Xianbei 鮮卑

Chen Shou said that the Wuhuan and Xianbei were the Donghu of old, and that since their customs and earlier history had already been recorded in the Han Records, he would set out only events from the end of Han and the beginning of Wei onward. Gongsun Zan, then Chief Clerk of the Liaodong Dependent State, went out beyond the frontier with a few dozen horsemen and encountered several hundred Xianbei horsemen; he charged with his spear and killed or wounded dozens, and the Xianbei, chastened, never again dared to enter the frontier. Zhang Chun, who had rebelled, abandoned his wife and children and fled to the Xianbei, where he was killed by his retainer Wang Zheng. Records, Wei 30 §6Records, Wei 8 §3–4 · 8

After Budugen succeeded, his following gradually weakened, and his second elder brother Fuluohan separately led a following of tens of thousands as a chieftain. When Nengchendi and other Wuhuan of Dai Commandery rebelled, they sought to attach themselves to Fuluohan, but judging his tribe lax in authority and discipline, they called on Kebineng instead. Kebineng came with more than ten thousand horsemen and killed Fuluohan at the meeting where they were to swear an oath, and Fuluohan's son Xieguini and the people of his tribe all attached themselves to Kebineng. Budugen resented Kebineng for this. Records, Wei 30 §14–15

Kebineng came from a minor Xianbei tribe; because he was brave and strong, judged by the law fairly and did not covet wealth, he was raised up as chieftain. After Yuan Shao took Hebei, many Chinese fled to him and taught him how to make weapons, armor and shields, and in governing the people of his tribe he too modeled himself on China. When the Wuhuan of Dai Commandery rebelled, Kebineng helped them raid and was crushed by Cao Zhang; the Biography of Cao Zhang records that Kebineng, watching with tens of thousands of horsemen to gauge who was stronger, saw Cao Zhang break every enemy he faced and asked to submit. Records, Wei 30 §20–21Records, Wei 19 §6

At the beginning of Yankang, Emperor Wen made Kebineng King Who Adheres to Righteousness and Suli and Mijia Kings Who Return to Righteousness, and after ascending the throne he also made Budugen, who had presented horses, a king. Early in Emperor Wen's reign Tian Yu received the credentials as Colonel Protecting the Wuhuan, while Qian Zhao and Xie Jun oversaw the Xianbei; when Kebineng, Mijia and Suli swore an alliance together not to trade horses with China, Tian Yu, judging that the Rong and Di uniting as one was not to China's advantage, set them against one another so that they attacked each other. In the 2nd year of Huangchu (221) and the year after, Kebineng sent the Wei people who were in Xianbei lands back to Dai Commandery and Shanggu, and came driving more than seventy thousand head of cattle and horses to trade. Records, Wei 30 §21 · 28 · 16 · 22Records, Wei 26 §30

The three tribes of Kebineng, Suli and Budugen attacked one another in turn. Budugen, his following diminished, held Taiyuan and Yanmen with more than ten thousand households, and when he told Xieguini not to stay attached to the enemy who had killed his father, Xieguini led his tribe back to him. In the 5th year of Huangchu (224) Budugen went to the palace to present tribute and thereafter guarded the frontier single-mindedly. In the same year, when Kebineng attacked Suli again, Tian Yu harried his rear. Qian Zhao, Administrator of Yanmen, led Xieguini and others to crush Kebineng in the old Yunzhong Commandery, and in the 6th year of Huangchu (225) Liang Xi, Inspector of Bing Province, crushed Kebineng. Yet Kebineng's following at last grew strong, with more than 100,000 mounted archers. Records, Wei 30 §22–23 · 16–17 · 25Records, Wei 26 §54Records, Wei 2 §48

Whenever Kebineng gained goods by raiding he divided them evenly on the spot and never kept anything for himself, so his people fought for him to the death, and the chieftains of other tribes respected and feared him. Even so, Chen Shou wrote, he did not measure up to Tanshihuai. In the 2nd year of Taihe (228) Suli died; as his son was young, his younger brother Chenglügui became king and governed his people in his stead. Records, Wei 30 §25 · 29

In the 2nd year of Taihe (228), when Xia She, an interpreter sent by Tian Yu, was killed in the tribe of Kebineng's son-in-law Yuzhujian, Tian Yu that autumn led Putou and Xieguini of the western Xianbei and crushed Yuzhujian. Kebineng personally besieged the returning Tian Yu at Macheng with thirty thousand horsemen for seven days, but lifted the siege when Yan Zhi, Administrator of Shanggu, who had long been trusted by the Xianbei, reasoned with him. Qian Zhao sent out dispatches to relieve this siege, and when Kebineng again gathered horsemen and came north of the frontier of the old Pingzhou, Qian Zhao fell on him by stealth and beheaded a great many. Records, Wei 30 §26Records, Wei 26 §57–58

Since Zhuge Liang was repeatedly taking the field, Qian Zhao asked that preparations be made, as the cunning Kebineng might communicate with him. When Zhuge Liang was at Mount Qi he did in fact send envoys to link up with Kebineng, and Kebineng came to Shicheng in the old Beidi Commandery and acted in concert with Zhuge Liang as head and tail before going back south of the desert. The Annals of Emperor Ming record that in summer, the fourth month, of the 5th year of Taihe (231), the Xianbei King Who Adheres to Righteousness, Kebineng, came to You Province with his people and Ershan, a chieftain of the Dingling, and presented famous horses. Records, Wei 26 §58–59Records, Wei 3 §21

Wang Xiong, Inspector of You Province, concurrently held the post of Colonel and won them over with kindness and good faith, but in the 1st year of Qinglong (233) Kebineng enticed Budugen to rebel against Bing Province and received his family and baggage at Xingbei. The generals Su Shang and Dong Bi, sent by Bi Gui, Inspector of Bing Province, were defeated and killed at Loufan by horsemen led by Kebineng's son, and Budugen's tribe all went out beyond the frontier and joined Kebineng in raiding the border. When the General of Valiant Cavalry Qin Lang led the Central Army to suppress them, Xieguini betrayed Kebineng and surrendered, becoming King Who Returns to Righteousness, while Budugen was killed by Kebineng. Records, Wei 30 §27 · 18Records, Wei 3 §30–31

In the 3rd year of Qinglong (235) Wang Xiong sent a bold warrior, Han Long, to stab Kebineng to death, and set up his younger brother in his place. Chen Shou wrote that only after this did the Xianbei peoples and tribes scatter and raid and attack one another, the strong fleeing far away and the weak asking to submit, so that the frontier became somewhat more peaceful. In the ninth month of the 5th year of Zhengshi (244), when the Xianbei came over to Wei, Wei established the Liaodong Dependent State and founded Changli County to settle them. Records, Wei 30 §27 · 5–6Records, Wei 4 §15

In his assessment in Records of Wei 30, Chen Shou wrote that in the Wei era the Xiongnu at last declined, and the Wuhuan and Xianbei arose in their place. Records, Wei 30 §190