Han dynasty was an imperial dynasty in Chinese history that had been interacted with the Xiongnu (匈奴), a nomadic tribal confederation which was mainly active in the northwest region near Han’s boundaries in Eurasian continent, for four hundred years. Han Shu (汉书) is a historical record that comprehensively documents Han history, and Han Shu's recordings of the Xiongnu have been an essential source for Xiongnu studies. However, though there are concise and concrete facts and descriptions in the text of Han Shu, given the nationality of the author, Ban Gu (班固), bias that come from the imagination of Xiongnu that Han had and the reality of Han Dynasty inevitably exists in the text. Therefore, a deeper understanding of Xiongnu might be required for Han because of interactions and corporations happened between those two opposing nations. This paper will discuss the reasons for the existence of bias based on the text of Han Shu and attribute the bias to the imagination that Han people had of Xiongnu due to the geographical separation created by natural mountains and villages, and to the reality that Han interacted with Xiongnu in both peaceful and unpeaceful ways which led to complex feelings.