Heqin


Heqin, also known as marriage alliance, refers to the historical practice of Chinese emperors marrying princesses—usually members of minor branches of the ruling family—to rulers of neighboring states. It was often adopted as an appeasement strategy with an enemy state that was too powerful to defeat on the battlefield. The policy was not always effective. It implied an equal diplomatic status between the emperor and the ruler of the other state. As a result, it was controversial and had many critics.
Lou Jing, the architect of the policy, proposed granting the eldest daughter of Emperor Gaozu of Han to the Modu Chanyu of the Xiongnu. His proposal was adopted and implemented with a treaty in 198, following the Battle of Baideng two years prior. Wang Zhaojun, of the Han dynasty, and Princess Wencheng, of the Tang dynasty, are among the most famous heqin princesses. Heqin was never again practiced by any Han Chinese dynasty after the Tang.
The 20th-century scholar Wang Tonglin praised heqin for facilitating the "melting of races" in China.

Han dynasty

There were a total of fifteen instances of heqin marriage alliances during the Han dynasty.
The Xiongnu practiced marriage alliances with Han dynasty officers and officials. The older sister of the Chanyu was married to the Xiongnu General Zhao Xin, the Marquis of Xi who was serving the Han dynasty. The daughter of the Chanyu was married to the Han Chinese General Li Ling after he surrendered and defected. The Yenisei Kirghiz Khagans claimed descent from Li Ling. Another Han Chinese General who defected to the Xiongnu was Li Guangli who also married a daughter of the Chanyu.

Kingdom of Khotan

The Chinese Cao family ruling Guiyi Circuit established marriage alliances with the Saka Kingdom of Khotan, with both the Cao rulers marrying Khotanese princesses and with Cao princesses marrying Khotan rulers. A Khotan princess who was the daughter of the King of Khotan married Cao Yanlu.

Sixteen Kingdoms

During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, there were a total of six recorded instances of heqin marriage. Heqin marriage alliances during the Sixteen Kingdoms period differed from those practiced during the Han dynasty in two main ways. First, they involved "real" princesses. Second, unlike during the Han dynasty, when most heqin marriages were aimed at establishing peace with foreign nations, heqin marriages during the Sixteen Kingdoms period were made primarily to settle rivalries and maintain a balance of power between the various states in China at the time.
During the Northern and Southern dynasties period, China was divided into many rival states. A complicated system of rivalries and vassalage existed. Heqin marriage was employed as a method to maintain a balance of power or to solidify alliances between states.
During the Northern and Southern dynasties, there were five instances of heqin marriage.
The Xianbei Tuoba royal family of Northern Wei started to arrange for Han Chinese elites to marry daughters of the royal family in the 480s. More than fifty percent of Tuoba Xianbei princesses of the Northern Wei were married to southern Han Chinese men from the imperial families and aristocrats from southern China of the Southern dynasties who defected and moved north to join the Northern Wei. Some Han Chinese exiled royalty fled from southern China and defected to the Xianbei. Several daughters of the Xianbei Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei were married to Han Chinese elites, the Han Chinese Liu Song royal Liu Hui 刘辉, married Princess Lanling 蘭陵公主 of the Northern Wei, Princess Huayang 華陽公主 to Sima Fei 司馬朏, a descendant of Jin dynasty royalty, Princess Jinan 濟南公主 to Lu Daoqian 盧道虔, Princess Nanyang 南阳长公主 to Xiao Baoyin 萧宝夤, a member of Southern Qi royalty. Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Wei's sister the Shouyang Princess was wedded to The Liang dynasty ruler Emperor Wu of Liang's son Xiao Zong.
When the Eastern Jin dynasty ended Northern Wei received the Jin prince Sima Chuzhi as a refugee. A Northern Wei Princess married Sima Chuzhi, giving birth to Sima Jinlong. Northern Liang Xiongnu King Juqu Mujian's daughter married Sima Jinlong.

Rouran

The Rouran Khaganate arranged for one of their princesses, Khagan Yujiulü Anagui's daughter Princess Ruru 蠕蠕公主 to be married to the Han Chinese ruler Gao Huan of the Eastern Wei.

Gaochang

The Kingdom of Gaochang was made out of Han Chinese colonists and ruled by the Han Chinese Qu family which originated from Gansu. Jincheng commandery, district of Yuzhong was the home of the Qu Jia. The Qu family was linked by marriage alliances to the Turks, with a Turk being the grandmother of King Qu Boya's.

Sui dynasty

With the establishment of the Sui dynasty in 581, much of China was once again unified under one dynasty. Heqin marriage during the Sui dynasty therefore returned to its original purpose of trying to appease barbarian tribes surrounding the Sui. There were a total of seven instances of heqin marriage during the Sui dynasty.
During the Tang dynasty, heqin marriage alliances were aimed primarily aimed at the Tuyuhun, the Tibetan Empire, the Khitans and the allied Kumo Xi, the Uyghur Khaganate, and Nanzhao.
There were a total of twenty-one instances of heqin marriage alliances during the Tang dynasty, including:

Song dynasty

The Khitan Liao dynasty asked for a Song princess to marry the Liao emperor in the negotiations leading up to the Chanyuan Treaty but the Song dynasty refused to give a princess. The Jurchen Jin dynasty later rebelled against the Liao dynasty, sacked and destroyed the Liao supreme capital and burned the ancestral tombs of the Liao emperors. The Emperor Tianzuo of Liao was executed by the Jurchens during a polo match. Liao imperial princesses from the Yelü family and Xiao family were also distributed to Jin princes as concubine. Wanyan Liang married the Khitan women Lady Xiao, Consort Chen, Lady Yelü, Consort Li, Lady Yelü, Consort Rou and Lady Yelü, Zhaoyuan.
The Jurchens then attacked the Northern Song dynasty in the Jingkang incident and seized a large number of the Song imperial family. Song princesses were married off to Jurchen princes such as Emperor Xizong of Jin. The Song male Chinese princes who were captured were given Khitan women to marry from the Liao dynasty palace by the Jurchens, who had also defeated and conquered the Khitan. The original Han wives of the Song princes were confiscated and replaced with Khitan ones. One of the Emperor Huizong of Song's sons was given a Khitan consort from the Liao palace, and another one of his sons was given a Khitan princess by the Jin at the Jin supreme capital. The Jurchens continued to give new wives to the captured Song royals, the grandsons and sons of the Emperor Huizong of Song after they took away their original Chinese wives. The Jin told the Song royals that they were fortunate because the Liao royals were being treated much worse by the Jurchen than the Song Chinese royals, Jurchen soldiers were given the children of the Emperor Tianzuo of Liao as gifts while the Song Emperor was allowed to keep his children while he was in captivity.

Liao dynasty

The Liao dynasty arranged for women from the Khitan royal consort Xiao clan to marry members of the Han Chinese Han 韓 clan, which originated in Jizhou 冀州 before being abducted by the Khitan and becoming part of the Han Chinese elite of the Liao.
Han Chinese Geng family intermarried with the Khitan and the Han 韓 clan provided two of their women as wives to Geng Yanyi and the second one was the mother of Geng Zhixin. Empress Rende's sister, a member of the Xiao clan, was the mother of Han Chinese General Geng Yanyi.
Han Durang was the father of Queen dowager of the State of Chen, who was the wife of General Geng Yanyi and buried with him in his tomb in Zhaoyang in Liaoning. His wife was also known as "Madame Han". The Geng's tomb is located in Liaoning at Guyingzi in Chaoying.

Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom

The Chinese Cao family ruling Guiyi Circuit established marriage alliances with the Uighurs of the Ganzhou Kingdom, with both the Cao rulers marrying Uighur princesses and with Cao princesses marrying Uighur rulers. The Ganzhou Uighur Khagan's daughter was married to Cao Yijin in 916.

Yuan dynasty

The Jin emperor Wanyan Yongji's daughter Princess Qiguo was married to Genghis Khan in exchange for relieving the Mongol siege upon Zhongdu in the Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty.
The Emperor Gong of Song surrendered to the Yuan dynasty in 1276 and was married off to a Mongol princess of the royal Borjigin family of the Yuan dynasty. Zhao Xian had one son with the Borjigin Mongol woman, Zhao Wanpu. Zhao Xian's son Zhao Wanpu was kept alive by the Mongols because of his mother's royal Mongolian Borjigin ancestry even after Zhao Xian was ordered killed by the Mongol Emperor Yingzong. Instead Zhao Wanpu was only moved and exiled. The outbreak of the Song loyalist Red Turban Rebellion in Henan led to a recommendation that Zhao Wanpu should be transferred somewhere else by an Imperial Censor in 1352. The Yuan did not want the Chinese rebels to get their hands on Zhao Wanpu so no one was permitted to see him and Zhao Wanpu's family and himself were exiled to Shazhou near the border by the Yuan Emperor. Paul Pelliot and John Andrew Boyle commented on Rashid-al-Din Hamadani's chapter The Successors of Genghis Khan in his work Jami' al-tawarikh, identified references by Rashid al-Din to Zhao Xian in his book where he mentions a Chinese ruler who was an "emir" and son-in-law to the Qan after being removed from his throne by the Mongols and he is also called "Monarch of Song", or "Suju" in the book.
The King of Dali Duan Gong was married to the Mongol Borjigin princess Agai, daughter of the Yuan dynasty Mongol Prince of Liang, Basalawarmi. They had a son and a daughter, Duan Sengnu. their children were also called Duan Qiangna amd Duan Bao. Duan Sengnu raised Duan Bao to take revenge against Basalawarmi for the killing of Duan Gong. A play was made based on these events. According to Yuan documents, the Duan family were originally Han Chinese from Wuwei commamdery, Gansu. Other Duan families also originated from Wuwei.

Ming dynasty

The Oirat leader Esen Taishi captured the Zhengtong Emperor of the Ming dynasty. Esen Taishi tried to force the Zhengtong Emperor to marry Esen's sister in a heqin marriage and then placing him back in Beijing with his new wife. The emperor rejected the marriage proposal.
A Mongol account in the Altan Tobchi said that Zhengtong Emperor had a son with a Mongol woman he married while he was prisoner.
A Mongol girl was given in marriage by the Gün-bilig-mergen Mongol Ordos leader Rinong to a Han Chinese, Datong Army officer Wang Duo's son Wang San because Rinong wanted to hold on to Wang San and make him stay with the Mongols. The Ming arrested and executed Wang San in 1544 because Mongol soldiers were being guided by Wang San. Builders, carpenters, officers, and important prisoners such as the Ming Zhengtong Emperor often received Mongol wives.

Qing dynasty

In the Qing dynasty, the preferred marriage partners for imperial daughters were Mongols rather than Han. More than 58 percent of imperial sons-in-law were Mongols. The Manchus considered Mongols as their "brothers" since they shared similar languages and culture. In the early period of Qing, a large amount of intermarriage between the two groups happened, and the Manchu rulers used this tie to gain the military support from Mongols. The marriage also benefited the Qing Dynasty in expanding its empire into Mongolia and further west into Inner Asia. The marriage between Manchu princesses and Mongol princes continued to the end of Qing Dynasty, although becoming less prominent after the 18th century due to the decline of the Mongols' political and military influence.
Han Chinese Generals who defected to the Manchu in the early Qing were sometimes married to imperial daughters, although this is much less frequent than the case where Aisin Giroro women married to Mongolian aristocrats or other Manchu elite. Unlike the marriage between Manchu and Mongolians that lasted throughout the Qing Dynasty, the marriages between Emperor's daughters and Han Generals ceased before 1750.
The Manchu Imperial Aisin Gioro clan practiced marriage alliances with Han Chinese Ming Generals and Mongol princes. Aisin Gioro women were married to Han Chinese Generals who defected to the Manchu side during the Transition from Ming to Qing. The Manchu leader Nurhaci married one of his granddaughters, a daughter of Abatai, to the Ming General Li Yongfang, the ancestor of Li Shiyao. The offspring of Li received the "Third Class Viscount" title after he surrendered Fushun in Liaoning to the Manchu in 1618. A mass marriage of Han Chinese officers and officials to Manchu women numbering 1,000 couples was arranged by Prince Yoto and Hongtaiji in 1632 to promote harmony between the two ethnic groups. Aisin Gioro women were married to the sons of the Han Chinese Generals Sun Sike, Geng Jimao, Shang Kexi, and Wu Sangui.
The "Dolo efu" 和碩額駙 rank was given to husbands of Qing princesses. Geng Zhongming, a Han bannerman, was awarded the title of Prince Jingnan, and his son Geng Jingmao managed to have both his sons Geng Jingzhong and Geng Zhaozhong 耿昭忠 become court attendants under the Shunzhi Emperor and marry Aisin Gioro women, with Prince Abatai's granddaughter marrying Geng Zhaozhong 耿昭忠 and Haoge's daughter marrying Geng Jingzhong. A daughter of the Manchu Aisin Gioro Prince Yolo was wedded to Geng Juzhong who was another son of Geng Jingmao.
The 4th daughter of Kangxi was wedded to the son of the Han Chinese Sun Sike.
Imperial Duke Who Assists the State Aisin Gioro Suyan's daughter was married to Han Chinese Banner General Nian Gengyao. She was Manchu Prince Ajige's great-great-granddaughter.
Manchu Prince Aisin Gioro Yuntang's fourth daughter married Han Chinese Bannerman Zhao Shiyang in 1721. Manchu Prince Aisin Gioro Yunsi's first daughter married Han Chinese Bannerman Sun Wufu in July/August 1724. Manchu Prince Aisin Gioro Yunzhi, Prince Zhi's second daughter married Han Chinese Bannerman Li Shu'ao in September/October 1707 and his fourth daughter married Han Chinese Bannerman Sun Cheng'en in February/March 1710.

Vietnam

The Lý, Trần, Hồ dynasties ruled Dai Viet in a succession of heqin alliances.

Lý, Trần, Hồ dynasties

The Lý dynasty married its princesses off to regional rivals to establish alliances with them. The Lý family married one of their princesses to a member of the Chinese Trần clan, Trần Thái Tông. This then enabled the Trần to topple the Lý and establish their own Trần dynasty.
The Tran dynasty engaged in a similar practice, marrying Tran princesses to regional allies. Later, the Hồ family, which was also of Chinese origin, established the Hồ dynasty, taking power after having a Tran princess marry one of their members, Hồ Quý Ly. A Lý princess also married into the Ho family.

Nguyen lords

The Cambodian King Chey Chettha II married the Vietnamese Nguyễn lord Princess Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Vạn, a daughter of Lord Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên, in 1618. In return, the king granted the Vietnamese the right to establish settlements in Mô Xoài, in the region of Prey Nokor—which they colloquially referred to as Sài Gòn, and which later became Ho Chi Minh City.

Joseon

After the Qing conquest of Joseon, Joseon Korea was forced to give several of their royal princesses as concubines to the Qing Manchu regent Prince Dorgon. In 1650, Dorgon married the Korean Princess Uisun. She was a collateral branches of the Korean royal family, and daughter of Yi Gae-yun. Dorgon married two Korean princesses at Lianshan.

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