The Fractured Empire: Eastern Han’s Struggle Against the Qiang and Xiongnu

The Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 CE), though inheriting the glory of its Western predecessor, faced relentless threats along its frontiers. While the famous victory of General Dou Xian at Mount Yanran (89 CE) marked the decline of the Northern Xiongnu, it did not eliminate their menace. Fleeing westward, these nomadic warriors regrouped in the Western Regions (modern Xinjiang), joining forces with local tribes to harass Han territories.

Meanwhile, a new crisis erupted in the Liangzhou corridor (modern Gansu). The Qiang people, a collection of semi-nomadic tribes from the highlands, launched waves of rebellions starting from 107 CE. Their guerrilla tactics baffled Han armies accustomed to large-scale warfare. Even Ren Shang, a veteran commander who had crushed the Xiongnu under Dou Xian, suffered a catastrophic defeat in 108 CE against the Qiang chieftain Dian Ling, losing 8,000 troops.

Dian Ling’s forces established an independent kingdom in Beidi Commandery that lasted a decade before Han agents assassinated him. Though temporarily subdued, the Qiang revolts resurged with greater ferocity by 130 CE, draining the imperial treasury and devastating the Guanzhong heartland.

The Miraculous Counterstrike: Dunhuang’s Last Stand

Amid this chaos, an extraordinary feat of arms occurred in 137 CE. The Stele of Defeating King Huyan records how Dunhuang Governor Pei Cen led just 3,000 local troops across 400 kilometers of desert to annihilate the Xiongnu force at Lake Barkol. This victory preserved Han influence in the Western Regions despite the empire’s waning power.

Remarkably, Dunhuang Commandery—with only 748 households and 29,170 people—shouldered this immense responsibility. The stele’s rediscovery in the Qing Dynasty saved this heroic episode from oblivion, as official histories like the Book of Later Han overlooked it.

The Jin Dynasty’s Ordeal: Fresh Waves of Nomadic Assaults

When the Western Jin Dynasty (265-316 CE) reunified China, its western frontiers faced renewed threats. In 270 CE, the Xianbei chieftain Tufa Shujineng ignited a nine-year rebellion across the Hexi Corridor, killing four provincial governors and cutting off the Western Regions.

Yet again, isolated garrisons held firm. The Wuji Colonel (a frontier military title) Ma Xun, commanding several thousand Liangzhou troops, achieved stunning victories in 275-276 CE against numerically superior Xianbei forces, preserving Jin’s tenuous foothold in Central Asia.

The Tang Dynasty’s Echo: From An Lushan to the Anxi Protectorate

This tradition of lonely defiance reached its poetic climax during the An Lushan Rebellion (755-763 CE). As depicted in the viral 2019 short film The Last Transfer from Tang’s Desert North, white-haired Tang generals like Guo Xin and Yang Xigu defended the Anxi Protectorate for decades after the empire collapsed.

The parallel with Yan Zhenqing’s Manuscript for Mourning My Nephew—a visceral ink-splattered masterpiece—reveals the human cost. Yan’s cousin Yan Gaoqing and nephew Yan Jiming were flayed alive for resisting An Lushan, their sacrifice memorialized in what is now revered as China’s “Second Greatest Calligraphy.”

The Unbroken Chain: Cultural Legacy of Frontier Fortitude

These episodes form an unbroken thread from Han to Tang:
– Military Tradition: The ethos of “returning to Jade Gate” (referencing Ban Chao’s 1st-century pledge) inspired later defenders
– Cultural Memory: Frontier poetry and stele inscriptions preserved these stories when official histories neglected them
– Strategic Impact: Each holding action bought time for eventual reconquest, from Cao Wei’s recovery of the Western Regions to Tang’s later westward expansion

Modern China’s Belt and Road Initiative consciously echoes this historical connection between frontier defense and cultural transmission. The lonely garrisons of Dunhuang and Anxi, though often forgotten, shaped the very idea of China as a continental civilization bridging east and west. Their legacy endures not just in textbooks, but in the DNA of Chinese strategic thought—where every distant outpost understands it might one day become the empire’s last lifeline.