Records of the Historian, Xiongnu Liezhuan

The Scythian shelf needs this passage because mounted empires have institutions. Sima Qian does not describe only raiders and herds; he records offices, left and right wings, hereditary houses, and commanders whose title is counted by horsemen.

Read beside Achaemenid lists and Assyrian queries, this Chinese witness shows the steppe as a political body with offices, ranks, clans, territories, and mobile government.

The translation below is from the Classical Chinese text of the Xiongnu liezhuan.

Translation

They established Left and Right Wise Kings, Left and Right Guli Kings, Left and Right Great Generals, Left and Right Great Commandants, Left and Right Great Danghu, and Left and Right Gudu Hou. The Xiongnu called wisdom tuqi; therefore they usually made the crown prince the Left Tuqi King.

From the Left and Right Wise Kings down to the Danghu, the greater commands held ten thousand horsemen, and the smaller several thousand. In all there were twenty-four chiefs, and their established title was Ten-Thousand Horse. All the great ministers held hereditary offices. The Huyan clan, the Lan clan, and later the Xubu clan were the three noble stocks.

The kings and generals of the left dwelt in the east, facing directly toward Shanggu and the lands beyond; on the east they touched Huimo and Choson. The kings and generals of the right dwelt in the west, facing directly toward the lands west of Shangjun; they touched the Yuezhi, Di, and Qiang. The court of the Chanyu faced Dai and Yunzhong. Each had divided land, and all moved in pursuit of water and grass.

The Left and Right Wise Kings and the Left and Right Guli Kings were the greatest. The Left and Right Gudu Hou assisted in government. Each of the twenty-four chiefs also appointed his own commanders of thousands, hundreds, and tens, and had lesser kings, ministers, appointed commandants, Danghu, Qiequ, and others under him.

Colophon

This Good Works Translation was prepared for the Scythian shelf by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the source text printed below. The English is an independent rendering from the source-language Chinese, with existing public translations used only as controls for difficult or conventional passages.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: Shiji, Xiongnu Liezhuan, Offices

Classical Chinese source text from the Shiji. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

置左右贤王，左右谷蠡王，左右大将，左右大都尉，左右大当户，左右骨都侯。匈奴谓贤曰“屠耆”，故常以太子为左屠耆王。自如左右贤王以下至当户，大者万骑，小者数千，凡二十四长，立号曰“万骑”。诸大臣皆世官。呼衍氏，兰氏，其后有须卜氏，此三姓其贵种也。诸左方王将居东方，直上谷以往者，东接秽貉、朝鲜；右方王将居西方，直上郡以西，接月氏、氐、羌；而单于之庭直代、云中：各有分地，逐水草移徙。而左右贤王、左右谷蠡王最为大（国），左右骨都侯辅政。诸二十四长亦各自置千长、百长、什长、裨小王、相、封都尉、当户、且渠之属。

Source Colophon

Classical Chinese text inspected from Chinese Text Project, Shiji, Xiongnu Liezhuan, paragraph 9. The English rendering above is newly prepared from the Chinese, with the CTP English display used only as a control.

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