#aph Xiongnu

[irithnova]

Mongolia: Anyways I am the DIRECT heir to the GREAT KHUNNU (Xiongnu) Empire 💪💪 Don't question me

Xiongnu watching from hell: Who the hell is this person

China: ....

A few hundred years later

Manchuria: Anyways Mongolia told me HIMSELF that I am his son and the direct heir to the yuan <3

Mongolia: I never fucking said that

China: ...Northerners

[absolvtely-barbaric]

The last thing that Xiongnu said to a defeated young Huns. 

[senjekai]

Xiongnu / Golden Horde / Mongolia Work is for.......... Serving ice cream.... And serving my favorite pony boys...

[ask-ancient-china]

You ever get like lonely, being immortal?

China: when I was much younger, yes.

((Yeah in the beginning China probably had a hard time coping with his immortality and the peptual loneliness that came with it. But as he grew up I think to some degrees China was able to find solace and serenity in being alone. Especially later on when boi got rich and famous and people just keeps trying to conquer him because of it 😂

[konoha-hk]

And that is what happens when you try to go to China, even when Persia warns you that there is someone dangerous nearby.

[headcanons-of-a-hetalia-variety]

The Hunnic Empire used to be known by the name “Xiongnu” And he is in fact, China’s twin brother.

[irithnova]

I LOVE your Mongolia hcs. Looking back at some Mongolia art, I was always confused why Mongolia is always drawn much older than Russia. Isn’t Russia supposed to be older as a country??? Mongolia appeared in the 13th century and Russia in 10th?

Ok so I personally headcanon Mongolia to be an old as f*** man LMAO. Not as old as as China or India or Persia but but old that other nations look at him and put him in the same kind of category.

It's not as if Mongolian people sprang up out of nowhere when Genghis Khan came along. Mongolian people and their predecessors have been there for a while. Albeit they were fragmented before Genghis came along and united the Mongol tribes.

I think that Mongolia existing before this, even way before this makes sense (in my personal headcanon). I will touch upon the predestination hetalia theory later on in this God-forsaken essay. For now, this is a more simple example. Aph Prussia is still a character/"alive" despite Prussia as a state/nation no longer existing. So, in hetalia, a nation rep can exist without the nation/state itself actually existing. Perhaps more of a representation of that ethnic group?

Coming back to what I said about how its not like Mongolian people sprung up out of nowhere in the 13th century. I also think the same could be said for Mongolia himself. Many different nomadic groups lived in/ruled over Mongolia since Ancient times, and I like to think Mongolia lived through a lot of this (but he cannot remember a lot of his very early life, will get onto why later).

According to the introduction of the secret history of the Mongols, the Mongols were a small nomadic tribe that lived in Mongolia along with the Unggirads, Kereyids, Naimans, Tayichiuds and the Merkids. The Mongols were among one of the many nomadic groups traveling around this area in the 10th century. Indeed, I do recall reading that there were Chinese records calling the Mongols by their name from the 9/10th century?

So, in this instance, you could argue that Russia and Mongolia are around the same age. I’ve seen some people accept this as their personal headcanon, and it makes quite an interesting dynamic!

However, I personally like to go back even further.

Now I understand that the argument of X didn't spring up out of nowhere it's always existed can only hold up for so long. So I do hope my argument justifying why Mongolia is an old man doesn't come across this way.

Way before Mongols, there was the Xiongnu. I’ll give a simplified run down of what happened with them. The Xiongnu empire emerged in 209 BC however fell apart in the 4th century AD.

As I have stated before, many different ethnic groups ruled over and lived in Mongolia since Ancient times. However the establishment of the Xiongnu empire is what marked the beginning of statehood on Mongolian territory.

Side note: I am aware that the ethnicity of the Xiongnu has been widely contested and hypothesised among scholars and historians. There are quite a few scholars who insist on the Xiongnu being of Mongolic origin. For hetalias sake, I’ll accept them as Mongolic. Remember, I am not a historian, this is for hetalia purposes.

By 48 AD, the Xiongnu were weakened and were divided into Northern and Southern parts. The Northern Xiongnu migrating to the West and creating what was known as the Hunnic empire.

The Xiongnu, now weakened, meant that the Xianbei could come back to bite them in their asses. The Xianbei were the Northern branch of the Donghu, a people who were conquered/subjugated by the Xiongnu, one of the first in fact. The Donghu were a proto-Mongolic group that Chinese historians recorded as existing as early as the 4th century BC.

From then on, different factions/branches of the Xianbei would go on to consolidate their power in Mongolia as well as Central/Northern Asia. For example, the Tuoba established the Tuoba Wei empire and ruled over Northern China from 386 AD-535 AD. Another branch off of the Xianbei, the Rourans, established a nomadic empire in this area too.

I’ve already talked about how scholars/historians have contested the ethnic background of the Xiongnu. It is the same with the Xianbei, but less so. Many historians agree on the fact that they were Mongolic/spoke a Mongolic language with Turkic influences. For hetalias sake and for simplicitys sake, I will accept them as Mongolic.

I like to think that both the Xiongnu and the Xianbei were Mongolic (not without Turkic influence) and were major predecessors to the Mongolia we all know and love today. However let me just say, that nation family trees are very complicated, and nations are not born in the traditional sense of two parents, so me saying that these two were major predecessors isn’t me trying to pin them as like. His dad’s or something. A new nation or representative of a nation can be “born” for a plethora of reasons.

I would like to get onto the subject of pre-destination in hetalia as I feel like it is relevant to this part of my essay where I will slowly begin to justify why I believe Mongolia is old.

If a (potential) successor/successors emerge from a nation, or combination of nations, does this mean that the previous nations fate is already set in stone? That their demise was destined to happen?

It’s not a secret that a successor can exist at the same time as their predecessor, even long before the predecessor is weakening. For example, Hima released official art of Ancient Egypt holding a much younger “modern” Egypt. In addition, there’s lots of fanart of mama Britannia with little England, so successors co-existing with their predecessors seems to be something that it widely accepted in the hetalia fandom.

My own view on the predestination hetalia theory is mixed but largely positive. I believe that not all new potential successors who emerge will be the true successor in the end. They could just be smaller, failed states who won’t last very long. And considering the history of the world I’m sure there were a lot of these.

But. When it comes to the true successors, the ones who come out on top, and who emerge the most stable/prevalent/powerful? I personally believe that they can crop up long before they get to that powerful state, and again, can co-exist with their predecessors, even if the predecessors are not weakened yet. And considering how powerful the Mongol Empire was, how it overshadows all previous steppe Empires, and the fact that Mongolia is still around today? You can guess where this is going.

Some scholars speculate that the intermarriage between Xiongnu and Xianbei may have been the genesis of modern (?) Mongolians. Indeed, the Xianbei, after kicking the Xiongnu’s asses, encouraged intermarriage between themselves and the Xiongnu, even with the Chinese. However Xianbei nobility was restricted to only Xiongnu in terms of intermarriage.

Furthermore, it is the consensus of most historians that the Mongols of Genghis Khan were descendants of a peripheral Xianbei branch, the Shiwei.

So, the Xianbei/Donghu, or in hetalia terms, aph Xianbei/Donghu, was more of a major predecessor to aph Mongolia than aph Xiongnu was. Once the Xianbei defeated the Xiongnu (wasn’t just the Xianbei, the Chinese had enough of them and conducted an ethnic genocide against them) what was left of them was absorbed into the Xianbei state/identity, thus being a part of Mongolias identity.

Indeed, there are many cultural similarities between the Xiongnu and the Mongols. Such as the composite bow, gers, and the long song. The Long Song and its origin is mentioned in the book of Wei, and is believed to date back at least 2000 years.

Because of everything I’ve just said, I personally headcanon Mongolia as first emerging as, seemingly, one of these small/destined to fail Donghu/Xianbei states, who was pretty much ignored by his predecessors for the most part during this period as they probably looked at him and thought “oh look another rando kid who won’t be around in half a century lol ignore him”. So he was passed around from family to family who didn’t know what to do with him as he just wouldn’t age. However, facial wise, as a child, he did kind of look a bit like the Xiongnu/Xianbei (others too but this was a little more noticeable). Xianbei, being ruled over by the Xiongnu at this time, probably noticed this and felt a bit uneasy around him. So Xianbei ignoring him was a mixture of “random failed wannabe state who won’t be here for long lol” and “omg this kid is foreshadowing total Xiongnu dominance over my people”.

Xiongnu, on the other hand, was probably greatly amused by Mongolias existance as they ruled over the Xianbei at the time, and seeing this kid translated to them as “lol the Xianbei are fucked”.

Soon it became apparent that it was actually the Xiongnu who were fucked when the Xianbei rebelled in 93 AD. This wasn’t the complete end of the Xiongnu but it was the beginning of the end (they did their very best to hold on). Again, I’m not saying that these two were the only predecessors to Mongolia and this certainly isn’t supposed to be a completely accurate historical text, this is me trying to justify a hetalia headcanon LMAO.

As time went on, I think subsequent rulers of the steppe began to realise that “oh wait, why is he [Mongolia] still here oh that’s weird” so at that point they began to view him with more significance despite the fact he was aging slowly, even by nation standards, and so allowed him to stay with the family of nobility rather than random families.

He did get stronger over time but there was still that consistent illness that was about him. A lot happened between his “birth” and the unification of the Mongol tribes under Genghis Khan, but the unification of the Mongol tribes is what made that sickness go away altogether and gave him a major growth spurt (why I headcanon him as tall). He truly felt in control of himself as his identity was truly consolidated at this point.

So yeah he emerged sometime during the late-ish BC period (I’m sorry I know that sounds vague) and was seen as just some random small state and so his identity was definitely not all there yet and yes it obviously developed throughout the years. The growing pains must have sucked lol.

Also random but another reason why I like the Xiongnu/Mongolia cultural influence link is from influence from other hetalia creators. @absolvtely-barbaric on tumblr has influenced me. I liked the fact that Xiongnu gave his “sons” cheek scars to teach them a lesson about endurance, and @pearlescentplums draws him with a cheek scar (and a lip scar) and the way they draw him is Canon in my head sorry <33 I’m not sure how I headcanon how Mongolia got his scars yet but. I like it being there as a nod to previous rulers of the steppe, so now I’m headcanoning that aph Xianbei (?) also had a lip scar LMAO.

Aph Mongolia by @pearlescentplums and yes he looks like this to me in my head

I highly doubt Mongolia can remember much of his very early life which probably frustrates him to no end. The fact that it was so long ago and the fact that he did not have a strong identity/sense of identity also didn’t help with memory retention. He remembers some voices and distinct silhouettes but other than that, not a lot.

So, this is why I hc him as being old. I’m not a historian and I did write a lot of this at like 4 am hahah, I’ve had to take a lot of liberties too as the history of steppe people is quite obscure plus I am not an expert on this subject so I tried my best. This is just my personal headcanon and it’s completely fine if you disagree with it!! I'm sorry in advance if I've gotten some dates wrong or if this is hard to follow <3

[irithnova]

>Xiongnu dominates and subjugates the Donghu

>Descendants of the Donghu, the Xianbei, come back years later to dominate the Xiongnu in return

>The Xianbei become sinicized

>The Mongols dominate and subjugate the Jurchens

>Descendants of the Jurchen, the Manchurians, come back years later to dominate the Mongols in return

>The Manchurians become sinicized

Northernbros... Is it over?

[irithnova]

Aph Mongolia appearance headcanons and other headcanons

This is what I'd say he would most likely look like if I were to picture him as a person rather than a 2d character. This is after hours of watching through videos of Mongolian people. So news, street interviews, podcasts, youtubers, wrestling matches, music performances, videos of nomadic people in the countryside, videos of people in Ulaanbaatar and other major towns etc.

This sounds pretty dramatic lol, I haven't just sat through hours of this in one go, I've been interested in Mongolia as a country for a while so of course over the years I've been interested in Mongolian media too (I am not stalking Mongolian people pls)

I just want to say that Mongolia, like all countries, is incredibly diverse in the way people look. I've seen some Mongolians who could honestly pass as someone who's South East Asian, others who have the more stereotypical Mongolian look, others who could pass as Korean/broadly East Asian and others who look a bit more Turkic. This isn't me trying to put Mongolians into one box but this is what I think he'd look like based off of what I've seen over the years.

Some of these headcanons will not be totally accurate too and I just put them there because I like them lol. Sorry!

When it comes to his face shape, I think he'd have a bit of a square jaw/masseter muscles that are developed slightly more compared to others. This is because of the traditional foods Mongolians eat. Traditional Mongolian foods are quite hard to bite down on and chew, and this helps with tooth/jaw development. I'm not saying he has a Chad jaw lol but it's a bit more square shaped than v line shaped if that makes sense.

When it comes to his eyes, they are evenly spaced/widely spaced. I haven't seen many Mongolians with close set eyes, they tend to be evenly set/ wide set. I like to say he has feline looking eyes because of the way Chinggis Khan was described by the Indian historian Juzjani "A man of tall stature, of vigorous build, robust in body..... with cat's eyes, possessed of great energy".

That was probably just them saying he had monolids but let me just have him be a catboy (man?) okay.... Also sorry, gonna be boring but his eyes are dark brown to me. I know Mongolians can have light eyes and hair but a majority of them don't.

Also thick eyebrows. Yesh.

Prominent cheekbones. Obviously.

Btw I headcanon him to look like he's in his late 20's, 27/28 ish.

When it comes to his nose, I think he has the classic Asian button nose and its a bit upturned (dunno if that makes sense). However I've noticed that nose bridges are more common in Mongolians so their noses aren't always so flat looking from a side on view?

When it comes to his lips, I headcanon them as being on the plumper side. No reason why, just like it lol.

His skin colour, I'd say it's tanned but not as tanned as it used to be, obviously because of government work but he does still go out to the countryside often. His cheeks also used to be a lot more ruddy when he was purely a nomad, some of the redness is still there but its not as obvious as it used to be. I think his cheeks can go quite rosy when it's cold/there's a dramatic temperature change.

I think his face is still flat-ish like most East/North East Asians. I know someone's gonna ask "how can he have a flat face when you just said he had prominent cheekbones??" well they aren't mutually exclusive.

I think his skin is naturally a bit dry. I've heard Mongolians say that Mongolians tend to have drier skin because of the climate so yeah.

Also I headcanon him to have two face scars bye its so hot,,,. I saw a hetalia artist draw him with them and fell in love instantly and there were two other hetalia artists who drew steppe nations with face scars. One of them drew aph huns with a face scar and another one drew aph Xiongnu with a face scar so yeah all major steppe riders have face scars now this is my canon 😍

When it comes to his hair, long, thick and dark brown, bordering on black, looks copper-y in the sunlight.

Also I'm sorry but I headcanon him as a tol man (6') 😢 I attribute this to his rapid growth as an empire. Not truly accurate as most Mongolians aren't really that tall but shhhhh

I've already touched upon these aspects of his appearance in different posts but I'll just get into it again for the sake of it.

Body wise I think he looks like this (at his peak when he's like, participating in sports, yes he is a jock...)

🥴

I also talked about what I think he wears on a regular basis in another post about East Asian fashion headcanons but I'll put it here again anyways plus it might have changed:

I don't think there's a colour he wouldn't wear but he tends to go for shades of blue/brown/beige/cream/black. Fave colour to wear is probably blue. The colours he wears tend to be darker in shade but he's not repulsed by brighter or bolder colours.

He wears his clothes more for function than fashion, not that he can't be fashionable and what he wears on a daily is a random mess haha not at all, but on a day to day basis he's more concerned about what will keep him warm/cool rather than what looks good.

Probably has a lot of nice wool/yak wool/camel wool/cashmere items of clothing. Makes some of his wool hats and scarves himself.

Wears accessories sometimes, I mean he most likely has his ears pierced (Mongolian men back in the day had pierced ears and wore earrings). Probably has some leather bracelets and necklaces with the soyombo symbol or Ulzii symbol (buddhist endless knot symbol). Doesn't really care about if what he's wearing is gold or silver but he tends to lean towards silver. Also necklaces with a horse pendant/rings with a horse design?? Yes 🐴 Probably has some bracelets/necklaces braided with horse hair in the design. Often wears boots.

Other headcanons:

Voice headcanon: I headcanon his voice to actually be on the soft side! Probably emphasised by the fact that he speaks a bit more softly but it's pleasing to listen to. In a lot of the videos I've watched of Mongolians, they tend to speak a bit softly? Unless I'm on a meme page where everyone in the videos are hollering lol.

I think he can sing quite well, I mean you need to have a good range to pull off a Mongolian long song. Probs shouldn't make him try to sing pop songs though.

Obviously can throat sing and is excellent at it this is out of the question ☝️‼️

He can braid his hair pretty quickly considering how long it is

Enjoys watching K-dramas and even C-dramas lol (Don't tell Yao). Also really likes Turkish dramas??

He has a pair of practical glasses for when he goes into the country but also switches between that and contacts for when he goes out there (breaking glasses is a pain in the ass)

Has a bunch of animals but obviously he cannot take care of them all the time so he has some people take care of them.

Diverse music taste but has a tendency to enjoy rock/metal!

Pretends like he doesn't know what Kpop is to annoy South Korea (he secretly does like some Kpop shhh)

Likes watching sumo on his TV and sometimes when he visits Japan, they both go and watch it together in real time (probably likes rubbing in how good Mongolians are at sumo to him, but then all Japan needs to do is mention the failed Mongol invasions of Japan to shut him up haha)

Actually enjoys bickering with China about stupid things and will send him videos of himself consuming ungodly amounts of dairy to make fun of China's lactose intolerance (Mongolians are genetically lactose intolerant but they've been consuming it for so long now, their gut has basically adapted to it. Really interesting)

Tibet helps ground him when he's feeling lost/worried <33 emotional support human fr. Often sends gifts to Tibet and checks up on him, likes getting hugs from Tibet.

Not as close to the central Asians as he feels he should be which he feels a bit of regret over

Though he and Kazakhstan do talk as they are *almost* neighbours. There's Kazakhs in Mongolias western province who have preserved traditional Kazakh culture before Russificafion (they essentially ran away from it) so he likes going there with Kazakhstan. Also Mongolia is literally a direct ancestor of Kazakhstan so yeah lol (daddy??)

For the love of God do not let him and Russia drink together alone because they do not tell each other to stop

Sharp shooter, even with a gun.

Lowkey hates the fact he has to wear glasses but also he's become attached to them??

Obviously still very much enjoys and feels comfortable with the nomadic lifestyle but ngl it feels good to just be lazy sometimes

Sends the groupchat (idk like East Asian gc?) videos of like. Baby goats or something when there's an argument going down in an attempt to calm it. Has like a bunch of recordings on his phone of animals it's eating up his storage!

He can be quite funny when he wants to be and its made more funny by the fact that he's usually reserved in what he says and is quite deadpan.

I think him being reserved in what he says gives off the impression that he has a shy persona but introverted/silence doesn't necessarily mean shy. He just is more observant during conversations and uh he has a lot of thoughts in his brain‼️ (aka, he's still trying to mentally recover from the fall of the Yuan chsxh JKJK)

Isn't actually bitter or like. Emo about his fall from grace. I'm sure he has melancholy moments, not just about his empire era but just his history as a whole (I headcanon that his childhood was insane xhjd). But honestly he knows it could have been so much worse and he very well could have ended up dead so the fact that he's still around is a testament to his resilience

He tries to be optimistic about things but with his current government it can be hard LMAO.

I don't headcanon him as like mega depressed about things all the time but eh life gets to us all (esp when you're landlocked between Russia and China haha)

When he gets drunk he gets really funny and then passes out

If he's eating something while talking to someone, he'll offer them some of his food (yassa laws who??)

Obviously very hospitable, you enter his home/apartment/ger and BOOM you don't even have to ask he's already made food and tea for you

Is surprisingly quite respectful of people's feelings/boundaries (I mean compared to when he was a teenager at least bahah)

Can be a bit superstitious. So if someone starts whistling indoors for example, he'll either get a bit on edge or straight up tells them to stop

Is still physically active, not doing anything for too long bores and kind of depresses him.

He also likes doing things that stimulates the mind too, so, chess, sudoku, mahjong, puzzles, reading etc. Yes he's a jock but he's a smart one! ☝️🙏

[irithnova]

Talking about aph Mongolia's childhood and how he came to be who he his and China mention/

Aight so I'm one of those weirdos who headcanon Mongolia to be old to be honest and I think all of the painful changes he had to physically go through is interesting to think about (I don't think he's so much physically older looking but just age wise, I have a post about it already on my blog justifying why I headcanon that).

In short I do actually headcanon him to be born in the BC era and lived when the Xiongnu were around however he was not the fully fledged Mongolia we know today obviously. Because of the nature of steppe history, I headcanon him to be (during this time) just a random immortal kid (who were kind of common) who has the potential to go on to become something bigger but most likely wouldn't (a lot of them died out without ever becoming anything though).

Because so many of these kids would die out, Mongolia was not revered like China was when he was born, he was ignored and even scorned. He was a dime a dozen and whilst he did kind of resemble Xiongnu/Xianbei (at the time) to an extent, neither of them thought much of him for the most part. Mongolia's very early life was him being very ill all the time and staying with random families however no family wants to take care of a perpetual kid forever and also because he was an immortal/a potential nation, no family wanted to keep him long enough in case he did actually start getting powerful and they'd be hunted down collectively for him.

I think over time, Mongolia did slowly begjn to feel slightly less ill and his mind became a bit less foggy but the persistent illness was still there. For example, he remembers the Gokturk era better than the Xiongnu era but again he very much still lived like just like another nomad, though people began to question why he's managed to stay around so long if he was never going to become anything?

So Mongolia did actually physically age but it was at an extremely slow rate. However by the 10th century his physical aging quickened a bit under Borte Chino, who attempted to unify the Mongol tribes but ultimately failed. Borte Chino was a part of Borjigin clan, as was Genghis Khan.

So, it got to the point where Mongolia was still ill, but because his newfound identity was the representative of the Borjigin clan, it wasn't as bad as before.

He got persistently less sick when Genghis Khan went about uniting the different Mongol clans - Kereit, Naiman, Merkit etc. These clans all had reps for themselves, just like how Mongolia was the rep for the Borjigin clan. However in order for Mongolia to prevail, all of the other reps for the other Mongol tribes had to die and had to be absorbed into him once and for all.

When they did die/get absorbed into him, it's almost like a part of them would show through Mongolia. Not hugely, but subtly, and it was noticeable. Maybe his inflection would begin to sound similar to the Kereit rep's, or the way he'd slurp his drink would sound a little like the Merkit's, etc etc. He'd absorb parts of their personality, and even take on some of their memories.

However he would also feel the aftershocks of nation death when they died as they were also becoming a part of him, and it's almost as if he'd go through bouts of terrible pain when it would happen but then come out stronger.

Mongolia essentially had to fight his way to becoming who he is. He was a perpetual sick child for so long, and even when he started to get better, it still wasn't enough for his people to recognise him. It was only until Genghis Khan came, did people truly see him for who he was.

You could say that his existence was born from bloodshed, and I like how it parallels the myth that Genghis Khan was born with a blood clot clenched in his fist lol.

Mongolia went from being ill, not being recognised by his own people, to becoming a huge empire in a matter of decades. And that not only gave him a massive growth spurt, but a huge spurt of his ego too (teen boy with a huge ego and Empire = recipe for disaster) . All of this newfound wealth that was just far beyond his imagination for so long, he absolutely indulged in. People were even revering him now, somwthing he has never experienced before.

So when he finally came face to face with China, someone who was revered and worshipped by his people when he was born, he initially felt utter contempt for him. What did he do so special to deserve that? Why did I have to fight for almost all of my life? He therefore saw China as weak, and spoiled (despite China being wayy older than him). He was too prideful to admit that he was jealous.

It was only as the yuan progressed did Mongolia actually come to see China's true strength and appreciate the strength that China had inside of him. I think the parallels between Mongolia and China are really interesting. Mongolia, nomadic/China, sedentary. Mongolia had to fight his to get his people to revere him/China was revered the second he was born, his people saying that he was made by the God's themselves.

But yeah that was my rambling.

[absolvtely-barbaric]

For more background information on the Xiongnu, head to my previous post about him and China. It’ll be necessary going forward! (Please note that this topic is highly debated within academic circles, and while a definitive link isn’t proven between the Huns and Xiongnu, I’ve read convincing arguments for both sides, and have chosen to make Huns’ origins lie with the Xiongnu for character purposes. Given that a lot of old steppe/barbarian history is obscure, I have to take some liberties with details here.)

As I mentioned in my previous post, it was split into four parts: north, south, east, west. These were represented by colors: black, green, red, and white, respectively. The Chanyu and his clan ruled over the entire realm. Much like my Scythians character, Xiongnu represents this ruling clan and the Xiongnu government (as well as aspects of Xiongnu culture, but these were mostly ubiquitous throughout the empire). Huns is the northern Huns, the Black Huns. 

In Hunnic culture, male succession is extremely important. The land of the Chanyu was divided amongst his sons (or nearest male relatives) upon his death. For Xiongnu, having sons would be a mark of prestige and power, and also ensure that his lineage would go on past his death. (And it did!) So in that way, he intentionally created his sons for the sole purpose of being wings of the Xiongnu state and continue on the legacy of Xiongnu culture. They weren’t born into the world as infants, rather, as young teenagers, given that the Xiongnu culture and state was already well-developed. (Of course, Xiongnu probably did have other descendants, but these would have been smaller and less-influential groups within the greater empire). 

And now, the relationship between (Black) Huns and his good ‘ole pops. It was almost entirely political. Papa Xiongnu wanted to create successors, not loving sons (ultimately, this would bite him in the ass). Although egotistical and humorous, he’s a very severe person. He tolerated absolutely nothing from them in the way of foolishness. He taught them what they needed to be great kings, including horsemanship, archery, swordsmanship, and above all, tactics. He was also responsible for giving them cheek scars, to show them how important endurance is.

The east was the most important direction (which may be because it was oriented towards China, their greatest source of revenue), and so Papa Xiongnu was a hover dad in the east and south as he busied himself marauding China, actually lending those two even less power individually. Black Huns and White Huns were consequently extremely ambitious. Black Huns in particular. (White Huns is a little more… level-headed.) Nothing gets in the way of what Black Huns wants, not even dear-old dad. (Especially not dear-old dad.) 

He seized his chance in the mid 1st century BCE when Xiongnu had lost control during vassal rebellions. I explained this situation in the Xiongnu/China post. Xiongnu reined him in again, but Huns had tasted blood for the first time, and you know what they say, a tiger never forgets the taste of human blood. It’s difficult to tell which side the individual sub-kings/generals from each quadrant would have taken, so I can only speculate, but I’d imagine that the eastern and southern kings were united in the “southern” half while the western kings may have been aligned with the north. 

In the end of the 1st century CE, the two brothers White and Black Huns were defeated by the alliance of their dad and China. They split apart and went their separate ways. Both brothers headed westwards with their armies and peoples, but the White Huns soon split off and headed south towards India and the Middle East. 

So, what does Black Huns think of him? Well, he knows what he does about power thanks to him. He wanted to take what he was taught and live up to it even more than Xiongnu himself did. That’s about it. He doesn’t love his dad nor does he hate him, he’s just his father, and it doesn’t need to be more complicated than that.

[absolvtely-barbaric]

whenever u post things, just imagine a little firework shooting up into the sky that explodes into a heart bc god i love ur art

Haha thanks!! Be careful though, fireworks are dangerous.

[absolvtely-barbaric]

I assume you meant the Xiongnu? (The OG Huns 😉) But don’t worry, the Hun we all know plays an important role! I’ll give a quick overview of Xiongnu for anyone that’s not familiar with him. The Xiongnu were probably around as early as the 5th c BCE, but it was in the 2nd c BCE under the great Modu Chanyu that they took over rival steppe groups and created an empire covering what is now Mongolia, Manchuria, and most of Siberia! The Chinese struggled to oppose them. (The Xiongnu are why construction on the Great Wall began!) China largely appeased him with gifts, wives, and of course... a lot of money. 

China finally got a backbone when Emperor Wu took the Han throne and decided enough was enough. He launched a war against the Xiongnu in 129 BCE, killing the Chanyu. Political turbulence within the Xiongnu resulted, with a usurpation of the legitimate Chanyu and ending with the division of Xiongnu nobility. The heir Chanyu Yui Bi surrendered to China after the usurper Ichise won. Xiongnu vassals rebelled, and it was a big mess for him. Xiongnu officially lost this long conflict in 60 BCE, but he still maintained independence.

The Xiongnu inevitably split into Northern and Southern halves (a disagreement between Xiongnu and his preeminent son, the “Black” Northern Huns, the eventual European Huns), because of the instability of the empire caused by the usurpation of Yui Bi. In 36 BCE, the Southern Xiongnu Chanyu went to the Chinese emperor and bowed to him, and in return the Chinese provided the Southern Xiongnu with the money and military aid to defeat the Northern pretender Chanyu. Briefly the Xiongnu regained power over their vassals and former territory, taking advantage of civil war in China, but the rift between North and South was never fully healed. 

For a brief time, the Xiongnu regained their power, as China descended into civil war. But the strife between the North and South reemerged, and the two halves split for good. The Southern Xiongnu again appealed for Chinese aid, but this time, as official subservient vassals; Xiongnu yielded to China and became a part of his empire. The Northern half was eventually defeated in 91 CE, by the combination of Chinese, Southern Xiongnu, and Xianbei (proto-Mongols who temporarily allied with China) attacks. The “Black” Huns and the “White” Huns (white for west) and a few other of Xiongnu’s sons split apart and went westwards.

Xiongnu stayed like this for two centuries, until the 3rd c CE. But Xiongnu hadn’t forgotten his former glory! When China went into civil war (again) he rose to the occasion and declared that he owned China now. Making good on his claim he conquered most of China, then made the Chinese emperor the butler to his Chanyu like China had humiliated him years before. This was his highest point, but also the beginning of his end. 

About 5 years later, the good times ended, thanks to internal Xiongnu rivalry. The Jie tribe usurped the Xiongnu elite and according to the Chinese, were extremely neglectful and cruel as rulers. The Chinese rose up against them under a strong new leader named Ran Min, defeated them, then orchestrated the ethnic genocide of approximately 200,000 remaining Xiongnu in 349 CE. The Xianbei came in and cleaned up the rest of former Xiongnu territory, leaving only a small splinter state in the north. Headed by Liu (Helian) Bobo, Xiongnu refused to give up without one last hurrah. As his dying act, he re-captured the Chinese capital and became rulers of northern China again. ~60 years later, Xiongnu was defeated once-and-for-all by the emerging Rouran Khaganate, and the Xiongnu forever lost their independence, his identity being absorbed into the next series of steppe states. 

Thanks for the ask! I had a lot of fun answering it, maybe got carried away 😅 Every great stage of Xiongnu history is interconnected with China. It was an intense tug-of-war for power. Explaining their relationship is practically explaining Xiongnu’s whole life! 

[absolvtely-barbaric]

Han China and Xiongnu

[absolvtely-barbaric]

[Xiongnu: If ever a man can’t choose between two fine steeds, he should tame both.”] 

The ideal situation for Attila would have been to have both halves of the Roman Empire be the vassals of the Hun Empire. That seems to have been an end goal he had in mind, before he died. Huns here is remembering the wise words of his late dad. 

[Note: The Xiongnu and the Huns were both polygamous societies. It’s a polygamy joke. Hardy-harr-harr] 

[absolvtely-barbaric]

A whole family of fierce Huns that Cannot Run without a horse beneath them Xiongnu, White Huns (a preliminary design!), and the European Huns! [the design for the European Huns belongs to @strawberriejelly!]