Heqin () was a term used in ancient
China for an
alliance by
marriage. It usually referred to the
Chinese Emperor marrying off a "
princess" (usually a pseudo-princess or concubine whom he had never met before) to an aggressive "
barbarian" chieftain or ruler. The theory was that in exchange for the marriage, the chieftain would cease all aggressive actions toward China. The best-known example of
heqin involved the beauty
Wang Zhaojun. The first known instance of this type of marriage occurred in
200 BC, when a pseudo-princess was offered to
Xiongnu Chanyu as suggested by
Lou Jin (later given the surname
Liu by the Imperial Court).
Heqin was engaged in by most dynasties in Chinese history to some extent. By contrast to their contemporaries, such as the
Liao,
Jin,
Western Xia,
Yuan and the
Northern Yuan dynasties, the
Song and
Ming dynasties did not practice such alliances.
They were used to best effect by the
Han Dynasty,
Tang Dynasty, and the
Manchu-led
Qing Dynasty (to Mongols, etc.):
60: 1 instance, to Xiongnu (not including marriages between Chinese warlords and
Chanyu during the Civil Wars).
710—
745: 4 instances, to
Khitan, 3 instances, to
Xi, and 1 instance, to Tibet.
758—
821: 7 instances, to
Orkhon Uyghur (including two daughters of the Chinese Emperor, i.e. real princesses, and 3 of
Tiele descent).
See also
