Su Wu was the governor of Daijun, a Chinese patriot, and the son of Su Jian. In his early years, he took his father as his father and later moved to Zhizhong Stable Prison.
In 100 BC, the new Chanyu of the Xiongnu regime came to the throne and respected the Han Dynasty as his father-in-law. In order to show friendship, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Su Wu and more than 100 people as envoys to the Xiongnu to escort the Xiongnu detained in the Han Dynasty. When the envoy returned home, he gave Shan Yu a rich gift to express his gratitude. ?Unexpectedly, just when Su Wu completed his mission and was about to return to his own country, civil strife broke out among the upper echelons of the Xiongnu. Su Wu and his party were implicated, detained, and asked to betray the Han Dynasty and surrender to the Chanyu.
Initially, Shanyu sent Wei Lv to lobby Su Wu, promising generous salary and high-ranking officials, but Su Wu refused sternly. Seeing that persuasion was of no use, the Huns decided to use torture. It was the middle of winter, with heavy snow falling in the sky. Shan Yu ordered his people to imprison Su Wu in a large open-air cave and cut off food and water, hoping that this would change Su Wu's belief.
As time passed day by day, Su Wu was tortured in the cellar. When he was thirsty, he would eat a handful of snow. When he was hungry, he would chew the sheepskin jacket he was wearing. When he was cold, he would huddle in his corners with the leather jacket to keep warm. After many days, Shan Yu saw that Su Wu, who was on the verge of death, still showed no sign of surrender, so he had no choice but to release Su Wu.
Chanyu knew that no matter soft or hard, there was no hope of persuading Su Wu to surrender, but he respected Su Wu's integrity more and more, could not bear to kill Su Wu, and did not want him to return to his country, so he decided to kill Su Wu. He was exiled to Lake Baikal in Siberia and asked to herd sheep. Before leaving, Chanyu summoned Su Wu and said: "Since you don't surrender, I will let you herd sheep. When these sheep give birth to lambs, I will let you return to your big man."
After being separated from his companions, Suwu was exiled to the inaccessible Lake Baikal. He found that these sheep were all male sheep. Here, there is no way to escape based on personal ability alone. The only people accompanying Su Wu were the envoy representing the Han Dynasty and a small flock of sheep.
Su Wu used this envoy to herd sheep every day, thinking that one day he would be able to return to his country with it. When he was thirsty, he would eat a handful of snow; when he was hungry, he would dig wild fruits collected by wild rats to satisfy his hunger; when he was cold, he would keep warm with the sheep. In this way, day after day, year after year, the oxtail decorations hanging on the envoys all fell off, and Su Wu's hair and beard also turned gray.
In Lake Baikal, Suwu herded sheep for nineteen years. For more than ten years, the Xiongnu Chanyu who originally ordered him to be imprisoned has passed away, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty has also died. Emperor Han Zhao, the son of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, succeeded to the throne.
In 85 BC, civil strife broke out among the Xiongnu. The Chanyu had no strength to fight the Han Dynasty anymore, so he sent envoys to ask for peace. Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty sent envoys to the Xiongnu, asking for the release of Su Wu, Chang Hui and others. The Huns lied to the envoy that Su Wu was dead.
The second time, the Han Dynasty sent envoys to the Xiongnu. Chang Hui bribed Shan Yu's men and met with the envoy in private. When the messenger understood the details, he severely rebuked Shan Yu and said: "Our emperor shot down a wild goose in Shanglin Garden. There was a piece of silk tied to the goose's foot. It was a letter written by Su Wu himself.
< p>He said he was herding sheep in Beihai. How can you lie to others?" Chanyu was shocked when he heard this and said, "Su Wu's loyalty moved the birds!" He apologized to the envoy and promised to send Su Wu back. ?When Su Wu was sent as an envoy, he had more than a hundred people accompanying him. This time, only Chang Hui and a few others were left with him. Su Wu was just forty years old when he went as an envoy and suffered a lot in the Huns. In the 19th year, in the sixth year of Emperor Zhao's first year (81 BC), Su Wu finally returned to Chang'an. After returning to Chang'an, the people went out to greet him and praised him as a man of integrity.
The next year, Shangguan Jie, Shangguan An and his son, and Sang Hongyang were accused of rebellion. Su Wu had a good relationship with Shangguan, his father and his son, and Sang Hongyang, and his son was also involved. Su Wu was accused of treason. Dismissed from office. After Emperor Zhao's death, Su Wu was given the title of Marquis of Guannei for his participation in supporting Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty.
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Li Bai: "Su Wu was in the Xiongnu, and he held the Han Festival for ten years. White geese flew up to the forest, and a letter was passed in the air. The land is miserable for shepherding, and the sun sets in my heart. I drink ice from the moon when I am hungry, and the sand is far away in the east. I see Li Lingyi in the north, and my eyes turn to tears." ?
< p> Wen Tingyun: "Su Wu's soul was so enchanted that in front of the Han envoy, two tall trees in the ancient temple were at a loss. The wild geese cut off Hu Tianyue on the edge of the clouds, and the sheep on the Long Mountain returned to the grass smoke. When I returned to Japan, the tower was not a tent, and when I left, I wore a sword in the year of Ding. Maoling Without the seal of the feudal lord, I cried towards Qiubo and passed away in Sichuan. "Ouyang Xiu: "The poets were the Miao descendants of Han Dynasty and Cao and Liu of Wei Dynasty.
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Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia: Su Wu