Wusun

The Wusun (烏孫), were a nomadic, Turkic speaking [Jila, N., "Myths and traditional beliefs about the wolf and the crow in Central Asia: examples from the Turkic Wu-Sun and the Mongols", Asian Folklore Studies, V65, i2, p161, 2006. ] people who, according to the Chinese histories, originally lived to the northwest of China near the Yuezhi people but fled circa 176 BCE to the region of the Ili river and (lake) Issyk Kul and formed a powerful force there after being defeated by the Xiongnu where they remained for at least five centuries. [Watson, Burton. Trans. 1993. "Records of the Grand Historian of China. Han Dynasty II". (Revised Edition). New York, Columbia University Press. Chapter 123. The Account of Ta-yüan. Columbia University Press.] [Hulsewé, A. F. P. and Loewe, M. A. N. 1979. "China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BC – AD 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty". Leiden: E. J. Brill.] The last reference to the Wusun in the Chinese historical sources is in 436 CE, when a Chinese envoy was sent to their country and the Wusun reciprocated. [Zadneprovskiy, Y. A. 1994. "The Nomads of northern Central Asia after the invasion of Alexander." Y. A. Zadneprovskiy. In: "History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations: 700 B.C. to A.D. 250". Harmatta, János, ed., 1994. Paris: UNESCO Publishing, p. 461]

Their later fate is connected with the Turkic Kaganates and the sudden reversals of fortune that fell on Central Asia and, specifically, the Jeti-su area. Considerable remains of their traces and their impact on the events and surrounding peoples were left in the Persian, Muslim, Turkic, and Russian sources extending from the 6th century AD to the present (see Uysyn). At present, their descendants number approximately 250,000 people, about a half of their number in the 1st century AD, Uysyns have two branches, Dulat and Sary Uysyn ("Yellow Uysyn").

Anthropology and archeology

According to Chinese archaeologists the excavated skeletal remains of the presumed Wusun people are short-headed Europoid type of the Central Asian, Transoxanian type.

Wusun women were first described by Jiao Yanshou as "ugly and dark colored people with deep eye sockets" ["Jiaoshi Yilin", vol. 6 [http://www.chineseclassic.com/13jing/yi/giau/21.htm] ] , who probably resembled Indians, as suggested from the skin complexion.Wang Mingzhe et al (1983). "Research on Wusun". Urumqi: Xinjiang People's Press. p. 43.] Chen Liankai (1999). "Outlines on China's Ethnicities". China Financial and Economic Publishing House. p. 380-381] The Wusun was also described later in the Chinese historical annals as having "green [or blue] eyes and red beard [or hair] , and are like a macaque." ["Book of Han", vol. 96b [http://ef.cdpa.nsysu.edu.tw/ccw/02/hb18.htm] ] (This commentary was added by Yan Shigu in the 7th century to Hanshu, in which he describes the racial characteristics of the Wusun of his time), i.e., of Caucasoid appearance, though no actual description of the Yuezhi was given.

History

At the beginning of what is known about the history of the Wusun, they lived near the Yuezhi people. According to Zhang Qian, the Yuezhi were defeated by the rising Xiongnu empire and fled westward. En route they drove away the Sai (which is presumed to be the Chinese name for Saka). Earlier to this event, they overran the Wusun, and the Wusun ruler (kunmo), Nandoumi, lost his life. His infant son, Liejiaomi, was left in the wild, then miraculously saved from hunger by sucking from a she-wolf and being fed meat by ravens. [Hulsewé and Loewe. "China in Central Asia". Annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the "Hanshu", p. 215, n. 805. (1979) Leiden, E. J. Brill. ISBN 9004058842.] The Xiongnu ruler (Chanyu) was impressed and adopted the child. When the child grew up the Chanyu gave him command in the west and as an act of revenge, the Wusun attack the Yuezhi, who had taken refuge in the Ili Valley. The Yuezhi were crushed completely and fled further west to Ferghana, and finally settled in Bactria. The Wusun took over the Ili Valley and then expanded to occupy a large area and tried to keep away from the Xiongnu. They were said to number 630,000 with 188,000 men capable of bearing arms and so became a powerful force in Central Asia ("Hanshu", ch.61 & 96).

When the Han empire began their counter-offensive against the Xiongnu, the Wusun, after getting series of threats from them, had become a bitter enemy of the Xiongnu. So the Wusun were won over to the Chinese side in a martial alliance, sealed by a political marriage. After Han retreat from Central Asia, not much was recorded about the Wusun anymore. They were pressured by the Rouran, and may have migrated to the Congling Mountains (Pamir Mountains) in the 5th century ("Weishu", ch.102). From the 6th century onward the former habitat of the Wusun formed a part of the western empire of the Göktürks. After this event the Wusun seem to disappear from history, though their name was last mentioned on an offering to the court of Liao Dynasty on September 22, 938 ("Liaoshi", ch.4).

Culture and characteristics

According to the "Shiji" (c.123) and the "Hanshu" (c.96), a daughter from the Han prince, Liu Jian, was sent to the ruler (kunmo or kunmi) of the Wusun between 110 BCE and 105 BCE. She describes them as nomads who lived in felt tents, ate raw meat and drank fermented mare's milk.

On the other hand, the Wusun were notable for their harmony towards neighbours, even though they were constantly raided by the Xiongnu and Kangju. In 71 BCE, a Chinese envoy cooperated with the Wusun and lent an army of 50,000 to attack the Xiongnu for them, which ended in a great victory. However, a dispute took place soon after the death of their ruler, Nimi, in 53 BCE; the Wusun were divided into two kingdoms, under a little kunmi and greater kunmi, both of whom recognised Chinese supremacy and remained faithful vassals. In 2 CE, Wang Mang issued a list of four regulations to the allied Xiongnu that the entry onto their territory of any hostages of vassals, i.e. Wusun, Wuhuan and the statelets of Western Regions, would not be tolerated; the Xiongnu obeyed.

Phonetics and etymology

2 millenniums ago "Wusun" sounded "Asman" (*ah-sman < *asman) [Zuev, Yu.A. (2002) Early Türks: Essays on history and ideology, p. 23 (translated from Russian) ISBN 9985-441-52-9] , or "*o-sən", "*uo-sen" or "?ah-swē" depending on the authors, suggesting that they may have been the Osians of "Geographica" ["Les Saces", Iaroslav Lebedinsky, p. 60-63, ISBN 2877723372] . The modern phonetics of the "Wusun" is a modern pronunciation of the hieroglyphs 烏孫. Chinese annals contain a translation of "Asman", around 107 BC a Han princess married to the Usun Hunmo composed a song that called "Wusun" country a "Sky (Tian)" country, and in China the Wusun horses ("Ch". Usun ma) were called heavenly horses ("Ch". Tian ma). Ptolemy (VI, 14, 177 AD) knew Asman tribe, it was located east from Rha-Itil-Volga [Zuev, Yu.A. (2002) Early Türks: Essays on history and ideology, p. 23] .

The Chinese name Wusun 烏孫 literally means, wu = 'crow', 'raven' + sun = 'grandson'. Through the legend of an infant son, left in the wild, miraculously saved from hunger by sucking from a she-wolf, and being fed meat by ravens [Watson, Burton. Trans. 1993. "Records of the Grand Historian of China. Han Dynasty II". (Revised Edition). New York, Columbia University Press. Chapter 123. The Account of Ta-yüan. Columbia University Press, pp. 237-238] [Hulsewé, A. F. P. and Loewe, M. A. N. 1979. "China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BC – AD 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty". Leiden: E. J. Brill, pp. 214-215] , they shared a similar ancestor myth (Asena) with the ruling Ashina clan of the Göktürks.

Language

The Wusun spoke a Turkic language. There was a Wusun king called Fu-li, and the Chinese scholar Han Rulin, and also G.Vambery (1879), Scherbak (1961), P.Budberg, L.Bazin and V.P.Yudin hold that "Bori" personal names and titles ascend to Proto-Türkic "bori = wolf". Among other acknowledged Türkic words were recorded "Kun = kin", "Bag/Beg = prince", and "Ulug = great" [Zuev, Yu.A. (2002) Early Türks: Essays on history and ideology, p. 35] . The 2nd century BCE Wusun state in Jeti-su was polyethnic, it is recorded that there were populations of Sai Saka and Yuezhi peoples among the Wusun, [Hulsewé, A. F. P. and Loewe, M. A. N. 1979. "China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BC – AD 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty". Leiden: E. J. Brill, p. 145] forming a multi-lingual confederation of tribes.

Wusun and Issedones connection

There are theories [ Gardiner-Garden, "Chang-Ch'ien and Central Asian Ethnography", pp. 23-79 gives a survey of theories of etnic affiliations and identification of the Wusun and the Yuezhi.] that the Wusun may have been identical with the people described by Herodotus (IV.16-25) and in Ptolemy's "Geography" as Issedones. The exact location of their country in Central Asia is unknown; the Issedones are "placed by some in Western Siberia and by others in Chinese Turkestan," according to E. D. Phillips. [ Phillips, "The Legend of Aristeas: Fact and Fancy in Early Greek Notions of East Russia, Siberia, and Inner Asia" "Artibus Asiae" 18.2 (1955, pp. 161-177) p 166.]

Notes

References

* Bartold W.W., "Four studies in history of Central Asia", Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1962
* Gardiner-Garden, J.R., Chang-Ch'ien and Central Asian Ethnography in: "Papers of Far Eastern History" 33 (March 1986) p. 23-79. (Australian National University Institute of Advanced Studies Department of Far Eastern History (Canberra) ISSN 0048-2870, a survey of theories of etnic affiliations and identification of the Wusun and the Yuezhi.
*Hill, John E. 2003. "Annotated Translation of the Chapter on the Western Regions according to the "Hou Hanshu"." 2nd Draft Edition. [http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/hhshu/hou_han_shu.html]
* Hill, John E. 2004. "The Peoples of the West from the Weilue" 魏略 "by Yu Huan" 魚豢": A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265 CE (sic.)." Draft annotated English translation. [http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/weilue/weilue.html]
*zh 陈连开 (Liankai, Chen) (1999). 中国民族史纲要 ("Outlines on China's Ethnicities"). Beijing: China Financial and Economic Publishing House. ISBN 7-5005-4301-8.
* Mallory, J.P. and Mair, Victor H. "The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West". Thames & Hudson. London 2000. ISBN 0-500-05101-1.
* Stein, Aurel M. 1921. "Serindia: Detailed report of explorations in Central Asia and westernmost China", 5 vols. London & Oxford. Clarendon Press. Reprint: Delhi. Motilal Banarsidass. 1980. [http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/]
*zh 王明哲. 王明哲,王炳华著. 王炳华 (Wang Mingzhe et al.) (1983). 乌孙硏究 ("Research on Wusun)". Urumqi: Xinjiang People's Press.