Xiongnu 匈奴

At the opening of Records of Wei 30, Chen Shou said that since the Qin and Han the Xiongnu had long been a scourge of the frontier. Because the Xiongnu pressed closest upon the lands of the Xia states, so that when the Hu horsemen raided southward three frontiers faced the enemy, Emperor Wu of Han repeatedly sent generals such as Wei Qing and Huo Qubing deep into the north on campaign, pursuing the chanyu to the end and seizing his fertile lands. Thereafter the Xiongnu guarded the frontier, called themselves vassals, and grew weaker with each generation. Records, Wei 30 §2–3

At the end of the Eastern Han, when armies rose east of the mountains to attack Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao reached Henei, Zhang Yang joined forces with Yuan Shao and also camped on the Zhang River with Yufuluo, chanyu of the Xiongnu. The chanyu wanted to rebel, but when Yuan Shao and Zhang Yang refused to go along, he seized Zhang Yang and left with him. Qu Yi, a general sent by Yuan Shao, pursued and defeated him south of Ye, but the chanyu, still holding Zhang Yang, reached Liyang and crushed the army of Geng Zhi, General Who Crosses the Liao, and his following rose again. Records, Wei 8 §31–32

In spring of the 3rd year of Chuping (192), Cao Cao intercepted Sui Gu and also attacked Yufuluo of the Xiongnu at Neihuang, crushing both. In spring of the following year, when Yuan Shu entered Chenliu and camped at Fengqiu, the remnants of the Heishan bandits and Yufuluo and others aided him. Cao Cao attacked Yuan Shu's general Liu Xiang and crushed Yuan Shu when he came to the rescue; Yuan Shu fell back to Fengqiu, and before the encirclement was complete he fled to Xiangyi. Records, Wei 1 §20 · 25

When Yuan Shang was holding off Cao Cao at Liyang, he sent Guo Yuan, the Administrator of Hedong he had appointed, Gao Gan, Inspector of Bing Province, and the Xiongnu chanyu to seize Pingyang. When the Xiongnu chanyu rose in revolt at Pingyang, Zhong Yao led the various armies to besiege him but could not take the city. Persuaded by Zhang Ji (張既), Ma Teng sent Ma Chao's troops, who joined Zhong Yao in attacking Gao Gan and Guo Yuan; they beheaded Guo Yuan, and Gao Gan and the chanyu both surrendered. Records, Wei 15 §39–40Records, Wei 13 §6 · 8

In the first month of the 11th year of Jian'an (206), when Cao Cao attacked Gao Gan, who had rebelled with Bing Province, Gao Gan left a subordinate general to hold the city, fled to the Xiongnu and asked the chanyu for help, but the chanyu would not take him in. Liang Xi, who as Major of a Separate Command concurrently served as Inspector of Bing Province, won over or suppressed the Hu and Di peoples running rampant within the borders in the aftermath of Gao Gan's disorder, as well as the families that held armed followings. Chen Shou wrote that thereafter the chanyu was respectful and obedient, the renowned kings bowed their heads to the ground, and their retainers were like registered commoners. Records, Wei 1 §93Records, Wei 15 §29–31

In summer, the fifth month, of the 21st year of Jian'an (216), Cao Cao became King of Wei, and in autumn, the seventh month, of that year the Xiongnu Southern Chanyu Huchuquan came to court leading his renowned kings. Received with the courtesies due a guest, Huchuquan stayed on in Wei, while the Wise King of the Right, Qubei, oversaw his state. The Biography of Liang Xi credited Liang Xi with the chanyu coming to serve at court and the northwest being free of worry, and the opening of Records of Wei 30 states that the Xiongnu bowed in submission even more than in the old days of the Han. In the 1st year of Huangchu (220), Huchuquan was newly granted the seal and ribbon of Wei and given a carriage with a blue canopy, a state carriage, a precious sword and a jade jue pendant. Records, Wei 1 §154Records, Wei 15 §33Records, Wei 30 §3Records, Wei 2 §19

In the fourth month of the 5th year of Taihe (231), Wei re-established the post of General of the Household Protecting the Xiongnu. In autumn, the ninth month, of the 1st year of Qinglong (233), when Hubojuzizhi and other Xiongnu chieftains who guarded the frontier at Anding rebelled, Sima Yi sent the general Hu Zun and others, who pursued and defeated them and forced their surrender. Early in the Zhengshi era Tian Yu, and during the Zhengshi era Chen Tai, held both the post of Inspector of Bing Province and that of General of the Household Protecting the Xiongnu. Sun Li too became Inspector of Bing Province and General of the Household Protecting the Xiongnu; at that time the following of the Xiongnu king Liu Jing was strong, and the Xianbei repeatedly raided the frontier. Records, Wei 3 §21 · 32Records, Wei 26 §40Records, Wei 22 §38Records, Wei 24 §70

When Liu Bao, Wise King of the Right in Bing Province, merged several divisions into one, Deng Ai submitted a memorial saying that every time the Xiongnu grew strong they had been a grave concern to earlier ages; since the chanyu had been induced to come and serve at court, the land for ten thousand li had kept to its proper course, but now the chanyu's dignity was growing daily more remote while the power of the outer lands grew steadily heavier. Deng Ai proposed taking advantage of the rebellious Hu within Liu Bao's division to split it into two states, and granting a distinguished title to the son of Qubei, whose merit had been conspicuous under the previous dynasty, and settling him in Yanmen. Sima Shi, the General-in-Chief who had just taken up the regency, adopted much of what Deng Ai said. Records, Wei 28 §56–58

In his assessment in Records of Wei 30, Chen Shou wrote that the Records of the Grand Historian and the Book of Han had recorded Joseon and the two Yue, and the histories of the Eastern Capital (the Eastern Han) had compiled records of the Western Qiang; but by the Wei era the Xiongnu had at last declined, the Wuhuan and Xianbei had arisen in their place, and envoys and interpreters passed back and forth from time to time even with the Eastern Yi, so how could the records, which follow events, always be the same? Records, Wei 30 §190