The Huns are the current Mongolian Autonomous Region, Ningxia Autonomous Region, Xinjiang Autonomous Region and Mongolia.
The Xiongnu were a nomadic people in northern China in ancient China who arose in the foothills of Yinshan Mountain in present-day Inner Mongolia. According to the "Historical Records of the Xiongnu Biography", the Xiongnu were the descendants of their ancestors, the Xiahou clan, and were named Chunwei. In the Tang and Yu periods, there were Shanrong, yangxu, and Xunzhu, who lived in the northern barbarians and moved with livestock. The Xiongnu in ancient Chinese books were a powerful nomadic people who dominated the north of the Central Plains at the end of the Qin Dynasty and the beginning of the Han Dynasty.
In 215 BC, the Xiongnu were expelled from Hetao and the Hexi Corridor area by Mengtian. The Xiongnu became powerful in the early Western Han Dynasty and repeatedly invaded the borders, posing a strong threat to the Western Han Dynasty and controlling the Western Regions. They were later defeated by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and retreated to Mobei and split into five tribes. In 119 BC, General Huo Qubing, surrounded by the Han army and the surrendered Huns, "sealed the wolf to live in Xu Mountain, meditated in Guyan, and climbed to the Hanhai (today's Lake Baikal)".
The Origin of the Xiongnu
Regarding the origin of the Xiongnu, "The Classic of Mountains and Seas in the Great Wilderness Bei Jing" states: Quanrong and the Xia people have the same ancestor, both descended from the Yellow Emperor. "Historical Records of the Xiongnu Biography" records: "The Xiongnu, the descendants of the first Xia and later clans, are called Chunwei (獯鬻, Xunyu). In the Tang and Yu periods, there were Shanrong, Xianyun, and Xunzhou, who lived in the north and grew up with grass and livestock. transfer".
However, there is no way to verify this statement. Sima Qian wrote this in the Historical Records mainly because in the legend of the Xiongnu, "the Xiongnu royal family descended from Chunwei, the son of Jie, and has the same origin as the Han people."