The Huns: Seven Hundred Years of Empire

The Seven-Hundred-Year Xiongnu Empire is a carefully researched history of the Xiongnu. With rigorous attention to historical evidence, Chen Xujing studied and organized a wide range of sources on the Xiongnu. These include not only Chinese historical works such as Records of the Grand Historian and the Book of Han, but also research by foreign scholars, including The History of the Roman Empire and the Annals. Rather than simply listing the sources, the author analyzes them, offering readers a wealth of material to explore.

The Seven-Hundred-Year Xiongnu Empire portrays around 700 years of history, from the time of Touman in the third century BCE to the death of Attila in the fifth century CE. The renowned historian Chen Xujing traces events chronologically, from Touman Chanyu's founding of the state and Modu Chanyu's patricide and rise to power, through Huhanye Chanyu's submission to the Han and Zhizhi Chanyu's westward migration, to the renewed glory of Attila, the Scourge of God. Along the way, he skillfully and attentively depicts 700 years of social development in the Xiongnu Empire, covering the Siege of Baideng, a century of war between the Xiongnu and Han, the founding of states in Central Asia, and Attila's conquest of Europe.

The author offers a panoramic account of changes in the Xiongnu Empire's economy, military, religion, language, customs, and attitudes toward sex over these 700 years. Placing the empire in a global context, he brings a grand historical panorama vividly to life before readers.