A Legacy of Appeasement

For decades following the humiliating defeat at Baideng (200 BCE), the Han Dynasty had pursued a policy of heqin—marriage alliances and tributary gifts—to placate the Xiongnu nomads. From Emperor Gaozu (Liu Bang) through Empress Lü to the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing, this strategy traded Han princesses, silks, and imperial dignity for fleeting border stability. Yet these concessions bought only temporary respites. The Xiongnu still raided at will, vanishing into the steppes before Han armies could retaliate.

The situation worsened in 174 BCE when Modu Chanyu died, succeeded by his son Jiyu (Lao Shang Chanyu). The new ruler wasted no time demanding more brides and treasures from Emperor Wen, who reluctantly complied. This routine exchange, however, took a sinister turn with the involvement of Zhonghang Yue—a court eunuch turned traitor.

The Traitor’s Revenge

Zhonghang Yue, a resentful Yan native forced to accompany a Han princess to the Xiongnu, vowed to become “a curse upon the Han.” True to his word, he defected, leveraging his administrative skills to transform Xiongnu diplomacy. He introduced arithmetic to the nomads, inflated diplomatic protocols (e.g., using longer bamboo scrolls than the Han), and urged the Xiongnu to extort more Han resources while rejecting cultural assimilation. His provocations escalated into Lao Shang Chanyu’s devastating 166 BCE invasion, where 140,000 Xiongnu cavalry raided deep into Han territory, even threatening the Ganquan Palace near Chang’an.

The Rise of a Hawkish Emperor

By 135 BCE, Emperor Wu (Liu Che) had inherited this volatile stalemate. When the Xiongnu demanded another heqin, court factions clashed. Minister Wang Hui advocated military action, while senior officials like Han Anguo favored appeasement. Emperor Wu, though publicly approving the alliance, privately seethed. Earlier successes against Minyue had bolstered his confidence in Han military might. He awaited only a pretext to strike.

The Ma-Yi Trap

Wang Hui proposed an audacious plan: lure the Xiongnu into an ambush at Ma-Yi. A merchant named Nie Yi, who smuggled goods to the Xiongnu, would feign defection, promising to deliver the city. In 133 BCE, Emperor Wu mobilized 300,000 troops under Han Anguo, Li Guang, and others, hiding them around Ma-Yi. The trap was set when Nie Yi displayed decapitated heads (actually executed prisoners) as “proof” of his coup.

Yet the plan unraveled. Unlike Zhao general Li Mu’s flawless ambush centuries prior, Emperor Wu’s reluctance to sacrifice decoy civilians left the ruse incomplete. Xiongnu scouts, noticing abandoned villages with only livestock, grew suspicious. A captured Han officer revealed the plot, prompting Chanyu’s frantic retreat. Wang Hui, tasked with cutting off the escape, hesitated—allowing the Xiongnu to vanish. The humiliating failure ended with Wang’s suicide and the captured officer’s ironic ennoblement as a Xiongnu “Heavenly King.”

The Turning Point

The Ma-Yi debacle shattered any illusion of coexistence. For Emperor Wu, passive defense was obsolete; only outright conquest remained. This pivot birthed a new era of Han aggression, epitomized by the meteoric rise of Wei Qing—a former stable boy and Emperor Wu’s brother-in-law.

Wei Qing’s Ascent

In 129 BCE, Wei led 10,000 cavalry on a daring raid to Longcheng, a Xiongnu holy site 700 li (≈280 km) into enemy territory. His success—700 Xiongnu killed—contrasted starkly with defeats suffered by veterans like Li Guang. Rewarded with a marquisate, Wei became the face of Emperor Wu’s offensive strategy.

The Campaigns Escalate

Wei’s 127 BCE “Henei Campaign” reclaimed the fertile Ordos Loop (lost since the Qin collapse), severing Xiongnu access to the Yellow River basin. The Han established Shuofang City, migrating 100,000 settlers to secure the region. By 124 BCE, Wei’s night assault on the Xiongnu Right Wise King’s camp netted 15,000 prisoners and a million livestock, earning him the title “Grand General.”

Legacy of the Ma-Yi Turning Point

Though the Ma-Yi plot failed, its aftermath reshaped East Asian history. Emperor Wu abandoned heqin, launching total war that drained Han resources but ultimately fractured Xiongnu power. Wei Qing’s campaigns—and later, his nephew Huo Qubing’s—redefined Han military doctrine, proving that nomadic threats could be countered with mobility and audacity.

The Ma-Yi incident thus marked not just the end of Han appeasement, but the birth of an imperial ethos that would echo through China’s dealings with the steppes for centuries.