Chunwei

Sima Qian wrote, based on preceding Chinese records (Bamboo Annals), that the 匈奴 Xiongnu's ruling clan were descendants of Chunwei (淳維), a descendant of Lord Xia (夏后氏).[1]

In Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian , the Xiongnu 匈奴 were mentioned as Shanrong 山戎, Xianyun 獫狁, and Hunyu 葷粥 between the age of Tang and the age of Yu (2205-1766 BC).[1] In Shiji Suoyin (史記索隱) "Seeking the Obscure in the Records", Sima Zhen attributed this quote “In the time of Shang, they were called Xunyu [獯粥], which was changed to Xiongnu [匈奴]” to Fengsu Tongyi "The Meaning of Popular Customs", by Ying Shao (應劭, Hou Han Shu commentator, 195 AD); however, this quote no longer exists in extant Fengsu Tongyi texts.[2]

3rd century scholar Wei Zhao also identified the name Chunwei with the name of the Xiongnu: “During the Han (206 BC-220 AD) they were called Xiongnu 匈奴, and the Hunyu 葷粥 is just another name for the same people, and similarly, the Xunyu 獯粥 is just another transcription of Chunwei’s 淳維, their ancestor’s name”.[3][4]

Chunwei is alleged to be a son of Jie of Xia (Xia Dynasty's last ruler). Sima Zhen stated that Yue Chan (樂產) wrote in now-lost Guadipu (括地譜) "Register of the Encompassing Lands" that: “Jie, (ruler of) the House of Xia lived an immoral life. Tang exiled him to Mingtiao, he died there three years later. His son Xunyu 獯粥 married his concubines and they wandered far away to the northern wilderness in search of pasture lands, and then in the Middle Kingdom they were mentioned as Xiongnu 匈奴.” Lastly, Sima Zhen quoted Zhang Yan (張晏) as saying that “Chunwei, during the Yin era, fled to the northern borders.”[5]

After the defeat of Xia by Shang, some Xia royalties founded the Qi (Henan) state until 445 BC. The Qi state was well recorded in the Oracle script as the one major supporter of the Xia Dynasty.[6]

• List of past Chinese ethnic groups