Daily History Challenge · No. 50 · Monday 17 August 2026 · When?
Puzzle No. 50: When?
The event was Han-Xiongnu Heqin Treaty Inaugurates Tribute-and-Marriage Diplomacy, in 198 BC.
The answer
In 198 BC the Han dynasty concluded its first heqin ("harmonious kinship") treaty with the Xiongnu confederation, establishing a durable framework of appeasement through marriage alliance and tribute. The accord followed Emperor Gaozu's humiliating defeat and seven-day encirclement at the Battle of Baideng in 200 BC, after which the minister Lou Jing (Liu Jing) persuaded the emperor that diplomacy was preferable to renewed war against Modu Chanyu's powerful steppe cavalry. Under its terms a Han "princess" (in practice a surrogate noblewoman) was given in marriage to the chanyu, and the Han delivered periodic gifts of silk, wine, and grain, while both sides nominally recognised equal status and treated the Great Wall as the mutual border. The arrangement set the pattern for Han-Xiongnu relations for roughly sixty years, being renewed repeatedly with escalating payments before Emperor Wu abandoned it for outright war. Beyond its immediate function, heqin became a recurring instrument of Chinese frontier statecraft, blending kinship diplomacy with material tribute to manage militarily formidable neighbours.