AHistoryIndependent states
The Siege of Baideng (200 BC)
The campaign in which Modu Chanyu held the Han emperor Gaozu under siege for seven days; afterwards China began paying the Huns yearly gifts.
In 200 BC Gaozu (Liu Bang), emperor of the newly founded Han dynasty, marched north against the Huns with a large army. Modu Chanyu feigned retreat and drew the Chinese into the steppe. When the emperor outran his main force, the Huns surrounded him on Baideng hill near Pingcheng, today's Datong in Shanxi.
The Chinese historian Sima Qian writes that the Hun horsemen were arrayed on four sides by the colour of their horses: white to the west, grey to the east, black to the north and chestnut to the south. The emperor was trapped for seven days and a way out was found only after gifts were sent to Modu's consort.
After this campaign the Han made the peace known as heqin with the Huns: China gave a princess in marriage to the chanyu and sent silk, wine and grain every year. The arrangement lasted about sixty years and showed how strong the Huns stood against China.
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Updated: November 11, 2026